Hiroshima and Arashiyama

When we discovered that we were coming to Japan I made it a family goal for us to see some snow monkey that I had heard about. When we were in Arashiyama we had the chance, although they weren't in hot springs, they were the same kind of monkeys so I count it. The beauty of the sign below is that the trail is straight up the mountain just as it appears. This was not a hike for the faint in heart. Luckily we were able to leave the stroller at the bottom and Ryan got to carry Jane all the way up. What a good dad.Here we are at the top with the city of Kyoto in the background. I think that Alice missed the whole experience. The monkeys fascinated the girls.
Is there anything as fun as looking at a monkey staring at you? I don't think so. Especially not when it's up close and personal like this.
But he wasn't interested in a chit-chat, he really just wanted food.

One of the things we learned on this vacation is that when you travel off season, there won't be nearly as many tourists, but many of the sights are going to be under scaffolding. This is the A-Dome in the background. I have to admit that I was really disillusioned, but they want to keep the building looking just like it did when the atomic bomb was dropped in Hiroshima.

Island of Miyajima 2

Here is what we decided was the world's largest rice paddle. As there were no signs in English, we are pretty confident in our assumption. On the island, they are famous for making stuffed maple leaf shaped desserts. Now if you were given the choice of these tasty pastries, which one would you choose?They are also famous for oysters and here they are grilling up some oysters for the tourists. You may not be able to tell, but these are delicacies. The dark black mixture is squid ink, we don't know what the rest of them are, but they all had a smell reminiscent of the sea.
Ryan took this picturesque photograph. I think he has a future in photography if medicine doesn't work out. We went to the neatest aquarium and they had this tank set up so we could take the pictures so it looks like our family is in the drink.
Once again Helen is found by the octopus. This one is different, as it is alive.
The best part of this island was that we could walk all over the place with no threats greater than the random deer snatching paper to eat from unwary tourists.
There is the floating tori gate in the background of the large temple square.
Can you see Ryan and the girls underneath the old wooden temple in front of the pagoda?
Jane has become increasingly independent and would rather walk up stairs, no matter how steep or how many.
I think this is a cool looking lion and the girls were good enough to pose by it.

Island of Miyajima

I am feeling a little overwhelmed with all the pictures we took on our vacation, so here is just a snapshot to get started. Helen and a rice paddle, Jane as a spiritual leader and Michelle as the filled maple leaf waffle maker.

Happy Birthday Michelle

I was spoiled rotten yesterday for my birthday. Ryan and Helen made a delicious lasagna for me. Then while Helen and I went for a walk, Jane and Ryan made a delicious Texas sheet cake. The girls decorated the cake with all sorts of flammable things, which made the lighting of the sparkler candle even more exciting.

Here is a picture of our newest Japanese wonder. Our bathroom door is normally open because of the step stool that gets in the way of the door. Now we have this fabulous noren curtain to separate the bathroom from the rest of the house.

Transportation Vacation

Last week we traveled from the snowy north of Japan to the slightly less cold south, visiting Hiroshima and Kyoto for a few days. A major topic of discussion and excitement during the trip was "Transportation", as the Japanese have many more options easily available besides the car and the plane. For fun, we made a little collage for you of all our modes of travel. See if you can match each picture with the correct vehicle. The first to get them all correct wins a bowl of ramen noodles at the Japanese restaurant of your choice (must be claimed in Japan). Enjoy!

Options: (1) Streetcar, (2) Taxi, (3) Ferry, (4) Plane, (5) Bullet Train, (6) Bus, (7) Local Train

Let it snow!

Last week we celebrated "Thanksgiving" with a turkey I had in the freezer. I am thankful that we are getting closer and closer to spring. Note the beautiful hanging hearts.We actually had turkey just so we could have turkey tetrazzini on Valentine's day. We have the best casserole dish - Helen was in heart heaven. The girls and I made these great place mats - they only lasted one meal. It will probably be a long time before we make it through a meal without spilling.
We made the biggest snow fort on our block this week. Actually, it's the only snow fort on the block, but we are ready for an attack from any of the big kids that live around us. I keep waiting for the temperature to get substantially below freezing so it can ice up.Ryan engineered the windows for the girls and was in charge of hefting up the snowballs he, Helen, and I rolled.
Who would throw snowballs at these little angels?

Kimono Class

This week we attended a fabulous Japanese cultural class and learned how to put kimonos on. The girls were so excited to go and play 'dress-up.' The ladies just loved helping them and watching them walking around.

In addition to nearly learning how to wear a kimono, I learned that I don't care to wear one on a regular basis. Although I've never worn a corset, I think it does about the same thing.

