It’s warm again so we’re at the river Saturday mornings. Reia is a second grader now. She graduated to a fiberglass slalom kayak passed down from student to student over the years. That’s Reia and her friend Yume (playing with a rubber toy that’s floating nearby). Mari and Maika aren’t participating in practices, but they’re getting some chances to paddle around. They got used wetsuits from a brother and sister (also twins) who grew out of them last year. We’re pretty proud of them.

In other news, we won’t be going to the USA this summer. We had hoped to take a group of Japanese for a homestay experience in Albuquerque, but we didn’t have enough people sign-up. It’s not the end of the world. We’ll try to do something creative in August, and we don’t have to worry about all the pressures of planning such a big event. Best of all, it looks like my parents will visit Japan in October since we can’t make it out there. The kids are excited already. My parents will get to see them at school, kayaking, etc.