After camping and before heading home, we all decided to go check out the nearby elephant park. The zoo had an elephant show and feeding time very similar to what I remember seeing in Thailand. Tyler was a bit afraid of the elephants but Melina got to feed them some carrots. There were a lot of other animals to see and feed throughout the zoo as well as a large petting zoo area with deer, wallabies, rabbits, and other cute animals.
Camping with our friend group again, this time in Chiba. The camp site was near a small stream where the kids could play in and go fishing to catch some small river fish. Exploring down the stream, there was also a scary cave to go in and explore. The kids also had fun collecting wood and making fires, looking for crawdads, and doing fireworks in the evening. For breakfast I made a large pancake with the Chiba fresh blueberries.
The weather seemed perfect, so right after tea picking we went camping. This time we got a camp site right next to the stream away from the road, which meant I had to carry all the camping gear from the car over the stream to the site. It was also a Sunday evening, so the site was mostly empty. It was great to be out next to the water and camping was really fun. The next morning kids enjoyed playing in the water.
We drove to the top of a mountain area to find a beautiful open area and tea plantation. We met a bunch of friends up there to join a tea picking event. The weather was beautiful and the view of Mt. Fuji was amazing. We got to pick tea, then pick some plums, then have a BBQ, then pick Sora beans, and dig up some potatoes. The kids had a great time picking thing and running around and playing. Finally, we got some ice cream pudding, and heading of for camping.
Melina’s second year Sports Day was similar to last year, a lot of cheering, dancing, and racing. For Sports Day, the kids all divided in three groups: the red team, blue team, and white team, and they all cheer on their teammates whenever they are not doing a performance or racing. Melina was on the red team this year and she did a nice dance performance and ran as fast as she could during her race. I think she could have ran faster if she wanted though.
We took a 3 day trip to visit friends in Chiba and to help plant a rice field. Our friend in Chiba was running for city office, so one of the main goals of the first day was helping her with the campaign (She made it into office). The following day was a rice field planting event. Kids and adults both helped plant the rice, although the kids had more fun catching tadpoles, frogs, other insects just and playing in the mud. The last day was spent relaxing with the friends in the morning before heading off to the beach and a really nice cafe. Finally after a short hike to the lookout point we headed back home.
Planting rice
Playing in the mud
Tyler was unsure of the mud at first, but enjoyed it when all the other kids were there.
The kids having a nice discussion
Enjoying the beach
Excellent beach side cafe
Looking out over Kamogawa
