Nap Time

Bamboo Shoots

Early spring is when the bamboo shoots emerge from the ground. Our neighbor encouraged us to dig as many as we could on his property. 

It's fun to look for them and Yoko made a lot of tasty dishes afterwards.

Playing with Boxes

Keito Eating Movie

Keito Flying

Keito Sitting #2

He's getting better at sitting, and is very good at being cute.

Wild Boar

We went for a walk in the woods behind our house and were very surprised to find a wild boar caught in a trap.

Motoki was very excited and told us how one of his classmate's grandfather is a wild boar hunter. After we reported to the neighbors about thirty minutes later the trapper, who Motoki knew, arrived with a rifle.

Motoki was very eager to watch but we held back for a few minutes until after we heard the gunshot.
Apparently seeing the sight of a dead wild boar is about the most exciting thing for Mo, and he kept saying how he wanted to 'eat it'.

The hunter reckoned it would be a tasty boar as it was a young female with a lot of winter fat.
We were invited to watch the animal get butchered and received several pounds of meat.
Indeed it was delicious.

(Apologies to the vegetarians in the family).

Here are some pictures.

Snowboarding in Nagano

Motoki and I took a weekend bus to Nagano to go snowboarding. The bus trip was overnight, so we could (try to) sleep on the bus. We woke up to beautiful snowy mountains!

We decided to be super safe and wore our new helmets. Warm and comfy.

Motoki is getting better and better at 'boarding.

The Goryu Resort is great fun.

Hakuba was one of the hosts of the 1998 Olympics, so it has a very international feel. Motoki had a snowboarding lesson with a fun guy from England.

The top of the mountain was spectacular...

But COLD!

 We're looking forward to going back next year.

Motoki's 7th Birthday

Motoki celebrated his SEVENTH BIRTHDAY !! WOW, time flies!

Yoko made an awesome dragon cake for him.

Keito's morning

A little video....

Motoki feeds Keito

We have started trying to give Keito 'real' food.

More Cuteness

Keito Sitting

Snow

Motoki Reads to Keito

Peek a Boo

Keito in the Bath

Little Keito loves taking baths.

Usually he gets washed in the sink.

Yoko found this device which allows babies to float in the tub.
Now Motoki and Keito can take baths together.

It looks uncomfortable, but fits really well.

Snowboarding

Motoki and I went to the mountains with some friends. It had been two years since Mo's last time on a snowboard, but he quickly remembered and was flying down the mountain.

Luckily it was warm and sunny and not too crowded.

Good time!

Our 2014 New Years Card

A month late to the blog. But hopefully all the cards we mailed arrived long ago.