Bike Ride With The Boys

We live on the very edge of the town, so we actually cycle away from the built up area to get onto the river path. For about twenty minutes of cycling there is nothing but farmland on either side of us. Lovely!

It was hot today, after pouring rain last night. I woke up fairly early, before the boys, and had a quiet cup of coffee, then went into the garden to weed and plant stuff I bought. Within an hour it was too hot (I wear a long sleeved shirt and jeans because I have been bitten so badly in the past.)
Yesterday I bought a perennial lobelia, two phloxes - one purple and one a lovely mint candy red and white, plus a double hollyhock, so I planted them up against the fence today and cleared a bit more of the bed there that has not been planted up yet.

You can see our little mountain range with our town's namesake mountain sticking up through the clouds. Apparently you can hike up that one but there are a lot of bears..... Doesn't really appeal!

Then I came in and showered and found the boys up and watching kids TV. We hung around the house for a couple of hours, then we did an hour or so on their school summer holiday homework, and had lunch.
After lunch, they went off to do their own things. Yoshi sat on his bed and listened to Harry Potter while drawing, and Harry was in the classroom doing bead work. I sneaked off to bed! It is nowhere near as hot as other parts of Japan but it was about 30C and I felt floppy!At about five it had cooled off enough for us to go out, so I suggested a bike ride. We are lucky in this town to have a river that runs the length of the town and there's this cycling/running/dog walking path all the way along it, with parks and park golf courses interspersed along it. It's great! Our town is very flat so fine for wusses like me!
We went to a big park that is across the main arterial road, so up till now I have never let the kids go alone. Actually you can get under all the road bridges on this cycle path, so I think this summer they'll be getting a bit more freedom.
Harry is much more of a daredevil than Yoshi! Yoshi is very careful of his body and will not jump off or climb up anything unless he is very sure it's safe! We played in the park for a while but night falls fast in northern Japan, so we headed back towards home.
First we stopped off at our local roadside shop and bought an ice cream! (Undoing all the good of the exercise for me...) Then Yoshi and Harry called in at the local toy shop. Harry bought more beads in colours that have run out and Yoshi bought some wood for a craft project that he has in mind. I did a bit of shopping but only what would fit into my bike basket - mostly milk and fruit.
Now we are home and after I finish this, I will cook dinner, then iron their bead projects, clean up the classroom and then it will be ENGLISH STUDY TIME! Big groans from the kids but actually they are in a good mood right now from the bike ride, so I'm striking while the iron is hot!