We went to the Aquarium on Monday, with our friends, the Dingles, to celebrate Alee’s first birthday. It was a great day, with beautiful weather and lots of fun things to see. Half of the excitement was riding there on the train and exploring a new place. It was a fabulous day! Enjoy the photos!
We are in the middle of "Golden Week", a week where several national holidays fall right in a row. Monday was Greenery Day, and Tuesday was Children's Day. All the fish that we see strung up everywhere, called "Koi Nobori", are decorations for Children's Day. They're beautiful!
handsome Titus
Beautiful Hana Meg. *on a side note: the other day when I got off the phone with Rebecca, Hana's mom, Noa said to me in a very sad voice, "But mom! I wanted to talk to my friend Hana!" She loves that girl!
Noa watching the Penguins swim. They were so fast and always came by the window in a big group. She was still getting used to the idea of being underground and watching all these new animals so cose to her face.
Martha was missing a morning nap, but that didn't stop her from being amazed at what she saw.
She would point and say, "Wow!"
One super cute One-Year-Old! Alee was also missing a nap, but she stayed happy and sweet all day long. It was amazing to see.
The Aquarium is right by the bay, so it was fun to look out on the water.
Stopping for a snack. Martha is getting really good at smiling for photos. She even says, "cheeeeeese" sometimes.
These two were so funny riding in the double stroller together (see what I mean about Alee being happy all day?)
such cute little friends
It was a great day, but we were certainly tired by the end of it!
SERIOUSLY!
The Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) are everywhere and it is breathtaking.
We went on a walk with our friends the Pfeils yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful blooms.
And tried to get some photos of the kids with the flowers.
Later, we spent the afternoon with our friends, the Stewarts, helping them pack and clean their house, as they head back to the States in just a week. We will miss these good friends!
After we were finished, and before dinner, Lydia and I gladly volunteered to take the kids to the park, one of our favorites because of it’s fabulous slide. An added bonus yesterday was the tree-lined bike path in full bloom.
Noll girls. On a side note, the littlest of us, Martha, has been taking several steps lately. I wonder if full-fledge walking is right around the corner? We sure hope so, as playing outside would sure be more fun!
Not that she lets her inabilities keep her from having a grand ‘ol time on the playground.
We were at the park for quite a while, so long that the moon came up. Noa, my daily “moon-spotter” (she finds it any time of day, if it’s visible, even if it’s a white thumbnail at midnail, she’ll spot it). She and William loved this little hill for rolling/falling down.
Seriously, it’s the most wonderful time of the year here in Japan. With the warm weather getting more beautiful by the day, the flowers that I planted last fall coming up, and cherry blossoms everywhere, though a little late this year, still promising that winter is truly over. I love this time of year!
If you have a minute, check out this video of us sliding down our favorite slide at the “Stewart’s park”:
Continue reading about It’s the most wonderful time of the year
“Mommy, go to Dingles’ park? Play Titus, Nana. Baffa play Baby Alee?”
You probably know by now our good friends and teammates, the Dingles. We have loved that they live only a short walk from our house, and they have a great park a few doors down, affectionately called, “Dingles’ park”. A few weeks ago, before our sunshine went into hiding, we played with the Dingles several times at the park, and now Noa can’t seem to wait until we do it again. She must be like her Mama, in that the sunshine is just so intoxicating and leaves me wanting more and more and more and more. Thankfully, it seems like spring is on the way and we are ready for more out-of-doors days in our near future. If Martha would only master walking, we’d be really good to go…
While we’ve waited out the cold rain, Noa has often followed the above statement with,
“Go Titus, Nana’s house? Play?”
