Cheap, fun outing for winter

These two days constitute Winter Break at CAJ. Not much of a break, but I won't complain. We've been trying to figure out what to do with these days. Camping was no good, neither was staying at home for the whole weekend. A park is our default mode, but to be honest (not that I'm not usually), the thought of spending maybe an hour getting to a park and then standing around in the cold for a few hours watching them play, and then another hour getting home just wasn't all that appealing. 


So I came up with another plan. We'll go to Costco. It is a comfortable under-the-hour drive. It was a job that needed doing and wasn't easily fitting into my schedule in the coming weeks. And the huge plus is that the boys enjoy it. It is one of the very few shopping trips that the boys enjoy (and that we're prepared to take them on). Part of the reason is that it involves food. Our routine is to shop from about 10 until we're done, go through the checkout and then have lunch at their basic and very cheap in-house restaurant. We also buy a cheap pizza for dinner (in actual fact we've bought ourselves lunch and dinner today for under 3,000 yen [$AU35]).


The other thing we discovered about the Iruma Costco is that in the neighbouring Outlet Mall is a Lego shop. Not that we were planning on buying any Lego, BUT they have the 2012 Catalogue available and this is what the boys have been asking for since New Years. It is a free resource that entertains month after month. The 2011 version still holds pride of place beside at least one of the boys pillows!


So we're all happy. Full freezer, full larder, and full of wonder at the amazing Lego that is out there. And tomorrow we'll all be happy to stay home.