Between Bagels and Rice: June Post

June brought rain and cold weather back to Seattle but that didn't hold us back from lots of biking and outdoor fun. Grandma came to visit in early June and we took her to see all the Seattle animals at the zoo and the aquarium. She also taught Oren how to plant and care for flowers - the house planters were finally filled after a year of neglect and we got an avid waterer out of the lesson.

Oren had his last day of his first year of preschool followed by a performance at the preschool graduation. We finally got to see all of his artwork from the year and a page that included his height and weight every 3 months - he grew 5.5 cm and gained 2.7 kg (remember this is a Japanese preschool) from September to June!

At the end of the month we took a short family vacation (including Jersey!) via ferry to Whidbey Island where Oren and Naoki shared a room for the first time (Jersey slept in our room). The first night Naoki cried for the first hour and Oren was a real champ through it all. The next morning Oren was excited to peak into the pack n play and see Naoki in the room. The second night Naoki went to sleep first forcing Oren to sneak onto his bed and again he was excited to see Naoki in the morning. We did a hike at Fort Ebey State Park and Oren was a champ hiking (sometimes trail running) the entire way. We had beautiful views (pointed out to us by Oren "Look at the view Daddy!" of the Strait of Juan de Fuca looking out towards the Olympic Peninsula. On the way home we decided to take the bridge over Deception Pass after having lunch on the State Park's beach. As we were finishing our lunch 2 orcas came swimming by the beach reminding us again that we live in such an amazing part of the country. What a great way to start our summer! Later when Oren was asked what his favorite part of our trip was, he answered "sharing a room with Naoki."

Oren's been waiting for summer for several months. He seems to have gotten it into his head that summer is about "Canoeing, watermelons, and m&m's." We're not sure where it came from but who are we to deprive him of his perfect summer.