Darin made it home from India. He said it was, as Caden expresses, "Kinda diffant." Major culture shock. He was glad to get home. He did bring us some nice gifts though.
It was a long week for the boys and I but we kept busy with stuff...chiropractor, shopping, dinner with friends, Nathan's school open house, Nathan first day of school, Caden's preschool, etc, etc, etc....
I'm still not sure what "100% humidity" means when it isn't even raining, but that is what our weather was like.
We spent numerous hours at the "river" to beat the heat. One afternoon was spent at the waterpark just a few minutes away. It was a lot of fun. Caden had fun. Once he loosened his grip around my neck and the blood started to flow again I enjoyed it too. Nathan, of course, had a blast. We went with our neighbors so he had friends to play with. The most significant thing was that the kids were well exhausted by bedtime!
I spent most of my "free" time working on publications for the women's group I attend weekly. I worked on flyers, invitations, and schedules. I enjoy desktop publishing so it was a nice mental break from the mental breakdown I usually experience from a week alone with my children...who I love dearly.
Rokko Island celebrated it's annual Natsu Matsuri (Summer Festival) this past weekend...traditionally held to ward off floods and epidemics. (Hope it takes care of H1N1). A parade of mikoshis (floats from various places on the island) started off the festivities. Those interested could follow the Entente's mikoshi as it was paraded around the "river". The McCleery family was among many families wearing Happi Coats (short, robe-like jacket) and Yukatas (summer kimono). Darin helped carry the mikoshi and Nathan carried the Entente sign. Lots of pictures are on the website (www.mccleerysinjapan.smugmug.com) in "other".
Later in the evening Nathan and his friend Jon did a kung fu performance on stage in front of the multitudes. They did an awesome job. The video can be seen on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SivIwdtETPY). We also recorded it, but are currently time and technologically deficient. Maybe someday I'll get it uploaded to our smugmug site. Their performance starts at about 2:20 minutes into the video.
We are all happy to be back to our home and routine after a busy summer. Nathan really seems to like school this year. His after school club this trimester is Photoshop. He has attended one class and said he really likes it. I have Photoshop on my "new"-used iBook. Hopefully this will reign in some of the creativity that rattles around in his brain. Maybe he can start updating the blog!
