Tsukuba, Part II

Here is the rest of the Tsukuba post. 

It's 40 degrees and raining today. Which is exactly the same as it was last Monday. How do I know? It always seems to rain here on Mondays - wrestling Jacob, his nap bag (containing a mini-futon and a mini-quilt), his backpack, an umbrella, and an umbrella stroller is no soft start to the week (rainy days and Mondays, right?). Also, I know that the umbrella stroller is so named because it folds like an umbrella, but given that it's virtually impossible to use an umbrella while pushing an umbrella stroller, it seems extra cruel. And wet.

But, hey, kids in raincoats are super-cute!

As are kids in hand-knit sweaters! This sweater was knit for Mike by his grandmother. Interestingly enough, both Mike and I are winter babies (like Jacob), but Natalie is a summer baby. So most of the sweaters knit for us by our grandmothers (I remember a blue sweater with a green stripe that my grandmother knit) mostly had a season / size mismatch for her - this even more so in Texas where true winter weather is three weeks, at best. But Jacob is wearing the heck out of this sweater. And I love that.

 
So, yes, Tsukuba. The land where the parks have a lot of rules, but we manage to have fun, anyway.


Almost all of the pics on this blog are shot with my iPhone, but yesterday I took my fancy camera to the park to take some shots of the kids at play.



It was so cold that we ended up leaving the park after 20 minutes. It's a good thing that we can also have fun indoors.

A few weeks ago, we went to an amazing farmer's market in Tokyo (pics forthcoming). Last weekend, we visited the slightly more sedate - but equally delicious - monthly Tsukuba farmer's market. Jacob ate some sweet potato (possibly the first non-disguised veggie he's eaten in months!) and Natalie rode a miniature pony. A good time was had by all!


In terms of local fun, we also checked out the local professional basketball team. Basketball is not a very popular sport in Japan. So while we were at a game in the league equivalent to Japan's NBA, the scene was pretty chill. Also, I'm told that the team is own by a (former?) professor at Tsukuba University. Crazy, right? I can't imagine a professor in the US - even a superstar professor - having the capital for a professional basketball team.

The team is called  . . . wait for it  . . . the Tsukuba Robots. Because of course.

We also continue to have a love-hate (love-hurt?) relationship with sumo. Here's a little time-lapse photo that really only demonstrates parental amnesia / misplaced optimism.

Because I strive to make this a full-service, full-experience blog (no free drinks, no valet parking, though), here's a documentary all about Tsukuba. It's about 30 minutes long, but if you just want to see a few shots of Natalie's school, they start at 12:15.

By way of conclusion, I'll share a few faint signs of spring that we've seen. I think the top left is a plum tree; the other three blooming trees might be ornamental cherry trees; not sure what the bottom right is, but I love it. Spring break was hardly spring-like, alas. And next Monday is a national holiday for spring equinox, but I doubt we'll be out picnicking under blossoming trees. But that is coming...