Spartan Race #3 was another 5km Sprint race. After most of the races were canceled for the last two years I was finally able to complete another race. This time I also convinced a bunch of my housemates to run the race with me. It was great fun, although a bit hot and I think everyone got a little sun burnt.
We had an extra day to spend in Ibaraki and our friends suggested a small hostel next to a lake and aquarium. The food was good, the aquarium was small but nice, and we even tried a little fishing in the lake.
We were invited to our friends and previous housemates outdoor wedding in Ibaraki. It was a small casual affair with some music, drinks, and even a vegan brownie wedding cake. The two would always play with Melina when they lived in the sharehouse and Melina was really happy to be at the wedding and see them again. At the end of the wedding, everyone got a wedding gift of a baguette while this song played. A basic translation is that everything in life requires balance, your life is very long and so is a baguette.
Tyler has made it to 100 days! We had the traditional 100 day foods and pretended to feed him.
We went out to the middle of nowhere Chiba to visit our friends farm. We had been meaning to visit for a really long time but had never had the chance up to now. It was a nice relaxing weekend walking around the farm picking "oranges"[夏みかん], Mulberries, and Biwa. We got to play with their three cats and one dog and visited the nearby famous step rice fields.
At Melina’s elementary school they have the annual sports day near the beginning of the school year rather than the traditional Autumn season. Also for precautionary measures the format for the sports day and the events were changed. Out of the 6 grades, the sports day was split into two halves with the lower 3 grades doing their events followed by the upper 3 grades. This way only about half the parents were watching at a time. Lastly, some of the more traditional events were removed which left only social distanced dancing events and the ever important racing events. Still, it was better than nothing and it was a joy to see Melina dance and run as fast as she could.
