Back in Japan...

Wow, I know it has been a long time! We've been back in Japan for 4 weeks, and starting to get into the swing of things. The younger boys are back in Japanese school, and hopefully only a month (or less!) until Christian returns home! Here is a picture of Alex with a seagull that he made at school.

I've taken the boys skiing a few times as well, and that was an adventure! Both times we went with some friends so that the older boys would be able to have someone to ski with. Noah remembered very well, and was soon back on the jumps and trying to do fancy stuff on skis. Alex took a little while to warm up, but by the end of the first day, was up and running. I worked with Ian with the harness...and I wasn't sure if he was going to get the hang of it. But by the next weekend, he was skiing! He could make it down the green run without falling, but was still on the harness since he doesn't know how to stop yet. We now call him..."Skiin' Ian!" He seems to enjoy it, and by the end of the second day, wanted to ski all day. I told him we were going down the hill one more time, and then he proceeded to fall asleep on the ski lift on the way up! I tried and tried to wake him up, but I had to ski down the hill with a sleeping 3 year old! Really! This picture was from the first day of skiing, before he "got" it...by the second weekend, he no longer needed the toe clips...but I forgot my camera.

Noah's 7th Birthday Party

We celebrated Noah's 7th birthday at Chuck E. Cheese in Minnesota. Noah was lucky enough to have both sets of grandparents there! Also present were cousins Joey, Jaden, Travis, and Nick, and Aunt Nancy, and Shannon. As soon as we told him we would be in MN for his birthday, he requested Chuck E. Cheese as the location--he remembered it even though it had been two years since he had last been there! He had a great time, and so did Alex and Ian. It was Ian's first real experience at Chuck E Cheese's, and he was very excited!

More Minnesota pictures, Nov-Dec 2008

A few more pictures from our trip so far: The Amundsen side getting together to watch the Vikings play.

A Christmas event at the local YMCA--decorating cookies with Grandma and Grandpa.
Alex with Great Grandma Galzki on Thanksgiving.
Noah with Great Grandma Galzki.
Great Grandma Galzki with the Robert boys and second cousins the Larsons.

Pictures with Santa at Mall of America

We are two weeks into our family trip to Minnesota, and yesterday I picked up Christian's parents from the airport. They will be visiting Minnesota (what a cold month to visit!) for about 5 days. We went to the Mall of America after picking them up, and the boys had a great time. They went on some of the rides at the amusement park...unfortunately I had to ride a few with Ian, too--I don't think I'm cut out for kiddie rides anymore!
We also visited Santa. The boys have never really been into visiting Santa, but I figured I needed to get at least one picture with all of them in it, before they get too old!
We are enjoying spending time with family and friends here, the only thing missing is having Chris home for the holidays.

Japanese school annual bazaar and open house

Ian's class is the "ringo" class, or apple class. Ian is standing in front of his pizza that he made.

This is in Alex's classroom, the "kuma" or bear class. Alex's class had an ocean theme. Each class had large displays and the children's artwork to see.

A space theme in another classroom.

Alex standing in front of some of his art. His was the blue picture, with an octopus on top.

The school is actually pretty large--there are two classes of Ian's age (2 1/2+ year olds), 2 classes of 3-year olds, 3 classes of 4-year olds, and 3 classes of 5-year olds. The Japanese begin their school year on April 1st, so children must be the class year age by April 1st, or they are put in the younger class. Since Ian's birthday is April 9th, he missed the cutoff for the 3-year old class, so he is actually in the 2 1/2 year old class. Alex is also in the 4-year old class, even though he is already five, since he has a July birthday.

The bazaar is quite a huge event for the school--besides showcasing the children's work, the parents donate household items and baked goods to sell, and they turn the gym into a large cafeteria, selling things such as curry, yakisoba, ramen, popcorn, cotton candy, and hotdogs. It was very crowded, with lots of kids and parents. The also had a little game area and other activities for the kids in some of the classrooms. The donated baked goods are a huge money maker--I wrapped rice krispie bars in cellophane bags, and they were selling them for 150 yen each--or $1.50!

The boys had a great time, and it was fun to see all of their artwork!