Kidzania

Tuesday was spent at Kidzania. For those of you not familiar,KidZania is themed as a child-sized replica of a real city, including buildings, shops and theaters, as well as vehicles and pedestrians moving along its streets. In this city, children, aged 3 through 14, learn about the adult world, the value of money and work, by experiencing up to 70 different professions.

It was quite the adventure! The kids sign up for jobs and then they are trained. They complete there job and earn money. They can apply for credit cards, rent cars, rent cell phones etc. Parents can only watch from outside the buildings....but there are lots of windows to take photos. It really is a kids world!
Here are a few photos...

Tysei the firefighter..










Tysei was also a security guard with alot of loot to bring to the bank....see video for his training







Somebody has to aspire to be a gas attendant........its not an easy job...




Of course Kianah wanted to drive ASAP, but first she needed to attend driving school, write a test and get her license.




The tour bus was an option when tired of driving...



Juno and Kianah were radio DJ's. They had a script to follow and it was broadcasted all over the town. She got a CD recording of it all...


So Kianah was brave and made the contract for her cell phone all n Japanese. She learned how to use it and cell phone etiquette. She turned on vibrate when she was working. She called me many times throughout the day. It was very strange to hear my 8 year old saying "I got my drivers license" and "I just got a credit card". Oh my....





Tysei was a mechanic.....fixing and washing cars. Is this not the same as child labour????I don't know.......



The kids cannot wait to go back!!! They only experienced the tip of the iceberg. Kianah already has her jobs picked out......nail salon, flight attendant. I wonder what Tysei will choose??

Ding Ding Ding

Yesterday we were doing a little Christmas shopping at one of the big malls in Kyoto. Before we left, Kianah spun a wheel and dropped a silver ball......there were bells ringing and people clapping.....it was quite the scene. She won 30 000 yen ($300) in mall gift certificates!
(There will only be 3 winners in the entire holiday season)

Brrrrrr

We miss central heating.........
This is the most popular spot on a cold evening, especially after a bath!

This year's Gingerbread

Our annual gingerbread house. This year the kids did it mostly on their own...

Back Track.....

Back in October we took part in our community Sports Day. I imagine in Japan, its one of those events that reminds you of your own childhood when you do it again with your own children.
I forgot to add these photos.

Kianah's pearls

Last month, when we were visiting the grandparents in Shizuoka, Shunsuke's grandma gave Kianah a set of real pearls. Shunsuke thought, she was too young.....and I thought "what a smart idea" (I am thinking about the three sets I have that have a permanent home in my top drawer). So I told Kianah that maybe she shouldn't wear them to school and just on weekends. So, it is actually quite funny because weekends are often spent in sweat suits or lounge wear, but Kianah consistently wears her pearls. However, they are being worn and loved........another example of how wisdom comes with old age.

Here is a photo of Sunday morning breakfast with Kianah in her pj's, wearing her pearls!

One of my favourite days

I remember my Aunt Connie saying to me once, "Its important to start some traditions of your own at Christmas". Now, as time has passed I realize it happens without even knowing it. This is one of our family traditions that is infused with traditions from my childhood as well.
As a child I LOVED the day all the Christmas decorations came out! Our house was transformed into this magical place........
I still love this day, and love even more seeing how my own kids are just as delighted as I used to be. So every year we choose one day to decorate, and officially begin the Christmas season.
It ALWAYS starts off with Christmas music my parents played as I was growing up (Kenny and Dolly) and there just can be no substitution! You can imagine the frantic search yesterday when I opened the CD case and it was .....missing! With some frantic searching and some tense moments, it was located just in time:) Then the lights, the tree, and all the fun festive toys that come along.....Then we follow up with a mini family Christmas party. This year we had cheese fondue and crab legs...and maybe a little wine! Tysei entertained us all with his "Christmas shows" and singing carols while playing the piano. It was once again, the perfect kick-off to Christmas!

Our tree has shrunk in size, but we brought any special decorations with us from Canada. It is sun fun to unwrap them one at a time and tell the story behind it...

Tysei Preschool

Look says Tysei, my sandwich looks like a puzzle!


Funny 3's! I think this might quite possibly be my favorite age! I remember really enjoying the 3's with Kianah too. It is so funny to hear how how their little brain works. Here are a few funny stories from the last few weeks:
-I showed Tysei a photo of my bare belly when I was 9 months pregnant with him. I said "That's Tysei in there". He looked at me and said "Oh, you ate Tysei?"

-Grandma in Canada was talking to Tysei on Skype and said "Tysei I went to your cottage today". Tysei asked "Oh, did you see us there?"

- Tysei went for a haircut last weekend with Shunsuke. When he got back I said "Ah, Tysei you got your hair cut". He said "Yeah, I went to the dentist, and she cut my hair". (I think the chair and apron confused him??)

He keeps us all laughing.....

Kianah 2nd Grade

Here is a snap shot from Kianah's exhibition. After each unit her class inquires into they present their work to the school. Kianah was inquiring into her strengths and weaknesses using the multiple intelligences, higher order thinking and DeBono's hat theory.

Thanksgiving 2010

We hosted Thanksgiving here last weekend for about 20 friends and their kids. We roasted a 2olb turkey and had an eclectic mix of side dishes. Some of our North American guests were happy to have turkey again, but for many others it was their first Thanksgiving ever. We did our best to provide all the traditional foods (turkey, stuffing, cranberry, mashed potatoes,veggies, apple pie and eggnog), but a true international flare was added.
We had grilled kangaroo for appetizers, Iraqi kabobs, greek potatoes, and Philippine spring rolls...oh can't forget the ice wine from Canada!!






Okay, so its been awhile again......
Man, life is so busy!

Halloween

Halloween came and went again this year. We had our big party at school. Our plans were to head to Tokyo to stay with friends and go trick-or-treating together, but Tysei got sick with an ear infection. We had 5 days off, so we headed to the grandparents to get spoiled for a few days!!

Kianah's 8th Birthday

Kianah celebrated her 8th birthday many many times this year. Here are some snapshots from her kids party in Japan. It was bowling, karaoke and lunch. We all had an absolute blast!

Karaoke

Back to school

This is us walking to school on our first day. It is 8am in the photo, so you cannot see how HOT we were. It was 44 degrees Celsius in the classroom!! Notice Tysei's grumpy face....

Summer

We're back! It was a fantastic summer and now we are back in the routine for the year. We more than enjoyed our first summer at our new cottage. Already we cannot wait until next summer;)



Click this photo to see our summer album!

Summer 2010

Tokyo Disneyland

First day at Disney was FREEZING! It poured rain for the first hour and was even calling for snow! Good news is, there were no line-ups! We could finish all we wanted to do by noon! So it was back to the hotel for a hot shower, lunch, a cocktail and a nap! We were then perky to return for some night-time fun!














OUr feet were soaking wet, and all the rainboots in Disney were sold out! So we used this old traveling trick...called the plastic bag foot! The kids thought it was hilarious. The we blow dried our shoes..



Notice the guy from the mariachi band waving to me.....




This was the view from our hotel balcony. It was worth it to stay at the Resort, because we would go back to the hotel every afternoon, for a much needed break!! Tysei loved riding the Mickey Mouse train.....and was sp proud of his ticket!



Back for the evening......
This is the first time we were able to take part in the night-time shows. The night light parade was fantastic...far exceeded my expectations!



Ty's first roller coaster experience. He just just just...on tippy toes, met the height requirement. There was real fear in his eyes...poor thing. For a kiddy roller coaster, I sure screamed my head off!