Can You Spell HansonSmith?

Sunday

2012-01-29T03:53:00.000-08:00

Emi peed in the potty! First time! She tries all the time, but this was the first success. We got her a little potty because she sees her brother go and has to do everything he does. The problem is - she's kinda afraid of the big toilet.

Playing with money. Flipping it over, stacking it, making it rows, sorting... He thinks it's just fun and doesn't realize he's working on his fine motor skills.

After a quiet morning at home watching the Husky game we headed to the Off House to see if we could find any treasures. Found a few fun things, then went to the Family Forrest at thew Daiei Mall! We've been coming here since Eaton was 6 months old. We spent an hour here and had to drag the kids out.

Emi made some friends

Emi went back and forth between loving and being unsure of the balloon room.

Wrestling with Mom

We finished the night at Go Go Curry with some of Wes' co-workers. We were the only ones with kids there - they thanked us for providing the entertainment.

Emi loved all the food. Eaton ate white rice.

Eaton can't be bothered...

All bundled up for the walk home.

Wes' Quote of the Weekend

2012-01-29T03:37:00.000-08:00

Said with clenched teeth and furrowed eyebrows,

"Eaton...if you do not stop throwing a fit, I will headbutt you."

You had to be there :)

Mt Nokogiri

2012-01-28T02:39:00.000-08:00

This is the third time we have taken the trip to the Nihon Temple on Mt. Nokogiri, the first - however - on our own. We took a bus, transferred to another bus, took a ferry, walked, took a gondola, and walked (actually climbed stairs) all the way to the big Buddha. It was cold, but we did OK. Good thing we had to walk a lot. It is a challenging trip because, as you can see from the pictures, it's a no stroller outing!

On the bus

Found a way to contain Emi in the bathroom

Starting the big hike. Emi fell asleep in her carrier.

The boys being still like statues.

The statues are some of the 1500 Arhat Statues. The statues are all different and are pretty cool. An Arhat is a spiritual practitioner (in Buddhism) who has realized certain high stages of attainment. THere were made by the same people who made the big Buddha. It took a master artisan and his 27 apprentices 20 years to make them all!

I SEE IT!!!

Can you see Eaton?

The Buddha was originally completed in 1783! It was restored in 1969. It had eroded over time.

The Buddha is 31.05 meters tall - over 100 feet! It's the largest Buddha in Japan.

There were a lot of big rocks - and Eaton wanted to climb them all.

Eaton and Emi both climbed A LOT of stairs today.

Emi refused to be carried for a bit. She wanted to walk.

We made it!

Now resting for a bit...

In the background is where we came from - the boat is the ferry.

Watch your head!

The gondola ride - headed back down.

Having a snack on the ferry.

Emi was walking around the pole saying, Spin, Spin, Spin. Wes told her she could keep doing it as long as she was spinning and not dancing.

On the ferry after the walk - need a beer from a vending machine?

Hi Brother!

We're almost home!

One ride on the zip line (those yellow apartments are ours) before we head in.

And tonight. We. Are. Tired.

Here's links to our previous trips to Mt. Nokogiri

2011

http://hansonsmith.blogspot.com/2011/01/our-first-sight-seeing-trip.html

2009

http://hansonsmith.blogspot.com/2009/01/mt-nokogiri.html

Emi

2012-01-26T04:11:00.000-08:00

She is almost 18 months old and this kid is amazing. She is beautiful and funny. She loves. She loves so much - her brother, her parents, her toys, her blanket, etc. She is a gentle soul - and doesn't like loud noises (never has) or yelling - at or around her. The other day I tried to get the Co-Op kids to be quiet, so I had them all yell for a second. Emi burst into tears. If her brother gets put in timeout, she will dutifully go and sit next to him until the timeout has been completed. She's a hugger. One of my favorite things about this child are her warm, tight, totally-means-it hugs - and when she pulls away from the hug, she usually has a huge, eyes-lit-up, scrunchy nosed grin.

