Japan Trip 2014 Part I

Well where do I begin?  The girls and I had an awesome trip back home in early to mid November.  The recovery from the trip is still taking place since the entire family except Saya came down with some kind of stomach bug right after our return, but we had so much fun it was all worth it.

We flew from Seattle to Narita Airport then took an airport express train to Tokyo station.  We hopped on Shinkansen (bullet train) from there to my hometown, Osaka.  It was a very long trip, but the girls did great thanks to iPads and personal TV on the plane.  I was able to relax for a change and watch some movies myself. 

Once we arrived in Tokyo, it finally hit me that we are in Japan.  There were people everywhere walking fast paced in all directions.  I told the girls to stick by me otherwise they could be swallowed into the waves of people.  I exaggerate sometimes for their benefit :-)  Girls walked by me quietly mesmerized by the difference between their pine tree filled world in Washington and bustling urban chaos of Tokyo.

Grandma was waiting for us at the train station.  I made it!  I thought.  When traveling as far as where we went, the process of getting there is a big stress factor.  Now there was only one thing to do - to have fun!  My Dad was waiting for us at home.  The home smelled the same way and the carpet felt the same way.  All the furniture seemed like they shrunk again but that is to be expected.  I am just used to American-sized furniture. 

It always amazes me how the time passes the same speed yet the experience is completely different from my life as four kids in America (with a wonderful hubby of course).  I guess that is the beauty of vacation.  I became a daughter again instead of Sergeant Mom and it is comforting to be able to go back to the way things were in more peaceful time of my life.  I am lucky that my parents still think of me as their kid girl.  

The girls had an awesome experiences in Japan.  First of all though, they acted like spoiled brat most of the time.  Is it something the grandbabies do on purpose?  They were demanding their grandmother to buy toys for them, refused to comply with my simple request such as get dressed for the day, wouldn't listen at all to their grandfather etc... It was embarrassing!  I certainly wanted to show them that I am a capable mother but I don't know if my parents are convinced that I am.  Raising children with special needs sometimes throws you off from the "regular" parenting style.  For example, they are used to seeing Sean or Noah having sensory issues which may look like he is simply misbehaving.  If the boys are ok to do it, why are we punished for it? - they may wonder.  It is a complex situation at least until they are old enough to understand their brothers' challenges.  It's hard for people around me to understand this, but I hope my parents do. 

Anyhow, despite their misbehavior, we packed in a lot of fun outing with the family.  We went on a family trip to northern Kyoto to see the famous view of Amanohashidate, a sand bar separating Japan Sea and Aso Sea.  It is considered one of the most beautiful sights in Japan for it's mystical beauty.  The first day was very rainy, but we were able to see the famous view the next day perfectly.  We took a cable car up to the view point and we had fun looking at the sand bar traditional style - upside down!  We enjoyed staying at a beautiful hotel with superb hot springs and crab dinner.  It was a luxurious experience thanks to my Mom and Dad!

I also met up with my best friends, Kayako and Megumi.  Megumi came to visit me in Osaka from Tajimi and we went to Tsutenkaku (Osaka Tower) and always busy, Doutonbori.  We ate traditional Osaka food until we were completely full!  We had so much fun exploring the city with her in part because I am like half tourist myself living far so long.  Actually, we would have had fun anywhere but the delicious food was a big plus :-)  No matter how long we have been apart, we always are able to hit it right off.  I am thankful to have a friend like her and we promised we will do this even when we turn grandmas.

The girls and I visited Kayako in Arashiyama, a popular tourist destination in Kyoto.  Kyoto is an ancient capital of Japan where many historical buildings and sights were spared from the battle fire during the war.  Their beauty has been reigning since a thousand years ago.  It's especially pretty in the fall with leaves changing color to radiant red and yellow, which matches harmoniously to the antiqued architectures and gardens.  Kayako and her little girl, Mio, were waiting for us by the famous bridge called Togetsu-Kyo.  Kayako looked and behaved very classy despite having a busy 3-year-old.  She is patient and gentle with her little girl, I wish I could have a tiny bit of her grace.  Mio was so adorable with perfect hair and face.  Every time we take her photo, she poses with her tiny finger poking her cheek.  Everyone could not help but smile at her.  She is at a very cute age and I remember my kids at this stage.  We explored the beautiful temple and took some pictures.  Afterwards, she invited us to her house and the kids played happily.  It's always so nice to see her and the little girl.  I am looking forward to seeing them again next year!

