Japan Fest 2015

Today was the big day - Japan Fest at the high school! E, B and Ruri went in at 10:30 a.m. and the festival officially opened at noon.

B was working at a table where kids were making paper brooms. He seemed a little overwhelmed. There were so many people there! I guess that's what happens when admission is free. E had an easier job - handing out scavenger hunt papers to people as they walked in.

Here's Ruri dressed in a kimono helping at the origami table. She looked so pretty!

L went to the festival with her neighborhood friend, N. Here they are showing off the ramune and Totoro bread they bought.

Spaghetti bridge

L was busy tonight working on this spaghetti bridge for a science assignment. It's a team project, but her "team" isn't doing too much and she has to have it finished by Monday, so my living room has been turned into a spaghetti bridge-making factory with a pound of spaghetti and lots and lots of hot glue. Part of the bridge broke when I picked up L from her play rehearsal. I had just picked B up from work at the high school and ... surprise ... three of his friends. Needless to say, the backseat was already full when L climbed in. It was a cozy ride home. E and Ruri stayed at school to help set up for tomorrow's Japan Fest, then went ice skating with the other students and their hosts.

Tea ceremony figurines

Ruri had B open this family gift the other night. It's a ceramic tea ceremony set. I had to put it behind glass in the china cabinet to keep it away from the cats.

A new playmate

Muffles and August love having Ruri here. She plays with them every day.

Target run

Ruri and E spent the day visiting two elementary and the two middle schools today, missing the entire day of classes. E gave a presentation in her old kindergarten class (with her former teacher!) and gave the Irving principal a hug. They remembered her! When they got home from school, they wanted to go to Target so we drove out there. Ruri bought some snacks and candy.

Gifts from abroad

Ruri gave us all gifts the other day and L is loving these paper balloons she received. She's been tossing them all over the living room. Hours of fun. Among the things she brought, B got a kendama. It's very challenging, but lots of fun. Oh, and she brought lots of Japanese candy and snacks which L is having a great time tasting.

Sightseeing

It was snowing and cold this morning when we drove into Chicago so instead of walking around downtown we went to the Field Museum. We saw the voodoo exhibit and the underground exhibit. We wanted to take Ruri up to the top of the Willis Tower, but it was too cloudy and we wouldn't have been able to see anything. We'll have to try that again on a better day.

After the Field Museum, we drove along Lake Shore Drive to the north end of the city, then back into downtown. We had a late lunch/early dinner at Pizzeria Due.

When we were finished with our pizza, it finally stopped snowing. We walked around and did a little shopping on Michigan Avenue.

They're here!

The Japanese students arrived today! Andy and E went to the airport, with E's friend N, to pick up two students and their (heavy!) luggage. L wanted to make something for the welcoming potluck party so she made cupcakes this morning and made OPRF out of chocolate to decorate them. Once she got out of the kitchen I made a modified spaghetti bake with "fun noodles." It was interesting while we were waiting for the students to arrive that one of the Japanese teachers started talking to B and he was talking to her in Japanese. He got a little flustered because he's still learning the language, but she was very patient with him and seemed to be happy with whatever he was saying. I was clueless to the entire conversation.

Here we are at the party, after eating, listening to sensei give everyone directions on what to do for the next two weeks.

And before everyone started heading off to their homes, the Japanese and OPRF students posed for a group picture.

Cat in a basket

Not a sale price

I saw several of these mislabeled prices at the grocery store today - on the juice, on the chips. Someone must be sleeping on the job if they think $9.99 is an "everyday low price" for something that regularly costs $2.29.

Driver's Ed meeting

Andy and I went with B to the school's driver's ed meeting tonight. B drove there and back without incident - except for some idiot who passed him on the left on the Eisenhower bridge. Many of his classmates were getting their permits at the meeting, but B has had his since the fall. His first in-car lesson with his teacher is Friday. He's been driving for a while so he should do OK on the first few lessons.

Too cute

B came home from school today not feeling well and went to sleep as soon as he hit the sofa. August watched out for him. Hopefully, he'll feel like going to school tomorrow.

College visit

That's E, in her hotel bed, not wanting to get up.

She did manage to get up in time to take a shower and have the hotel breakfast before we headed into downtown Terre Haute. Andy was on a mission to find something about Larry Bird that he could email the guys he works with. He lucked out and found this sculpture at Indiana State University. Fortunately, it was MLKing Day and the school was closed so there weren't any students walking around. He indulged me and posed just like Larry Bird.

From there, we walked to the Clabber Girl Museum which, kind of surprisingly, was really interesting and well-done. I enjoy seeing how people used to live and they had a kitchen from the 1940s and 1890s (I think), as well as a World War II-era general store so I was happy.

We drove to the school and had lunch ($5 each) in the cafeteria. E and I had the rigatoni and meatballs and Andy had chili and pizza. We all liked the salad bar. E seemed most impress with the conveyor that took the trays away. (It's the little things, you know.)