Here is the final result. They didn't have a small enough kimono for Alice, and I'm not sure that she would have tolerated it anyway.

It is amazing that we got this picture of both of them happy. After this shot was taken they tried tearing it out of one another's hands. A few tears were shed, but the paper umbrella didn't break.

Out on the town

This is a delicious sizzler that we can buy at the mall. This is how I talk Ryan into going to the fabric store with me. He knows that if he can make it through fabric shopping and the dollar store that we will eat sizzlers. The meat cooks right on the cast iron plate in front of you - delicious.

Helen at the park. The snow in the park now covers the first three steps on all the equipment. Apparently we are having above average amounts of snow, but not record breaking yet.

While Dad was here he decided that it was important to teach Helen how to make snowballs. My walks with her have gotten a lot more exciting now that I have to dodge all her snowballs.I have been to a lot of open air markets outside of the US, but this is the first time I went to one in the snow. I think that this market must smell it's best this time of year when all the seafood is nice and cold.

Classes on Base

On base they offer free cultural classes for families that I never had the energy or desire to take advantage of when pregnant. Since Alice arrived and with the enthusiasm of my parents and Amber we started attending. Here we are making our New Years Cards. I don't remember if those Japanese characters in the corner were written by Amber or a sticker. If I were her, I would probably claim hand-written. I am pretty sure that Mom wrote all her own characters, since this was not her first experience with calligraphy. Alice and I dabbled in the stamps.

In another class we learned to make sushi. Amber considered this a critical skill to learn while in Japan. I have to admit that being from a land-locked state that all of us girls were a little nervous, not so much in the preparation, but in the sampling of the final product.

The woman who taught us was thrilled to have dad there and kept him busy. She owns a fancy steakhouse in town and comes on base once a month to teach new meals.

Dad really enjoyed eating all the beautiful food. Mom chatted with all the ladies so they wouldn't notice that she didn't eat any. Amber had to talk herself into eating it for 5 minutes (that is a long time to hold food in chopsticks) and then drank plenty of water. I ate a handful of things and decided that we would go out and get milkshakes as a reward for our bravery.

I talked Ryan into going to a calligraphy class with me so that we could learn to write auspicious Japanese phrases. Jane was able to give him plenty of constructive criticism.

Our poor instructor was scared to death that Helen was going to get ink on herself because it stains. But Helen pulled through for us and even wrote her name.

I am throwing modesty out the window, and will tell you that our instructor said that this was excellent and that if I were to show it to any Japanese person that would think that a Japanese person had done it. It means friendship and is hanging up in our kitchen.

Sing-a-long

A snowy afternoon, sitting in our little "snow cave" last week was the perfect setting for one of the girls' favorite songs. Only grandparents are required to view the entire video. The rest of you can skip to 1:00. You might think that Jane's not paying attention, but here in the second verse, you'll see that she's ready to jump in at a moment's notice, should Helen become distracted by the effect of sitting on snow for too long.

All over the place

So you may or may not have noticed that we are about a month behind on our updates. Here are some pictures to tide you over. Three happy girls. It really isn't Halloween in this picture. Jane just loves that outfit and who am I to deny anyone orange?

We have been getting a ton of snow here. It is currently significantly deeper than this picture shows. We got 17.2 inches in 6 hours while Ryan was at work Thursday night. With so much shoveling we have kissed off Ryan's 30 second exercises for the time being - I am going to have arms of steel. I love taking the girls outside with us because the two feet of snow along the sidewalks makes a perfect barrier - keeps them in and the wind off their faces. Nothing like exposing your kids to the elements so they sleep better at night.
At the beginning of the January Ryan gave Alice her baby blessing. Our church building doesn't have central heating so we have to bundle her up. Thank heavens for fuzzy cloths - I never had to worry about that with my spring babies.
Sometimes Helen sneaks down from quite time early and we have a little snuggle together and talk about important things like sledding and Peter Pan.The girls like to line up their books on our couch and sit across the room and watch their "videos." To be honest, this is as close as they get to watching videos except for when I cut their fingernails and turn on a 3 minute video on youtube.
Jane was so excited to hold Alice! She doesn't get to do that very often. Recently she has started asking me if she can nurse the baby. I have to tell her to go get a stuffed animal instead.
Ryan and his girls. Everyone loves reading in our house.

To answer your questions in advance, yes that is our baby girl in a blue blanket. It is the warmest blanket that we have for her right now and has the Blue Fairy on it so it's not totally "boy" flavored. In response to the other question you may have, she looks like our other kids at this age.