Typhoon Songda

We just got done with our first typhoon of the season. They do an excellent job of preparing here, and systems are very in order so everyone is informed and knows what is coming. The wind gusts were 90 knots on Saturday night. The girls were already asleep. It was about 9:30 when it really started picking up. I listened to it for awhile rattling all our windows, tried to fall asleep in bed early, but it wasn't working. Our storm windows are really solid here. Good thing, because I don't think normal windows could survive such strong winds. We went out the next day and surveyed the damage. There were lots of big tree branches lying around, and some good-sized trees that had been all the way uprooted. Out of all the cars in the parking lot, ours seem to be the only 2 with damage. Most of the cars here have these plastic rain guards overlapping the top of the window, and one of those on the van had been ripped off so we're left with a jagged little piece of plastic. On the Funcargo, the plastic red and clear piece covering the taillights on one side was ripped off, and I noticed a little dent in the back. And a strip on the top had pulled off, but I think I can press it back in. Maybe I'll go to the junkyard and see if I can find that piece of plastic, so the car doesn't look so junky right away. One of my friends said there was a car on it's side up the street, which isn't surprising since the cars here are so little and light. I believe this was just a strong Category 2, so I'd hate to see what a Category 5 brings about. Even with that, I'd feel secure in our towers. Another friend out in town said it was the strongest winds they'd had in decades, so maybe that will be the worst we see while we're here, God-willing! 
And in case you're wondering, typhoons and hurricanes are the exact same thing. . just called by different names for their location in the Pacific Ocean. 

Shi-sa Park

We found this huge Shi-sa lion dog the other day. . right in the middle of a park! :) OK, it was the park. Maybe you've seen these as good-luck charms. Taken from my phone book - "The idea is said to have come from the blend of Chinese and Japanese religions. Shi-sas are placed at the entrance of homes, shrines, graves, and on rooftops. They are placed in pairs: the one with the mouth open represents the male getting rid of evil and the one with the mouth closed is a female holding the happiness." They are on many rooftops here - mostly made of unglazed ceramic. We even have a pair on our towers. They make a popular collectible it seems. 

I kept A. in the picture on the bottom left so you can see how large he is! She wanted to climb up to the top using those outside rungs, but I made her take the inside stairs. Once she was inside the mouth, she refused to go down either of the concrete slides. Concrete slides are surprisingly fast, by the way. :)

My Beautiful Baby

I know we're completely biased, like all parents, but I really do think I have the most beautiful children. What's even greater has been watching A's heart as she grows and matures and communicates God's love to everyone in her life. It's just the greatest thing ever. And D. is so sweet already. She is so happy and content and loves giving kisses and pulling hair. :) I can't believe how close she's getting to ONE! Tooth #6 just poked through. Can you see her bottom two in the 2nd picture?!

Nishibaru Pirate Ship Park

I tried to be brave with a friend the other week and find a new park. We both started out at Kinser with the same directions, but she ended up never finding it, and I found it by luck. It was great having a play date with a friend while we played at different parks. :) We ended up staying at this pirate ship park for a couple hours, because the weather was gorgeous. In that time, 2 little classes of Japanese preschoolers came to play with us. From what I have gathered, not all the schools here have their own playgrounds, so they bring kids to the community parks nearby. They all looked cute in their flappy brightly-colored baseball caps. A couple of the kids kept running up to me to practice an English phrase or two, and then they would run off laughing. There was a cable rope swing that A. was brave enough to try once she saw all the other kids doing it. They really are brave here. The spaces in between the logs that made up this wood bridge were big enough for her to fall all the way through this time, but the Japanese seem to like "playing at your own risk". I'm not sure which side I'm on yet. . the sissy American side with developmentally appropriate playthings, or the adventurous, let kids be kids side of this country! The kids try to talk to A. and she tries to talk back to them, but it takes them both awhile to realize that they don't understand each other. Most of the time they just give her some funny looks while she is left trailing behind them trying to get them to listen! We both do a lot of smiling to make up for our lack of language so far. An old lady came over and took D. from me when she saw that A. needed rescuing from the crow's nest. They always ask if she is a boy or a girl, because they don't really use gender colors here, so dressing her in pink has no meaning for them. There were lots of boys wearing pink hats at the playground. 

Poser

A. is into being melodramatic. . . 

Good Eaters!

We never thought the day would come when our 3 year old actually asks her mom if she can eat salad and then goes willingly to the fridge to make her own and munch on it. She was not always a very good veggie eater, but maybe, just maybe that phase will be over, thanks to some successful ABA.
Her little sister is following right along. Below is the whole plate of edamame that she ate the other day (granted the pods take up a lot more space than the soybeans, but still). It was the first time for both of us to eat it. :)  

She was seriously SO excited to eat her salad, and ate most of the bowl!

D's plate of edamame-next time I'll buy the already shelled ones!

Treehouse Park

I found our way to another park the other day on the one day of sunshine last week. Treehouse Park looked like fun, and A. had did have fun climbing up the 3 big trees. There was a long, wobbly wooden bridge connecting 2 of the trees, but being overly cautious, I didn't let her try it because the gaps in between the logs were big enough to swallow her whole leg. :) They had a fun tunnel that you could crawl through and pop up in different places, too. Good way to get the kids nice and dirty! And as you can see below, she just loved the quad bike-go'round toy. I thought it was a clever idea, making all the kids pedal to have some fun. We were the only ones at the park though, so maybe it would've been more fun without slow Mom trying to pedal for both of us. D. just liked crawling in the sand and trying to eat dry leaves. This park is pretty close to our home, so we might have to re-visit it once we've checked out all the other ones. :)