Birthday girl!

On our last night in Japan, Yukine celebrated her 5th birthday!  I can't believe she is already 5. Happy birthday Yukine! We all love you very much!  We had such an amazing visit in Japan.  Thank you Baba and Jiji for taking such good care of us!

A walk in Oike

Kana-chan and kids visit!

Luckily, we had time to see Kana-chan, Mebae-chan, and Sasuke-kun. The girls started playing together right away, which was great because we didn't have a lot of time to hang out.  It is amazing how fast kids grow...everyone has grown up so much since we last saw eachother! It was so fun to watch Mebae-chan and Yukine play together.  Maybe next time Sasuke-kun and Hiroto will be playing together more.  Thanks for making time to see us Kana-chan!

Hana Koen (flower park)

Baba and Jiji took us to one of Yukine's favorite places, Hana Koen.  We were happy to have a beautiful sunny day to spend there.  So many flowers, lots of walking, and an awesome playground. We all had a wonderful time. Thank you Baba and Jiji!

Japan Trip continued...Ichie-san and Kaz-kun visit!

Our good friends, Ichie-san and Kaz-kun, came to visit us.  Hiroto was so fussy for the first part of the visit, but when we finally went outside, he started having fun.  We went to go see a field of purple flowers down the street.  It was beautiful.  We also took a little walk to see some cows. It was a very nice afternoon.  Thanks to Ichie-san and Kaz-kun for coming to visit!    

Yamanami bokujou

Both Yukine and Hiroto got to ride the horse at Yamanami Bokujou. This was one of the highlights of the trip for them.  I was pleasantly surprised that they both just got on the horse with no trouble at all.  We had a very nice time there.

Picking blueberries

Baba and Jiji have a small blueberry orchard behind their house.  I can't believe how big the  blueberry bushes have gotten!  The kids had a great time picking and eating the end of season       blueberries.   We were thankful to be in Japan this time of year.