Kamakura Beach

Today was the epitomy of pure relaxation and utter enjoyement as we played at the beach all afternoon.  What is great about this beach is that it is only 15-20 min away from our house and has underground parking so we can park relatively cheap, walk right out to the beach, and come back to a cool car.  Now that it is so deathly humid outside these days, having a cool car to come back to is a total highlight.  It was rather windy today so it took Mike and I a bit longer to get the canopy set up but once it was up it was so great to sit and watch the kids play.  The waves were small for the kids which was fun for them and stress free for us.  The sandbank is so shallow and goes out pretty far so the kids can play in the waves without us worrying too much about them getting into any sort of trouble.  Even Abby had fun playing in the closer waves.  I loved that I could just sit in the shade on my chair, watch the kids having fun, and snap a few photos with my iPhone.  I had my share of time in the water with the girls.  We jumped over the waves and swung around a bunch.  They loved that.  Both of the girls were pretty fearless but they definitely knew their limits which was good.  The only thing we wished we had today was some body boards.  I guess we will have to invest in some before our next beach adventure.  Emma had a blast collecting shells and the boys stayed in the water most of the time.  After enough time in the water all the kids had fun playing in the sand.  The only thing we had were two big shovels and yet they still had so much fun.  Eventually the sun hid behind the clouds but the weather stayed warm so we stayed a bit longer before heading back to our car.   It truly was a fabulous day at the beach with the kids.

Last Day of School

I can't say that the boys were at all disappointed for school to end this year.  Peter had a really great year in Mr. Brown's 2nd grade class and made some good friends in his class.  Although Andrew learned some important things this year and realized how smart he is in math he wasn't real fond of his teacher Mr. Grosshuesch or some of the other kids in his 4th grade class.  I can't say that Mike and I were impressed at all with his teacher either.  It really was kind of a nightmare of a class and the teacher's lack of consistency, discipline and expectation of the students really made it a difficult class to be in.  We are hoping for a better teacher and better environment for Andrew in 5th grade and have talked with the right people to make sure that it does in fact happen for him next year.  I think the number one lesson this year for both boys was the importance of choosing good friends.  All the rest is that much easier when you surround yourself with good influences.  We will continue to make this a huge priority for the following school year.  So without much sadness we say good-bye to the 2010-2011 school year!!!

(Peter and Colton)

(Andrew in his classroom standing where Mr. G taught from)

(Peter next to the computer station in his classroom)

(All the Elementary School teachers and Administrators)

(Peter and his teacher Mr. Brown. Andrew's teacher Mr. G in the background in the blue shirt)

Flag Retirement Ceremony

Both of the boys were able to participate in a Flag Retirement Ceremony where one of the flags from the USS George Washington was being retired after exposure to the radiation up in Northern Japan after the earthquake and to other wear and tear from being flown while at sea.  There was an additional flag from a cub scout's grandfather that we also retired. The boy scouts were put in charge of cutting up the stripes from the flag and the star section as a whole.  Andrew got really lucky and was given the star section which meant he was able to participate at the end of the ceremony.  Each of the cub scouts, boy scouts, and many leaders were given part of the flag to burn.  We even had an awesome bagpiper playing in the background.  It was really neat for the boys to be part of such an event.  AFN (armed forces network) was there to film the whole thing which was neat and both of the boys were briefly in that video.  It has been amazing to be part of such an awesome Cub Scout Pack here at Yokosuka.  They have really gone above and beyond to put on such great things for the boys.  Andrew and Peter will surely have fond memories of their time as cub scouts because of Pack 33 at Yokosuka.

*photos taken by my friend and my iPhone

School Concerts

Both of the boys had concerts at the end of the school year. Peter's was a production about the founding of all of the United States. It was a combination of three second grade classes that got together to put on this production. His state was West Virginia and he practiced all of May to memorize his part and learn all of the songs. He was so excited about it and so we made it a big deal and I had someone watch the girls while both Mike and I attended his US production play. He just happened to be sitting right in the middle of the stage and I just loved watching him dance and sing. He nailed his part about West Virginia and every time they got up to sing he would look over at us. It was really sweet that he cared so much that we were there.

Andrew had a music concert where they sang and played their recorders. They played a couple of songs with their recorders and then they sang some songs with another class that also performed with their recorders. It was interesting to see how different the two classes were. Each class was taught by a different music teacher and it was pretty obvious that Andrew's class was better prepared. I loved seeing Andrew sing. He doesn't usually like to be the center of any attention when he is in front of a big group so I was impressed to see him singing all the words to the songs.

Modeling Update

It seems like I have turned down lots of possible job opportunities as of late for modeling. I just don't have the energy or patience to do it right now. However, a tiny spark was lit after being able to see the online catalog for Birkenstock that Emma did a shoot for back in December. She had 2 pages in the Japanese Birkentstock catalog modeling for some of their cute kids sandals. Our agency asked me to update their photos for this year and so I took the girls out on the front porch one day and took some updated photos of them. One of these days I will get around to doing the boys photos as well.  I thought they turned out pretty cute for the little effort I put into getting them done.