I have so many things to write since my generous Mom makes sure we have a good time.  One of my goals was to take pictures of typical Japan as well as traditional architectures and sceneries, so I took my girls to Nara to visit the giant Buddha.  Saya may get mad at me when she reads this in the future, but she errr... had a little #2 accident after having lunch near the train station.  I didn't have any spare underwear or clothes for her, so Saya was a full commando under her skirt in a very cold day while we looked for a suitable substitute!  Poor cute bums must have been freezing... I asked several store clerks if they knew a place that sells children's clothing, but no one knew.  In the end, I bought an adult diaper and a pair of adult leg warmers to cover her up.  I am confident that it was the best solution at hand and I was proud of myself for figuring it out.  Despite the rocky start, we had a lot of fun feeding the deer roaming about in the park by the giant Buddha.  Saya thought they were so cute, but panicked when they came close by.  She dropped all the deer crackers and ran.  I guess they are sort of bigger than her.  The Buddha was magnificent as I remembered.  I have seen the statue many times since I was little, but sheer size and the grandeur that comes with 1200-year history fascinates me freshly every time.  I hope the girls experienced something completely new that day.  Smelling and seeing history in front of their eyes are the best lesson! 

The other thing that stood out in our memory was visiting Universal Studio Japan with my Mom.  My Dad said they have a huge Christmas tree that lights up at night and it is very pretty, so we decided to go.  I very much wanted to see the new Harry Potter exhibit, too, so it was perfect.  It was a cold and windy day so we bundled up well to avoid catching cold.  There were a lot of visitors but the lines were not as crazy as in Disneyland.  It is very tiring for my Mom to walk around the big park, so she stayed inside a warm building while we went about.  The girls were not sure about Harry Potter exhibit, but I was all excited seeing the cute little town and Hogwarts nicely replicated.  Sean would have enjoyed it more since he is more familiar with the novel.  I had to try the butter beer, but I ended up dumping it in the toilet sink since it was plain too sweet!  I don't know how anyone could drink it.  It was a bit too much!  After having dinner at a Italian themed restaurant, we walked over to the Christmas tree display area.  It was huge, probably as big as the tree in Rockefeller Center.  I don't think it was a real tree, but they did a very good job with decoration.  The color of the lights shifted to different tones and it was gorgeous.  We stool their for a while admiring it.  When we walked out from the souvenir shop by the exit, their night parade started.  It was a bonus for us since the parade, which presented floats and dancers with lights were surprisingly entertaining.  Aly was so excited she was shouting the characters' names as they came by.  We had a very good time there.  Thanks grandma for taking us there!

We obviously had done a lot and I don't have time to write about everything, so I will post the pictures and let them speak.  I will add more pictures in the next post.  Here are so me of them.  The girls and I made great memories with my family and friends.  What a special vacation it was!

Halloween 2014

Our neighbor dressed up as Flo from Progressive Insurance and oh that painter guy on public channel that used to put me to sleep with his calming voice.

I have been unusually busy, or so it seemed, for the last a month and half and I felt like I am experiencing an early onset of mental deterioration.  I used to be able to keep things together somehow even on the days with brutal schedule, but I was forgetting appointments and making many simple mistakes that were just no other explanation than brain malfunction.  I don't like being clumsy like this and I hope to get my act together again soon! 

The autumn has been fun but boy did it pass by so quickly.  The Halloween was a lot of fun as usual and the kids were so excited to dress up and go on a candy hunt around the neighborhood.  The girls had the toughest time deciding on the costume and they finally settled on a rock star and a witch.  I bought the rock star outfit from Costco back in early September for Saya as she insisted that is what she wants to be, but she changed her mind several times after that.  I won't be buying costumes early never again!  It's a fine line since popular costumes sell out quickly yet there is a chance the kids have change of heart.  Luckily, Alyson decided she wants to wear it, so it worked out ok.  Saya ended up wearing Alyson's costume from last year.  I was for sure both of them would want to be Elsa from Frozen, but apparently there are Elsad out. 

