Reason #72 why I love being a mom

 Sometimes I get to see some awesome things written by my children.  Case and point:

Joshua wrote his "future" self a letter to assist himself in completing an assignment.  You might want to make this nice and big to read and fully appreciate.

This little gem came home from school in Delaney's backpack this week. I was in stitches.  Yes, being the mom is never dull!

A Sunday Outing

 In lieu of our usual Sea Wall walk with the dog, Dan opted to haul everyone to the Kintai on Sunday afternoon.  It was a lovely day and everyone but Joshua was happy to be there.  He was the exact opposite of happy to be there.

My little Darlings, with Joshua trying to run out of the photo.

The lighting wasn't great, but the bridge was pretty. 

And look what we saw!  I have no clue what this was for but it looked cool.

The guy was happy to have his photo taken. 

Yes, they must pose on EVERYTHING! 

But they sure are cute. 

Checking out the fountains.  Marian asked if she could climb on everything.  Mostly I said no. 

I love this little face! 

They were so cute, marching down the wall. 

Such a good doggie. 

Delaney is pretty awesome as well. And she did have her hair done earlier.  She just pulls it out all the time! 

Hee hee hee!  Levi thinks he is a person, and Callie is going for nonchalance. 

The Kintai from the other side.  I was trying to avoid the water side. 

Alas, I was outvoted and there was much playing and a little bit of getting wet. 

Someone did end up with squishy boots. 

Someone managed to keep her boots mostly dry. 

Me at the bridge. 

Levi had a marvelous time. 

I love this photo.  Marian wanted a picture of herself in the tree, and I love the bridge in the background. 

Levi climbed this stubby tree with the girls.  Silly pickles! 

Delaney wanted to pose for me. 

So did Marian, and I gotta say, Marian wins!

Too Cool.

Grump

This week it was my turn to teach in Primary.  I tag team and do every other week.  Rylee always wants to sit on my lap.  She was not happy when I made her sit with her class.  But she was so cute and it was so funny, I could not resist capturing her displeasure.

It's Cookie Time!

Delaney is in Girl Scouts this year.  This is our first experience with it and this was our first year selling cookies.  They do it a bit differently here, overseas.  Our cookies are already shipped over by the time we even start selling them, so it is really "pre-ordering" them.  Once all the pre-orders are delivered, the girls get to sit at the Cookie Booth each weekend till they run out of cookies.

Delaney did sell 56 boxes, and that whole delivery bit was a pain in the neck!  And on Saturday, we got to sit Cookie Duty.  She had a lot of fun, and in 2 hours they sold probably 60 boxes.  And had a good time.

Monday: Sasebo and Home

Monday morning we were delighted to partake of some delicious Dunkin Donuts for breakfast.  Oh, how we have missed yummy donuts!  Then we packed up and checked out, and went the the Sasebo Zoo.  I was a bit disconcerted that their "main" road was not one you would recognize as such. I was glad Dan was navigating.  I am not sure I would have been able to get us to the Zoo otherwise!

At the Zoo, we had a marvelous time!  It wasn't a big zoo, and some of the animals were quite sad and pathetic.  It was a chilly day and some of the animals seemed miserably huddled together for warmth. Somehow, despite the PETA- conflagrating conditions, we had a really great time. The kids really enjoyed it and we had fun. Plus, it was around $18 for the 7 of us to get in.  Yay!

The road to the zoo.  Yikes!

The Zoo.

Rylee is so cute.  She was feeling MUCH better.

Callie and Delaney.  They crack me up.

I think this elephant was 43 years old.  The writing was all in Japanese, but it sure looked 43.

This bear was awesome!

Check it out!  He was climbing the walls to say hi.

Of course, later we saw you could buy food to drop down.  So he was just hopeful, and then disappointed.

The baboons were interesting.  Odd and disturbing and cute.

Some were cuter than others.

The lioness was unimpressed with us.

Marian wanted a shot with the bunny.

And since Marian did, Rylee wanted a photo too.

The meerkats were SO cute!

Look at the one on the left, just sitting in the bowl.  

The petting zoo was not open, but that did not stop Callie!

They didn't need to go inside to give love.

This was cool!  The gophers (were they gophers?!) were fun.

The kids had a great time getting "underground" with them.

This made me laugh;  all 5 kids squashed in the viewing area!

This little guy wanted to say hi to Rylee.

Rylee was happy to make friends.

So much to love about this picture!

Me and a meerkat!

Yep, Rylee and a meerkat too.

My strapping young man.  He's growing up so handsomely. 

A pile of raccoons.

Delaney and a bunch of raccoon bottoms.

These spider monkeys were so cool!  The kids were able to push leaves under the wall for them and the monkeys were nifty with their long appendages. 

This fantastic looking thing is a Lesser Panda! 

 Yep, we must pose in every single one!

This right here was the very best part!  This was an amazing under-the-aquarium area where the penguins swam right over your head and around you! 

So amazing! 

Delaney, posing on the other side of the tank. 

My sweet Callie. 

And my darling Marian. 

The 5 little goobers actually sat down nicely and posed for me!  I love them! 

Are these really cabbages you can eat?  Or is a cabbage flower different? 

Driving home.  We are crossing the big bridge that connects the island of Kyushu to the larger island of Honshu, which is where Iwakuni is.