With his girlfriend

Oliver and Helen got a very nice photo done in the photo booth.

They are so cute!

Quick visit to Kyoto

Unfortunately it was the only day it rained in a long time. But as their schedule was very tight and Matthew's days off being short we decided to go ahead and catch a train to Kyoto.

On the Kuroshio:









I picked three places to visit as we were there for only half a day. First a small teahouse to practice a Japanese tea ceremony (which was on Maike's wish list), then the Golden Pavilion, and lastly Kiyomizu Temple.

Somehow we got lost getting to the first destination so while we were walking we got to visit Higashi Honganji.



By the time we got to the teahouse it was raining a bit and getting late so we decided to skip the Golden Pavilion which was a real shame as it is one of the must sees in Kyoto - but it is the furthest from the city center... I guess they just have to come back!

I am waiting for some photos from Hans to show you how the tea ceremony went. I was with crying Ashley and Matthew was with tired Luca so they took Oliver off us to join in.

From there we took taxis to Kiyomizu Temple. It was still raining but not too heavily. Again I stayed behind with Ashley - unfortunately it is not an ideal place to push buggies...



(I will upload more photos when I get some from Hans!)

While I was feeding Ashley in a little teahouse I treated myself with some Japanese sweets :) Yum!



I always love the walk back from the Temple to the main road. It is touristy but very Japanese!















Everything in this shop was Hello Kitty!



We had reserved seats on the train on the way home - it was nice and relaxing. It was certainly too short a day but both families had a great time together!

Brunke family visit

The Brunke family came over to our Japanese house! They've visited us in Singapore before but having then in our own country was very special!  It was way too short though, they were here only for four nights. Our main activity was relaxing family/friends time.

Firstly we had some Ashley time before the boys came home:







Then time for a pick up - well just outside our house:



The boys were very very excited!!



And we had some lovely play time just like we used to do in Brunei, it was so nice!





For dinner we went to a Japanese restaurant (surprise!) near our place.
The restaurant was still empty as we were there quite early. So we took advantage and had another play - in the end they got too loud and we had to go!

Fantastic first day catch up :) I think I was the most excited one! It was so nice to have them here!!

Oliver's 4th Birthday

Birthday parties have been something I really enjoy since Oliver was born. I guess living in Brunei gave us different experiences of organising and having the parties.

I had themed parties for the last three years. The first year was Old McDonald party, the second year was Rainbow party, and last year was Sushi party.

I really wanted to invite lots of his friends and do another theme party this year but being in Japan and just having Ashley made it impossible. But instead we had a nice little party with his Japanese family and his special girlfriend Helen and her family from Brunei!

Rui and Runa decorated the room for him:





I remembered to bring the bunting from Singapore:



We had some sushi:







And a nice birthday cake!







Happy Birthday Oliver!



Luckily Matthew was back AGAIN and was able to join in the celebration - Well done daddy!



And time for opening the presents!





It's LEGO!



Thank you Helen!



And more...

We also treated him with a day trip to Kyoto with the Brunke family (the photos will follow). It was a very lovely birthday for Oliver - Thank you everyone :) 

With his golly

We have been taking photos of Oliver and his Golly since he was born (Thank you Aunty Brenda!!). Here is one from when he is 7 months old (I only started blogging about that time). Oliver is 4 years old now - look how small the golly is!





Needless to say it is a very well travelled golly!

Dress up

I think girls can dress up better than boys - this is Oliver the Explorer:



Why the panda earmuffs?... we don't know...

Does she look like me?

Keeping the boys entertained

I really don't know how I was entertaining the boys for a whole day before I sent the boys to kindy. The weekend feels so long especially as I cannot go running after them (I guess I can having Ashley in the buggy etc but I would rather not do that just yet...).

Playdo is always a winner to entertain the boys and keep them in one spot. They can be sitting there playing nicely for hours and hours!



Here is Luca making a "birthday cake" (like his brother used to do all the time!)







Oliver was working on a special "dragon" he saw on TV:





I am glad my boys love craft activities - I really should sit down and do more with them.