July 4th and the epic water balloon toss
Today marked our first 4th of July celebration together in another country. What exactly does one do to celebrate America's independence while living abroad? I decided to make this 4th a tribute to my past memories of living in Japan as a child and traveling to lake Nojiri every summer.
Lake Nojiri is a magical place in the mountains of Japan where I happily spent many childhood summers. Nojiri is a melting pot for local and expat families in Japan, everyone comes to relax and enjoy the summer months together. I have many special memories from my summers there, the 4th of July was always a special day. We did the very popular three legged race, most popular pet contest (my rabbit "bunzie" won the prettiest eyes award!) but my all time favorite was the water ballon toss.
Seeing as I am now back in Asia we decided to host a "lake nojiri style" 4th of July BBQ at our place for 8 of our new American friends.
As part of my tribute to my childhood we even did an official water balloon toss. I got a few strange looks as I explained the rules of the game but, for the most part it was a huge success. I say for the most part only because I ended up completely soaked at the end of the game. Best of all were the prizes for the winner, GUM! Only in Singapore would a few packs of "black-market" gum be considered an awesome prize! All in all it was a great evening... fun games, a few fireworks, and a great BBQ.
Summer Grilling by the Koi pond
The girls...before the water balloon toss so we are still dry
Labels:
Family and Friends,
Living in Singapore
natsukashi! Oh those were great memories!
What a lovely way to have friends over for Independence Day! You are clever! Sounds like you had a fun time and especially nice for you Lynn to rekindle past memories.