Hina Matsuri Celebration

(This photo is from Thursday, March 3rd)

Miriam's preschool class celebrated Hina Matsuri today.  Hina Matsuri, or "Girls' Day", is a Japanese holiday to celebrate and pray for health and success for girls.  The class all learned a song for the celebration, but when the Kotos (the stringed instruments in the photo) started playing, most of the kids became too distracted to remember to sing.  :)

As a bonus, here is Miriam singing the "Hina Matsuri" song at home

Enoshima Aquarium

(This photo is from Wednesday, March 2nd)

Today we headed to Enoshima Aquarium with a pretty big group of friends.  It was fun to mix up the "friend groups" a bit, and it was fun to hang out with everyone.  The aquarium is one of our favorite places to visit for a nice, leisurely morning+lunch outing - it's not too big and not too small, and not too far to drive (about 40 minutes or so).  My favorite part of the aquarium is the jellyfish room - they are such eerily beautiful creatures, as long as they're in behind glass.  :)

Book-loving Sisters

Both of my girls love books.  I love that Miriam loves to read to Hannah, and that Hannah loves to listen.  Miriam is just starting to read for real, but she knows so many books by heart, plus she loves to ask Hannah "where is the ......?" or "what does the cat say?" while they read.  It always makes my heart smile to see them sitting in the chair together reading.

Spring Sneak Peek

(These pictures belong to February 25th)

Friday was a beautiful day.  High 60s, sunny, and a light breeze.  We headed outside late morning to PLAY play play.  We (and some friends) went over to the playground that's across the street from us and ran around and had a great time soaking up some much-needed Vitamin D.  :)

Flat Stanley

(This pic is from February 24th)

This week we received Flat Stanley in the mail from some friends in Maryland.  Caleb is in 1st grade and his class read the book and mailed their Flat Stanleys to friends in all sorts of different places.  I wonder if Japan is the farthest that one traveled?  Anyway, we're supposed to entertain him for a few days and then send him back with some information about what he did with us and about Japan in general.  On Thursday, Miriam took him to school with her to introduce him to her class.  Here is a picture of Miriam, Stanley, and Miss Annie (Miriam's primary teacher).

Daddy Dolls

I had heard about "Daddy Dolls" from a friend, so I decided to get them for the girls.  I though maybe they would help to keep Daddy close while he's away.  They arrived in the mail today and the girls (especially Hannah) immediately fell in love with them.

Better Than Starbucks

We order coffee for our Keurig from Keurig's website.  They have a "coffee club" where you earn points for ordering things and then can use the points for 1/2-off certain items.  I finally used some of our points and bought the milk frother from their website.  The first drink that I made with it was a homemade caramel macchiato.  It was delicious!  :)