Rylan's Sports Day

While Chris was away, Rylan's school celebrated their Sports Day. Sports Day is a Japanese holiday that celebrates physical activity and the yochiens and schools all host a day of events. I would say it's similar to something like Junior Olympics that I did in elementary school. 

At all of Rylan's other school functions, he never participates and scowls while his class performs songs and dances for the parents. Because of this track record, I was absolutely dreading taking the other two for a 5 hour day outside with several events for him to participate in. Because Finley had HFMD that week before, I almost thought I could get out of it but the bumps started going away and he hadn't had a fever for days so I sucked it up and went. 

I am so glad we went! Finley was difficult but seeing Rylan shine the way he did that day, made it all worth it. He participated in each event and did a dance with his class at he stood out so well in. I was also required to participate in an obstacle course and Quinn had an opportunity to do one for her age group as well. Despite the rain on and off, it was a fun day and I was so proud of Rylan!

Highs and Lows

Chris left for Yuma, AZ for training days after Quinn started school. He was there about 2 months and enjoying all of our food favorites in his spare time.

I went through a rough patch for the first time he's been away in his entire career. It certainly didn't help that Finley went through some major regressions in sleep and potty training. The first week Chris was gone, we were basically at the first week of potty training again. Remember me posting about how great Finley did and how quickly he was trained? All of that celebration went out the window as I was wiping smeared poop out of the grout of the 1" bathroom tiles....and out of Captain America masks. Not to mentioned the pee all the time, every time. There is only so much patience for cleaning up bodily fluids so many months after the kid goes like a pro consistently. Finley was impossible to put to bed, coming out 3-4 times after tucking him in and also decided those two months would be a great time to give up naps. Added to the heap were several sicknesses to include Impetigo and Hand Foot Mouth Disease. Quinn was exceptionally sassy and Rylan exceptionally sensitive and difficult. Rylan ripped a shelf off the wall accidentally (like my curtain rods in CA)  and about one million beads shot across the entire living room. I was easily depressed, not wanting to leave the house because I had nothing left to give. I had reached a breaking point after several weeks and then got a grip again. I signed Finley up for a couple days a week of hourly care so I could have a break and run errands by myself. It only took the 3rd kid to embrace the need for help.

Once October came, Fall decorations and the sight of pumpkins really cheered me up. I replaced my flower pots with Fall arrangements and Chris went to Marshalls and Michaels FaceTime shopping with me so I could get some Fall garlands and spruce up our home a bit for Fall. I decided to do a daily Halloween craft after school with the kids to help break up the frustration of after school demands and energy bursts and that helped me reconnect with the kids and not rely on TV to pass the time until bedtime. Chris got home days before Halloween and at last our lives were back to normal and the potty, sleep, and behavior issues dissolved within a week of him being back home.

End of Summer

Though the heat sweltered on until November, our Summer ended the last weekend before Quinn started school. The base had a bash held at Penny Lake with bands, Taiko drum performances, bounce houses, BBQ, and more. The night ended in fireworks and after a week recovering from our previous fireworks disappointments, we decided to go just for the fireworks. Rylan had thrown up that afternoon as we were getting ready to go to the movies and because he was better by sunset, we loaded them up, and were able to keep our distance from people to watch. Finally, a firework display that was enjoyable. Somehow, even the weather was cool enough that we weren't sweating and could sit comfortably to watch. 

The next day, Quinn started 1st Grade. The first week of school was a perfect week of weather; a much needed break from the relentless heat and humidity. We spent more time outdoors that week than, quite possibly, the entire Summer. Quinn had a great first week of school and we ended the month of August with a $1.31 Basken Robbins ice cream cone. 

Fireworks, Fans, Frustration- Part 3

After that miserable Thursday at Miyajima to see the fireworks, we took Friday completely off to recover. I can't even remember if a single one of us got out of our pajamas that day and if that is true, there is no shame.

On Saturday, we took the train to Yanai, South of us, to witness a greatly talked about Goldfish Lantern Festival. The main event is the parade. When we got there, it was about 4:00pm. The parade didn't start until 6:30pm so we had time to walk around, take in the sights, and make our own goldfish lanterns. It was another ridiculously hot day, even if the sun was not at it's peak. It stayed hot our entire duration and there wasn't a moment that I wasn't fanning myself or the kids. It was just that hard to cool down.

Even thought it was crowded, it was nothing like the traumatic experience days before. Plus, there were a ton of Americans from base there so we didn't feel quite so alone. After we figured out where things were, we found the craft area and painted some goldfish lanterns. Rylan decided he didn't want to paint one so I painted his. I really enjoyed it. We went from there straight to a spot on the side of the main street to hunker down and wait for the parade. Because we were at the end of the parade path, it took a while for it to reach us but was so neat! Each part of the parade really took a lot of time to do their thing. There was a traditional dance performed and then a class of drummers that stopped right in front of us and played for at least a half-hour. They even let the kids play on the drums when they took a break. Then they had their goldfish floats as the finale to the parade. After asking around a bit, we were told the best place to see the fireworks was from the bridge, so we headed that way to claim a spot (not tarps here). Did I mention it was really hot? To avoid carrying a bunch of weight, we decided to not bring water bottles and just get some from vending machines as we needed. The problem was because it was such a small town, they didn't have as many as we're used to seeing and the ones we did come across either didn't have water in it at all or was sold out. Chris sat with the kids while I went on a mission to find some. I was able to find a small shop front selling drinks from a plastic tub with ice and took all 5 of his remaining waters. Carrying 5 ice waters back to our spot was glorious, I was able to put my fan away for the entire walk back.

When the fireworks started, we learned the best spot was not from the bridge. A large building stood in front of where the fireworks were actually displayed...closer to the train station where we were standing originally for the parade. The tears started again- we were 0-2 on fireworks so far. Tired, overheated, and disappointed, we loaded the train back home and decided fireworks are overrated.