Sean was a football player wearing his junior league's gears and uniform.  He looked pretty authentic to me.  Noah was Ironman and that boy could be it again for next year, too.  He isn't growing fast like other kids since he doesn't eat much, which makes his clothes last for a couple of years.  They wore the costume at school during their classroom Halloween party.  I wish I had gone to school in America!'

Nana came over to hand the candy out to trick or treaters with Noah.  It was a rainy day but for the prime trick or treating hour, the rain stopped.  That made many parents and kids happy for sure.  I was also happy that it was on Friday.  It sure makes things easier when you don't have to worry about homework or getting up early in the morning the day after the exciting night.  The kids had a blast!  They got scared at some houses since they had mechanical decoration, but they were much braver than last year.  The great thing about my kids are that they are not attached to candies they collected.  They haven't asked about the candies ever since Halloween and they have become Mike and my pick me ups which surely isn't that good!

Thanks for reading!  It's been a struggle to get on here with multiple sickness in the family recently, but I will try hard to post more often. 

Pumpkin Patch

 

It's an annual tradition in America to take children to a pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins to take home to decorate for Halloween.  We have been going to a farm every year ever since Sean was born.  We try to aim it for a sunny day and we got very lucky this year since the weather was just plain gorgeous, rather hot for an outdoor outing.  It was very rare that the themometor went up to over 72 degrees in mid October.  That is pretty much the tempareture in summer.  Standing under the bright sunshine, I felt quite hot wearing a jacket.  Sean and Daddy were sweating profuciously since they were playing football at the pumpkin patch.  They were the only ones playing footabl and they sort of stood out.  They were not doing anything wrong, but it's as if they were playing "what things do not match in this picture?" game.  Poor lady got scared when she saw an object flying towards her thinking it's a pumpkin.

We first went to a new (new to us) farm in Redmond which we didn't much care for.  The surrounding was not that picturesque and the parking lot situation was two thumbs down.  To clense the bad taste, we drove down to Carnation where it's gorgeous.  I took the kids there by myself a few days before when their school was out for a teacher training day.  They have a decently sized corn maze which we tried and alomost slipped several times since it was very muddy.  Noah got spooked by the tall corn crops and wanted to be carried.  I walked carefully not to fall down while carrying Noah.  I knew my Chiro is going to have fun fixing me up!  It was so tiring, we ended up not making it to the main pumpkin patch area.  At least I took some pictures from the previous pumpkin farm.  Next year, we'll stick with one farm and will stay put.  I think the bright sunshine and warmth made us very excited to explore more.  We had a lot of fun and sweat some healthy sweat, so it was a success regardless.  We will buy some pumpkins at grocery stores as usual!

*This post was written in October :-)

Two Baby Showers

It happens that I know four women who are heavily pregnant and are due to have their baby in October.  It is exciting to see their bellies growing every time I see them and listen to the familiar gripe about their pregnancy.  I guess I didn't really have too many friends to talk to when I was pregnant with all my babies since I was working full-time from home.  It would have been fun to have prego friends to compare my swollen feet with.  I am thankful though that I have enough children now and I am all babied out.  No.More.Babies.

My Japanese neighborhood friends and I decided to have a baby shower for a Japanese lady who recently moved from Japan.  It is her third child, but she is new to the country and we thought that it would be nice to introduce her to an American custom and celebrate her upcoming birth together.  I offered to host the shower at my house and I was so excited to decorate the house with baby colors.

It was a small gathering and not like a full on baby shower with diaper cake and games, but we had delicious snacks and a beautiful cake baked by a local Japanese patisserie.  Our friend looked happy and we were glad we made her day.  There are millions of things you need for a baby, but I narrowed down to a few gift items and gave her a swaddler, organic baby body wash and diaper cream.  She is going to have a girl and I am sure the little baby girl is going to be gorgeous because the Mama is a very beautiful woman. 

