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The Hidden Treasure

Rain or shine I gotta get my ten thousand steps and eight kilometers. Tonight it was raining pretty hard and it was super dark and windy. I busted out my rain suit, complete with waterproof shoe covers. It's been a while since I donned the entire regalia. It was cold, too. I still had 4.7 kilometers to go for the day, and roughly 5000 steps. Even after the crazy day I had out with the boys.

Eri was heading up to bed early and she watched me top off my departure preparation with my super warm scarf. She asked me if I was really going out in this rain and I said of course. It's just rain. She's used to my ways. Mostly.

I love walking in my rain suit because it makes me feel invincible against the weather. I noticed something, too. No matter how cold it is, if you have a good scarf to keep your neck nice and warm you're set. Even though the rain was coming down hard and kinda swirling all around in the windy night, and there were no people out walking like usual so the neighborhood felt kinda spooky and deserted, I felt an odd serenity. 

In about an hour I slipped back inside, carefully stripped off my wet gear, and sat back down here on the hot carpet to enjoy a little quiet reading time while listening to the rain continue to come down outside, occasionally peeking out the window and feeling very satisfied that I was out there in it but now I'm warm and comfy in my living room.


Since it wasn't a good day for playing outside, the boys and I met up with our friends at the Aeon Mall in Natori, where they have this super deluxe indoor kids play area.

The boys' first stop at the mall was, of course, the Christmasy set-up at the toy store.


Kenzo even managed to ride the escalator without too much complaining. There were no stairs so he had no choice. Osamu just hops right on but I had to pick Kenzo up and place him on the moving steps while he nervously told me to be careful.

 

According to my receipt for the play area, we were there for four hours and seventeen minutes. 



They have a costume dress-up corner so Kenzo got himself a cool hat to wear while playing. I wanted them to try on the Santa Claus stuff but they flatly refused.

 

They have a cafe with cheap food for kids, so the boys refueled with curry rice and udon without having to step away from the fun for too long.


I sat back and let them run amok and talked with my friend and ate french fries and chicken nuggets and even discovered one of the real hidden treasures of this amazing play area.


The grown-ups massage chair corner.

I think I spent over an hour in this thing, glancing out occasionally to make sure the boys were okay and then leaning back and hitting the start button again.

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