Lively Up Yourself

Already halfway through the year, and it just dawned on me there's only six months left in the decade......Wow, doesn't seem like that long ago we were celebrating the millenium!

The last two weeks have been a mix of rainy and cloudy days, but we did have one great sunny day last weekend, so it was off to the shop to buy a kids pool. When we got home I gave our grass it's first haircut (using a weed wacker), then got to pumping up the pool and filling it with water. We had to put a few jugs of boiling water in to warm it up for Joshua, but eventually it was okay and he went for his first "swim". It was still a bit cold for his liking, but he still splashed around for a bit. After Josh had finished, word had spred, and Ryo and Nagi had come over for a splash. We had a lot of fun playfighting, splashing and relaxing, while Joshua looked on grumpily, probably wondering why we were having so much fun while he just thought it was too cold and wanted to get out!

Looking forward to more days like this. Big enough for two adults and two kids!

We also went to our neighbourhood matsuri last week. It was not as good as our old neighbourhood festival, being much smaller, but it's still fun, and for me it really signifies that summer has arrived.

Festival fun; Ryo brings a new style to the shooting game; Eating takoyaki (fried octopus balls)

Joshua is eating more different food every day. Along with rice and carrots, he has now tried tofu/carrot (didn't like), potato (liked), onion soup (liked) & tomato/cucumber (really strange face at first, but then liked). He has become very interested in exploring his body - touching his ears and hair, and playing with his hands a lot. He's still not rolling much, but can do it when he tries. He also loves reading books before bedtime, listening quietly and touching the pictures.

Getting bigger every day - now over 7kg and getting a bit chubbier.

This month we're looking forward to having Brad and Colleen over for a couple of days as they stop over on the way to Thailand. And of course, I can't wait for the Tri-Nations to start. I'm one of the few that is happy to see the All Blacks slightly humbled in the last few games, giving the new players some much needed experience. Expect to see them dominate once again when all our big guns are back......"Hurry up DC!" Also looking very forward to getting my ticket for the Bledisloe in Tokyo. It'll be my first time to see the All Blacks live in a BIG game and it's gonna be crazy with about 60,000 people packing the stadium!

Wetness

So, I guess the Chiefs weren't quite ready for the final. I'll leave it at that. I had a big night out that night and woke up with a massive hangover. I was supposed to play basketball that afternoon, but I could barely move! In the end, I managed to drag myself to the game, feeling very dodgy indeed. Somehow, I managed to play the best game of my life, scoring about 30 points (I lost count and didn't check the scoresheet) including six or seven 3-pointers! It cured my hangover, but I suffered a slight concussion at the end of the game, so I still had a headache after the game! (Don't worry Mum, I'm fine now :)

It's rainy season again. But we've had heaps of nice days too and have been keeping busy every weekend. Last weekend we went to Ryo's and Nagi's sportsday, and Liam's sportsday. Both days were good fun, we ate good food and all the kids did well.

Ryo (in black socks) enjoys kibasen; Liam running; Lunchbreak relaxing; Anthony anchors the tug o'war

Today is my first Father's Day! We had a special event at my school for all the dads yesterday, and Joshua was a big star among all the kids. They were so excited to see him and were surprised how big he's gotten since they last saw him in March.

It's usually this time of year that we go to Okinawa for a summer break, but Joshua's too small to take there now, so we won't be able to enjoy the beach this year. Bit gutted about that, but maybe we'll take an extra long holiday sometime later when he's ready to travel.

Dreaming about the beach

Joshua has now started eating food - mushy rice and mushy carrot. He really loves eating so I'm looking forward to seeing what foods he likes and doesn't like. He's also getting good at moving on his belly, but can only go round in circles - no forward or back movement yet.

Shirtless is becoming more common in the hot days; Reading one of his favourite books from Mike and Claire; Eating carrot mush; Nice messy face!

Go the Chiefs!!

As I write this it's less than 10 hours until the Super 14 Final! I'll be goin hard for the Chiefs but no matter what happens, it's been a bloody great season! I've been talking up the Chiefs from the start, even though they lost those first three games, they showed lots of promise and now it's down to this last game....Awesome!!! I'll be headin into Tokyo with Anthony to watch the final, so it's gonna be a huge night (kickoff at 12:30am Japan time).

At home, we finished the vegetable garden and have planted tomatoes, pumpkins, eggplants, cucumbers and potatoes. It was a bit of a rushed job because we needed to get the plants in quick. Hopefully we'll have a bit of tucker in a couple of months that will inspire me to make a bigger and better vege garden for next year!

Looking kind of sad right now - but I counted 3 tomatoes growing!