When I decided to host the baby shower, an idea popped in my head that maybe I should host another one since the home is already decorated for the occasion.  My dear friend is due to have a baby boy in two weeks and she is also new to the country (she moved from France).   I called friends around and invited them to the small party.  I decided to keep this one a surprise for the guest of honor.  Since we held it at lunch time, I've decided to serve Japanese style lunch.  It wasn't a fancy lunch but I wanted it to be a comforting home cooking for my friends.  I think they enjoyed it and most importantly, my pregnant friend felt loved and knows she has friends who are just as excited for the baby's arrival.  The baby boy was born last week and he is adorable!  He has chubby cheeks and little fish mouth.  He looks like a doll. 

It reminds me about when we welcomed our babies and the unique experience of feeling happy, irate, and nervous at the same time and how my own house looked even different from the pregnancy hormone induced eyes.  I am very happy for my friends and wish them and their new babies the best.  Life is precious and beautiful!

Western Washington State Fair 2014

Happy Fair Time!

What are you going to do with this goat??!!

Oh, I see...

Wheeee!!

She wasn't posing - just looking at something...

Bubbles!!

Saya loves those mascots.



Piggy Butt that I could not resist taking picture of.  It's one of those things makes you stare at it for no reason.



 

Oh my!  I didn't realize how behind I am.  Here we are entering into the later part of October but my September posts pile up in my head and it is ready to explode!  I am going to conquer this, I know I can!

We had some great weather in September which left us freely roam in T-shirts and shorts much of the month.  I enjoyed the extra bonus warmth we got in the early fall because us Seattleites feel nostalgic about summer and the sun since we spend most of the year feeling depressed under the gloomy sky. 

It was in 80s when I took my girls to the Western Washington State Fair in Puyallup in mid September.  I hadn't taken the kids to the fair since Saya was 17 month old and the kids received free tickets to the fair from school anyway, so I decided to give it a try.  Of course, those free tickets are baits.  I had to buy mine at full price plus the food and rides cost $$$.   Sean and Noah stayed home with Daddy since there was a Seahawks game on TV.

Fairs call for vibrant colors and jubilant energy.  We certainly soaked it up and had a lot of fun looking at the exhibits and being on the rides.  The girls met many farm animals and learned that some of them may look grotesque in certain angles close up.  Saya is now certain that she is afraid of pigs.  I don't know what is so frightening about pigs, but I did notice their butts are very strangely familiar looking.  I guess the photo says it all. :-)

We enjoyed the all American annual pastime and look forward to the next time.  I saw many Mexican families at the fairground and it reminded me of the fair I went in Durango, Mexico.  I wondered if they are feeling homesick but they looked like having a good time.  I was so sure it was the last of hot days, but I was wrong.  More sun worshipping to come!

Family Hike

I am behind in post as usual.  Thank goodness for my photos since they remind me all the fun stuff we did.  We went on a family hike to a nearby trail several weekends ago.  Now cooler Seattle was hot back then and I am already missing the sundress weather.  There are many awesome trails around us that are easy to hike for kids, so we are exploring them one by one.  This trail was called The Bus Trail and it had gotten the name from an old wrecked bus on the trail.  Kids liked the name and were excited to find the mysterious old bus. 

Growing up in a big city, I only could visit a forest like that on a special outing with my Mom and Dad.  I certainly feel that my kids are lucky to grown up in a place with abundance of nature just minutes away from our house.  If it's just a little sprinkle, walk in the forest is quite pleasant because all the trees keep us dry.  Hopefully the kids remember fond memories of our hikes together and continue to want to get outdoors for life.  It always makes me feel better after breathing in some fresh air and nourishing my eyes with nature. 

Football Season Begins!

