Green Day and Other Random Stuff

No, not the band. It was wear green to school day in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday and his best book, Green Eggs and Ham. So, we all put on our green today to celebrate.

Green with a touch of chocolate.

Ryleigh and I made a quick run to the 100 yen store while RJ was at preschool. There was this sign by the elevator. Yet another sign that I know what it means, despite the very bad English, spelling, and punctuation.

And, lastly, another RJ funny. On the way home from the O Club tonight, we took what we call the scenic route. It is a road that goes up a very steep hill and gives a great view of Tokyo Bay. Jip and I were discussing that the scenic route has been closed during the day to remove trees. It is weird to us that they are doing that, as it seems that they are just asking for mudslides during the upcoming rainy season. Jip said, "Someone smarter than us must have made the decision to do it." RJ then piped in with, "That's me, Dad."

Progress!

I decided it was time to get RJ in swimming lessons again.  The big question until today was, "Would RJ stay in the pool for the whole lesson?"  The answer:  YES!  It's amazing what a difference a few months can make!  Plus, he had a friend that we met at the New Sanno on Friday night that was also in the lesson--what a wonderful coincidence! 

Kicking with the barbell.

I think RJ was telling her a long, drawn-out story at this point. 

RJ is wearing something new (new to us)--a floaty backpack.  He was trying to tell this other boy that the backpack worked well.

RJ's picked up Mama's bad habit of biting the nails.  Oops.

RJ had a great time during his lesson, and we've set a goal (he and I--the instructor isn't in on the deal) to put his face in the water in the next lesson.  I can't wait to see how that goes!

Bad News, Good News

This is not what you're thinking. This is a funny from RJ...

RJ is going though an odd phase right now. He has decided that "movie" equals "scary." It doesn't matter whether it is Finding Nemo or How to Train Your Dragon. They are equally "scary." We're trying to help him though this by doing deals with him--we put in a movie and he can watch or not, then he gets to watch a video of his choosing (usually Mighty Machines or Twenty Trucks). RJ usually watches 50%-75% of the movie, but always from the kitchen doorway or from behind the couch.

Today, Jip rented The Lorax on iTunes. RJ did his usual. He played in the office, watched the movie, played, watched, and on and on. At one point he ran from the kitchen doorway into the office, sat in a little chair, and started talking to himself, but out loud. He said, "Guys, I have some bad news and some good news. The bad news is the movie is scary. The good news is I'm going to change it (meaning the channel)." I asked him if he meant the good news was that the movie was almost over. "Yeah, the good news is the movie is almost over."

And for your viewing enjoyment, Jip and the kids were occupying themselves with the photo booth app on the iPad while I was putting together our grocery list. This is the light tunnel effect in action.

Happy Sunday to you!

Ueno Zoo on a windy day

After a ROUGH night with the two kids, we all managed to get ourselves together enough today for some breakfast in the hotel, another swim in the pool, and then a jaunt over to Ueno Zoo.

RJ and Ryleigh were both up at different times during the night last night, and this morning, they were both stirring by 5 a.m.  Needless to say, Amy and I did not get much sleep at all, and our patience was thin all day with the kiddos.  RJ was in a "I'm three.  I won't listen.  I won't obey.  I'm going to do everything I shouldn't do.  I'm going to drive Mom and Dad crazy, but I'll make up for it by being cute occasionally" mode today.  Ryleigh was okay, but just tired from not sleeping well.  (She likes HER bed or Mom and Dad's bed, not some hotel bed!)

We did make it to the zoo today.  We got there at a perfect time of day when there were no crowds to get in the way of seeing the pandas or any other animals.  Since it was a cool day, many of the animals were out and about.  The only downside was that it was pretty windy today, so we didn't get to every corner of the zoo like we usually do.  We targeted some of the bigger animals and then headed out.  Here are some pictures from the adventure.  Enjoy!

The Ueno Zoo's main attraction.  This panda was eating some bamboo.

In the next cage was his mirror image--another panda munching bamboo.

A pachyderm.

The rhino was out pacing today.  The last time we went to this zoo, he was asleep in the shade in the back of his cage.

Even the hippo was out enjoying some rays.

The polar bear was giving everyone a show.

This tunnel allows the seals to look at the people...or maybe it's vice versa.   Regardless, we got a good look at this seal.

After we tired out in the zoo, we hit the amusement ride area just outside the gate.  Each ride is either 100 or 200 yen (roughly $1.10 or $2.20).

RJ's backhoe skills are little lacking.

Ryleigh went along for the ride in the police car.

"Don't let RJ drive the bus"

This space ship was the final ride of the day.  

On the second round, I put Ryleigh in for a ride.  She loved it.

I'm not sure where he was looking, but it surely wasn't out the windshield.

A cute shot of Ry.

And lastly, the saying on the popcorn.  Don't ask me what it is supposed to mean.

-Jip

Another Micro Vacay

We are at The New Sanno in Tokyo again tonight. We booked tonight's room over 6 months ago. Rumor has it there are no more weekend rooms available though the end of the year--everyone likes to micro vacay!

Tonight we did our usual and hit the pool. Tomorrow is supposed to be lovely, so it may be the Ueno Zoo for our chosen Tokyo activity. But, RJ's behavior is going to have to do a 180 tomorrow, or it might just end up being a drive home on the agenda. Gotta love the age of 3!!