• 🏃 This week had a 3-day weekend, thanks to Sports Day. That means we also had field day at Leo's pre-school.  Like last year I helped hang the paintings that the kids painted above the field like flags. Blue badges had two blue-badge only events: a coordinated dance without the teachers also dancing to lead and a relay race.
  
  Leo's been practicing the dance about once a day for the past while and he nailed it during the actual performance. For his lap around field during the relay he held his own and maintained his team's position. His team held on to the lead until the very last straight away where they got passed at the last second.
  
  Looking back over the years of field day it's clear to see his growth as a little human. His first time running during the 30 yard dash (or whatever the length was) and he stopped running as soon as he knew he wasn't going to win and walked nonchalantly. This time, he ran his hardest the entire way, though he didn't win.
  
  During the tug-of-war his class came in second place. And I could really see him putting in all of his strength and effort into the matches. I'm a proud papa.
• 🧑‍🍳 With the 3-day weekend we spent a lot of time at the in-laws house as the cousins in Tokyo came to visit. When everybody's in town, I like to cook for the family because I enjoy cooking (just hate the cleanup), and cooking for 8 people is a lot of work in addition to watching kids. I made lasanga for dinner one night and potofu soup with ham & cheese melts for lunch the next day.
• 🛶 I watched the latest Beau video, a real treat about the making of the episode of How Other Dads Dad that Beau was on. Watching Beau take his kid out for adventures like that makes me want to take Leo out on more adventures. It also made me think about how often I fail to plug-in at Leo's level and just embrace being curious about the world because we got places to be or things that need doing. Both the video and the podcast are worth your time.
• 💍 Speaking of watching things, Leo watched the final Lord of the Rings movie...by himself! I would have liked to watch it with him (as well as finish the 2nd!)....I'm almost certain he fast forwarded through all of the "boring" parts so he could get to the fighting and final scenes. 

• 💍 I watched Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring with Leo over two sittings. Perhaps not the wisest parenting decision, as there is a fair bit of violence, but no worse than him playing Zelda, I reckon. I figured he'd get bored sooner than he did, but as it reminded him of Zelda, he was able to get stuck in. The last time I watched this was during the pandemic when I needed a bit of an escape. It still holds up all these years later.
• 📚 Looking to read a book that isn't non-fiction, I bought the the Fellowship of the Ring book, so I can read it on my kindle. It was less than ¥1,000 on Kobo, so why not? I'm horrible at reading fiction, so we'll see if I can get through it.
• 🎂 I mentioned it in other posts this week, but I turned 38. I took the day off work, which was my first one in far too long. They're usually a "day off" (day off in quotes because they're usually me taking the day so I can watch Leo because pre-school is closed, which is far more work than actually working). 
  
  For my birthday dinner, I made some fajitas, some killer guacamole, and some pico de gallo. Cake-wise, we've taken to getting 3 individual slices of cake rather than a whole small cake as most people do. That way we can can all get the flavor that we want and there's no left overs tempting you. I went with chocolate mouse, Leo with the usual strawberry short cake, where he eats the cake and I eat the strawberries, and Yumi got a pumpkin tart.
• 👮‍♀️ During the day on my birthday I went th to the police station to renew my license. Before submitting my application, I went to the building next door and got my photo taken and paid for the renewal. Upon submitting my application with the fresh photo, the police officer look at my photo and asked me twice when I took it as it looked nearly identical to my previous one. We both had a good laugh. He says that sometimes people have a nice photo that they try to re-use, but I'm no so vain. Though I did make an effort to shave that morning.
• ☕️ After that I went to Kita-Kamakura and went to Verve Coffee Roasters for coffee and lunch. I ate a hummus and eggplant pressed-sandwich which was killer. It reminded me that I need more hummus in my life. While there I made up and wrote my ode to overnight oats. 
• 🫓 Speaking of hummus, on Sunday I didn't eat any meat, which I'd like to do more of. Breakfast was (you guessed it) overnight oats. For lunch I whipped up some couscous, a ratatouille-like dish with eggplant (including the last one from the garden), red/green bell pepper, onion, and garlic, some pita and a quick hummus. Dinner was rice, miso soup, salad, and atsu-age (fried tofu). I need more days like this. It makes me feel better.

Keeping track of CO2 emissions can give travelers a new perspective. Can a 1,250km journey from Kyoto Prefecture to Shiretoko in Hokkaido Prefecture be done in just two days, with emissions limited to just 100kg? If our travelers make their goal, they'll be rewarded with a nature experience in a Natural World Heritage site. But if they exceed the set CO2 limit at any point during their journey, they'll be sent home immediately. Two students with very different views on the environment use various means of transport to make their way to their goal, facing unexpected obstacles and problems along the way. A 21st-century travel show that grapples with the global problem of CO2!

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