Bellevue Bears' practice started in the mid August and their weekly game began on 9/6.  They had their third game yesterday in Woodinville.  Well, their record 0-3 doesn't reflect their hard work they put in, but they are getting better every game.  Sean initially was put in as a Wide Receiver, but later switched position to Defensive Lineman.  His talent seems to be tackling!  Many of the kids in the team are new and so is the head coach, so we have a lot of work ahead of us for sure.  They are having fun though and enjoying the sports they love.   Sean doesn't complain about his three days a week practice and eager to get better.  It is more intense than being in other team sports and it takes a lot of involvement from parents.  Mike is taking the football volunteering duty though so it is working out just fine.  He was a scoreboard operator for the first home game and a snack Dad for the upcoming game.  It's a family affair but I feel it's totally worth it.  He has matured quite a bit since he started football.  He looks great in uniform, too.  :-). Go Bears and Go #94 with huge jersey!

Back to School 2014

The day before the first day of school, Saya was showing me she would have to wear gloves to school to conceal her special ice power (thanks Frozen)!

Noah thought school starts too early!

A little nervous, but she did well.

Saya found her seat.

Sean's class.  He is the one with bright green shirt.  I totally forgot to visit Aly's class.

Miss Lowy sent me this photo.  She looks totally relaxed, compared to Aly's mug shot look last year.

The second day. 

Well, we did it!  The school started after the Labor Day and Sean is a big 3rd grader, Aly and Noah are proud 1st graders, and our little baby Saya became a brand new Kindergartner!  Saya was very excited to be a kindergartner and she was telling everyone she met during summer that she is going to a big kid school.  They all gasped and acted like it's a big news and that made the girl extra proud.  There is something about the youngest entering school... I was feeling a little sad and felt like our baby phase is truly over.  Looking at her with chubby cheeks and dimpled hands, it hardly seems we are ready.  Saya was more than ready though and she carried around her brand new backpack at home excitedly. 

There were some first day jitters, but things went smoothly on the big day.  I clumsily prepared four lunches in the morning while kids are having breakfast.  Making four lunches is a hard work... It's never easy in my house because the girls prefer Japanese style bento where as the boys have their own requirements.  At least though they eat at school.  I don't have to be a lunch police five days out of seven and that is a pretty good deal! 

Noah leaves early again around 7:20 am everyday and he certainly wasn't a happy camper the first day.  Grumpy or not, the bus came and took the boy away to school.  The other three kids and I walked to school a little early since there is always a chaos on the first day.  The bags containing their school supplies were so heavy, I regretted not taking the stroller to haul them.  By the time we arrived school, I was sweaty and the heat from all the parents and children crammed in school made me sweat even more!  I naturally accompanied Saya to her kindergarten class.  I am sure Aly would have liked to have me at her class, too.  Saya was a little nervous, but had the game face on.  She was trying her best to sit up properly and was listening intently to the teacher's instruction.  Her teacher is Miss Lowy, the same teacher Aly had last year.  She is one of the best teachers we had, so I am so happy Saya has her, too.

I walked out of school and I was starting to smile big and bigger as I walked away.  I was finally FREE.  FREEDOM!!  I could have dance walked if I didn't have to worry about people around me.  I just couldn't believe that I had no children with me until mid afternoon.  Am I allowed to be this free?  It felt surreal to have such a light feeling and I was determined to do something I wanted to do for a long time.  The first thing I did was have a cup of coffee.  Then I sat on the couch and read the news on my phone.  The next thing I did made me mad at myself at first.  I fell asleep on the couch for straight two hours!  I was so excited to do something fun and I felt like I wasted my time by being unconscious for two hours - the two precious hours of freedom.  When I thought about it though later, it probably was the best way to spend it after 8 and half years of wearing children on me. 

So we are more than happy the school started!  Saya is doing great and got used to the school routines quickly.  Sean is happy that his buddies are in the same class and Aly likes her gentle new teacher.  Noah seems to have adopted very well to the new classroom, too.  I am enjoying the extra time I have and being super productive at home.  I can finally clean in a real sense without being interrupted.  I will be joining my friend's Yoga class shortly and get into photography more seriously.  Oh and doing the much needed painting in the house, too.  I seem to think I can do millions of things now that I have some time alone.  We shall see!  Back to school = happy family :-)