Grandma B. Comes Back!

We were so excited that Grandma B. was able to come visit us again. The kids were eagerly anticipating her arrival... and unfortunately got hand, foot, and mouth disease just days before her arrival. Shawn's case was more mild, with sores on his feet, hands, and bum, but Syd had it way worse, even getting sores on her face. The first night she cried and thrashed in bed all night because her feet were so itchy! When she was still having a hard time the night that Barbara was flying in, I asked Spencer to give her a blessing. Within 45 minutes she was calm and asleep, and she didn't have a problem with her feet again after that. Whew! What a blessing that was, because it also freed me up to do some cleaning before Barbara got here.

Her first real day here we ditched church since our kids were diseased, and Grandma B. kept them entertained all morning with crafts and new toys. Spencer and I were both like, "Hey, this is pretty sweet to not have to entertain our kids all the time!"

After dinner we went for a walk on the sea wall.

My kids are so photogenic :)

Someone (ahem, Sydney) had to pee mid walk, and I couldn't find a bathroom, so we walked down the stairs toward the ocean and she peed in the corner. We like to keep things classy like that.

Feeling much better.

 Everyone came down to join us. While I searched for shells and sea glass, Spencer and the kids were entertained by skipping/throwing rocks and coral in the water.

Grandma B. & Sydney

Ahh, I love how the beach offers fun for everyone!

Preschool Graduation

Sydney's last day of preschool was May 22, and we got to go watch the afternoon classes perform songs as part of their graduation ceremony. Several weeks beforehand, Syd would come home singing "The rules, the rules, the rules of the classroom..." and every week she'd learn a new line. Needless to say our whole family had the song memorized and performed it regularly in our house before graduation day. She was really excited that they would get to wear (and keep!) "cool sunglasses" for that particular performance. On the day of she also told me they would all get "cool black hats with a yellow thing that hangs down," which I somehow didn't put together that she was describing a graduation cap until I saw her walk in with it on her head. Too cute.

Sydney & Amelia

Addy & Sydney

Singing "Kira Kira Hikaru," the Japanese version of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."

"Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold. A circle's round, and has no end. That's how long I want to be your friend."

"The rules, the rules, the rules of the classroom."

One of the rules: "Work together, don't fight, or you'll get in trouble."

Our favorite part- when hands went in the air and they spun around for the last chorus. 

Giving Miss Malia and Saya-san a hug.

Picking up her diploma and culture book.

Her class had Japanese culture day twice a month, and those were some of Sydney's favorite school days. Her culture book was a compilation of crafts and things she learned on culture days throughout the year. 

We're excited for her to start another great year at Kuwae in the fall!

22 Degree Halo

On May 1, Shawn and I dropped Sydney off at preschool and then headed home to put him down for a nap. As I was getting him out of the car, my neighbor Meredith yelled to me, "Suzy, look at the sun!" I looked up and was totally amazed at the sky. 

I wouldn't have even noticed if Meredith hadn't told me to look up! She informed me that it was called a 22 degree halo, and the Internet said it could be seen up to 100 days per year. Of course it looked way cooler in person since the picture can't do justice to how big the halo really was. I immediately called Spencer and asked him if he could easily get outside to look at the sun. He was on his lunch break at Subway, so he ran out and checked out the sky. Then I could hear him telling random people out there, "Hey, look at the sun." Pretty random, but cool.