Day 3 - it burns, it burns!

It burns? Oh, dont get too scared, it's ok. The kids all got sunburn today--despite the usage of suncreen--honest. If you don't believe me, then hammer your child with questions like a drill Sgt. breaking in a new recruit. I tried to break them, but they all swear up and down they DID use sunscreen (they had to apply it before they could eat breakfast that morning).

So, after a mix match breakfast of fruit and cereals, we got to the junior high school only five minutes after 9 a.m. to get on the bus to head to Asamushi Beach (not far from Asamushi Aquarium). We had tables with umbrellas, tents, and lots of water and a lunch for the day (sandwiches). The kids had a blast swimming in the fridgid, yet refreshing, water. Next was a quick game of beach volleyball, then some frisbee football, lunch, balloon toss, and watermelon splitting called suika wari. Jesse (above) busted open the first melon. Lots of SUN today--it was 31 degrees C when we left at 2pm!! Overall I had a rough time keeping Rebekah calm and cool. She didn't want to sleep and was very fussy in the stroller. It was a relief for her to leave the beach.

The afternoon took us on a cool bus ride (as long as we were moving and the windows were all open because the bus doesnt have A/C)--to downtown Aomori, in front of the ASPAM building. Surrounding the area are large "tents" that house some of this year's Nebuta floats. You can take pictures infront of them and stand in awe of their size, beauty, and artistic ingenuity. We floated through there quickly making our way to the second floor of the ASPAM building. The place was crawling with people!!

Our desitnation--a fun play area for kids of all ages I suppose. The least it would accomplish is cooling off in an air conditioned fun room! Kids climbed walls, slid down slides, laughed in the funny mirrors, and ran around.

Our day ended with a ride back to the junior school and arrived at 4pm. It sounds like a short list of things to do, but what an exhausting day!! We had a new girl join the homestay at Judy's house. Yori is 11 years old. Her mother followed us home and she must've thought we were crazy...

Julia, one of the American counselors (who is a JET teacher), was the lead car driving back to the homestay house. I was second, and Yori's mom was last. At one of the lights we decided to do a Chinese fire drill (A Chinese fire drill is a prank that was popular in the United States during the 1960s. It is performed when a car is stopped at a red traffic light, at which point all of the car's occupants get out, run around the car, and return to their own (or other) seats.). Everyone in Julia's car ran, except Julia. I had too many kids crammed into my van, but Aki (Japanese counselor) and I ran. We were all laughing and going crazy. Aki couldn't figure out exactly what we were doing, but he joined in anyway. Hey, sharing American culture right?? LOLOL

The kids were so exhausted and their pink skins were popping out and the heat of the day took its toll on everyone. We had a light dinner with ham, cheese, veggies, quesadillas, and then finished off with ice cream cones before retiring for the night. Each one dropped off to sleep fairly quickly. I hope they all sleep comfortable ... fans are going and it is cool outside (slept with windows open).

We have another day in the sun ahead of us (ouch)--tomorrow is play time in a spectacular park called Nogiwa (and what Japanese park isn't great?!), a pit stop at a local kindergarten school (using the facility for activities) and then preparation for the big festival!!!

Off to think cool thoughts and hope my scorched flesh stops burning...the same for everyone else too...