A family outing to the park

After a great, but short, visit from my mom. She left on January 25th back to Vancouver to compete in the Olympics, I believe. (actually she was doing some volunteer work). Our family tried to adapt to it's new size and settle into some sort of routine. In early February, the weather was nice, so we grabbed some Mos Burger and hit the park with Arfie in tow, and Ken's tricycle.
We were all ready for the feed by time we got there.
After eating, Ken explained to Ritsy how to fly a kite.
And she made a valiant effort. Arfie was lined up to try next.
Mona watched on with deep interest.
...or was she sleeping...?
Some guy tried to help Ken figure out how to ride his Trike, but he still hasn't quite gotten the pedaling thing down.
So he had an equally unsuccessful try at throwing the Frisbee. The main target, though, was fun, and target was acquired!

The Ropeway in kanzanji

We were nearing the end of my mom`s time in Hamamatsu and I had a Friday off, so we could head out to Kanzanji together to enjoy some sightseeing. At the time Ritsy was still not in prime condition, so just Ken, mom and I headed out.
Ken was intrigued by the surroundings which included Hamamatsu`s amusement park, Pal Pal (pronounced Paru Paru).
The ropeway climbed the mountain to the Music box museum. The surrounding view of Lake Hamanako was great on this day.
Ken enjoyed.

And the vantage on the way down showed a different angle of sunlight and we could see the ocean licking the far side of the land. A great day for hitting the ropeway.

More Kasuisai

An area I hadn`t found the last time we went off to Kasuisai, was this statue in the murky pond off to the side from the temple.
I had to cross to the island to see more.
My mom was trying to photograph the sun I think.
The temple was symmetrically lined with trees.
And Ken was just having fun being himself. It was a good time.

To Kasuisai with mom and Ken

As we had the most part of a Friday free, we thought we might give Ritsy and Mona a rest and take my mom out to see a temple. I had visited and blogged a few years back about heading to Kasuisai temple in Fukuroi. I liked it and it was very convenient, so I decided we could head there again.
Ken lead the way of course.

Ken paused for a photo opportunity, or was that a washroom break? A quick check of the diaper assured us it was safe to move on.
Mom also got in on the fun (photo ops that is)
And we stopped for a quick pray at the temple, of course.

Mona`s home and life moved forward

Ritsy and Mona had been scheduled to come back home on the Monday following the birth, but things were proceeding well. Mona was healthy, Ritsy was healthy- baby was drinking milk- so they came home one day earlier on the Sunday. Mona was happy to slip into some clothes brought from CanadaBaba.
Ken was still doing good, as long as we took care to let him ride the Thomas cart at the mall...
... while we were shopping for fabric...?
Arfie had some interest in the baby- but he basically keeps his space.
And the little lady seems happy with her new surroundings and the duds that were a present from Steve. Our big family were now together!