Finally!

We finally had a weekend where we both felt good. It was about time! It has been one fun, and productive, weekend.

We went back to work and daycare Friday. I thought that the drop-off would be difficult since Brendan had been at home with me all week. As soon as we walked into his room he squirmed to get down. He high-tailed it into the middle of the room and hardly gave me a second glance. As I left, Ms. Kayoko was grinning and giving me a big thumbs up. He must have missed his friends. As insulting as it was, I was so glad. And as much as I belly-ached about going back to work, it was nice to get back.

Saturday morning we hung out at home, Skyped with Tom and the girls, and then ran some errands. After Brendan's nap we headed to the beach right next to the park.

He pitched a mild fit when I wouldn't let him play with someone's discarded flip flops.



But other than that, we had a good time.

I love to watch him toddle.

It would be so nice to have some photos of him looking at the camera. And perhaps smiling? Alas, he continues to refuse so I'll have to content myself with far off looks and the back of his head.

We had to walk through the playground to get to the beach. Naturally, we had to stop and play.

Flowers are popping up all over and these lilies smell so good.

This morning we went to the zoo. Our main objective was simply to go to the petting zoo part. It was a blast. First we stopped to ride the horse. Unfortunately, there was a slight language barrier so we opted to feed him instead. Brendan giggled and giggled over feeding that horse. I was really wishing I had the video camera. I didn't have enough hands to hold onto him, help him feed Duna (the horse), and take photos. Sorry. Maybe next time.

We also got to feed the goats.

Carrie, you would have liked feeding these goats. We got to give them greenery and carrots, not those goat pellets, so there was no slobber involved.

Want to hear a secret?

I like to put him in one-piece outfits because it makes me think he's still a baby.

Even though he quite obviously is not.

And then we headed off to feed the fish.

You can get a box of carp food out of a vending machine for 100 yen.

These guys love it, too.

Brendan did a good job throwing the food out into the water. He only tried to eat a couple of pieces.

And then he grabbed the empty box out of the diaper bag. I knew he couldn't choke on it so I didn't think much of it. And then he chucked it into the lake.

On previous posts, I've mentioned that this zoo is fantastic, except that the enclosures are so small for the animals. I have a hard time dealing with that. We actually skipped past all the animals today and went straight for the petting zoo and the fish. It's really beautiful here.

There is no rule about outside food or drink so that they can gouge you at the concession stands. When Tom gets home I want to pack us all a lunch so we can have a picnic there. Today would have been the perfect day for it. The price is reasonable. It's 500 yen to get in. That's about $6. I have a one-year pass that I got for 2000 yen. It's a fun, cheap way to spend the day. Or in our case, just the morning.



He very quickly nagivated these stairs all by himself.

Remember I said this weekend was so productive? Since Tom's been gone I pretty much do not cook during the week. At all. Sometimes I'll cook on the weekends and then we (I) will eat it for the rest of the week. Yesterday I made a quinoa salad. Ever had quinoa? According to the box, it's whole grain, a complete protein, and one of nature's perfect foods. I cooked it up just like rice. Then I took a bite. Tasted like crap. I mixed it up with some vegetables and some dressing and it's actually quite good. Kind of like a healthy pasta salad.

Here are the vegetables I used. I only took this picture because the size of these green onions amaze me each time I see them.

I made spinach lasagna. I have a really hard time getting Brendan to eat fruits and vegetables other than bananas. But he loves spaghetti, so I figured we'd give this a shot. He ate it up. I hope it freezes well.

I found out while he was sick that he loves banana muffins. So I made some of those, too. I now have breakfast, lunch, and dinner covered for the whole week.

I vacuumed, scrubbed the bathtub, did all the laundry and washed the sheets on both of our beds. I wish Tom were here. He always gets excited over fresh sheets.

Speaking of sheets, it's time for bed.

Looking forward to a healthy week for us both.

'Night!