Even though everything else is still brown and dormant, these bright blossoms declare the approach of Spring,

and with Spring comes Sakura and warmer weather.

For the Reutter family it also means that three of our kids are getting ready to graduate one phase of life and move on to the next.

Time marches on and waits for no one, and ready or not, it's a time of transition once again.

Here he comes, all ready for school, huh?

There's just a little bit of youchien (kindergarten) left, oh my goodness.

Our E-bike days are almost over.

At least the lugging kids around. That's right.

See you guys later, have a good day at school! Bye!

[Life in Japan Theme Song]

The dramatic presentation is one of the last things in the kindergarten school year before graduation.

Not only is this Joshua's last year in kindergarten,

but it will be the first time since we've moved to Japan 8 years ago that we won't have a child at our local kindergarten.

You can feel a bit nostalgic when you think about it,

because we're very thankful for our local kindergarten and all the good friends we've made here.

Joshua, pull your [pant] leg down. Do you have your pants inside-out?!

What a boy!

The kindergarten has been vert patient with us as we learn the Japanese language and customs and do our best to communicate.

Having all of our kids in Japanese kindergarten has prepared them well for the Japanese public schools afterwards,

and I pray for a smooth transition for Joshua as well.

Hey Dude!

Oh Joshua! He can reach it now.

You can reach it, you know what that means?!

What's it mean when you can reach it?

That means I'm almost elementary age.

But it's not just Joshua who has a big transition soon

What are we waiting for here?

Becca and Anna are putting on their kimonos—we want to go look! Oh!

Oh my goodness! Oh wow!

I'm so tall. You are.

I'm almost as tall as you...and of course mommy. You look older already.

OK, stand there, I'm going to do a sneak peak!

No, stand nice and cute!

One of Momma chan's favorite things to do in the late winter is to get out and see the plum blossoms,

and this year they have been especially slow to bloom, maybe because it's been so cold.

What did you get there, Sarah? A dunguri (acorn)

Oh, sure enough.

Cold! The wind makes it cold.

But each time we visit more and more are in bloom. We are ready for Spring!

Can I [use the stick]... No

Ahhh, why?

What are you guys going to do? Go in the water!

Go in the water. Go in the water?!

What do you think Sarah? Is it cold?

Freezing. It's freezing?!

But before winter is done, there's one thing we still want to squeeze in.

This year has been a record year for snowfall up in the mountains, and a number of my friends and I love to ski.

Each year we all take a day off work and leave early in the morning for a 3-hour car ride up to a ski resort.

We weren't able to do it last year, so we don't want to miss it again this year!

To drive into the mountains, you need to be prepared with proper snow chains for your car.

Oh I don't know if I can do it though... You can!

Beautiful technique

Alright Dude, that was fast!

We got the chains on, and now we're ready to roll. Let's go!

Yoshi, do they put the blue, do they spray paint it on the sides so you know where the wall is?

Yeah, what about that blue mark...

I think so you can see the wall, ne.

Welcome to Gala!

Masaki, did you bring your helmet from home?

We're going to go up now. Let's do it.

You impress me with bringing your cameras on trips, man.

Common man! Somebody's gotta make it happen. Someone's gotta do it, man.

When you got a YouTube channel you got to... Pay the price!

You gotta work that thing!

Alright- yea!

It wasn't long before we were up on the mountain in the middle of all that snow!

Alright, it's time to ski in the snowstorm!

Let's go! You won't be able to see much.

Cheese!

This right here is like more of the mountain than we've seen all day.

I think I'm going to get a little video too.

Oh, there goes Yoshi. He's halfway down already!

Oh, disappeared beyond the horizon.

Ben- you've got the skills, man! What up?

You're the real deal. I'm just trying to do me, you know what I'm saying.

Just trying to get sponsored out here. Ha ha!

[Yoshi] You want some chocolate? Oh man!!

Yoshi, my new best friend! Wow!

Well, this has been the weather all day: snowy, cloudy. Hardly be able to see, it should be awesome for YouTube.

Alright!

Oh wow What's up?

All good? It's great.

Alright. Let's finish?

Alright. Let's finish?

Lunchtime!

Quarantined... not quarantined. Quarantined... not quarantined.

After lunch and a lot more skiing, it was time to head back down the mountain, but our day was not done.

Here we go- onsen time! Oh man.

Onsen in the winter. This is where it's at!

After a day of skiing—look! You can actually see the top of the mountain kind of.

Look at all this snow, look at how tall it is here. My goodness.

One day trips are fun and memorable, but back at home it was business as usual, with the girls working on their English.

See how the letters are — look— they're not up and down, they're kind of slanted...

Oh this way? Yea.

Oh, you guys going to learn cursive writing? It's like calligraphy in English.

That's cool. And you girls are so good at it in Japanese. OK, unpause.

[Teacher] You shouldn't write in a really relaxed form, your back should be straight, probably up against the back rim of your chair...

Joshua also has work to do to get ready for elementary school.

The little Reutter kids are busy up here. What are you working on Joshua?

My hiragana [Japanese characters] Your hiragana?!

What's Sarah working on? A play dough that turns hard.

A play dough that turns hard? So what are you going to make? Have you decide yet?

It's a dog. It's going to be a dog?

Start on the 1, 2, 3. What sound does that make?

"Ka" "Ka" that's right, good job.

Even though we had already visited a couple of times,

Momma chan wanted the family to come out at least one more time to see the plum blossoms had finally bloomed or not,

but the kids first requested that we stop and play in the water.

Hey Luisa, how's the water?! So fun!

Super cold. Super cold? It looks cold!

Yep, I have my shoes on, but I'm not getting them wet...

See? It's so dark, like the camera, I can't see a thing.

Well, it's filming!

Yea, I can't see a thing!

Save me! Ow.

Sarah! Where'd you come from? Huh? There.

Over there?

Wow Dude!

They say patience pays off, and in this case it's true

because even though it was way later than normal, the plum blossoms were finally in full bloom.

Walking through the gardens the hope of Spring filled our hearts and the knowledge that warmer, greener days are ahead.

I want to take a picture, take a picture!

Let's just do one, a selfie of us or something.

OK guys, line up. You ready?

Thanks for watching. You can show your support by subscribing to our channel.

Until next time, we'll see you on Life in Japan. Bye bye.