Hi, everyone!
Last week on Tuesday, Grandma and Grandpa and I went to the airport to meet Bill-kun and Karin-chan and their daddy! They had a very long flight from Tokyo to Washington DC, then a short flight from Washington to Rochester. I was really excited to see them! When they arrived, they had been awake for over 24 hours! I was a good helper at the baggage carousel, so we got everybody’s bags and drove to Grandma and Grandpa’s house. It’s fun to have Original Lion-san here!
As soon as we got to Grandma and Grandpa’s, Bill-kun and Karin-chan climbed the tree by the garage! Last time they visited, they were too little to do that and it was winter. Grandma says their daddy used to climb that tree, too! Then I showed Bill-kun and Karin-chan part of the Lego supply that Grandma and Grandpa saved for them to play with. They started building ships and trucks right away! By dinner time, they were very tired. We had pizza and Bill-kun and Karin-chan fell asleep before they could finish eating even one piece!
Uncle David likes to make bread, so he started some dough on Wednesday morning. The weather was very nice, so Grandma took Bill-kun and Karin-chan and me to the playground at Perinton Park. We started on the big kids side, at the swings. Bill-kun and Karin-chan can swing very high! Then they did climbing and traveling on the monkey rings. There’s a climbing wall, but the pawholds are spaced too far apart for a little lion! Bill-kun helped me get all the way to the top of the big kids’ play equipment.
After we played on the big kids side of the playground, Karin-chan took me over to the little kids side and gave me a ride on the turtle. Bill-kun hung upside down! Then we went back to Grandma and Grandpa’s for some quiet time. Bill-kun and Karin-chan both brought their 3DS electronic games with them. Uncle David finished making his bread and Grandma started overnight sticky buns for Thursday breakfast. Karin-chan and Bill-kun were able to stay awake long enough to eat dinner and practice their piano lessons afterward.
On Thursday, Grandma and Grandpa took Bill-kun and Karin-chan out to Sodus for their very first visit. They really liked the swing and the beanbag chairs in the loft! Original Lion-san liked the beanbag chairs, too! There was a nice breeze, so we took the Javelin sailboat out for our first sail of the season. That was Bill-kun and Karin-chan’s very first small boat sail! Bill-kun and Karin-chan wanted to stay at Sodus overnight to sleep in the loft, but we had to get back to Fairport. Uncle David is working from a computer in Fairport while he is visiting. We went to Skipper’s by powerboat for dinner before we left Sodus.
On Friday, James came to play after Peacemakers! He and Bill-kun and Karin-chan played with the Matchbox cars on the ramp, then we all had a lunch snack in the kitchen. After that, we went outside to play soccer for a while! When we got tired, Bill-kun and James played Minecraft on the iPad. They both know the rules, but they don’t know the same rules!
On Saturday, we went back out to Sodus to stay overnight. I helped Karin-chan get all of the rubber duck family together. Then Grandma taught Bill-kun and Karin-chan how to kayak. First, she showed them how to hold the paddle, then Grandpa and Uncle David helped Bill-kun and Karin-chan get into their kayaks. Grandma took me in her kayak. Bill-kun and Karin-chan were able to paddle along the shore in two directions. They were very good for first time paddlers!
Bill-kun and Karin-chan wanted to go swimming, but they are not good enough swimmers to be in deep water. So we all went up to the shallow area in between the two arms of Sodus Point in the powerboat. Hitsuji and Puppy wanted to come, so I shared my lifejacket with them! After we were done swimming, we all dried off sitting on the back of the powerboat. There were lots of other boaters swimming in the same area!
There was a big thunderstorm overnight Saturday with lots of lightning flashes! On Sunday morning it was cloudy, but we went kayaking and swimming again. Then Uncle David took the Sunfish sailboat out with Karin-chan. Nobody in the family has sailed that boat for years, but it is Uncle David’s favorite! Then I helped get ready for lunch on the porch. After lunch, Bill-kun and Karin-chan played video games while Uncle David took the Sunfish out for another sail.
It was almost dinnertime when we got back to Fairport, but we still had time for Thomas and James to come over to play. The cousins were all together for the very first time! We had a blueberry snack and took a family portrait, then we played with bubbles and Frisbees and balls in the back yard. Thomas gave me a big hug and took me for a walk, but then he found a stick that interested him more than me! After that, Thomas showed us that he could play Matchbox cars, too!
Bill-kun switched from electronics to a book before bedtime. Monday morning, it was time for Bill-kun and Karin-chan to get ready for day camp, but they were still asleep! Everybody helped them, so they made it to camp on time! They had a good day at camp. Karin-chan wanted to go to a new playground after camp, so Grandma and I took her to Fellows Road Park playground. We liked some of the different equipment, but there were no big kids swings!
After dinner on Monday, we all took a walk around the neighborhood. Grandma let Bill-kun and Karin-chan pick some of the apples that aren’t very tasty when they are ripe, so eight green apples came on the walk, too! Bill-kun and Karin-chan had lots of fun figuring out all the places in their clothing they could put them and still walk!
Today, it’s been a week since Bill-kun and Karin-chan and Uncle David arrived. Now most of their jet lag is gone, so Bill-kun and Karin-chan got up in time for day camp and had time for breakfast, too! Bill-kun had a typical Japanese breakfast: rice and tuna and furikake. Karin-chan had banana bread with chocolate chips, but it was all gone when Grandma took her picture! Day camp ends with popsicles every day, and today there was Minecraft, too! Tonight, we had pizza again for dinner. This time, Bill-kun and Karin-chan stayed awake!
Love,
Lion-san
It looks like you have had a good time with the cousins. What great fun. I think they really enjoyed Sodus Bay too. I wonder if the thunderstorm you had came to Maine next and took out all the power to the computers in the library.