FIVE FRIENDS FROM JAPAN (AT THE PORTLAND CHILDREN'S MUSEUM)

Yes, you too can make friends in Japan without a passport. After the totally cool reproduction of Sesame Street in the exhibit side of the Children's Museum (CM), we didn't know what would come next. When Five Friends From Japan opened, we frankly didn't know what to think. It was unusual -- a seemingly accurate reproduction of various rooms (a class room, a tofu kitchen, various kids' rooms) in Japanese society, with video introdutions to the kids who "live" there. But, it's really cool. The exhibit is really well thought out and the place is packed with detail. Ruth was able to climb all over the groovy Japanese furnature, looking at anime kids' books while Georgia rolled around on a futon, wrestling the Cat Bus from My Neighbor Totoro. The shadowbox Tai Chi instructor in the bamboo garden defies description.

Meanwhile: The camera is still on the fritz (I'm on it!), Georgia is so close to crawling it's keeping her up nights and Ruth's owie is all better to the relief of all. Regular posting will start this very week. Right ... now.