Cherry Blossom Season or Two Weeks

Here we our scouring the beach for sea glass. The big tire tracks kind of detract from the feeling of nature, the open air, and pounding surf.

 It's really hard to convince Carl he wants to go the same direction as we do. I can trick him for 30 seconds if we grab onto the same thing.

 I'm sure that Mr. Robinson Crusoe and his man Friday could not look more stalwart and brave on the shore of their island.

 We had wonderful weather for cherry blossom viewing. It is so great that in Japan nearly all the best spots for enjoying cherry blossoms are also parks. The first picture is in a park off base.

 Here we are at another park next to our library.

 Here is our little bike gang enjoying some circuits.

 Another park. These cherry blossoms sure make going to the park seem glamorous.

 Note the small child in the background walking away from the park while his mom is taking a picture.

 Here is a picture of our town home. Ryan gets to walk this way to and from work every day. (That Cougar cuts.)

 Airplanes and cherry blossoms. I mean really, I love cherry blossom season. I can't think of anything that doesn't look better with cherry blossoms.

Everyone participated in a 1K Fun-Run. We were so excited that we trained beforehand for weeks. Mostly Ryan would come home  and say, "Time to practice running," and off we would go.

 At the run I had an epiphany. My kids only run fast when I am chasing them. So I got to join in the race so Helen would run instead of walk/trot. Luckily I had been practicing too, in the loosest sense of the word.

Happy Japan Day!

Our favorite activity on base is Japan Day. In fact I would say that our kids wake up as if it were Christmas, shouting "Happy Japan Day" at the top of their lungs. Here we are walking over to Japan Day events. You may not be able to tell, but the cherry blossom trees have a slight pink hue to them and are getting ready to bloom.

 This year one of the new booths at Japan Day was learning how to use chopsticks. Evidently peanuts are a good way to begin, but I would not want to put one in my mouth as is.

 The girls got to choose a character to write in Japanese. Jane is excited for spring and choose "cherry blossom".

 Helen, on the other hand was reveling the Japan-ness of Japan Day and learned "Japan".

Ryan tried to break it to the kids that they don't celebrate "Japan Day" in Tennessee.  By the looks on their faces, you'd have thought he'd just told them that Christmas was cancelled next year too.  After much discussion, we agreed that we could have Japan Day in Tennessee next year, but we have to come up with all the activities ourselves and invite our friends.

After talking to my sister about the challenges of keeping Carl busy in safe activities, she recommended a ramp to send cars down. To date, Carl seems to be more interested in putting himself down the ramp or swinging the ramp around the room. But at least he's cute about it.

Hong Kong

In March we got to go to Hong Kong to visit my mom and dad while on their mission. We had a great time. Somehow we managed to find all the most fun things to do.

Here we are trying not to get blown away by the wind in front of the Church Office Building.

While my parents were in a meeting, we went next door to the 46th floor of an awesome skyscraper. You can see the Church Office Building down below to the right of Helen. It is the brick building with grey accents and a spire. I thought it was super cool to be up that high, but there was talk of tingly feelings in the stomachs of some in our family.

We loved riding the ferries to and from Hong Kong island. They were so short you didn't even have time to get seasick or "straight"sick as the case may be.

It warmed up nicely for our trip out to Lamma Island. The girls and Grandpa had a great time putting their toes in the water and digging in the sand.

After hiking up and over Lamma Island, we made it to the other port town for some fish and chips. Yum! Here I need to mention that with so many adults, each kid had a buddy they walked with every day of the trip. It's hard to know who was the favorite buddy, I had to give Jane a peanut m&m one day so she would go with me. I'm just not as great as Grandma and Grandpa.

Ryan and I went to the Hong Kong temple one night while mom and dad had fun with the kids.

I told the girls that I would get them new sunglasses on this trip. Are there even words for these spectacular numbers? Two are Hello Kitty and one is a bunny. Based on their smiles, I think we found the right ones.

Here we are at a museum with Ming Dynasty pottery pieces displayed under the glass floor.

Mangoes + shaved ice + sweetened condensed milk + mango puree = 1 MANGO VOLCANO + 3 happy girls

We were really brave and ate BBQ poultry as seen in the picture below. It was good, even if in color tones we are not used to.

It is always a good idea to keep track of your hands at all times. You never know when you'll get bit.

A Visit from Mom and Warren

We were so fortunate to have a visit from Mom and Warren last month.  They made the grueling trek of multiple planes & trains to get way up here during the coldest weather we've had in a while.  We showed them around base, ate some Japanese noodles, shopped at our favorite Daiso dollar-store, and then headed to Tokyo for some more fun.  Here we are "chillin" outside the Misawa train station as we started our trip south.

In Tokyo we first visited the Tokyo LDS Temple.

Then we toured the Imperial Palace Gardens.  The trees there were just beginning to get their spring blossoms, and made for some great photo-ops.