But don't get me wrong, she's pretty tough, too. Being Eaton's little sister, she's been in training for toughness since birth. (For a video of Eaton holding - and "tickling" - Emi hours after she was born - click here) She's probably gonna have a scar under her lip from the table incident a couple weeks ago and she got her first bloody nose after smacking her face on the floor at the Yunesson. She is always trying to keep up. Running, climbing, jumping. If she sees Eaton doing it - sign her up. She is pretty socialable and gets along with kids much better than Eaton did at this age. I think we were at the point with Eaton around this age, where he would tackle, or completely ignore any other kids his age. She loves to do what the older kids are doing. She always wants what her brother has, wants to do what he's doing, wants to see what he's seeing...

She's talking like crazy now. Recently she's started saying some 2 syllable words (More went from Mo to Mo-Wa, and the Wa goes up like she's asking a question) and 2 or 3 word phrases. It's so fun to hear. I think my favorite as of now, is "Hi, Mama!" and "Hi, Daddy!" They come unprompted and randomly multiple time throughout the day, and she always sounds so genuinely happy to see us. There's a few words that she uses signs for as well - more (mo-wa and 2 pointer fingers touching), please (pees ad rubbing her belly), help (haaaap said with both arms up). She is always copying what other people are saying and she's picking up more and more words every day. Eaton likes teaching her words too - then he gets really excited and proud when she does repeat it. She has some very strong opinions and "No, Mine" - "My [insert thing she wants here]" or - "More [insert thing she wants here]" are common phrases around here. When Wes is gone she walks around going, "Dada, wook? Dada, wook?" Yesterday I heard "No! Mine braa-ah (brother)" which made me smile and cringe at the same time.

She loves songs. Little Bunny Foo Foo and Itsy Bitsy Spider are her current favs. We sing a little song that goes "Emi's here today, Emi's here today, We're so happy that Emi's here today." We insert different people's names and she loves it. Today I was walking back with the kids in the stroller and I heard Emi quietly saying in a sing-song voice, "dada...day...dada...day...mama...day...mama...day..." and so on. MELTED my heart, my breath left my chest and made my legs weak. So cute, my baby girl, singing to herself about her mom and dad. I will revisit this many times over the course of her life when she doesn't like us quite as much.

Emi Lou - you are so incredible and I love waking up everyday as your mom. However, I don't love the how early you have me wake up most days though :) I am cherishing this time with you as a baby and can't wait to see all the amazing things (even the things that may be amazing only to me) you will do each and every day of your life.

Co-Op Kids

2012-01-25T04:33:00.000-08:00

Today we had 8 kids (and one baby!) and 5 moms!

We made Valentines! We did it early so that there was time to get them in the mail in time for them to reach the states :)

It was so cute... I rolled the ball to each of the kids and asked them a question. The first question was, "What's your name?" Emi said, "Emi!" The next questions was, "What's your favorite color?" Emi said, "Emi!" Next was favorite food. Emi squealed, "EMI!!!"

Snack time

Eaton got put on timeout. Emi went to sit by him :)

We made footprint butterflies today. All the kids' prints turned out great!

Wes doesn't usually come down, but I needed a little Eaton wrangling help the last few minutes.

Story time

The whole group.

2 days...

2012-01-24T21:45:00.000-08:00

On Monday, Melissa picked me up to run some errands and Wes stayed home with the kids and Jack, who came over to play with Eaton. They had a great time - and so did we!

Here are the cute chairs I got for the kids at the Japanese Target-type store. They love them, except I swear they were more reclined at the store... They stand tall at 90 degrees, but they don't seem to mind too much. They sit flat on the ground and also fold flat. Right now, they're a hit.

Then on Tuesday morning we got together at Melissa's. Jack took this picture. He did pretty good, but Ian is cut off on the left and Melissa and Mags are on the right. So fun!

And that night - it snowed! We went down for a bit and played in the flurries.

Fun with Shaving Cream

2012-01-24T05:40:00.000-08:00

Rough and Tumble

2012-01-24T05:39:00.000-08:00

Eaton is tough. Always running and jumping - and therefore falling. He's always bruised up. I think he's got upwards of 20 bruises on his legs right now.

