Hopper's 1st Overnight Guest

Ok funny and awkward story. I try to speak as much Dutch as possible but often my conversations with Hopper's teachers are peppered with English. It was no different a few weeks ago when picking him up, teacher Judith starts going on in Dutch about someone coming to sleep over for the weekend. (Mind you school lets out on Thursday, who in the hell is staying at my house for 4 days?!?!) My brain is scrambling to understand just who exactly is coming over without any warning and I start to panic as she mentions "he" will need his swim trunks to join us at the beach! (I've only packed lunch for us 3!) Resorting to flustered English, I was so relieved to hear that it was Puk, the school's plush doll mascot and learning totem. Effen Whew! My brain was all prickly. I'm sure the alarm was written all over my face. And in my relief, hearing about the sweet Puk ritual for the first time, I started to giggle. And cry. Just a little. Sweet tears of mixed emotions.

So Puk came over with his own little suitcase including PJs, toothbrush and paste, comb, change of clothes, manual flashlight and bedtime story. (The point is to take responsibility of him, a Montessori Tamagotchi if you will.) And of course the addition of swim trunks and sunglasses so he could spend the afternoon in the sand with Hopper Mama and Daddy at Zandvoort!

We love the beach! And even went swimming. (No not Puk, though we joked about burying him the sand for a photo op then decided we all have enough sand brought into our houses by little feet and it wouldn't be fair to the next kid's parents for their inanimate guest to splash out sand onto their *wink* clean floor.) We walked, played soccer, found hermit crabs and jellyfish, and played on the slide and bouncy castle. It was a gorgeous day, the last proper beach day of the year, and we soaked up every last minute of it, staying late to have dinner at a beach cafe, toes in the sand.

Oh, and for the rest of the weekend, Puk joined us for meals and some tossing around the house and at the end of the 4 days, we made an entry into his "travel log" with photos and some lovely words for the next kids to read. Hopper got to show-n-tell about it at school and all the kids loved the pic of Puk hangin' cool on the beach blanket. Such a lovely thing to do for the kids.

Our Last Hurrah Kamiyama/Osaka Style

After an emotional goodbye, and a very hasty cleaning and precision packing (sorry Keiko et al for the mess we had no intention of leaving), we were on the bus to Osaka to lavish our last few days in one of Japan's best cities. We chose a nice hotel near the America-mura to be near the action and enjoy some great food.

We mostly did some shopping around to collect last minute necessities like the lens cap I dropped in the indigo vat (which we never found), winter shoes and clothes for Hopper (since he outgrew everything whilst there), and a few odds and ends that we had spotted at the beginning of our trip. We had also wanted to eat okonomiaki (Japanese stuffed pancakes) and squid balls and stock up on some food items that would be impossible to find in Holland. (We also threw sudachi limes into our suitcase and hoped the sniffer dogs wouldn't find them!)

The rest of our plan was to meet up with the lovely guys we met at Ikumi beach, Takeshi, Daisuke and Fumio. We chose a cafe near our hotel that had a fab vibe and proceeded to eat and drink and have general merriment playing with Hopper and sharing stories from our stay. Such sweet guys, a real pleasure to have made their friendship, and the creators of our first true family portrait. Thanks guys for your hospitality, comradery and generous prints.

And a special arigato to all of Japan for giving us such lasting memories and the sense of home. We shall return!!!

hard to say goodbye to that spectacular view

Nik being interviewed for a newspaper at our local Kamiyama eatery

cleaning the car

we tried to teach him wax on/ wax off

saying goodbye on our last night proved difficult for one little boy

farewell dinner with a group of superb people

just a casual dinner in! mmm mmm delicious!

Nik signing the prints of his colossal work

dropping like flies

full belly, saki, long day at the wood mill

day of departure, farewell meet-up at the farmers' market

last little fun with Keiko

touching, these lovely faces came to say goodbye and brought parting gifts!

tears were shed at the bus station

and we zonked out on the bus to Osaka

Osaka has great parks

our favorite okonomiaki spot first found in 2010

another okonomiaki spot where your table top IS the hot plate

just stuff it in

one of the many covered shopping strips with lots o food

and people

yay more food!

Hopper was so excited to see these guys...

Takeshi, Daisuke, & Fumio

they had so much fun

and knew all the toddler slapstick

love these guys

with our portrait from the beach (my disc drive doesn't work so can't upload the photos! will work on it)
Thanks guys!

street shenanigans with the Osaka soccer/football team noise makers

Nankai line to the airport

1 hour of peace & quiet on the 11 hr flight home

back at home, exhausted

"Mama, I want to go back to Japan. On the shinkansen high speed train. Can we go?"

Hopper Turns 3!!!

It's already been a few months ago, which is a testament to spending all possible moments outside in summer, but Hopper turned 3 and got to have 3 parties!

Since school was closed for summer, he spent a couple days a week at his old crèche/daycare. He loves it there and made his first outside-the-circle friends there so they were happy to have a little cake party and sing songs. This year he actually wore the hat for a few minutes, got to hand out little gifts to the other kids (bubbles and a balloon) and got a beautiful harmonica from the thoughtful caregivers.

Then his actual birthday was a Saturday and what better way than to celebrate on the day! It was a scorcher, probably the hottest day of the year. Of course we had to go to our local Sarphatti Park but just set up in the shade. So many lovely friends stopped by with fab gifts and Hopper got to have chocolate ice cream. And really, that's about as good as it can get for that boy. There was some time spent in the sand pit at the far corner where the shade was, but it was all about snacking and presents for sure.

His preschool recommended they celebrate his 3rd year after the summer break so during the first week back at school he got to share apple tart and hand out butterfly popcorn bags that he made with mama. Their ritual is just the cutest thing, they made him a hat, called him to the circle and asked him who he wants to sit next to him. (Viggo of course, then Safwan)  They then sang songs and presented the gift chest for him to choose something. (recorder flute) Then on to tart eating and juice drinking and talking about how lekker (delicious) everything is.

The sweetest thing about all the merrymaking, is that suddenly being 3 has given him more confidence and awareness and he has really blossomed at school. He's speaking and singing and joining in, and although he's never been fond of farewells, he has managed to mostly mature into a more independent boy. 3 is truly a great year! I love you my Hopper Nuggetine!

Thanks to everyone who made turning 3 a special occassion!

Here's some birthday photo gluttony!...

not sure about being center of attention (at daycare)

oh thank god you're here...

...take this %&*# hat!

And you wear it!

feelin the macho 3 yr old vibe

birthday eve, passed out beauty

Birthday morning snuggle 

unfortunately we took so few photos, but here's grandad. and Cal in the corner!

sweltering heat, hiding in the shade

slide shenanigans

with Jaro and Devin

with Jaro and Devin

Devin is a sweetheart 

nude birthday pizza

but i wanna watch cartoons!

how great is this!?!?!?!

At school, they decorate!

gets to ring the opruimen (clean-up) bell

so excited!

wait to be called to the circle

Hopper first gets to choose his seat

then chooses Viggo to sit on one side...

... and Safwan on the other

they all get to sit

How old are you? Hoe oud ben jij geworden?

let's talk about cake and candles

and sing Hoera!!!!!

Hoera!! Hoera!!

Viggo, wat een boef! (translation makes little sense, what a little thief!)

the present chest, also a drum

birthday boy gets to pick anything he wants

and go eat cake!

patiently waiting

your flute

yes my flute

lekker!!!

my sweet little 3 year old boy!!!!