Seiya is the cutest thing ever!

Seiya is 2 years old. He's been my student for three months now and usually he's very genki (outgoing and happy) but as soon as Ai Sensei whipped out the camera he became a little statue!! We tried everything to get him and his 4 year old sister Hanae (seen running through the background part way through!) to sing the ABC song (as she'd been singing it over and over and over again in class!) but they froze when they saw the camera! However, in a moment of inspiration I started Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes and he joined in! You can even see the hint of a smile on his face! Again, he's usually *very* genki!! Enjoy!! =D

Nagoya Zoo and Botanical Gardens!

Hello all!! Sorry for the long absence (especially considering the last blog's content, LOL). It's funny actually, none of my friends (there are five of us on here) have posted anything in five weeks! Well, yesterday I had such a wonderful day that I had to post a blog to fill you in!

I only got four hours of sleep but it was absolutely worth it!! I arrived in Nagoya at 10:30 and met up with Cris. After a quick coffee recharge we met up with Wendell and set off for the Zoo and Botanical Gardens where we met up with our friends Mike and Ayako!! I was sooo excited and very bouncy!! I couldn't wait to see the koalas, Cris was excited for the giraffes, and Wendell was excited for the food (okonomiyaki!)! We did some pedal boats too but they were pretty child-sized LOL. There was constant fear of capsizing but it was worth it! VERY FUN!!!! And a great work out!!

Since we had such a good work out with the pedal boats and because it was a warm day, we all decided to get ice cream. Ayako and Cris got mango, Mike got melon, and Wendell got another fruit one I can't remember. What did I get? Well, remembering how much I loved the sweet potato ice cream in Kamakura, I thought it would be a sure thing here to. NOPE! I couldn't believe it! (Neither will you!!) It tasted EXACTLY like SPAGHETTIO's!!!! Not even real spaghetti, that fake crap you buy in a can! No one believed me so evey single person with me had a taste and they were just as shocked as me! Isn't that crazy??

We didn't get to see everything (the parks were so large!) but stayed until closing (at one point playing hacky sack in a open courtyard for a while, soaking up the sunlight and enjoying being outside!) before heading off to a delicious dinner of Shepard's Pie at Red Rock. =D Enjoy the pictures!!

The Lunch Menu. Isn't that hysterical? And so cute!!

Here's petal boats!! SO FUN!!

My ice cream sucked, but it was expensive and the weather was warm, so of course I ate it!

All day long we did SURPRISE pictures and jumped in on each others'!

penguins are so cute!!!

Ayako saw this one coming, LOL! SURPRISE MIKE!!

The start to the botanical gardens! My camera died shortly afterwords so I'll have to update with Cris's pictures soon!

Mike and Ayako posing in front of a fake replica to a real tree that Mike has really been to!
Where is the real one?? I can't remember, LOL!

Dinner at Red Rock was awesome!!

On the train home I saw this and somehow my Spidey-sense is telling me he didn't endorse this...

I hope you enjoyed the photos!! And I hope you have a great day!!!!!!