Summer in the City

Time has slipped away on me again with three weeks seeming to vanish into thin air. While I write an actual post about our lives, here are some photos of what our summer has looked like so far.

On July 1st we celebrated our third Canada Day in Japan. I made poutine and the boys tried it for the first time. Theo seemed to really like it, but as always with anything containing potatoes, William was not too excited.

Rosie was happiest of all with her piece of barbecued corn on the cob.

Even though we barbecue A LOT in the summer, we occasionally head over to the local 100 yen sushi restaurant to change things up a bit. The boys decided that during this meal they would be sushi zombies. 

Rosie, who can never be left out of their shenanigans, tried her hardest to be a sushi zombie too.

We've also been working on removing the training wheels from Theo's bicycle. He has been wanting us to do this for a while, but his balance still needs a little work. Here he is taking a popsicle break on one of our biking trips.

Summer time at our house means trying to avoid using the air conditioner as much as possible. Instead I boot the kids outside and let them splash around in the kiddie pool if they get sweaty.

"I yam wot I yam and that's all wot I yam!"

Rosie enjoying taking a stroll around the block.

Inspecting a large caterpillar we found on the bike shelter. 

The Japanese star festival, Tanabata, is held on July 7th. People write wishes on coloured strips of paper and hang them along with paper cut into pretty shapes and designs on a young bamboo tree. Here are the boys posing in front of a Tanabata tree we found at a local department store.

Some people also go star gazing on the evening of the 7th, but since it was pouring rain it was kind of out of the question. With all this rain we've been having, I got to see a gorgeous double rainbow.

Another way we enjoy summer is with one of our favourite traditional Mennonite meals, rollkuchen and watermelon. It is quick to make and really light but best of all there are never any complaints no matter how many times we have it in a week.

And that's a little glimpse into our world these past few weeks. Hopefully I'll be able to get a real post up soon! 

The Sounds of Summer

This small clock in our kitchen shows it to be a cozy 36.5˚C.
 Pretty sure I turned on the AC after this. 

This is the first time that our family has been in Japan from mid-July to mid-August. The first year we arrived in August and the next we were visiting family in Canada. So now I can say that summer in Japan is hot. Sweaty, grimy, take a cold shower multiple times a day kind of hot. Truthfully, when I lived in Houston, the daily temperatures were much hotter than Fukuyama but everyone had central air conditioning. It boggles my mind to remember that houses back home are cool everywhere inside. Even the bathrooms and closets. Weird!

Last year we purchased two AC units and put one in our dining/kitchen area and one in our bedroom. For the most part I try and tough out the heat and only switch on the air conditioning when the heat is making us so cranky that a brawl could erupt at any moment. I have found that 35˚C or above inside our house is when the kids turn into maniacs and I want to strangle anyone who even looks at me funny.

Cicada emerging on our
bike shelter

Why do we bother suffering through the heat and not just have the air con on at all times you ask? Since we only have units in two rooms of the house, when the AC gets turned on that room must get shut off; all doors and windows closed or else it is ineffectual. If you have ever tried quarantining five people to a small room for any length of time, especially when two of those people have the energy level and climbing skills of frenzied baboons, you will realize that dealing with the heat is almost more enjoyable. Also, our old house is full of cracks and drafts and the AC has to be running full bore to cool the room down. Electricity is very expensive, especially compared to what we were used to in Canada, so running our air conditioning 24 hours a day is not a luxury we can afford. We like to think of it as living in tune with nature.

Sometime in early July, all of our squeaky, buzzy cicada friends emerged. Listening to their morning droning has a way of making summer feel official. The boys had a fun time collecting all of their empty exuvia (yes, I discovered that is what their little empty casings are called) and putting them on their fingers or hooking them on their clothes. 

From July 22nd to the end of August, Theo is on summer break from yochien. We haven't had the time, energy, or money to go anywhere during his summer break and I am not delusional enough to think that traveling with a newborn, a toddler, and a kindergartener would be in any way fun. Needless to say, we decided to stay in Fukuyama and find ways for the boys to enjoy themselves around the house and neighbourhood.

Theo loves holding Rosie and is never separated from his teddy bear for too
long, even when he is playing Wii

Since it is usually the same temperature inside our house as outside, the boys have been enjoying running around in our yard and I have been loving them burning off energy and giving me a bit of space from time to time. On the side of our house was a walkway and small garden where we were growing some herbs and tomatoes. William decided that his favourite pastime was to sit in the herb bed under the dining room window and dig in the soil. So, we decided to turn it into an actual sandbox. Dustin transplanted the herbs, dug out a foot and a half of soil, laid a tarp down, and filled it in with bags of sand. The boys have spent countless hours in the shade beneath the window playing in their new sandbox. Good idea William! 

