Christmas break with the family

We were happy to spend time with Liz and her family in Virginia during the Christmas break, including a beautiful clear winter day -- perfect for a walk along the Chesapeake Bay beach.

Merry Christmas!

Halloween Vampires

The boys dressed up as vampires for Halloween, keeping up the tradition of having the same costume as each other. They had a couple of parties early in the week, but unfortunately, we were expecting snow (again!) this Halloween night, so no "trick or treating" from house to house this year.

Bike riding

This is the first day Luke has ridden his bike without training wheels! In fact, he really went right from the strider bike to this regular one. New bicycle and helmet for Luke's birthday next week, and Ian got a new helmet as well :)

First day of kindergarten

Luke starts kindergarten today!

A few days at the beach

Enjoyed a few days at the beach in Virginia before Luke starts kindergarten and I start the fall semester at Appalachian State.

Nana and Papa

After returning from the study abroad in Japan and Indonesia, we had a wonderful time at the beach visiting Nana and Papa.

Study Abroad to Indoneisa

I took a group of graduate students in the College of Education at Appalachian State University to Indonesia this month, to work with teachers in schools in the city of Yogyakarta. We had a wonderful time, and visited historic sites, such as Borobudur Temple in Central Java, and the Green School campus in Bali. I am sure this will become a regular study abroad in our college.

Visiting schools in Yogyakarta

Touring the Taman Sari Water Palace in Yogyakarta

A wonderful day touring Borobudur Temple in Central Java

With my students and instructors from Sanata Dharma University in Yogyakarta

Tanah Lot Temple on the west coast of Bali

Barong dance in Batubulan Village, Bali

The Green School campus in Bali

Happy Birthday Yukari

Happy Birthday Mom!

Fourth of July Parade

We enjoyed a day out in downtown Boone, watching the annual Fourth of July Parade.

Naritasan Temple

I visited Naritasan Shinshoji Temple again this week, ahead of our study abroad to Indonesia and Japan this summer. Narita Temple is quite close to the Tokyo International Airport, and allows overnight transit tourists to experience an interesting Japanese temple without the need to travel into Tokyo itself.

The neighborhood around Naritasan Shinshoji Temple is famous for unagi, fresh water eel. While not my favorite dish, it is interesting to see the restaurants in the street leading up to the temple preparing unagi at lunchtime.

North Carolina Zoo

This past weekend we visited the North Carolina Zoological Park, in a beautiful location in the middle of the state near the city of Asheboro. With the warm spring weather, the crowds were out and it seems half the state were at the zoo that day. We had fun, and boys enjoyed the lion and baboon exhibits most.

Spring is coming

A cold winter that lasted through March is finally moving into spring. We're looking forward to more warm days here and seeing the trees bloom here in April.

A nice spring day on the beach

Spring break we enjoyed a few days in Virginia Beach, and with nice weather we had fun on the beach. The water was cold, but that didn't stop the boys from trying the water :)