Summer Holiday Guests #2

I feel a bit embarrassed with my lack of creativity in titles (lol), but I plan to keep posting the summer holiday series! This is #2, and a 3-year-old boy and his mother came to visit. Traveling by train with a small child must have been quite a challenge!

Since they were coming by train, we welcomed them at the station. At the ticket gate, we met a tiny cute mother with a lot of luggage and her son in her arms. 🥰
Welcome to Tamba Sasayama, especially in this heat exceeding 35℃!

Because outside is way too hot, we've been staying indoors more often. However, this allowed us to spend more time together, having deep conversations with the mother and playing with the boy to build rapport. 😆

The next morning, we set out early to Namikimichi Central Park to avoid the worst of the heat. With the little one's small legs, we couldn't reach the moving dinosaur at the far end, but we made it to the "Bone Fossil Plaza" in the middle after putting him in a wooden cart, stopping to collect cicada shells in the shade, and taking hydration breaks! The slide was scorching, and the playground equipment was hot, but we managed to have some fun. He loves emergency vehicles like ambulances, police cars, and fire trucks, and he's great at mimicking their sirens! It was quite impressive!

We also stopped by the Tamba Dinosaur Park, a regular spot for our homestays, to watch trains to go by and take photos with the huge monument.

After returning home, we played a lot with Legos. Since he loves emergency vehicles, he built a large hospital, and ambulances and fire trucks appeared in his stories, complete with sound effects! Many children come and play with Legos at our homestay, and each creates their own stories. Their imagination and creativity are pretty amazing!

We also harvested vegetables from the garden and greenhouse, played with the chickens, and glued the cicada shells we collected at the park onto drawings. After it cooled down a bit, we went to Kozoji temple for some river play, caught a lot of freshwater crabs, and got a stag beetle from the temple priest. We fed it cucumbers and bonito flakes after we got home. (Before they left, we released the crabs back into the ditch in front of the house, but the stag beetle went along for the journey. Hope it's doing well!)

We also used our pineapple-shaped ice tray to make and eat milk jelly. (Maybe because it was silicone, it didn't come out in the pineapple shape when we ate it, though! 😆)

We are not sure how much of these experiences will remain in the memory of this 3-year-old, but we hope he felt something from it all. We all realize that first-time parents are often at a loss, not knowing exactly what to do. It's not easy to raise a child every day while facing daily challenges. We respect and support all the mothers (and fathers) who are doing their best to shape the future. 💪💖

So, just like that, the 3 nights and 4 days flew by. The mother and son left. Next time we meet, he will be a big boy for sure.
We hope his father can come along next time too. Looking forward to it! 🥰🥰