We also bought a kiddie pool for the boys to splash around in and cool down. Even Rosie and I have sat in it a few times.

The neighbours brought over a number of balloons after some birthday party that they had gone to. The balloons helped entertain the boys for a few days until they all managed to meet an explosive end.

Here are the faces of the funny, crazy, exasperating, demanding, but always loving humans I share this life with: 

We can make it though the summer and into the coolness of autumn!

Hello, Goodbye July!

It turns out that taking care of three children and managing a small household doesn't leave as much time for blogging as I would like. Who would have thought? So here is what we were up to during the month of July: 

I finally believe in the existence of the Japanese rainy season. This year we actually had quite a lot of rain. It seemed to come a bit later than expected, but when it came it poured. We don't have a car or a clothes dryer but it nonetheless the fairly constant rain didn't seem too terrible. It was a bit tricky but we just tried to plan bike trips to the grocery store in the windows of clear weather and hung our clothes inside to dry. I think William took it the hardest since he wasn't able to putter around outside in the yard for hours like he is used to. 

Here is William coming back from an excursion with Dustin to the veggie patch to check if any cucumbers or zucchini are ripe. 

The boys get a bit stir crazy being cooped up all day but at least the clouds and rain prevented the temperature from getting too high. The few quiet moments when the boys were contentedly drawing or watching a movie and Rosie was asleep made me feel confident that I can do this whole three kid thing. 

And of course, every free moment and free hand was taken up with this cute and demanding little creature. 

Roses and Fireworks

Because I was in the last three weeks of my pregnancy, in the hospital, and at home with a newborn during the time my parents were out, we didn't really get around to much traveling as a group. However, the annual Fukuyama Rose Festival and Bentenjima fireworks display both took place while they were visiting and so they did experience a bit of the fun and energy of a Japanese summer festival. I do love a good parade and festival and was glad that Rosie decided to stay put so that I could enjoy it too.

This year, the Rose Festival took place on the weekend of May 18th and 19th. The first day was unseasonably humid and hot, around 30˚C, and there was really only so much walking, watching street performers, and peeking in on craft stalls that we could handle before the boys and I decided to head back home.

the sign in front said "free hugs" and Theo took him up on that offer

This is my favourite street performer by far.  As far as I know, he shows up every year. 

As soon as she finished, someone decided to walk right down the center of her artwork...sigh! 

On the second day of the festival there is a four hour parade from Fukuyama Station to the Rose Park. We trekked out to the Rose Park to check out the blooms and watch the last two hours of the parade. It had rained during the night, so the roses looked especially beautiful with collections of rain drops in the folds of their petals. 

Here are some scenes from the parade: 

and a tour of the Rose Park:

Very Alice in Wonderland

"Rose Fukuyama" which was developed in 1987 in commemoration of the city

The Bentenjima fireworks festival took place the following weekend in the little port town of Tomonoura. The fireworks are launched from Benten Island, just off the coast of Tomonoura in the Seto Inland Sea. Food stalls line the main street of Tomonoura and people find a spot to sit along the boardwalk overlooking the water.

I love festival food. Yum! 

Waiting for the show to begin

A perfect way to start off the summer! 

House of the Rising Sun

The sun has been rising earlier and setting later by the day. The long days have been really bothering my sleep lately. At the best of times I have always been very sensitive to light when trying to sleep, but now every time I wake up with the baby and see daylight I find it difficult to go back to sleep.

Theo has been very confused, waking up super early and trying to avoid going to sleep at night on the grounds of "but the sun hasn't even gone to sleep yet!". This morning he woke up at the break of dawn, burst into our room, and energetically bounded over to wake up William. Luckily, Dustin was able to grab him and steer him out of the room before the baby was actually bothered. This was at 4:45 am. I know this evening he will be in his room, refusing to fall asleep well past 10:30 because there is still sunlight streaming through the windows. You would think that the thick, dark curtains we have on the bedroom windows would help, but it seems that Theo has inherited my inability to sleep well unless he is in a cave.

It will only get worse for the next week and a bit, so we will all be bleary eyed, sleep deprived zombies for a while.

Enjoying a cuddle with Grandma

On another note, my mom is returning to Vermont tomorrow after 6 wonderful weeks of having her here. I am really going to miss having adult conversations during the day and all of her help with the children.