This weekend was cold and rainy so we stayed mostly indoors. We took the kids to the fantasy world that is on the 3rd floor of a nearby shopping center and Layla enjoyed. Julia also seemed to have a good time but she was a bit small for most of it. Soon enough, though, those two are going to be running around together having fun and making trouble.

Check out the pics in the gallery.

Merry Christmas from Japan, and soon to be Canada.

From last weekend, while eating lunch:

After setting up the Christmas tree:

This Saturday, Layla had her Happyokai (daycare event). This was the intro song:

Layla’s dance in the Happyokai:

Gallery to be updated. I got the NAS working again and will get things online soon.

Sunday we picked up some international driver’s licenses before having a nice sushi dinner with Tamie’s folks and sister in Ebina.

Pictures from Shinjuku can be found in the gallery below.

Secondly, thanks for the great weekend Japan family. Despite the rain, it was a good one.

I came home Friday night and we had a nice sit-down dinner with the girls before Tamie unveiled a cake she and Layla put together.

Saturday we headed to Yokohama with hopes of checking out the amusement park but the weather didn’t co-operate. Instead, we found that Christmas has invaded Yokohama and wandered the malls checking things out. The singing Christmas tree is back in fine form again this year.

Sunday, the sun came out and it felt like a Summer day – it worked out well because there was an agriculture festival taking place that we checked out. The highlight of the festival for Layla (and Julia too, I think) was the tractors that were set up that the kids could climb and play on. Many pictures were taken.

We eventually went to Isehara where we went to dinner with Tamie’s family. One good yakiniku dinner later and we were back at their house eating cake and having fun.

As I said, overall it was a great weekend. Looking forward to doing it again next year! =)

Just a bit of laundry… Thanks daycares.

When Tamie finally came back she wanted to go enjoy the nice weather and head to a beach or mountain but I’d already promised Layla to take her out on a scooter ride. 30 minutes later, after a brief scooter ride and some playing at a park, we were back at home thinking of going to a beach or mountain. In the end, we decided instead to check out the Grandberry Mall, a giant outdoor outlet mall we hadn’t been to in a long time. Not only did they have Christmas lights out already, but the music was all Christmas-y too. Yikes. Despite that, we somehow enjoyed ourselves.

Street juggler that entertained the masses. And the kids.

Sunday we woke up with the plan to head out to Oyama, a mountain not far from here. Tamie strapped Julia onto her back and lead the way. She carried the big baby on her back all the way up to the cable car, which is more impressive than it sounds as there are a lot of stairs to climb before getting to the cable car. We took the cable car up to the Afuri Shrine where we had lunch and took a few pictures.

View From the top.

Layla snapped a pic.

After exploring for a bit, it started getting a bit late and Tamie started to get cold so we began the trek back down the mountain. I strapped Julia on the front, backpack on the back and we were on our way. Five minutes later, we were stopped, waiting in line at a washroom. Layla had to go. The line in the girls’ washroom was so long she came and asked me to take her into the mens’. So I unstrapped Julia, took off the backpack and we ventured into the stinky toilets. One door was locked, one wasn’t. The one that wasn’t was a filthy squatter that Layla was scared of. The second eventually opened and an embarrassed old man apologized as he ran away. Looking inside, Layla was relieved to see a flusher. Lifting the lid was all sorts of badness though. Not only did it not flush – it was full to the brim. How that guy managed to sit on it and… Blech! So gross.

So we bailed and hoped that Tamie was still in line in the girl’s washroom, which she wasn’t. The next washrooms were 10 minutes away and Layla was determined that she could make it. So I strapped Julia back onto my front, slung the backpack over my shoulders and we were off again. Two minutes later, Layla was going to explode. So I did what any loving father would do – I told Layla to go in the bushes. And wouldn’t you believe, she was going to! Before she could, we pulled her a bit off the beaten path and did our best to help her out before finally heading down the path comfortably.

Coming Down.

The path down was a lot steeper with a lot more stairs than I remembered. Of course the last time I went I didn’t have a baby strapped to my chest and wasn’t all that concerned about falling. =) Luckily Julia fell asleep not long after we started. Layla was a trooper the whole way down as she held her Mom’s hand and they counted how many steps they’d gone down. They got to 100 in both Japanese and English and that was only a fraction of the steps we descended. Near the bottom, we picked up some ice cream as a reward for making it – as soon as Julia heard the word ‘ice cream’ she woke right up.

On the bus ride home, Layla was so exhausted though, she fell fast asleep. Julia, however, was wide awake and making friends with the kids sitting beside us.

It was definitely a good way to spend the day and I look forward to the next time we get the chance.

Saturday at Grandberry Mall Pics

Sunday Mountain Pics

Mom and Dad came to Japan at the end of September.

…

And then Julia got sick and Tamie went to India at the end of October.

See? Busy times indeed.

This weekend, Tamie finally came back from India after Julia finally got discharged from the hospital. Individually, either situation is tough to handle – together was nearly impossible. A big thanks to the in-laws for helping pull it all together.

With Tamie feeling under the weather, the weekend wasn’t so busy but it felt great to have a weekend altogether again. I did upload some pics from the last month – check them out.

“Dad! That girl dropped her garbage on the ground!” she told me.

“That can has been rolling around on this train since we got on it,” I answered.

“But somebody should pick it up. It’s by the door.” she replied.

“Yah, somebody should, eh?” I nodded.

“Can I go pick it up?” she asked. I gave her a plastic bag that her cheese bread had been in. She happily ran over and picked it up, putting it in the garbage. She proudly walked back and sat down with her prize. “Now no old people will trip on it.” she said proudly.

“What about me?” I asked.

“We can make smaller pieces,” she grinned.

“Great!” I answered. “You mean we’ll cut it into 3?”

“No!” she laughed. “You can have a small piece and Mom can have a small piece and I’ll have the big piece.”

Gotta love her.