Tyko

I'm not sure what it is, but Luke has a character he likes to play called "Tyko".

Halloween 2011

What blog doesn't include photos of the kids at Halloween? Okay, so here we go... We all dressed up as skeletons this year -- a skeleton family.

Osaka

I was in Osaka, Japan for a few days in October, working on a research project with partners at Osaka University. There wasn't much time for sightseeing -- none, in fact. But I did ride the Osaka Monorail a few times, and passed a station called Banpaku-kinen-koen 万博記念公園駅 (which is quite a mouth full). This was the site of the 1970 World's Fair Park. There is a famous landmark here, the the Tower of the Sun monument, which I enjoyed seeing from the height of the monorail riding by.

The new cat

We've noticed a new cat in the neighborhood over the last 2 weeks. He's friendly and likes to come over and see us at the front door. Luke really enjoys chasing him, and occasionally cornering him.

The little chef

Luke has been helping out in the kitchen lately. He's a good helper, and always dresses the part.

Make your own fun

Luke has been interested in characters lately, and his imagination is growing everyday. So with nothing else to do on a cloudy Saturday afternoon, we all helped him design a Super Hero outfit.

Okay, it started out as just a simple pair of bat wings to "fly" around the house, but once the mask was cut out and we found the old Dracula medallion from a past Halloween, it became more and more about "saving the world" and posing on the porch.

Ian even joined in as the sidekick.

Luke is three

Yesterday was Luke's 3rd birthday. He had a party with his friends in the morning, and then with his family in the late afternoon. I was teaching an evening class at the university, so we decided to open gifts and have a piece of cake when we could all be home in the afternoon. Yukari, as always, did a great job with decorating -- this time with an Anpanman theme (a Japanese cartoon show). She also made a very interesting, and tasty, jello cup -- made of layers of jello and yogurt. Yum!

He took a couple of phone calls and online video chats from relatives, and received many nice gifts from his aunts, cousins, grandparents, and - yes - from his parents too! Ian got to play with the life-size "Diego" balloon -- so he had a wonderful day too.

Blowing bubbles

We have been enjoying the early fall weather here in Boone, this past week, with cool evenings and warm sunny days. The boys like to spend time on the porch blowing bubbles -- or at least, in Ian's case, watching them blow away.

They love the water

Luke has really started to love being in the ocean, or at least in the Bay, here in Virginia Beach this summer. The past two days have been perfect beach weather, and you can't keep Luke out of the water -- jumping over the waves is his favorite. Ian enjoys the water too, and also a good nap under the beach umbrella.

Okay... now I can't wait till these boys are a bit older so we can go surfing in Indonesia during the summers :)

A week at the beach

After arriving back in the US early in August, we had a few days in North Carolina to rest, and then we off again to spend a week with my (Paul's) Mom and Dad in Virginia Beach. First of all, the flight back from Japan was so looooong! It was supposed to take just 13 hours from Tokyo to Newark, and then another couple of hours from Newark to Charlotte -- but there was a storm around the New York area and we were diverted to Washington DC to wait there (on the runway and refuel) for about 6 hours. So of course we also missed our connecting flight to Charlotte. In all, instead of 16 hours from Tokyo to Charlotte, it took about 30 hours... And when arriving in Charlotte, Yukari and I hadn't slept in nearly 40 hours! So it did take a few days to recuperate.

We have had a wonderful week here at the beach. The weather has been perfect! No rain, lots of sun, and temperatures over the past few days are not so hot. Also, my sister Liz, her husband John, and their 3 kids were here for a few days with us, and we had a nice time on the beach and around the house. Luke and Ian have been so lucky all summer to spend so much time with their cousins.

We enjoyed a lot of time at the beach and Luke now really loves the water and building sand castles with  his cousins.

I also took a few photos of Liz' family for their Christmas card... What do you think?