Today was Kai's seventh birthday, so we threw him a little party with a couple of his friends.


Sword fights!



Ice cream cake!


                                                                                 "Who wants more?"


Fruit by the foot!



Crackers!

One, two, three...                                                          POP!


And presents!


Including...


I new Nintendo DS Lite!

Yeah, I know.  I'm courting disaster here...




After grilling hot dogs, we were able to roast marshmallows just before the rain came.


                                                                                   Oops!  Too much!



We topped the party off with a visit from Florida-Katy (Dixie representin' up in this hizzie!).


Whew!  I'm tired.
I've just got to say here that the more I watch other Japanese kids, the more pleased I am with Kai's behavior. 

Ha! Ha!

I love how they advertise this product on Shop in private dot com:

"I guess the Japanese are a little more open about subjects like shaving your pubic hair..."

Ummm...should I tell them or should you? 

Today was Kai's first sports day as an elementary school student.



An old Japanese tradition.

"Hey, Shunsuke Sensei.  We're going to have our students running around the dirtiest, dustiest part of the school all day.  What do you think they should wear?"

"Ummm...all-white uniforms?"

"Shunsuke Sensei,...you're a GENIUS!"

Amazingly, Kai kept his uniform virtually clean.


          

          
Synchronized dancing is a HUGE event at Japanese sports days.


Yeah, I know.  I've gotta get him out of this country. 




Relay race                                                                  ZOOOOOM!!!

Yep, fastest kid in his class. 



Other events

Ummm...pass the oversized ball down the line?



Errr...toss the...uuhhh...bean bag into the basket-thingy?



Synchronized...aaahhh...human pyramids?  




At the end of the day, Kai's team won 650 to 560.  Yeah, that's right.  They rocked the other team to sleep!  In yo' faces, other little kids!!!  Stings, doesn't it!  U-S-A!  U-S-A!  U...
...Uh, I mean, W-H-I-T-E-T-E-A-M!  W-H-I-T-E-T-E-A-M!



All that really matters is that Kai had fun and felt good about himself.  That was the real victory of the day.

It's funny how you can end up doing some of the things you said you'd never do.  I guess it's true that we're constantly changing.  Our beliefs, circumstances and attitudes can all shift and morph, causing us to take another look at our personal set of rules. 

There are things I said I'd never do, yet these ideals/plans just didn't match up with reality the way I wanted them to.  Here are just a few examples:

- Live in a foreign country (visit, yes - live, no).
- Tell my child "because I said so."
- Miss a Sunday at church (unless it was an emergency - sickness, etc.).
- Send my child to church (I would always go with him).
- Play soccer.
- Hold a grudge.

The longer I live in this country, the longer this list becomes... 

What are some of the things you said you'd never do which turned out to be bogus?

Sanna's Brazil Fashion is a clothing company which has supposedly started opening stores in Japan.

Ummm...
They do know that Japanese dimensions are a little different from Brazilian, right? 
Maybe it's just for Brazilians living in Japan...or maybe there's a (SUGOI) petite section. 

Ah,  thank God for my not-so-average Japanese wife!    I know where I'll be shopping for her birthday.