Sneaky Kid

2012-01-24T05:37:00.000-08:00

So...I'm still having a lot of problems uploading pictures. So instead you get a story today.

Today when we were over at Melissa's house Eaton and Jackkept wanting to go and play hide and seek. We told them no, they had to stay in the living room/playroom, as we didn't want to run around the house after them,nor let them hide throughout the house unsupervised. They did somehow escape, and this is whatEaton said...

Eaton: My plan didn't work.

Me: What plan?

Eaton: Well you said we couldn't play hide and seek, so wedidn't go out of the door by you, we went out the other door - the one youcouldn't see.

Me: Well, that was a pretty good plan.

Eaton: Yeah...but it didn't work (said with a pouty face).

He's already scheming...

Look Who Got a Potty Chair!

2012-01-24T02:52:00.000-08:00

We Are Loud.

2012-01-22T23:58:00.000-08:00

So I think I'm going to need to start taking some anxietymedication...

When we first got to Japan, the wood floors took somegetting used to. The kids run up anddown the hallway, jump/fall off the furniture, they push chairs to and from thetable, each dropped toy echos through the all wood (floors, cupboards, furniture)apartment. We got some carpet squares for the living room which GREATLYdecreased the noise of the toys getting dropped - at least in the living room. I have finally gotten used to the noise. Then today, we met the downstairsneighbor. Who works with Wes. Oops.

He came up this morning to ask us to quiet down and I guessit was slightly (really) awkward when Wes opened the door and they bothrealized they knew each other. So allday I have been scrutinizing every noise. And there are a lot of them. The kids run down the hall and I say,"WALK!!!" The kids drop their toys and I cringe,"CAREFUL!!!" The kids (Eaton) jumps off his bed - and goes straightto time out. Ok that last one has alwaysbeen a big no-no. It's all making my blood pressure rise. Got some hallway carpets today to try and muffle the sounds of the kids running up and down the hallway. We'll see if it helps.

I know we have kids and kids make noise, but I realize thata single dude that lives below a family isn't quite as understanding. I try to be considerate and control my kid'snoise level. But sometimes it's impossible. And it's giving me anxiety.

A Couple Pics Pre-Yunesson

2012-01-22T03:47:00.000-08:00

Eaton was SO excited to see snow on the ground. It had snowed about 4 inches the night before.

The kids on the bus. Emi's got my phone...it's starting early.

On the standing room only train. Emi was stored as luggage.

Emi and I next to a sleeping woman. Everyone over here sleeps on the train.

Eaton hanging with more sleeping people on the train. This woman was brave to sit by him, as when she was getting on the train Eaton chucked his cup to me - I was sitting across the isle from them - not tossed, chucked. He almost nailed her.

We stopped for Pizza. We got the Margherita - which was good. We passed on the Seafood and the Tuna, Mayo and Corn pizza. Ick.

Snowball Fight

2012-01-21T16:49:00.000-08:00

Here is our snowball fight at the hot spring. Eaton and I did this for a well over an hour, he loved it (so did I). I thought the lens was fogging up, so that's why I was dunking the camera. After watching the video it looks like it was just the screen fogging so the dunking was probably unnecessary.

The Yunessun - A Post with Too Many Pics...

2012-01-21T06:07:00.000-08:00

On this rainy Saturday, we thought, what could we do? So we made the long trek to The Yunesson in Hakone, near the base of Mt. Fuji. It's an indoor/outdoor hot spring. All sorts of different pools - some with just water, and others infused with things such as coffee, wine, green tea and even chocolate. All warm (some super hot) and wonderful. It took about 2.5 hours to get there and we had to ride four trains and take one bus. Long trek, but it was totally worth it. The kids did great and had a fantastic time at the park.

I bought a waterproof camera last year, but wasn't impressed with the quality - so back to Costco it went. This time we used a waterproof case we got for Christmas and it worked pretty well. I figured out pretty quick, that to get a good pic you can't really use the flash. So once we turned off the flash, we got some fun shots. No flash, however means more blur and the person has to stand relatively still...a challenge in our family. Don't think the pics capture all the fun we had today.

