It started like a fairly normal Saturday. Of course we have already packed out, so we have very little left in our house to entertain the boys. Ryan has his beloved Sophie Giraffe, so he was content. Justin is a little harder to keep happy. He is anxious about the move and it comes out in some less than desirable ways. Today was Friendship Day at the US Embassy (Tokyo) Housing Compound. Since we live right on the compound (at least until Friday!), it made sense to check it out. Lots of other people had the same idea and came out on this hot, humid day to celebrate, well, I guess friendship between the US and Japan.
The highlight had to be riding in the little fire engine bumper car type things. Justin actually enjoyed that. He got to go once with Mom and then a second time with Dad. We got there early before there was a line. I don't know how people manage to wait in long lines with a 2 1/2 year old. Justin isn't a big fan of standing still and waiting. Since he didn't have to, all went well.
I was so excited for him to jump in the moon bounce castle. We had to wait until a group of older kids got out, but then he had the chance to try it out all by himself. He didn't want to jump. He just stood there until he decided to sit. There he was, all by himself on the moon bounce doing absolutely nothing. Sigh. We moved on. I thought he would enjoy playing with a water balloon. I guess they do this in the US too. Little round balloons with a bit of water inside
them are put on an elastic cord. It is like a mini punching ball. This reminds me of when I was a kid and my family lived in Japan. Of course this doesn't mean that I ever had one of these when I was in Japan. It very well could have been in the US or Europe. The memory makes me smile, so I guess we will just leave it as it is. Justin kept changing his mind as to which one he wanted. I ended up carrying it. He wanted to go home. We went home. Rob went back out to get us some food. After lunch, I decided to run downstairs and grab a soda (free). Justin had a fit and wanted to go too. Okay. We went down and ran into Lucas and his family. Lucas and Eli were having a meltdown, so the family came up to our apartment for awhile. Lucas ended up napping, though Justin did not. :( Eli and Tiny got to play. I got to have some time with Alicia. We went in and out a few times, Justin never really enjoying anything. How can you not enjoy the mist tunnel on a hot day?
Early in the day we encountered Sesame Street characters. Justin was a bit scared. We talked about how they were just pretend and that there were people inside them just like a Halloween costume. Justin wanted to go back out and see them. He told me they were not real and just costumes, but he refused to go near them. Oh well. Lucas did. Tiny and I got a pic with Cookie Monster too.
Later in the evening, Justin seemed to have recovered. He wanted to go to bed at about 5:00 PM, so we were challenged to keep him awake until closer to his real bedtime. He gets up early enough as it is.
