Another Happyoki video

Blogger says all the other videos are too large, so this is the only other one I can upload now.  Sad face.   But such cuteness is contained herein that I will watch it and be happier.  Rylee is mostly hidden on the left behind the boy there.

This is their grand finale song.  They sing this song every day before they leave.  

Happyoki!

Rylee's Yochein had Happyoki last Sunday.  I know, on Sunday.  It is a huge heal and the kids work for weeks and weeks on their performances and the Japanese do not understand why one would miss it for religious reasons.  I hadn't planned for her to go and was just going to disappoint them all.  One of the other moms agreed to take Rylee, so I virtuously went off to church and Rylee went off to her performance.

She did great and had a good time.  I saw some video, that I'm trying to figure out how to upload to here because they were SO stinking cute!  They changed (adorable!!) costumes and played their pianicas and did great.  The Pianica is a little kid sized keyboard that is powered by air.  There is a tube the kids blow into to make it play.  It is cute.  Annoying when they won't stop playing it, but adorable when they all play something recognizable as music!

Okay, Blogger doesn't like my video posting.  So, here is a clip of Rylee's class doing "Snow White".  Rylee is in green on the far left.

They were specific that the kids should wear headbands, so we did "headband" hair for Rylee to keep her hair neat.  She wanted a photo of it.

Josh and the Friendship Concert

 Last Saturday Joshua participated in the "Friendship Concert".  He spent all day hanging with Japanese students and making music.  He had a great time and played his trumpet both with his HS band, and with the Japanese band.  He was quite pleased with the experience.  I asked him to take photos, but he  was a bit distracted and didn't take as many as I'd hoped.

Waiting to get on the bus.

They served them lunch. Joshua said this was it.  A hotdog bun filled with..... mayonnaise and corn.  Not yummy. 

He was thrilled with this straw though.  Check it out- small straw..... 

Long straw!  Super fun! 

Selfie with the Japanese girls. 

And a silly face selfie. 

That's my boy and I love him!

- - - - - - - -

Blogger hates me and won't let me post any videos of Joshua playing.  However, here is the thumbnail jpg of the video and you can see Joshua walking across the back.  Yes, his band really IS that small!

Valentine's Day at the Beach

 Saturday was Valentine's Day.  Dan and Delaney were in Korea having a lovely time.  Joshua was gone all day at his Japanese Friendship Concert, and I was babysitting 2 extra girls.  What to do?!!  We went to "Glass Beach".  It is such a great place to visit because there is so much to do!  It was chilly-  warmish in the sun, but cold in the shade.  The girls had a lovely time playing in the sand and constructing.... um a Volcano for Callie and her friend Leia, and a "store" by Marian.  We hunted for bits of glass and shells and wandered from one end of the beach to the other.  They discovered a boat.  Only in Japan would you just beach your boat and leave it there!

They climbed on the rocks and had a good time.  They briefly played at the playground.  Some were done by then, but others wanted to head over to the "Ninja Training Ground".  I have no idea what the Japanese call them, but it is the super-awesome climbing structure with all sorts of neat fixtures and stuff.  Then we finished with the zip line and headed home.  A very fun time was had by all!

Scout Ceremony

 Joshua's Boy Scout Troop had a ceremony thing where they handed out the patches earned and we all had dessert.  It was  my kind of party.  Fairly short, with good eats.  The girls were really just there for the food, but I made them behave during the other stuff as well.

Delaney is awesome.

A rare shot of Marian... since I zoomed in on her and she didn't know I was there till too late! 

One silly girl! 

And her silly sister. 

Joshua, waiting his turn.

Getting his patch. 

And he was the Color Guard as well. 

 Love this kid of mine!