These are a couple pics of the main entrance.

And E walking by the pond. The residence halls surround the pond, while the academic buildings are on the other side of campus.

We heard a few lectures then had a student-led tour. The school was a bit small for E, and she said the drive was long, but if she's really interested in engineering, she couldn't go wrong here. The one concern we have is that if engineering turns out not to be her thing, there's not a lot of choice to switch majors. She did love how big the dorms were, compared to the ones she has stayed in at U of I. Looks like E has some decisions to make.

I had to laugh in the bookstore when we saw one shirt that said, "Rose-Hulman dad ... Finance Department." Another said, "My kid and my money go to Rose-Hulman" and on the back it said, "I miss them both." A third shirt said, "Friends don't let friends go to Purdue." Hmm.

Hello, Indiana

Good-bye, Chicago ...

Hello, Indiana!

Andy, E and I left this morning to drive to Terre Haute, Ind., where E is scheduled to tour Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology tomorrow afternoon. (Aunt A is home with B, L and the cats.) When we got to town, we checked in at our hotel and then drove to the college to walk around a bit.

E had to take a picture of this plaque hanging on the wall of the student rec building because it's in Japanese and she could read that it said the school's name. She wants to show the picture to sensei when she's back in school Tuesday.

We spent some time driving around Terre Haute and stopped in at the Honey Creek Mall where Andy and I used to go when I was living in Effingham. E couldn't believe we drove an hour and into another state to get to a mall. We tried to get dinner at the Ballyhoo, a well-known restaurant/bar near Indiana State University, but E couldn't stay because she isn't 21. We drove around a bit and ended up at Monical's. Here's E enjoying her chicken alfredo pizza.

It's what a daddy does

Andy spent part of his birthday shopping with L and got her a Totoro sweatshirt she's been wanting. She can't wait to wear it to Japan Fest at the high school.

Early birthday

The office surprised Andy today with a (full sheet) birthday cake. L said, "It's good to be a boss" when I was describing to her how big that actually is. He brought the leftovers, about half the cake, home. I don't think we'll have any trouble finishing it off. B had three friends (IB, B and S) over to play video games and sleep over and at one point I think there was a fourth kid over. E drove L to the local ice rink so they could skate for a while and Andy and I went to a Mexican restaurant in Forest Park. Very tasty. Here he is celebrating with a birthday margarita.

Summer trip?

B stopped by a biology teacher's room after school today to pick up information about a marine biology summer trip to the Florida Keys. The week and a half trip would give him two science credits. We talked about it a little last night and I was pleasantly surprised he stopped to pick up the information. He's going in early tomorrow morning to talk more with the teacher.

Sleepy boys

New pass

We bought L skating pass today. We went to the ice rink after school and when the receptionist pulled up the most recent photo they had of L on file (from a pool pass when she was probably 3 years old) she said it was cute, but it's probably time we had a new picture taken. Except for the hair, she kind of looks the same, I think. Now the hunt is on to find her some ice skates so she doesn't have to pay the $3 each time she goes.

Easter surprise

I was cleaning our a couple of kitchen cabinets today and came across this chocolate bunny that I must have hidden (pretty well, if I say so myself) after Easter last year. L was so excited until she opened it to find that it had turned to powder. Of course, she couldn't resist tasting it before I tossed it. She said it tasted just like chocolate.

Until next year

Enjoying the sunshine

Another day off

L's school closed again today because of the cold, but B and E were back with a late 10 a.m. start. I caught B napping this morning on the sofa with Muffles before leaving for school.

This is a sure sign it's cold, outside and inside the house - the cats sat with each other for over an hour without fighting.

That's cold

It's cold today. A high expected of 2 degrees and wind chills that are bad enough the kids are all home from school. Even August decided to cuddle up in a blanket today. I think I liked this Polar Vortex better last year when I was in Costa Rica with mom and Cindy.

Incredible vacation information

The kids were thrilled to find this personalized package from Disney in the mail. It included a flash drive that told us how the new arm bands at Disney World work. Andy made the reservations last week, but changed them over the weekend so we can stay at the Boardwalk instead of Port Orleans Riverside just for a change of pace.

Graduation shoes

L was back in school today, but the high school doesn't go back until tomorrow. E spent her last day of vacation having lunch with her BF then shoe shopping. He was looking for boots and she found a pair of shoes that will work for graduation. The shoes for graduation have to be white, no heel and no strap between the toes. Narrows things down quite a bit. Any way, she found this pair that the store claims retail at $79, they were marked $39.94 and she got them on sale for $13. That's a bargain!

Snow!

The snow has arrived and the cold is on its way.

Retirement party

Tonight was Aunt A's retirement party at an Irish bar in Forest Park. We had some food and drinks and played a couple rounds of darts. She had a great turnout.

Here's L playing darts for, I think, the first time ever. She even got a bulls-eye. Guess she's a natural.

And I finally got a decent picture of E and her BF, P.