Party Weekend!

This weekend was a lot of fun! We began the weekend by hanging out on the River Mall with the other expats from the Entente (our apartment building). The kids spent the time running around and biking in the plaza with the other children, while I enjoyed several Chuhai...an alcoholic drink made in various fruity flavors. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%ABhai They are a bit like a wine cooler, but stronger! Matt joined us when he arrived home from China. We stayed out until about 9:00 p.m. The kids were completely worn out. Laura fell asleep taking off her shoes and Katie passed out in the bathroom...hopefully not a foreshadowing of her adolescence!

Saturday, we headed off to Merikan Park and visited the Kawasaki Good Times World http://www.khi.co.jp/kawasakiworld/english/index.html. It was devoted to the history and products of the Kawasaki company. They actually had a number of video games and robots and planes/trains/motorcycles that were interactive exhibits. It was a fun way to spend a rainy morning. The weather cleared up and we decided to take a boat tour of the bay. It was interesting...but we didn't learn much since the commentary was all in Japanese!

When we got home it was almost time for the Rokko Island Summer Festival Parade. Each apartment building on the island makes a float and the residents dress up in matching jackets or in traditional Japanese kimonos. Matt and I didn't dress up, but the girls wore their matching Japanese outfits and Nathan wore one of the jackets for our apartment building. Matt did help carry the float! Afterward we stayed and enjoyed the festival. It reminded me of a big church festival with lots of food booths, a few vendors, game booths, a bouncy castle, the fire department with their trucks, and dancing and singing exhibitions. Katie was fascinated by the dancing and she and I spent about 2 hours watching it. The main differences between this festival and the ones in Cinti was that there wasn't any gambling and that half the women and some of the men were wearing kimonos! The little girls looked so cute! Laura and Katie are insisting that they want one for next year!

Laura and Katie topped off the weekend by joining the children's choir for Mass on Sunday. They had no idea what they were doing, but they loved it!