So yesterday, since we’re right i the middle of a sticky hot summer I got Yosei all dressed up in a swim diaper, tank top, and sun hat and took us for a walk down to the river right outside.  There’s a very nice shallow place where Yosei wasable to cool his bottom, splash around, and play with rocks; all while I sat on a big rock and took pics and soak my feet in cool river water ^^

He had a lot of fun,  even learned to stack on rock on top of another (even clapped for himself if he got the rock to stay in place)  So needless to say  he was not happy with me when we had to head home.

This time its not my bath ghost but my mother’s bath ghost.  She told me on Sunday she was sitting in the bath  and my dad was in there talking with her (I try not to picture that too vividly :P)  when suddenly this weird vibrating and noise started coming from the faucet of the bathtub.  My mom described it as sounding like a trumpet playing morse code. Really weird right?  The noise wasnt stopping so my dad got up and put his hand on the faucet,  but it didnt stop then either.  Not until my mom stood up and got up out of the bath did the noise quit.  Little bit creepier than my light flickering ghost isn’t it?

Thing is hearing this brought back memories of my childhood imaginary aquaintence Mr. Space.  I wouldn’t call Mr. Space  a friend really as I never really played with him like my sisters did with their imaginary friends.  Infact I found him a bit intimidating and kind of scary; though my dad says even though Mr Space made me nervous I still thought he was probably an ok guy.  I don’t remember a lot of him  but I do remember that he lived in a dark place; which I’m thinking was either the crawl space under our porch or in the attic (possibly both).  I was about 3 during the Mr Space days so I dont remember a lot (its was near 24 years ago afterall)  But my dad remembers I would sit in front of dark places  and kind of call to Mr Space, ‘Mr Space… Mr Space?  Are you there?’ 

But  anyhow it got my thinking wouldn’t it be really freaky if my old imaginary aquaintence wasn’t really all that imaginary, if he was the one making the weird trumpet noise in the bath.  At least as far as I know most kids dont have imaginary friends who live in only dark places that they’re very nervous about being around…  My sisters never did one had a friend named Buckweed and the other had a friend named Sheena.  They used to talk about their imaginary friends and play with them and all that…

I dunno maybe I’m just weird  but stuff like that in a 150 year old house does get you wondering sometimes.  

The last couple weeks have begun the summer festival season here.  The week before last we went to a local Bon Odori Festival.  The Bon Odoris are usually very small as they’re put on within the neighborhood,  Unfortunately our neighborhood doesnt sponsor one,  but there are about 3 that go on within 10 minutes walk of us.  We got Yosei all dressed up in his jinbei to go to the festival, and only after we got there did I realize I had forgotten the camera ><  (Actually, we had our first family barbecue by the river the next day and I forgot the camera then too)

    But this last weekend we went to the very big Hamura City Summer Festival.  It’s a little bit further away so we went by bicycle.  This time I remembered to bring the camera too.    We ate some yummy food and watched some performances and just had a fun time (even though some of the dancers scared Yosei, it was the masks).

Yosei in his beetle bug jinbei watching a wadaiko (Japanese drum) performance

Papa and Yosei at the festival

Feel free to enjoy some vids I took at the festival as well ^^

Festival Music

Taiko Performance

Taiko 2

About a year ago my old host mother gave us her son’s old Rody hoppy horse.  We were pretty happy to recieve it since brand new cones are pretty expensive.  Thing was it had been very well used.  So well in fact that her son had even taken blue pen and drawn allllllllllll over the bright yellow horse.  Being that Yosei’s my first  I’ dkind of like him to mess up his own toys instead of having already messed up toys, so I decided to repaint it Rody. 

I asked my lil’ sis if she could come up with a design; she’s a tattoo artist and is pretty good at that sort of thing.  She came up with a beautiful pirate ship with two swallows holding banners with Yosei’s name and birthday written on them.  Unfortunately  it was too intracate a design for the size I had to reduce it to.  So I ended up taking the swallow with the name banner, enlarging it a putting it on Rody’s rump, and then coming up with my own design for the chest.  It took me nearly a year to finish (because I’m a slacker) but I finally finished the whole thing today!!

It’s painted all by hand in acrylics, with a sparkly topcoat of glitter mixed in gel medium and the gone over in high gloss acrylic varnish.

 

The finished horse

My own design,  I wanted to put a banner with Yosei’s b-day on it underneath, but I thought that might seem kind of morbid :/

The swallow my sis designed

And most important of all, Yosei enjoying his new hoppy horse ^^

So in HKO SEA  I had this idea in my head for quite some time  and thanks to Cyndle donating her farm and time I was able to complete this rather piratey strawberry skull design

 

One of my most favorite drinks ever in milk tea, and today when I was at the convenience store  I happened upon possibly the cutest milk tea ever!  Milkitty milk tea.  I’m sure its like alimited time special edition thing so of course i had to buy it, take its picture and post on my sanrio blog.

Anyone else agree?  Cutest drink ever?

So for a while now there has been something about our bath that has been bugging me. Everytime I’m in there be it for a shower or bath, no matter how long or short a time period always right around the time I start to think its about time to get out one of the lights in the bath flicks off, and doesnt come back on until your are making an effort to exit.  It’s been going on for a few months now, so last night I joked with my husband ‘Hey you think there’s a ghost in the bathroom or something.’  To which he replies (quite casually) ‘Oh yeah there is, didnt you know that?  They especially come out in the summer towards places with water to cool off.  Infact the realtor told me that they were aware that the ghost of a previous owner often appears in the bath, not to do anything bad they just live there.  So when the lights flick off that’s the ghost telling you your times about up and they’d like you to leave.’  

All I can say is …(O.o)   Honestly I don’t know whether to believe him or not, he’s very good at making up convincing stories  but most of the time I know whether he’s BSing me or not.  Like the time he made up a story about how he left sorry that Yosei was a bald baby so he ordered him a blue mohawk toupee, he even went into great deal about the phone conversation and the entire thing was just made up on the spot while he were in the car (he’s a very good story teller ^^). The thing with the lights though makes it really hard this time to tell if he’s messing with me.  (><)

I dunno I’m kinda creeped out to go in the bath now,  but really in the middle of summer a girl’s gotta shower at least once or twice a day…

 Anyhow, just felt like getting that out,  now it’s time to take Yosei to the doc for a check-up,  think I’m going to ask for a special look at his right ear.  When he first got home he had a horrible infection in that ear, and lately when I clean it he acts like its painful.  The joys of being a mom…

Yep,  he’s that age already, potty training time…

A few weeks ago I got an e-mail from my old host mother asking if we could use a training potty, and a tricycle among other things.  Her kids have outgrown them  and she just cant bear to throw things like that away.  And with the cost of buying all those things brand new  as compared to the gas money it would take to just drive down there and get them for free  of course we said yes.

So now Yosei has a super cool Thomas the Tank Engine training potty.   We’ve been at the training for 4 days now,  and while he doesnt understand why he has to sit his nakey bottom on the seat with a hole in it, he knows it makes him happy when clap for him after he’s managed to use it ^^;

I’m on my second bottle of black vinegar, this time its blueberry flavored, and I’m totally addicted.  Especially after my husband told me that if you add a teaspoon of sugar and mix with milk instead of water  you get a super yummy yogurt type drink.  Needless to say I’ve been going through milk like crazy. 

Below we have a picture of the Thomas potty…