Quinn Frolicking in the Water Video

Enoshima Trip

Neal has been on leave so we are trying to take some fun trips with Quinn before the arrival of his sibling. We anticipate a bit of resistance from Quinn when the baby muscles into his territory. One of my friends stated it best, "Is Quinn ready for the end of his reign of imperialism?" So last week we headed to Enoshima to check out the island, the beach and the aquarium. On the island we visited the shrine. This is the first shrine that i've been to that actually had an escalator that you could pay for to climb up to the top. Plus this shrine had a double stamp for my book .... bonus! Quinn enjoyed the shaved ice at the bottom of the shrine. He also had a blast playing at the beach... no fear of the water.

Thomasland, Japan

Yesterday we went to Thomasland which is located inside Fujikyu (pronounced: Fuji Q) Highland amusement park located at the base of Mount Fuji-san. Unfortunately it was too cloudy to see Fuji but at least it wasn't raining for the 5th day in a row. Quinn had a blast riding the rides and seeing all of his favorite characters. He hasn't stopped talking about it since we left. When we got home he said, "i wanna go to Thomasland".

More Thomasland

Here's a few more pictures from our trip to Thomasland. The park is small but very cute. It is set up to look like you are walking around the Island of Sodor with shops and businesses.

Enoshima Aquarium

Quinn enjoyed the Aquarium. He even touched a starfish and a sand shark. But immediately washed his hands after touching them.

Olympic Fever

Quinn has really enjoyed watching the Olympics. His favorites so far are swimming, tennis, and track & field. He likes to take part in each event along with the TV. Today while we watched the women's marathon and the men's 100m races, he ran laps around our rug (after I said "on your mark, get set, go" ...of course). He also swims on the rug too. But so far my favorite of all his pretend play has been when he dragged the bed rail from his room along with his fan (from the Tanabata festival) and the dog's tennis ball all into the living room and invited Neal & I to play tennis with him. What a clever little boy!

Tanabata Festival 2008

Last night we walked down to Fussa -shi for the festivities. We all love this festival because it is in walking distance and has great food and cold beer (none for me this year). There are always lots of fun decorations hanging over the middle of the street and Quinn loves to walk through all the tassles hanging down. Luckily it cooled off a little at night. We ran into quite a few friends and coworkers. Quinn had a blast running around with a friend's little girl Katomi. But the funniest part of the evening happened when Quinn decided to drop his pants in front of everybody and pee in the street/on himself. Neal & I about died of embarrassment but everyone around had a good laugh about it. The picture is of Neal taking Quinn in the corner to finish up and change his pants. Potty training is just so much fun!

Washing the Dogs

Last Sunday was spent cleaning the dogs and keeping cool. Quinn loves anything that involves the dogs. So Neal decided to fill up our little pool and use it as an outdoor bathing facility for the boys (wash them & cool them off). But the boys still didn't like it. Quinn's speciality is dumping water (mostly) on the dogs and helping to rinse. For those of you asking for pictures of my belly ... you can see my reflection thru the haze of one of the photos (can you say Fuji-san?).

Hakone Pirate Ships

One day of our trip in Hakone was spent riding the Pirate Ships across Lake Ashi. (So now Quinn is interested in pirates). We went on 3 different ships and our stops included lunch, ice cream and paddle boats. The duck paddle boat ride was an adventure. I was in a boat with Jack and Quinn ... both took turns steering the boat (in circles). The best part was when we got stuck under the Tori Gate and had to bump it in order to turn around and get out. I figure if somebody yelled at me I would have pulled the pregnant lady card. But we did get a great photo of Tracey, Mugga & Sam in the Tori!

Hakone, Japan

Back in June Quinn & i took a trip to Hakone with our friends. I am very late in posting but like they say "better late than never". It was a great trip. One of the best stops was the Hakone Open Air Museum. It consists of sculptures scattered about a large outdoor property as well as a great Picasso exhibit hall. The best part was it was fun for both the adults and the kids. There are certain sculptures and pieces that are specifically there for kids to climb on and play around in. What more could you ask for? As you can see in the pictures, Quinn often took some time out to ponder the meaning of the sculpures...maybe I have a future art critic on my hands.