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Spring Loaded

The boys love Marumatsu because the kids meals come with a gotcha-gotcha coin, which I think in the old country we call a jackpot coin. The kids jackpot is a staple of family restaurants the world over, and we love the ones at Marumatsu because they come with the meal - motivation to eat with no extra cost. Some places have jackpot games that cost three or four bucks a pop, which the boys are learning I don't even acknowledge. Sometimes they get some crappy Tom & Jerry handkerchief, but recently they've been striking it rich with those little spring loaded race cars you slide back and release. Today Kenzo and Osamu cleaned their plates and got a soccer ball and cow racer, respectively.

We set off first thing this morning for the Sendai Planetarium. The best is when Eri and I can set a cool destination, then tease the boys with it by not telling them where we're going until the last minute as a leveraging tool to get them to hurry up and clean up their toys and change their clothes and brush their teeth. Today it worked like a charm.

Kenzo had already been to the planetarium on a kindergarten field trip. Eri's been there at some point. Osamu and I were the newbies. The 40-minute car ride out to Nishikigaoka was the usual non-stop monologue of questions and observations from the back seat, made even more intense by the fact that I took a route through downtown that took us through the Aobayama Tunnel. They boys love their tunnels.

All of this excitement and anticipation was just sliding back the spring loaded race cars.

We waltzed into the planetarium, Eri bought the tickets, and once we crossed the threshold into what is basically a children's science museum complete with cool learning activities the loaded springs were released. Kenzo and Osamu were out of their minds. For the next thirty minutes they ran amok.

At 10:00 we headed for the planetarium show. Of course right after it started and the place was pitch black Osamu decided he wanted his security towel, so I made a disgruntled trip out to the car, coming back into a completely dark theater with my eyes dilated from the parking lot sunlight.





After looking at stars and planets all morning the boys switched gears and hit up a game center with some pretty realistic rides. Osamu achieved his life-long goal of becoming a bus driver.


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