Vaillant Family Blog: Adventures in Japan

Here is what we have been up to in March! Catching up on the blog now since the rest of March we will be vacationing in Okinawa!

For culture group this month we hosted the Japanese ladies on base. We organized a school tour at Hayden's Elementary School. It was also Read Across America Day and Dr. Seuss week so I read Fox in Socks to all the 2nd grade classes. One of the Japanese ladies told a story in Japanese using Apron Theater. The kids really seemed to enjoy it.

Reading Fox in Socks in Hayden's classroom

Apron Theater

Hayden and his classmate giving us a tour of the school. He took the job very seriously.

Hayden's class took a field trip to the Tachikawa Fire Museum. I was unable to attend but another mom snapped this photo of him for me.

His school also had a spaghetti dinner that night. They had Taiko Drum performers and Hayden got to try them out.

Little Drummer Bo

The biggest event of the month was Hayden's 8th birthday!

He was able to facetime with Grammy & Pops the morning of his birthday. While he was talking we surprised him with their gift....a new bike!

We had a pool party at the Natatorium. Hayden loved his Splatoon cake.

Party Goodies

Let's get this party started!

Hayden loved having all his buddies there

Hayden challenged daddy to a race. Eric made it halfway before falling off the float.

Lincoln had a blast too!

Family photo

Happy Birthday to you....

8 is going to be great!

The next morning Hayden was able to facetime with Nana & Papu. He opened his gift from them and was so excited for his own snorkel gear! He hopes to put it to good use in Okinawa and Hawaii.

I ran a 5k race off base on a Sunday. The whole family joined the base running club called Striders and this was my first race with them.

The boys came to cheer me on!

And I placed 7th in my group to receive a certificate and medal

For culture group one of the Japanese ladies hosted us in her home and gave us a calligraphy lesson. It was my first time being in a traditional Japanese home. It was very beautiful. They also provided a delicious lunch after our lesson.

After a lot of practice we did our calligraphy on nice cardboard squares. The one on the left says God is Love and the one on the right is the symbol for An for Angie.

Kampai! Cheers in Japanese.

Lincoln had his last day of the school year on March 17th. The Japanese school year starts in April so he has a long Spring break and then will return to school with a new class and teacher.

Last day cheese! They had to wear their formal dress for the farewell ceremony.

Bus stop photo!

Here is a video the school sent us. The kids are playing a name game. Wait for the end to see Lincoln. We think he maybe spoke Japanese? He has watched it about 100 times.

There is an obstacle park not too far from base that Eric took the boys to with friends. They enjoyed it so much they wanted to take me back the next weekend. We packed a picnic lunch and took a long walk on the surrounding trail after playing on the obstacles.