Summer Adventures in Misawa

Summer is a fun time around our household because we like to play and explore.  We had a summer fun jar stuffed with local outings and adventures for our family.  The kids earned the summer fun jar activities by completing their chores and summer homework.  Summer can also be hard for the kids because a lot of friends leave to travel to the states.  It is up to me to keep them really busy. 

We spent a lot of time exploring local gardens in Towada.  Our favorite was the Risoukyo Flower Garden.  We went there to see the Lupine festival and Peony festival. 

We had a lot of rain this summer in the month of August but that did not stop us from going to the ocean, we just wore raincoats and rain boots instead of swimming suits.  Really, the beaches by us have a coastal feel anyway so we were dressed appropriately.  We like to take our dog with us, collect sea glass and shells, and wade in the water.  We have three favorite beach areas (Miss Veedol, Momoishi, and Sand Dollar beach) between 20-40 min drive from the base.  I find it so amazing that we drive into a green, dense forest area, and then within 300 feet, we are at the ocean.  We have such diverse terrain here in Misawa.

One of the kids favorite things to do all summer is participate in summer camps.  The Lunney youth center provides lots of options and my kids did archery, paint balling, water sports on Lake Ogawara, basketball, swimming, ballet, and Japanese Culture.

We started out the summer camp season with Vacation Bible School at the base chapel.  The kids love this one!

We are always happy when we explore on the weekends so that Josh can come with us.  We had a great time at Komakko Land, Towada City Equestrian Park.

Huge medal Horse slide

We got to walk a pony for 15 minutes.  Josh did not have to do poop duty so he was grateful

 We visited Swan Park in Shimoda and stumbled across a nature walk that we had not noticed before.  The whole time Bear kept saying, "I feel so serene here."  She and Pants were so serene in fact that they were inspired to strike some yoga poses.  This was not at all prompted by me, I just have taught them well!

This time Bub was "encouraged" to join in the asana

I could not let them have all the fun in the serene place!

 The base shares a part of Lake Ogawara with Misawa and at the beach opening day party, Josh won us a two night stay in a cabin on the beach.  The cabins are primitive; a couch bed, a full, and a bunk bed.  There is no electricity beyond solar panels and we use the bathrooms on the beach.  We had a great time playing in the water all day on canoes and paddle boards, making a campfire in the cabin pit, and having a picnic on grass.

The community center on base organized a strawberry picking tour.  We went to a greenhouse and had 30 min to pick and eat as many strawberries as we wanted.

We enjoyed the foot onsen after eating our fill

This may be my favorite site of the summer.  Not really, but it does warm my heart to see Bub with a stack of books.  He had to work so hard to read and has been tutored every year until this year.  Now reading is his favorite thing to do.  We spent many mornings reading in a comfy spot.