15 September 2010

Hurray! The weather has turned and it didn't go much above 26C all day, plus there was a very welcome strong breeze. I pray that the change is here to stay. We'll save a fortune on aircon at least.

To make the most of the comfortable weather, Jo, Bettina and I decided to take the children to Odaiba for a picnic and play at the pirate boat and splash area. Emily and I met Jo, Isy and Cooper in Shibaura and we rode the Yurikamome light railway over to Aquacity, where we hung out in Starbucks waiting for Bettina and Tim. As always the kids threatened to destroy the peace, so Jo loaded Dora the Explorer on her iPhone and that kept them quiet long enough for us to finish our drinks.

We walked along the waterfront to the play area and they clambered around on the boat for a while before complaining of hunger, so we set up camp under a tree by the edge of the bay and ate lunch. I felt really relaxed and happy for the first time since we got back; it is a gem of a spot with so much to look at, never busy, and always a nice breeze, plus the added attraction of the amusements for Emily.

After food we let them play in the water, and they must have had a good hour or more, in the main very happy pottering about alongside one another with cups and watering can. Bettina still has her work cut out with Tim as he will keep taking off and she is slowing down a lot now with only ten weeks or so to go. Eventually we called it a day and reluctantly turned back to the mall. We all wanted to pop into Toys R Us so trooped in there. Emily wanted another model train, but as I plan to get her a set of tracks for her birthday I thought it would be silly to buy a small model now that will be duplicated later by an electric one, so we bought the larger, moving Emily train. I was horrified at how much it was though - we will have to restrict the number of trains she gets, at 15 pounds apiece. The tracks are ridiculously expensive too, given how cheaply they must be made. Maybe I should try to put out a wanted ad for some secondhand ones.

I had intended to take Emily back home via the boat to Shibaura, but as we sat at the pier, eating a snack looking out at the boats and the bridge, I thought I had better check it was running, and wouldn't you know it? It was out of service for the day. She was rather deflated so I suggested that we call in at the 100 Yen shop (like a poundshop at home) on the way and she could pick out one item. She had never been in one of those bargain shops before and it was a revelation for her. I myself am a recent convert, and will now go regularly for all manner of things. Today's haul: pack of envelopes, storage baskets, roll of wrapping paper, various beads and ribbons for crafts at home, and Emily's choice: toy binoculars.

Emily had been really good with weeing all day, though she still seems to be going extremely frequently so perhaps doesn't have full control. However, on the way home as she was out of the buggy briefly to walk through a garden, she clutched herself and before I had a chance to whip her garments down she had wet herself. Luckily it was a quiet spot, and I got her cleaned up and changed without fuss. At home, the day three poo finally made an appearance after tea, and in the potty, thankfully.

I spent much of the evening loading tracks from our CD collection onto Nick's new pride and joy: an iPod Nano. It is a fairly basic model as it doesn't have a touch screen, but all we want is some means of playing back music so it fits the bill fine. However, it only has room for 2,000 tracks, and I could see quite quickly that we would never be able to get all our favourites onto the one device. I think we may have to have one each! It would come in handy when I am out and about, though I dare not use it while running, for personal safety reasons.

Thank goodness Naoto Kan beat that sly Ichiro Ozawa in the DPJ leadership contest. If that hood-eyed snake had pulled it off the country would have been straight back to the old pork barrel ways with public works money dished out to undeserving projects to bolster politicians' local standing. Japan would have been alaughing stock too, as it would have led to the sixth prime minister in about 4 years. Contrary to expectations, Kan reluctantly intervened in currency markets as the Yen is so strong against the dollar, and it immediately rose by several yen.