Now, I had some issues with some of the uploading, so pics may not be in the exact order and it's late and I don't feel like messing with it anymore :) The pics are pretty much in backward order, with the exception of a few randoms.

The characters there...All square headed cat-ish beings.

There were all type of pools - which supposedly give you different type of health benefits. Here we are bathing in red wine.

Green Tea.

Ice cream after lunch. The ticket prices were pretty good, but the food prices were pretty steep!

Family in Wine

Practicing Karate in Green Tea

Ice Cream

Ok - no, I am not covered in ice cream. We were in the chocolate baths when it came time for the "bathing in chocolate" time. They walked around, pitting liquid chocolate in your hands and you're supposed to rub it all over you. Eaton decided he wanted to eat it. Off my face.

Emi just kept wiping her face, and licking her fingers.

The boys floating in the Dean Sea hot spring. Full of floaty salt.

One thing that was SO fun, was that it was all snowy there! Eaton loved playing in the snow - then running back into the pools to get warm. Emi didn't really want anything to do with the snow.

Yes, They are making snow angels in their bathing suits.

I am SO mad that this pic is blurry. Grrrrr... Eaton has a lot of fake smiles for the camera and I love it when I catch a real one. Like the one you can see above through the blur of a shaky handed woman covered in chocolate balancing on one foot.

Here's the pool where the fish eat the dead skin off your toes. Emi and I chose to keep our feet out of the water. I did it when we went 3 years ago and do not wish to ever do it again. I think Eaton stayed still enough to get one tiny nibble. He tried so hard to stay still, but this kid is a wiggler. Wes however, I think set the record for the most fish - at least while we were there.

Goggles

In the coffee pool. This is Emi crying after she got coffee poured on her. Like the chocolate pool, they infuse the pools every so often and it becomes crowd participation time. Bucket of cold coffees were thrown. Emi was not impressed. After this we sat down and she fell asleep on me. Because of this, we missed the wine infusing...

Earlier in the day...

Ending the day.

While Emi slept on me Wes took Eaton out to play in the snow a bit more. I guess the two had snowball fights for an hour :)

click here are pics from our 2009 trip Eaton has grown a little since then

Eggs

2012-01-20T03:37:00.000-08:00

Over here eggs come in a 10 pack - not a 12 pack or dozen as you may call it. There are also 10 little egg sized holes for eggs in the fridge. Plastic sealed containers - no egg cartons. Funny differences :)

Just standing around...

2012-01-18T23:41:00.000-08:00

Eaton loves Duplos...and he constantly is saying, "Look at my tower!"

Silly Girl :)

More Random iPhone pics...

2012-01-18T23:40:00.000-08:00

Some of our packing insanity... Thanks mom and dad for letting us completely take over your home for 2 weeks :)

Emi cheering for Huskies during the bowl game...We were so close!

Emi & Curtis.

The Great Wolf Lodge was beautiful!

Showing muscules

Out of order pic - but more packing mayhem.

Emi playing with her doggy she got for Christmas

Coloring at GWL

Eaton and his tattoo.

All smiles :)

Co-Op Preschool - Day 2

2012-01-17T18:52:00.000-08:00

Today went well again at preschool. We had 5 kids - and the noise and energy of that many kids fills the room! Songs were sang, we painted with ice cubes, built puzzles, played games, blew bubbles, made oobleck, ate snack...kids seemed to have a great time!

My loose plans - I always just have a list of things and we go through them. Mostly in order. I try to fill and hour and it turns into a bit more.

Group alphabet puzzle

Eaton was in time out - the girls decided to keep him company

Snack time

Making Oobleck - Corn starch and water. Makes a substance that is liquid and solid. Lots of fun for kiddos. I must say the moms may have played a bit with it as well.

Insect cards - what card do you have? What do you think it is? They were all pretty yucky bugs - perfect for kids.

Working on our Japanese words while eating treats from the Japanese 100 yen store.

The hippity hop!

Finishing with some coloring.

