44/52 - kites + candles

Lily

We went to the annual Candle Festival at Nara Park - a celebration of all things Japanese. Lily learns (a surprising amount of) Japanese at school, so it was a nice learning extension too. Mark and I have loved going to the festival for years, but it's been a year or two since our last trip and boy, has it grown! Thousands of people were there, enjoying the beauty, culture, yummy food, activities and other lakeside fun - like a samurai sword fighting 'reenactment' that had the kids very confused ;). It was super windy but a lovely evening out together as a family. The first of many summery fun outings I hope!

They had little kites you could 'hire' for a gold coin, and Lily took her kite flying very seriously. If determination (or running full steam) could guarantee a kite would fly, hers surely would have. Despite incredible winds, the kite didn't get a whole lot of lift-off but she really gave it her all. So cute seeing her absolutely tearing around, dragging this kite, getting snagged in other kite lines and trees but never, ever giving up. 

Sidenote: A Japanese woman was writing kids' names in Japanese on rice paper. Lily also collected a few Japan travel brochures, took them home and later decided to cut them up and whip up some posters about Japan. She took them all into school and got to show them to her class during the Japanese lesson, which she was so thrilled about :) Eager little learner!

Eli

A (mostly dead) old bush fell over in our front garden after some strong winds. 

It was a very serious issue - so serious, we had to call in the Fire Department to make an assessment.

Thankfully, the local firefighter brought his water hose and an axe and had everything under control in no time ;) 

Miles

Mr Adventurous bumped his head while scootching around on his playmat, and his usual smiles very briefly turned to tears. I cuddled and kissed those tears away, but one perfectly sweet little tear lingered and I could hardly bear to wipe it away.

Project 52: A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013.

More highlights from the week that was....

At the Nara Candle Festival: We wrote down a 'hope' and tied the our prayer to the tree amongst so many other wishes and hopes and dreams. 

Teamwork on getting the kite up in the air!

The perfect capture of his personality - happy, carefree, running with abandon!

My gorgeous hubby, always involved in the kids' play! They sure have been blessed with the most amazing Daddy.

Lift-off!

Never giving up...

We didn't stay till complete dark to see the thousands of candles glow to their breathtaking full effect, but even at dusk
the kids were totally in awe of the view! You can see the little 'stream' beginning behind Eli here... 

This sweet Japanese teen was having fun randomly wearing this white Lion headpiece. The kids spotted her
and were gobsmacked. Was it real?! Lily shyly approached and said Hello and asked to pat her ;) The girl offered to have a photowith the kids. After Eli checked if the Lion was going to eat him (no), they gingerly sat down for a photo. They were so fascinated. Too cute!

Firefighter Eli assesses the damage and prepares his axe.

Cheeky boy spraying me!

Which should I use first??

One last tear for Mummy to kiss away xx

  

My beautiful boy. I can really see my Mum's side of the family in his face here - especially my Nana. Strong genes!

Pool party fun :)

My friend Amber loaned us these home-made geoboards - cork and pins makes a super fun and simple activity for the kids - rubber bands are used to make shapes and work those dexterous little fingers. They really got into it!

E really enjoying the pinning :) So good for strengthening little fingers. 

She is fiercely creative. She takes to her craft table with focus and intent, armed with an idea and determination to make it happen. One day she could be an engineer or an artist or both!? I am often unaware of what she is up to until she proudly comes to me to with another project complete. Today it was a little brooch made out of a peg and a foil 'chocolate coin' wrapper. She told me she had to work out how to get the right side of the wrapper facing the way she wanted. Using other decorations, she then went on to make a series - Party Brooch, School Brooch, Home Day Brooch. Yes, a brooch for every occassion ;) 

They spent half an hour lying on the bed, drawing pictures on the Magnadoodle and taking turns guessing what it was.
Lily and Mark drew different animals, while Eli scribbled the entire thing black and called it 'a bear in a cave' - every time! 

She blew bubbles right at the camera and was so amused at her own cheekiness, she broke into peels of unbridled laughter.

An abundance of roses in my garden are a reminder of the many beautiful blessings
God rains down on us - most undeservedly and in this case especially,  as I am no
green thumb :)