Happy Birthday Zach!

It is so hard to believe it has been a whole year since Zachary was born! We opted to celebrate today, the 28th, since Chuck had to work yesterday. As you can see, we definitely did things a bit more laid back with him compared to Clara Grace's first birthday. We just had a cake cooked and decorated by me (I'd like to say Clara Grace did it, but I'll have to take the credit lol) and opened gifts. My effort at decorating the cake. What a beauty, eh?
The birthday boy, being a bit of a grump.

cake, presents and cards

Clara Grace wearing the Japanese dress we picked up for her at the bazaar today.

Clara Grace helped Zach open his gifts. This was the one she picked out for him.

You can tell he can hardly wait to see what is inside.

Naturally, the first thing he must do is insert it into his mouth!

Once again, Clara Grace is helping him out.

I have to say, it was absolutely hilarious watching him discover cake. Here you can tell he has no idea what to think of it.

Now he is getting a taste of it. Hmmm...this tastes....pretty good.

I think I'll have a little more.

Now, it is on!

Any doubt he likes it?

I'll just pick up the whole piece!

Luckily, he ate so much of it that clean up was relatively easy other than wiping the hands and mouth.

Just a few random pics...

Here are just a few recent random pics of the kids playing around the house. He loves the fridge phonics and the letters end up all over the floor.
We rarely allow him in Clara Grace's room as she has so many small toys, but he had a blast in her kitchen when allowed.

Clara Grace is such a ham! And yes, that is one of my wooden spoons that has now been declared a toy for Zach. Bang Bang Bang!

Clara Grace leading the way on an afternoon excursion that ended at the playground. What a surprise!

We found a great place right around the corner for her to ride. She worked up quite a bit of speed. I think this is where we will bring her to practice w/o training wheels.

Zach loves going for a ride. He rings the little bell and laughs on strolls. He is seriously straining the seat belt though!

Girl Scout Special Persons Dance

This is usually a father/daughter deal, but with the high number of deployed dads it was ok for moms or dads. As it turned out, Charlie was back in time to be Clara Grace's special person! Here are a few pictures of the special evening. As you can see, it was actually a masquerade ball but I don't think the dads cooperated by wearing their masks!

Nagasaki Lantern Festival

Last weekend we went to Nagasaki to the Lantern Festival celebrating the Chinese New Year. We had a blast! The tour we joined left the base at 7am on Saturday and we made a few rest area stops along the way, arriving at Nagasaki Peace Park at roughly 1pm. We hung out there for a bit before going to the hotel where we were on our own until 3pm the following day for us to return to Iwakuni.

After settling in at the hotel, we set out to explore with our map of suggested areas to visit. We hit Chinatown and were just amazed at how many people were shuffling down the streets. It was CRAZY and at times almost overwhelming. Vendors were lined down the streets selling all sorts of yummy (and not so yummy) looking/smelling foods. We tried quite a few but loved loved loved the chicken on a stick. We caught the parade, and saw a few shows, and the kids were repeatedly petted and made over...some even asking to hold them. You'll see the pictures. The kids wore out fairly early so we went back to the hotel, and turned out to be a good thing as those that stayed out later were drenched.

Day two started early as the kids decided sleeping wasn't their biggest priority on this trip. We went down and had the continental breakfast at the hotel, then hung out for a little bit before checking out of the hotel and setting out again. As we were walking, we began chatting with another couple on our tour and ended up spending the whole day together and had a great time. We hit two different temples, went back to Chinatown for more chicken on a stick, took the kids to McDonald's and then to the park where there were more festivities including the Chinese Acrobats. There were dressed in Chinese clothes for the photo op, played at the playground, watched the show, and bought souvinirs.

Thankfully, both kids slept very well that night once we got home at nearly 10pm.