Smells good

It is supposed to be the rainy season here in Japan but we have had such beautiful weather so far. It makes me feel like I should be doing something outside. So today I spent an hour or so doing some gardening.

Oliver came out and enjoyed smelling my little orange thyme bush. They smell so sweet.

Birthday cake

We waited till Matthew arrived in Kansai (for work) to have Luca's birthday cake. Everyone in the family made it to a nice sushi dinner and a special monkey chocolate cake!





And more presents!!



Happy birthday one more time Luca!

Dragonfly park

Mako took all of us to a huge park near the strawberry picking farm. This was my first time to visit this park. It had everything, flying foxes, big playing frame, ball playing zone and a big pond with some ducks, swans and fish. We spent most of the afternoon there.

Mum and Aunty Kyoko:



Both loved the flying fox - they couldn't stop giggling!





These kept the kids going forever!





Mako told me this place is normally super packed. Luckily when we went the weather hadn't cleared so not many people were there. It was perfect for us, not too sunny but nice and dry :)







We walked over to the pond to feed some swans and ducks.





I found some toi-toi like plants:



And some beautiful white roses:



It was a very nice and relaxing afternoon. We all had so much fun!

Fruit picking weekend

We don't normally come back to Japan at this time of the year. We tend to come over in mid summer or winter. It is lovely to be here right now, wonderfully fresh air and just perfect temperature for the kids to run around outside. Plus lots of yummy fruits are ready for harvesting.

When I was 8 years old or so my friend gave me a bunch of biwa/loquat on the way home from school. They were so delicious. I took the seeds home and mum and I planted them in the backyard at our apartment complex. So many years (I think 8-10 years) later it started to fruit and now we have this huge fruit tree!

Mum has been watching and protecting the fruits from birds and a raccoon (someone must have had it as a pet but let loose) for us.











They were so sweet and juicy!!

In the afternoon we got in the car and headed out to the strawberry picking farm we visited in March. This time Aunty Kyoko (mum's little sister) joined us :)

This time I was very careful not to pick too many and ate very slowly. They had some cakes you can add strawberries you just picked, tea and coffee, ice cream etc etc. So great afternoon tea for us!

Mum was super happy!



Oliver knew exactly what he was supposed to do!





I am not sure why but they had lots of soft toy dress ups - I guess you dress up while you eat strawberries???

Mum:















Yuzuki and Runa:



Hinata and Oliver:



Luca and Aunty Kyoko:

Luca is so good at feeding himself - Yuuuuuummmmmyyyy!

Well in the end, as usual I ate way too much. I almost got strawberry flu! (flu-like symptoms I get when I overeat ...) Sadly the strawberry season is already over here, we just have to catch the next one down under! 

Time for traveling (again!)

It's time for our usual activity - traveling by airplanes again. Oliver is so switched on nowadays, putting his airplane clothes on (pants and a shirt), packing his own little suitcase with his favourite toys.

But this was a new experience, getting a special porter service at the airport!

Birthday cuddles

In the evening we went to the airport to catch up with Boel and Nicole who were in town for a quick shopping excursion from Brunei. It was a very short catch up but it was very nice to see them again (We miss you so much!!).

Luca got nice cuddles from Boel and Nicole :) Lucky boy!

Happy Birthday Luca!

We just cannot get over the fact that it has been a whole year since we were at the hospital with our tiny little baby boy. We celebrated (rather rushed as Matthew had to shoot off to work) his special morning with pancakes and lots of strawberries.



I felt very bad I didn't get any candles for him even though we have been practicing "how to blow candles" and he is so good at it. So instead I put a strawberry on his birthday pancakes :)





Oliver couldn't sit still while Luca was opening the presents. So in the end he was opening the presents for him!







It was short but I was very happy we could all sit down and celebrate Luca's special day as a family :)

I will be walking tomorrow

Luca will turn one tomorrow! He can now stand up and stay standing up by himself for more than 15sec (not in this video unfortunately) but he is very close to walking!!

Ty-ranno-sau-rus Rex

This evening we took a stroll to the ECP. I was pretty sure Oliver would like to jump in the water so packed togs for the boys. But no, we didn't get that far.

We walked around the lagoon to check out the dinosaurs we found the other day. (This photo was taken when we were there last). Thanks to this he learned the big word - Tyrannosaurus Rex very quickly!

Today they didn't have the egg shell for the kids to go in so Oliver got pretty upset. But he found something else that made him very happy. A little indoor playground! Like "Jungle Gym" where we used to take Oliver in Brunei but a mini version. It is free for the customers who dine in the restaurants. So why not? We sat down and ordered some drinks and treats for us while Oliver was happy running around. 

Yuuuummmmmyyy fresh Oysters :)

Luca enjoyed having some mummy and daddy time alone: 

By the time we dragged Oliver out of the place it was getting dark. Oliver has this new scooter but hasn't been on it confidently by himself until today. Somehow he figured out how to balance and steer - and loved the ride so much! Made our way home much quicker :)

IKEA addict

You must be proud of me Boel! - I am an IKEA addict. I love browsing on their website to check out their new products and going there to shop. Yesterday I saw something I wanted in their new range. I didn't have to get them ASAP but since Matthew had a day off and we needed to have lunch we hopped on a bus and went there - just because we can!

This time I was more prepared to face the number of people around me and the noise. So even though it was very crowded I wasn't too stressed.

We came home with bits and pieces - even the boys got something today:

I also wanted to get this guy but they sold out of them already :(

Why did I want to get these for Oliver?? - Well... One of Oliver's favourite bedtime stories is called "Oliver Who Traveled Far and Wide" and in this story Oliver goes to bed with his teddy, fox, owl and bat (I haven't found a nice looking bat yet).

These Oliver books are cool, he also has "Oliver who was small but mighty" "Oliver who would not sleep" and "Oliver and the noisy baby"

Anyway I now have another excuse to go and browse in IKEA - Sorry hubby!  But I love it!!

BBQ night

Tonight we were invited to join a BBQ by the poolside. Luckily Matthew had a day off (the last three times we were invited he was working so I had to go alone with the boys) and finally enjoyed the beautiful beef steak one of our friends cooked and some chilled beer!



It was a beautiful full moon evening:

We also got to meet our friend Nicola & James's new born baby girl Ayla who was born last week. She was born on Oliver's birthday! So tiny and soooo cute!

Oliver was very happy to see Ayla's siblings - Annabel and TJ and run around with them until he was too tired...

Very nice relaxing evening for all of us :)

Playing together

Somehow Oliver really wants to go in Luca's cot to play with him. They are both getting bigger so it's a squeeze but they play very nicely together, cuddling, giggling, playing cars :)