Friendship Day and a Few Exhibitions

The Monday after we got back from New Zealand was Friendship Day, where they open up the base for all the Japanese people that live in Iwakuni to come look around.  Every time people on base would talk about it, it sounded like it was going to be some kind of apocalypse--150,000 people crawling all over the place, buying Pizza Hut out entirely, and taking anything that wasn't nailed down.  I had to fight off a strong desire to flee to a friend's house for the day.

All the peoples on the flight line

The air show was cancelled this year due to budget cuts and the weather wasn't fantastic, so it turned out to be a pretty tame day.  I think they estimated there were 50,000.  The bathroom lines were still pretty staggering.  There are definitely some benefits to Vivien not being potty trained yet . . .

They had all the Japanese and American military planes out to look at.  The pilots were standing in front for people to take pictures with.

Sometimes we see this monstrous blue plane take off from our window.  It was fun to see it up close.

There were booths set up around the planes, some selling food and military paraphernalia and others giving out information.  The Japanese use Friendship Day as a recruiting tool.  I think Vivien would be happy to join the military police if she got to work with giant dogs every day.

There were also bouncy houses and bands and other activities going on.  We stopped to watch a wind quintet and I missed orchestra so much I wanted to cry a little.  Vivien knew all the instruments except the bassoon.

The funniest part of Friendship Day was watching people take pictures with our children like they were Disney princesses.  One of the doctors at the clinic had joked about setting up a booth with all the blonde children on base and charging a dollar per picture or something.  I think it would have been a very lucrative scheme!

It feels a little weird to stand back and let strangers crowd around your children, but I also find them irresistibly cute, so I guess I can relate.
And now's as good a time as ever for another episode of . . .

Funny Things Vivien Says

-When I was getting ready to do an exercise video the other day, she came in with a hairbrush in each hand chanting: "How way jumping jacks!   I'm jumping jacking!  One! Two! Three!"

Falling asleep in the snuggly blanket after a night where she wouldn't go to sleep and a morning that began at the crack of dawn.

-She refers to Mickey Mouse as Mickey Mark (a testament of her love for her Papa)
-Pointing at our open sliding door: "A mosquito bite got in!"

-She has an imaginary Master.  Drew watched an episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars with her and she really latched on to the concept.  The other day on the playground she asked me to come sit on the bench with her:  "We are waiting for master."
"What is master doing?"
"He is going to get us some food."

-She is WELL versed in travel related terms.  The other day we had the missionaries over for diner and she told them she was going to ride on the shuttle bus.  She talks about trains, huge planes, little fast planes (the fighter jets), and ferries quite often when she plays as well.

She really likes to dress herself, and most days she does a pretty good job (actually most days she does a pretty good job 7 different times . . . lots of laundry around here).  She picked out this scarf to go grocery shopping with me the other day and felt very grown up.

-She has now figured out how to take pictures with my phone.  I have to go through and delete about 100 pictures of her fingers, the floor, or whatever else she has decided to photograph multiple times every night.  She's getting better at it though.  Here's some of her best work:

Vivien Forbes
Independence
2014

Vivien Forbes
Cornered
2014

Vivien Forbes
Careful Play
2014

They are putting in some big shades at the park below our window.  The kids have been having a blast watching the back hoe dig big holes right at their feet.

They're out there pretty much every day, rain or shine.  It's kind of like a backyard, right?  At least they're getting fresh air.  I did have a nightmare the other night of one of them climbing over the railing and falling, so I have to keep a close eye on them or lock them in (which they hate).  It's almost like having a pool!

We'll be glad when the shades are installed at the park so we can actually go down again.  It's starting to get pretty warm here.  There were some torturous days this week that it was gorgeous and we wanted to go outside, but Rafe had a bout of roseola so we were forced to keep our germs contained.  Our railing started to look like prison bars . . .  At least Rafe is still pleasant, even when he's sick.

He is starting to get interested in books for reasons other than chewing.  He will almost allow us to hold the book and turn the pages so it can actually be read.  We have to keep them generally out of his reach though, because most of all he enjoys crinkling the pages into little balls.

He just doesn't know his own strength.

I think all the marines in our branch are rubbing off on him.  He's getting used to muscles.

This is Drew's EQ 2nd counselor whose wife is expecting.  He'll be staying home with the baby, and he's so excited.  

And speaking of the branch, we had a variety show Saturday night.  The young women were in charge and we were going to do decorations for mutual, but then it got cancelled and rescheduled suddenly, so I made a nauseatingly cute, last-minute banner for decorations.

Vivi had changed my camera filter and I didn't figure out how to change it until today.  Our theme was "I am like a star shining brightly."

It was a really fun night.  The Japanese people from our sister missionaries' English class did a group number, a Brazilian dance, a piano piece, and showed their prowess with a kendama (a Japanese toy that I can't explain succinctly.  You'll have to look it up).  Then we had a recitation of the old McDonald's ad that lists all the food they make, pogo stick, magic show, a judo exhibition, many jokes, some improv skits, belly dancing, and one of the young men did an awesome light show with gloves whose fingertips lit up.  I played "Hatsukoi" (first love) on my violin with my visiting teacher on piano and it went very well.

Drew had to wrangle children because our MC got detained and I had to tell jokes between all the acts (Thanks for the "Bye son!" buffalo joke, Colette.  They liked that one), but next year we'll make sure he showcases himself by performing a one-man play of the entire Fellowship of the Ring, complete with costumes.