Last night, Hugo realized that instead of carrying the bag of posterboard all the way home from school, he had left it behind somewhere on the walk (because he had to throw some flowers in the river, you know....) Japan has a reputation for helping people recover lost items. And we have certainly tested that reputation ourselves this year:
I've left my scarf in a restaurant--of course they still had it when I went back.
Alek left his winter mittens in another restaurant. A week later, when I was finally in the same neighborhood again, they were tied up neatly in a bag and hanging in the back.
Max, as you may recall,
left his bag of books in the Amanohashidate train station last February. We picked them up later at the koban where they had been duly registered.
Then there's the time Hugo left his
Lego guy in Kura Sushi, and the cashier ran after us for two blocks to give it back.
One time when I got to work, I realized that my yellow mitten had bounced out of my bike basket somewhere. I retraced my steps on the way home, and found it on a bench.
Alek fell off his bike once, and didn't notice that he'd also dumped out all of the bottled drinks he'd been carrying in his basket. When I went back to look for them later, someone had picked them up and put them carefully to the side.
Recently I left my empty bento box in a taxi (I was probably distracted by the taxi driver's extensive knowledge of Major League Baseball, including every last Philly). A few minutes later, he came running into the boys' school with it (a block away from where he dropped me off).
So far the only thing we haven't found has been one of Hugo's early BeyBlades, left on a bench in a kids' park. Probably some foreign kid took it. (Only kidding.)
So, sure enough, Hugo and I found the bag of posterboard sitting right on the ground where he'd left it, 4 hours before.
I could get used to this.
I wanted this big Cuisinart, but I held back. 
Rain boots make a good retaining wall, as it turns out. 
Then you pick out the food you want at the buffet (chicken, shrimp, scallops, veggies). Alek still has a bit of zombie hair.
And fry it up. Yes, Aunt Lisa, that's hot oil.
They even had these cute tai-yaki on sticks. (There's azuki paste inside).
I dipped mine in bread crumbs and fried it up. Because, you know, I wasn't sure when I'd get another chance to eat a deep fried tai-yaki!
Look who's MJ!
Max's group is ready, too. They danced to "black and white", and decorated their shirts with their native countries. 
First was ECP, dancing to "Rockin' Robin." This was the cutest thing I have seen in my life. 
Sorry--lots of blurry photos here. I was giggling .
And the platypus:
And Max's:
Oh, and the pottery place also sent along Hugo's hoodie, which he had left behind. 
Here's the scene.
Talking some pre-tournament strategy.
Max.....
....got beat in round one. (So did Hugo).
But Alek made it through round one against a school buddy. Knocked hers right out of the ring for the 2-point WIN.
We ate senbei the size of the moon.
We saw the special boats on the river. That's right--those are Heian period costumes--twice in one day!
Adventure on the river.
We did. We rang this big bell one per son.
We saw a one-armed monkey.
And we saw this cool snake taking the fun way home.