Rainy, cold days are not so bad when you have good friends to enjoy them with. In the past week the girls have fallen asleep at the Dingle’s house 3 times as we have played games, had English worship, and left the kids to be baby -sat while we went out on a triple date with them and the Stewarts. Although Titus and Hana (Nana) are several years older than Noa, they are always so patient and kind to want to play with her, share with her, and help her keep up with them. Alee, the youngest Dingle, and Martha are getting more interactive with each other and are learning to play gently with one another. As for us adults, Eric and I are so thankful to have friends who are a few years ahead of us in parenting to watch and learn from, and good friends to watch 24 with (if we ever end up watching it instead of chatting the whole evening away 
).
Titus, Hana, and Noa at "Dingles' park"
Alee and Martha on Super-Lydia's lap
Thanks for being such great friends, Dingles! We love you guys and can’t imagine our lives here without you. I’m sure there will be many more conversations in this household concerning the Dingles.
Birthday Girls: Megumi (March 13, 2008) and Martha (March 8, 2008)
Our baby girl is ONE! I can’t believe it, but I am so incredibly thankful for this precious life and the fun we had (and will continue to have) celebrating her birthday.
Martha’s birthday was yesterday (the 8th) but we decided to have a party with our friends the Hoshinos, because their baby, Megumi, was born only 5 days after Martha. A birthday party shared with a friend is more fun, right? The photos and captions speak for themselves so enjoy!
The Hoshino Family: Kimiyasu and Yukari, Wakana, Yutaka, and Megumi, the birthday girl!
We also had the Dingle family along to celebrate with us. This is Kevin and Titus. Nice smile, Titus. (Titus is our resident "big brother" figure to our girls. He keeps them tough and lavishes his love on them. We are so glad he's our friend.)
Yukari with the babies. Alee is less than 2 months younger than the birthday girls, but she keeps up like the best of us. Such cute little friends.
Kimiyasu, Yutaka, and Megumi
cute kids!
Then it was birthday cake time. The one-year-olds had a Pink Piggy Cake.
Martha loved her first experience of cake and sugar. This was after she originally left it on her tray and ate with just her mouth, no hands. That wasn't getting it into her belly fast enough, so she changed strategy.
Megumi wasn't too sure about the cake at first...
Martha and our favorite Chizuka! (Who has been at every one of our childrens' birthdays so far - that would be 3 birthdays . I hope she's ready start flying to America for the next several years
Friends enjoying cake and each other. What a great way to celebrate birthdays!
After our other friends left, I wanted to have at least one photo of these two best buddies together. I love how much they enjoy each other and it was really fun to see how much Noa enjoyed Martha's birthday celebration. I look forward to many many years of watching these girls celebrate the life of their sister. What a gift they are to each other!
I forgot to mention in Martha’s ten month post about her kisses! She gives the sweetest, open-mouthed, drooly kisses and they are truly a pleasure to receive. Just ask her little friends (who are pictured later in this post).
Also, since I posted, she has been saying “Mama Mama” a lot more and I think she may know who I am Noa said “Dada” first so this could be huge, people. I will keep you posted…
On to the friends:
Rebecca Dingle, Sarah Pfeil, and I holding our babies
Martha is blessed to have lots of other babies around that are her age, and these two other MKs on our team who are very special to her. Calvin, sweet “Calvin-boy” is only 11 days younger and Martha has eyes for only him Seriously, though, these two love each other; they get excited when the other comes into the room, and crawl up to the other and maul them with kisses and scratches and LOVE. It’s the cutest and we are so thankful for this special guy.
Stand By Me
Peek-a-boo!
Alee, happy and easy-going Alee, is not even 2 months younger but certainly keeps up with these other two. She is always smiling and so chill… even when Martha tries to lavish her with the same tough-love that she and Calvin share. She takes it like a champ and just keeps on smiling…
Cute girly girls in their pink pjs on superbowl Monday morning (remember, we are 14 hours ahead of the EST). They have the hook-up because their daddies like to watch sports together on their days off. We hop out of bed and head over to the Dingles' in our pjs and have such fun relaxing mornings playing and watching and eating yummy breakfast together.
Martha begging, Alee sharing. My Goodness! they are getting so big!
