They made us a wonderful Japanese dinner and showed us how to make cranes out of paper (origami). We took some beautiful photos of them in the Japanese Friendship Garden. At Santa Cruz, we rode on the gondola and a great vintage roller coaster with them.

As I did last year, I played the fake poop and fake vomit tricks on them, which they enjoyed greatly. One day they took both poop and vomit to class to show their friends. Masami put the poop on the seat of the teacher's chair and they all had a good laugh about it.

On Sunday, July 21, the 21 Seitoku University students arrived at the Sheraton Hotel 90 minutes late. We filled the time by taking a walk around the beautifully landscaped grounds. There was a little tree-lined stream with lots of ducks swimming around. There was even a beach along the stream for the guests.

The students marched in two at a time, just like before, but their numbers were far fewer than last year. After the opening festivities, we picked up our students and drove home. After changing clothes, we walked over to the Japanese Festival and then to the market for groceries. We barbequed some hamburgers for dinner and had ice cream (which they loved) for desert.

On Monday, the kids toured Stanford University after their English class. We had a large pizza for dinner.

On Tuesday, the kids toured the Sunnyvale Police Station. We had a picnic with some of the other students and hosts in a San Jose park. We cooked hotdogs for ourselves and brought a water melon to share. We walked over to a beautiful lake and then tossed a nerf football around.

On Wednesday, the kids went to Monterey/Carmel. Lyn cooked spaghetti and corn for dinner.

On Thursday, the kids had a holiday celebration at school. I took Masami and Makiko roller blading. Then, Masami and Makiko prepared a delicious Japanese dinner. Afterwards, we played paper "football" on the dining room table and helped the kids with their homework (as we did other nights, as well).

On Friday, the kids had a free afternoon, so I took them on a bicycle/skate trip out to Shoreline Park. We had burritos for dinner and then took lots of photographs at the Japanese Friendship Garden.

On Saturday, I cooked pancakes for breakfast. Brad (my brother), Vicky (his wife), and Pam (his daughter), who were on vacation from Colorado, visited us. We barbequed hamburgers for dinner and then walked/skated to downtown Mountain View.

On Sunday, we had egg sandwiches for breakfast and then we dropped the kids off at Great America amusement park. Afterwards, everyone but Lyn, Adam, and I went over to the Winchester Mystery House. Later on, there was a sushi dinner.

On Monday, we took the kids to Santa Cruz. We met Brad and his family (who had toured Monterey earlier in the day) at our favorite restaurant on the pier. Most of us rode on the gondola at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk amusement park. Pam, Makiko, Masami rode the Giant Dipper, a wonderful, 1924 vintage, roller coaster.

On Tuesday, the kids stayed overnight in San Francisco and I picked them up the next day. I cooked dinner and then the kids helped Lyn make some banana bread.

On Thursday, we took them for dinner and shopping at Costco and then did some origami back at home.

On Friday, we attended the Sayonara party where my favorite part was when a group of the students played "It's A Small World, After All" on flutes. I think all the students joined together for the Carpenter's hit "Sing". The food was "oishi" (delicious, as the Japanese say). Finally, the diplomas were awarded and we ended with a mass dance. We came home and the kids watched "Mulan".

On Saturday, we had another pancake breakfast and then Lyn took the girls to the local mall, while I watched Adam. In the evening we went to our friends house for a barbeque.