Sydney's Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SYDNEY!!!!!

 

 

We woke up to find several inches of snow on the ground. Luckily we planned for the snow and had her party inside.

 

 

Sydney woke up to find that there were balloons all over her bedroom floor.....

 

 

....and streamers and more balloons in the doorway.

She LOVED it!!

 

 

Sydney was so excited that she wanted to open presents before having breakfast.

 

 

 

Meme & Papa gave her a Rapunzel Bear.

 

 

We gave her some Princess Topsy-Turvy Dolls.

 

 

Elisa & Ana Dolls from Frozen.

 

 

 

We had her party at the Weasel's Den where the kids got to run and play.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sydney's favorite gift was a Snow Cone machine.

 

 

 

 

Sydney had a lot of fun hanging out with friends and playing, eating, running, and singing.

 

I can't believe how fast the years are going! My baby is growing up way too fast!!

Shougatsu

Shougatsu: is the celebration of the Japanese New Year. It's traditionally celebrated from the 1st to the 7th of January. It is very much a FAMILY holiday. Which means that it's celebrated quietly at home with your family, unlike in the U.S. where people go out to party and make a lot of noise.

 

So, this mini "celebration" was put on later in the month for the Americans to see what they do to celebrate the New Year.

 

MOCHI POUNDING:

 

 

 

You wear these ceremonial jackets and pound rice to make rice cakes.

No, it's not the type of rice cakes your thinking about that is sold in stores in the U.S.

Mochi is soft & sweet.

 

 

 

 

MAKING SUSHI:

 

 

 

 

We learned how to correctly make sushi and got to enjoy the ones we made.

The kids even ate it & liked it!

 

 

 

 

CALLIGRAPHY:

 

 

Danny has been learning Japanese calligraphy in his Japanese class, so he was really good at it.

 

 

 

 

Sydney even gave it a try.

We had a lot of fun learning some new things about the Japanese culture.

Winters in Japan

 

The snow finally came! And Japan is absolutely gorgeous covered in snow.

 

 

 

 

 

Lake Ogawara has frozen over. It's really cool!!

 

 

This is another view of the lake from the Lakeview Grill.

 

 

 

 

Unlike other places that get snow and then it all melts off before the next storm, in Japan it just sticks around for months. And it can get REALLY deep!

 

 

 

Danny enjoys playing out in the snow.

 

 

The icicles hanging off the back of the house.

 

 

Someone was making this colorful igloo and we just had to stop and check it out.

 

Some of the weird things about snow in Japan, is that they don't have ANY snow removal equipment. So the roads get a lot of ruts in them. And with all the snow there is NO snow days for school kids and NO late starts. You just have to learn to deal with all the snow.

 

Aquarium Field Trip

 

 

Danny's class took a field trip to the Aquarium yesterday. Sydney & I got to join them on this cool outing. We took a train instead of a bus.

 

 

 

It was snowing A LOT!! There were only 4 cars in the parking lot and I'm pretty sure they were employees, because there wasn't anyone else in the aquarium. It was just the crazy Americans who braved the blowing snow to go to the Aquarium.

LOL

 

 

 

 

 

The boys really liked all the hands-on activities. Sydney wouldn't dare touch the stuff.

 

 

All the kids LOVED the dolphin show.

 

 

Yet another Japanese vending machine. This time it's Hello Kitty popcorn!! It even popped it for you before dispensing it.

 

 

Sydney enjoying her Hello Kitty popcorn.

 

 

 

 

Danny's favorite part of the trip was this seal that followed him up and down the glass wall.