When we travel, we have assigned "buddies" to avoid leaving anyone behind.  The only tough part about a visit from Grandma is trying to decide who gets to be her "buddy"!

After miles and miles of subways, trains, and endless stairs, our fun in Tokyo was through and we caught our flight to Hong Kong while Mom and Warren flew back to the states.  We'll miss them, and can't wait to see them again in the US.

I can't finish without showing you this great view of Mt Fuji that Michelle caught from our plane window.  Living in Japan just makes you love volcanoes.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

It has been a really mild winter for us. Don't get me wrong, we've still had some snow. The girls started making forts this year to hide in. It's all fun and games until the snowballs start flying while mom is trying to shovel the sidewalk below.

Sometimes it is hard to keep track of Carl while shoveling at the same time. Here you can seem him off in the distance, exploring the neighborhood as he wanders down the sidewalk. I am standing on our sidewalk which ends where the small path begins. 

 I was really sad I didn't get a picture of the snow shooting out the top of this huge street snow-blower. You also can't see here it, but to the left of the green dump truck, there's also a large 6 foot tall sidewalk snow-blower shooting snow into the truck. The Japanese really take their snow removal seriously.

We've heard for years that the downhill skiing here is great. I am not a good judge of that, as this was my first time. I am happy to report that all limbs made it back from our skiing trip unbroken.

 Warmer weather does mean awesome snowmen. Jane reported that Ryan had to make a ramp to get the second snowball into the proper position. On the right we're feeding the Siberian swans (at least they're rumored to be Siberian, and I suppose that we are close enough that it isn't out of the question).

That Carl likes to help his dad, especially if it means he can swipe one of the girl's aprons and climb on the chair. 

 I finished my crazy quilt! I started 15 months ago, and had many interruptions, but I made it.

 It's hard work at our house. Carl takes it upon himself to take everything apart that he can get his hands on. It is astounding that he is such a avid supporter of the second law of thermodynamics at such a young age -- his entire day consists of converting order to disorder, randomness and chaos. It's exhausting!

I love Malaysia!

Last week I went to the 9th Asian Pacific Conference on Clinical Nutrition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I was so excited to still be in Asia for one more year so I could attend. I love Malaysia for many reasons: it's tropical, they speak English, the people are friendly and funny, the food is yummy (if spicy at times), things are inexpensive and it hold a special place in my heart as one of the stops along the early spice trade routes. 

 To the left you can see the impressive Petronas towers as viewed from my exit from the metro system. Above you can see me working hard at my conference. I got this cute little Chinese girl to stand with me so I didn't feel so lonely as the only American at the conference (although I was the only one from the US). To maintain my credentials as a registered dietitian I have to have 75 hours of continuing education over 5 years. I could always read 75 journal articles or travel to climes unknown. I chose the later.

One day I took a walking and eating tour of Kuala Lumpur. I was so excited to try street food at places where I knew I wouldn't get sick. (They take Australian tourists every day to these places.  If people started getting sick I would have known really fast.) Our first stop was the home cooked Indian restaurant joint. (By the way, the population of Malaysia is made of Indians, Chinese and Malays). I learned how to the rice and curry dish you see below with my fingers. After the excitement wore off, I became acutely aware of the fiery curry seeping into my dried and cracked fingers. To the bottom left is a traditional Malaysian house spruced up for tourists.

The bowl below contains sweetened condenced milk, shaved ice, toasted coconut, interested bright green gelatin slugs and it was delicious!

On my last couple of days I met up with my mom and dad who are serving as LDS missionaries over the Asia humanitarian aid projects and are based in Hong Kong. We were lucky enough to meet up while they were doing some wheelchair training in Malaysia. It was eye opening for me in a couple ways. #1, Senior missionaries work hard. I was so happy to come home to my 4 kids under six so I could have regular nap times again. #2, Senior missionaries do a great job taking care of people. #3, Senior missionaries get to meet amazing people and do unforgettable service. 

 I talked my mom and the Public Affairs missionaries into visiting the KL bird park with me. I got to feed and ostrich! They are kind of fierce animals and I was happy to leave with all my fingers intact. I love hornbill birds and was delighted to see some roaming free.

 

 Could I go anywhere without getting a market picture or two? The vegetables on the left have a pink ton from the tarp above not the "rose colored glasses" setting on my camera. On the right is where I bought a kurta top.

 On my way back I stayed at a "capsule hotel" at the Haneda airport. This was my room that I crawled into for the night. I had been itching to try one of these for a long time, but thought I would never get the chance since this would not be a good place for kids. You have to be totally quite (Japanese quiet not American quiet- that's the difference between a buzzing fly and an F-16 fighter plane). Oh, and there is no door, just a screen curtain that comes down 80% of the way. Only in Japan would I feel safe enough to sleep.

Three cheers for Ryan who successfully kept the kids alive while I was gallivanting around! Here they are showing off their new Indian prince/princess clothing.