Thomas

Sunday was the big day, Sam's day out with Thomas the Tank Engine. It was a lot of fun, though I think Sam's favorite thing might have been the bubbles.

Had to include this bike picture - a railroad bike.



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Sunrise

These are a couple of images from my ride this morning.





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Cow Jams and Fishing

Yesterday while out on a ride I came across a herd of cows walking through the forest. As I rode by the cows all stopped and stared at me. The ones at the end of the line got impatient and started mooing loudly.


Later Sam and I went up to Hidden Hill for their Train Day. Sam was also interested in "fishing".









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Utica's Magic Kingdom

We took Sam up to Hidden Hill Nursery on Sunday and he loved running around, fishing, and seeing the trains.







He got really excited when he saw the trains. He yelled "Thomas" and took off running to watch.




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B's Graduation

Congratulations to B on her graduation. We are all very proud of you. And Sam wants your hat.











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One of the most significant and delightful aspects of Japanese culture is the appreciation of subtle beauty. It's easy to imagine why lots of people would want to go out and enjoy the cherry blossoms every year - they're like fairyland trees when they're in full bloom - but katakuri are a less obvious cause of celebration. They're tiny wildflowers, little pink droplets of color on the floor of the still bare forest. Mixed with the blues and whites and yellows of the other wildflowers, they bring the spring to the Hokkaido forest, and hundreds of people were out yesterday to enjoy their beauty. And these are not fair-weather flower fans either; the sun was bright and the sky was blue but it was really really windy, windy enough that someone might have thought, you knkow, maybe I'll stay home and watch TV. We had to keep Kota well-shielded from the wind, but it was nice to have a little hike together, his first.