Life at 247-1

A nice morning for the boys to have a play at the Park next to home. Sophie went home to sleep with Poh Poh and I stayed with the boys.

Something new in Melbourne, the Aquarium. Curious to see inside we went down to the city for the day, just along the Yarra River across from the Crown Complex. The wind was chilly but the view of the yarra and city were beautiful. A short walk from our carpark, the boys ran freely for a bit.

Up early and with some spare time before breakfast, Jamie decided to sketch the view from our room for one of his homework projects.

After breakfast Markie and I went for a dip in the hot springs. With most other guests having to check out by 10am we were lucky to have the baths all to ourselves for a while. The clear skies and surrounding snow were a beautiful sight and Markie enjoyed moving from pool to pool.

For a break away Wataru booked 2 nights in a hotel in Kujyuu, Oita Prefecture. The hotspring at the hotel was the highlight of the trip. Our room was a spacious Japanese style one and we had a great view of the surrounding mountains.

A place in Saga prefecture that Wataru had been camping and kayakking to with some friends, Iroha island. A very scenic place with a hot spring too we went there today taking our neighbour's girl, Kaori. We set out just before lunch and stopped on the way at 'kihachi' a very reasonable place for traditional Japanese meals.

Wataru got tickets to a live Jazz Trio concert of Fumio Karashima. Held at the Yamaha concert hall in Tenjin, the boys had a night out with daddy, first dinner and then the concert.

To welcome all the newcomers to kinder, an excursion with the parents was organised. Markie was up and ready with his sports uniform and nemo backpack.

With the weather being so nice we went for a drive not too far from home to a mountain called 'Hiyama'. At the top we found a nice small shrine and enjoyed the nature around.

For my birthday I chose to spend the night in a hotspring resort hotel. We had been to this place in Shikanoshima during xmas with Jiiji and Baaba and found the facilities very nice. Even better, Markie stayed for free, including a buffet breakfast and dinner, plus he got a bed too, we just brought our own sheets for him!