Merry Christmas from Poolside!

Merry Christmas to all the folks in Japan and abroad from our Team.  Our Christmas was fine and relaxing, which was a nice change from the hectic pace of the weekend leading up to it.  School finished on Friday (only for the kids tho), Saturday was the official Team Atlas year end party, which meant Sunday was a day for recuperation and the official Shiratsuka Christmas party.  Monday was spent getting snow tires put on all the vehicles, followed by Christmas Eve dinner in Shiratsuka.

Whew.

 Christmas Day was Shiratsuka-free.  We started with breakfast and Christmas Stockings, because of course Santa came!  Skype-link with Meme and Pepe and Uncle Ben was then established, and the festivities moved into the living room.  Presents were opened, fun was had, and a mess was made.  Tradition!

We had no time to dawdle, however.  Christmas was a Tuesday this year, and Tuesday is swimming class for Samantha.  We got ourselves sorted out and got Samantha to the pool, where I got to see her really swim for the first time.  It was a lot of fun.

Lunch was devoured, then the girls napped in the car as we drove into the hills to retrieve K's credit card from the convenience store she had left it in on Sunday.  Mission accomplished, we headed home and I made a nice Chicken Cacciatore for Christmas dinner.

Yay.

Hope you guys had a good one too!


I imagine you'd like to see some pictures...

Bus Trip To Kyoto

Today we took a bus trip to Kyoto!  It was the annual neighborhood association excursion, meaning a bunch of people whom we don't know in spite of living just up the street from them. 
A group of 45 or so crammed onto a tour bus and jammed on down to the big town.  First port of call was the brand new Kyoto Aquarium.  I was initially excited about going, until I realized that Kyoto + Sunday + major attraction = really awful crowds. Unfortunately, I didn't hit upon this till we were standing in line with the hundreds of other folks waiting to stuff themselves into a glorified fish tank. 
The next stop was better, because you could see the sky, and there was lunch and beer.  A stroll through the historic shopping annex cleared my head and wore Samantha out.  K was happy to have the two of us out of her hair, and she was happy to stroll as I lugged a sleeping Samantha back to the bus.
Getting out of Kyoto proved more difficult than getting in, but we finally got on the road, got our bathroom break, and got home.
Never again.

Got some nice pictures, tho.

Tsu Matsuri, the Japanese answer to the county fair

This past weekend was the town festival, a two day affair involving dancing, beer, and foods to put the local fair to shame.  K hadn't been in 20 years, Kunio also.  Samantha and I were old pros, and we took along K's brother and his family as well. 

Sports Days at School, Samantha plays too!

This past weekend saw most of the schools in our area hold their annual Fall Sports Festivals, or undoukai.  Samantha and I visited several, and had a fine time.

Sunday was Samantha's first time to actually participate in an undoukai. The preschool we enrolled her in had an undoukai, and she 'competed' in a team ball rolling race.  It seemed like an overly large production for a pre-school field day, but hey...

What a fine time in the US of A

Thank you to everyone who helped make our trip to the US a great success.  Mom and Dad, of course, and Uncle Ben as well, plus the entire Team Tennessee, with a special thank you to Uncle Richard for putting us up and putting up with us for almost two weeks.

Samantha is still talking about Uncle Ben's stinking cat, Wee Wee and Tee Tee, and all the critters up at Uncle Steve and Aunt Peggy's place.  She had a great time, and Mommy and Daddy couldn't possibly ask for anything more.

Philly was wonderful, relaxed and quiet.  I wish I'd made it down town more than I did, but beers at Sardine was a lot of fun.  Lots of love to the whole Philly crowd, you know who you are!

How 'bout some pictures?