Miles 6th Birthday!
Miles was the lucky first of the family to celebrate a birthday in Japan. He had only a couple things on his wishlist; he wanted to go out for pancakes and wanted some prizes that were wrapped. Alright bud, you got it!
Strangely enough, Japanese pancake places aren't open for breakfast. They all seem to begin opening at 10 AM. So, we had breakfast at home and decided to kill time by making our first trip to Costco. Here Miles picked out his favorite meal from back in the US.
Now that it was late enough, we walked to a highly rated pancake joint in Chinatown, a short five-minute walk from our apartment. Japanese pancakes seem thicker than what we're used to in the US, but they are cooked like a soufflé which makes them super light and fluffy. We were all very excited to try them. I was expecting deliciousness and that was delivered in spades. Even though it was Miles birthday, I think Calvin made out the best.
Miles and I got the classic "Happy Pancake", Calvin got a Tiramisu themed set that was doused in chocolate with a huge stack of butter and whipped cream on the side, and Elsa got some sort of milk tea cream variety. All were delicious.
Upon returning to the apartment, it was time for some presents!
That little-stuffed guy Miles is holding is the mascot of the Yokohama Baystars, the professional baseball team that plays just minutes away from us. Miles has been all about them since getting here. The playground we frequent is adjacent to the stadium and we often see the players and fans lining up to go inside. The tickets are hard to come, by so it looks like we may have to wait until August for our shot to attend. The kids have also been watching a fair amount of Badminton on Japanese TV, so Elsa picked up a set for them. Some Legos and an un-pictured Nintendo Wii (courtesy of our state-side friends the Birds (thank you!!)) capped off a pretty solid prize pool for Miles....and Calvin... (Calvin has a rough time with birthdays that aren't his own. Miles was genuinely sweet in letting his brother help unwrap everything.)
Finally, after assembling Legos and playing outside with the new rackets, it was time for Miles's birthday dinner and dessert. Obviously, since this is Miles we're talking about, a real cake wasn't even considered. Instead, he has come to like this "angel-food-but-denser" cake thing that is available at the local convenient store so we treated him to that.
Definitely a pretty solid day in the life of Miles. Crazy to think that we now have a six-year-old in our midst. Calvin is next up on the Japan birthday list and is officially counting down the days! (like literary as soon as we finished singing Happy Birthday to his brother...)