Joshua is doing awesome. He has just started rolling from his back to stomach, so really have to keep an eye on him now. He loves putting anything he can get his hands on into his mouth. His hand eye coordination is also much better as he can grab things easily and turn them in his hands.

Trying to change himself; Another Marist rugby player in the fam; Can you see me?

Summer=Cute hat time!; Helping me on the BBQ

We have nothing special happening in June. It's the start of the rainy season so it's gonna be wet and getting hot and humid. Luckily, I copped the new Fat Freddy's Drop album to crank throughout the summer. I also want to buy a paddling pool for Joshua (and me!) soon, so we can enjoy playing in the water on the hot days ahead.

We found our first lizard at the new house!

Lazy Days

Not much happening in the last couple of weeks, but definitely enjoying the warmer weather and BBQ's (now had two and counting). Joshua is now rolling from back to side with ease, and he enjoys playing with his hands and feet. He was happy to see Liam a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed Liam's Dinosaur robot, "Lucky"!
On the home front, I've just started phase 2 of the garden - a vegetable garden out the back. Looking forward to growing some fresh veges in the backyard.


Joshua wearing his kabuto - a samurai helmet that symbolises strength and health; Me & Josh; After bathtime

Visiting Fumiko, Anthony & Liam; Josh checks outs Lucky; Evolution?

Operation Garden - complete!

It's been almost six months since we moved into our house, but the garden has been an ongoing project with the aim to have it ready for the summer. Well, today was the big day that we finally finished it, and it looks like a beautiful summerstyle garden with an NZ flavour!
It all started back in November as we pulled out all the old trees and weeds. The following few months we dug up the soil and pulled out the weeds (which I've continued to do until yesterday!). We planted an 'Iceberg' rose bush (Hajime's homage to Mum's garden in Mangakoea) and put down a stone pathway down the side of the house. Last weekend we built a small deck (or step?) for the living rooms ranchslider. And finally today we got busy, planting two trees (including an NZ cabbage tree), 25 small trees along the fenceline, and laying out patches of grass - I had a lot of fun cutting the grass patches to make it fit-kind of like doing a jigsaw puzzle. Now we just need to wait about a month for the grass to establish itself in the soil and then it's all good. Big thanks to Hajime for all the time and effort he put into the job - it was nice to have a pro directing me!

Building our massive front deck; Aki and Joshua like it

Boys 'n da garden; Grass sandwiches anyone?; The finished product

A nice finishing touch; Savouring a cold one after a hard days work

After all that hard work we had our first (of many to come) BBQ of the summer season. It really felt good to relax in the warm evening with a cold beer and a grill full of meat.....might have to have another one next week!

Looking forward to more of these; Aki tried to run away with the food, but was too slow

Not much else happening - just having a lazy Golden Week (4 public holidays in a week!), enjoying the nice weather and watching NBA and Super 14 (Go Chiefs!!). We just got a new couch so I'm enjoying lounging around on it, watching games and movies. Joshua is doing great and has a new favourite game called "kick daddy in the face". Maybe my stubble tickles his feet, but whatever it is, he really enjoys it! He also seems to be growing out of clothes after wearing them about 2 times!

Joshua likes to eat turtles nowadays; He's a winner; The new couch aka "My 2nd bed"; Yes, he's still looking cute!

Playoff Time

It's that time of year again that I'm in sports heaven. The Super 14 is getting real interesting now - just hope the Chiefs can hold on to a top four position. And the NBA playoffs are underway and looking as exciting as ever! I'm picking LeBron to beat Kobe in seven come finals time. From 10pm last night to 1:30pm today, I managed to catch the Chiefs and Crusaders win in SA and watched three NBA playoff games -pretty tired now!

Joshua is getting so big now - He's 62cm long (48.8cm at birth) and 6.1kg (2.9kg at birth). He is kicking so much and grabbing anything that is within reach, but usually settles for putting his hands in his mouth. He is also "talking" so much and we've heard him laugh a few times as well!

We've been enjoying the beautiful weather of late, spending more time outside, including a nice Hanami (viewing cherry blossoms) picnic at Hodogaya Park. The garden project has stalled a bit as we wait for the trees and grass to be delivered, but I'm hoping it will be looking better by Golden Week (four public holidays and a weekend in an eight day period - can't wait!!).

Getting into summer clothes; Hanami with Aki's family; Joshua and Dad

Joshua shelters from the sun; Trees; Mum and Joshua

New friend #1 - Toby the Turtle; New friend #2 - Shinnosuke (10 days old)....Joshua finally found someone he's bigger than!!