I am seriously trying not to freak out. Back to school is a time I relish for Annie but not so much for me. I admit that I love being back on bento duty but I am one of those moms who really misses her kids when they're in school. Nissa starts Kindergarten on Thursday and to prepare, Norby took the day off from work to support both Nissa and me. So, Annie requested the panda bento and here it is! This one has press shaped eggs with nori decorations, grape tomatoes from the garden stuffed with cream cheese and chives, also from the garden. There are two little bear cups of olives covered with smoked Gouda bears also decorated with nori and all those little flowers are from my completely gone wild oregano plant. Annie says she's not sure she'll eat them buy will at least try one. The other tier has a handful of grapes and some carrot flowers along with a smoked Gouda flower both decorated with nori and finally, a little cute monster kind of face is sticking out. It's a pick in case Annie doesn't want to use her fingers :). Happy fifth grade year big girl!

Today was the last day of camp and Norby surprised Annie by taking off work to come see her fence. It was a great surprise. Annie won first place in her epee tournament and was really fun to watch. She's ready to start in august and, to be honest, so are Norby and I! I tried something new in this bento by giving myself a blank slate to just decorate. In this case, the slate is a slice of provolone over cut up pieces of chicken. The decorations are made with organic American cheese (or as it's known in our house, Pirates Cheese) and nori. In the red cups are nori decorated melon balls and of course, none other than the fully in bloom from the garden must be picked before they are gone, black raspberries! Here's to a great week of camps and a happy 10 year old about to start a new adventure!

Fourth day of fencing camp and I've been informed that Annie and Kasia have a secret hideout (otherwise known as the girls locker room, lol). It's so fun to see Annie so excited and loving it. More watermelon with frogs that go hop and some black raspberries (of course) are in the top tier. In the bottom one is an antipasto with a couple provolone bunnies that go hop, apparently for real since Annie found one had hopped under the salad when she opened it! Sneaky little buggers!

I liked Monday's bento so much, I revived it today, the third day of fencing, in a slightly new arrangement and with the addition of a strawberry. Since these are all snack Bentos, I've only been using two tiers of the three tiered boxes. This is probably my favorite box, even if it's only part of it.

Second day of fencing camp and Annie is well on her way to becoming a fencer, she loves it. She has made a new good friend named Kasia. Annie said she knew they'd be friends when she learned they were both left handed. The double Bentos below each have half a bunny egg and half a bear egg. Each also has two bear cups of strawberries and more black raspberries. Nissa at hers as soon as we dropped of Annie and as we were on our way to get grandma and grandpa to buy them the long promised birch tree. She wasn't waiting until snack time!

Annie has fencing camp this week which requires a snack, Bento Time! And yes, Nissa requested one too so, of course, there are two. Our black raspberries are loving the fact that we cut down the mulberry trees and are subsequently, loaded with berries. Here, they are surrounding some nori hearted watermelon. The other half has rolled slices of sopressata Italian hard sausage adorned with a provolone flower garden and a few nori centers. Linda, the fencing coach, worked the kids hard in a fun and exciting way, good thing Annie brought a snack!

The last bento of the year and the last time I'll do a single one for school! We stopped at United Noodles so Annie could get a snack to bring to school tomorrow and lo and behold, the star fruit were out! When we cut it open, I reminded the family that it can be a number of colors but it was still surprising to see white. I like how it reflects the sesamed leftover rice from our dinner at Obento-Ya. With the rice is a leftover chicken skewer and some cream cheese and chive blossom stuffed tomatoes. I also have leftover Japanese potato salad with a few stemmed chive flowers and grape grapes with the dragon fruit. Ah, and so life marches on as my kids get older. Funny thing is, I don't!! ;)