Spring walking

Yesterday the weather was gorgeous. Obviously, this is the case when Kevin has to go to school... ;)

Elisabeth and I went for a long walk around the neighborhood, just to see what's out there. We went down Nakanoshima dori (our street), took a left (heading east) and walked until we reached the next big street of Hiragishi dori then north till we reached Kanjo dori and then back South on Nakanoshima dori. 

Some extensive google mapping has told me we walked about 3km. 

We saw lots of parents taking their kids to school. I thought it was interesting that both parents were going. I don't know if they were just all leaving and walking in the same direction at the same time or what the deal was. It was late for Finnish and American standards too, well past 9 a.m.! 

I passed a large grocery store that I might have to check out, plus some other random things, like banks and gas stations. The usual things in residential areas. 

We were passed by this group of probably 30 preschoolers. They were walking together in such a nice line and there were only about 4 adults walking with them. They stopped and waved at all the shopkeepers who came out to the doors to watch them go by. Really cute! I wonder if that's kind of a usual occurrence. 

We also passed 3 ladies walking with small toddlers. At first I thought they were double wide strollers, but in fact, they were like trollies or carts that the kids were either standing or sitting in. There was about 4 kids in each one. :D I couldn't even imagine walking with one of those, I'm sure they made it look easier than it really is! 

We found a little park close to our house, well relatively close. Once it melts and isn't super muddy, we'll definitely go there! 

We also found this shrine close to home. 

And a crocus! 

Sorry for the horrendous quality of photos, I was too lazy to lug the camera around so it was just the phone getting the action.

Close by is our football field. The boys have worked hard and it's paying off since the snow has melted by at least half in the week we've lived here! They'll definitely get to play out there soon!

The whole point of going for a walk was mainly to get some fresh air and get Elisabeth to nap... Well, she stayed awake and chatted the w-h-o-l-e time. I put her on the patio just to see if she would sleep out there in her stroller like she does back at home (I miss that stroller daily!), and sure enough, she passed right out. 

I did it again today...and it worked! Yay! 

Once she wakes up, we'll eat some lunch and play some more! 

Here's a few pictures of the toys we got her from Toys R Us.

We got her a block puzzle with 4 hello kitty designs. I love it. She doesn't get it yet obviously, but it's something she can grow into.

 

Obviously, this is how she plays with all of her toys.

 

We also bought her this Anpanman puzzle with numbers.

It's a popular Japanese children's cartoon.

 

(does anyone notice the really creepy "true dectective swirl" on the back of the fisher price remote?)

 

Then she got a new book to read with her fan club downstairs. 

 

The picture above is for her boyfriend back home. They can read it together when we get back this summer ;)

Well, that's it for today! In the time I've been going back and forth between writing this and everything else:

-Elisabeth napped for 1.5h

-The laundry started at 9.30. It's now almost 2... still no sign of it ending. Seriously what the wha?

-We ate lunch.

So now, maybe a new walk in another direction?

We'll see! The sun is shining and it's very springy! :) 

Ai niin joo, piti suomentaa näitä! Unohdin jo!

Eilen paistoi aurinko (kuten tänäänkin), joten lähdimme tytön kans kävelylle. Tehtiin n. 3km lenkki. Nähtiin ihmisiä menossa kouluun ja töihin, myöhässä meikäläisten näkökulmasta kun kello oli jo reippaasti yli 9. 

Nähtiin iso ruokakauppa, leikkipuisto, jonkinlainen temppeli ja varma kevään merkki: kukkiva krookus. Jee! :)

 Jalkapallopojat pääsevät piakkoin pelaamaan, kenttä on jo melkein sula! Kannatti vaan niitä lumitöitä tehdä! 

Elisabeth on nukkunut nyt kahtena päivänä suomalaisittain ulkona rattaissa päiväunet. 

Ja uusia leluja ostettu: Hello Kitty-palapeli, Anpanman-palapeli ja japanin sanakirja. ;)

Pyykit on ollut pesussa jo neljättä tuntia. Ihmettelen mille ohjelmalle olen ne laittanut!