Sams and Dams

November has really flown by for us. We've been enjoying the cooler weather and getting out a lot. We are still discovering new parks and there is so much to see and do. A week ago Lalee and I went to a mother-daughter activity days and made a pinata. We had a lot of fun. Last weekend we spent the morning at Kurashiki Dam. We skipped rocks, walked through some of the gardens/monuments, climbed along some of the slippery banks and played in the water.
We also went to Sam's By the Sea for dinner one night. The kids drinks were served in some great looking skeleton mugs, we had curry soup for the first time (yum!) and each of our meals were several courses- even the kids meals. Although it was a tad bit fancier then the kids would have liked (Alex ordered a hamburger which wasn't even served on a bun).
Each of the kids had Thanksgiving feast this past week at school. Lalee and Alex are getting ready for their Teiko performance coming up. I'm getting ready to start school again in January (teaching certificate) and Pete has been doing well at work. One of his friends (Jeremiah- orange shirt in the picture above) is staying with us for a couple of weeks as he is getting ready to PCS to Portugal. We are looking forward to a relaxing weekend. Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

J and Pete walking up the stairs. It was really peaceful. Becca and J crossing a stream (if you can call a couple inches of water a stream)

Becca was cold. Honestly, it wasn't cold- it was just kind of drizzling.

Alex and Becca both ordered Hamburgers off of the kids meals and this is what they got. A bit more gourmet than we had expected! Below is our dessert that we shared, it was as good as it looks!
Lalee got the chicken and it was probably the best thing I ate that night (she shared a little with me. It was done 'Chicken Cordon Bleu' style. Again, from the kids meal.
J with his drink. The cup is in the shape of a Shishi dog and he was able to take it home. Real cool!

Becca and Alex getting their bibs tied on.

Pete and J with their various drinks.

Besides outtings, not a lot has changed in our lives. I'm still volunteering although I think I am going to switch to substitute teaching soon. Pete has been trying to get his 3.25 mile run under 30 minutes which will probably happen sometime this week or next. Lalee has this economy project at school where she is making products (Personal information cards) and selling them. She's becoming quite the entrepreneur. I am looking forward to this weekend with a relaxing, quite Thanksgiving and Pete's supposed to be surprising us with a full day of fun on Friday. I'll let you know how that all goes.