A Lazy Day

2012-01-17T03:33:00.000-08:00

Tuesday we expected to go to base to do Tot Class, but found out it had been canceled until at least February. Bummer. Instead, we went to the park in the morning and met some of the families from Sakura. We chatted with Nana and Papa (Carlyn's mom and dad) for a while on Skype and they gave the kids a tour of the snow and read them some books. At Eaton's request they even made snow balls and put them in the freezer so that the kids could play with them when we get back to WA. Melissa brought over our final box that we shipped along with some Diet Pepsi (Hooray b/c I was out!). We got some new toys and some clothes we had shipped from SD and had some fun playing with the new treasures. We watched movies, played with toys, made messes and just chilled all day. I also did a bit of planning for the next day of Co-op.

Yes, the room is destroyed and no, I don't care what you think about that.

They loved the new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse playset

And we shipped the Kitty Piano!

Eaton loves chopsticks

Both kids love doing art projects right now. Crayons, stickers, scissors (for Eaton) and they're in heaven.

She had bed head all day long.

Yum!

Fun with Dad

2012-01-17T03:20:00.000-08:00

Wes gets creative when playing with the kids and a new favorite is a mixture of a Nerf dart gun, plastic Disney characters and a table top dodge ball game Wes got for Christmas.

Eaton doesn't like to wait his turn.

The targets

Shooting from across the room

Some iPhone Pics...

2012-01-16T18:39:00.000-08:00

I just downloaded some pics from the past few months. Here's some Cali pics...

Relaxing on our balcony in Coronado

Pancakes and Nutella

The beach. I miss it.

Finally let himself get all the way buried

Me and a REAL Emmy! My cousin won one for his work on American Idol. We forgot to get a pic of Emi holding the Emmy. Next time.

A Busy MLK Day!

2012-01-16T02:17:00.000-08:00

We started out the day walking and taking the bus to Kannonzaki Park. It was about a 30 minute walk, a 10 minute bus ride and another 15-20 minute walk up to the slide. For a video of last year's run down the huge roller slide click here. We met Melissa, Jack & Maggie there and hiked up the hill to the big roller slide. It's a big park and we could have spent more time there, but it was COLD! Another day we'll spend a bit more time exploring the big park, but we need it to be a bit warmer first.

All bundled up!

Wes took both strollers for a bit up the hills. Superstar. Superdad.

At the top of the hill!

WHEEEEEEEEE!!!

Melissa took this pic of us getting on the bus to head home.

Then some new friends came over for dinner. Annie, Matt and Lily came over to visit! Eaton was MAYBE a bit excited and we MAY have let him watch a movie in his room while they were here and that MAY have let us have some great conversation! Matt is over here working on the same project as Wes and they live a few floors below us. Lily is 4 months younger than Emi. So fun!

A Bit More Cirque...

2012-01-15T04:06:00.001-08:00

Eaton and Jack :)

The girls weren't quite as excited to meet the performers...

Cirque Dreams

2012-01-14T19:20:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we went to the free Cirque Dreams show on base sponsored by the MWR (Military event/activity planners). We got there early enough to get great seats. These pics are taken with my phone, as we forgot the camera. Emi loved it and sat the whole time on our laps and watched. Eaton lasted a half hour and then told us he was done with the show and wanted to go home. He ended up on the floor of the theater playing puzzles on the iPod. I felt kinda bad about this, it was a sold out show and there was a long line of people trying to get in via stand-by. The audience was FILLED with kids, so I'd be willing to bet that ours wasn't the only one who's attention faded. We thought it was great, though.

Hard not to laugh!

2012-01-12T18:51:00.000-08:00

Eaton has a habit of getting right in people's faces, no real sense of personal space.

Emi has a bad habit of biting.

They are both still working on it.

Co-op Preschool

2012-01-12T02:52:00.000-08:00

So, because of our travels, our kids can't attend a regular preschool. This is a bummer, because I know that they miss out on things like friendships and listening to someone other than Mom and Dad. So I thought I'd do something about it and decided to start a Co-Op preschool of sorts. I called a couple of moms to see if they'd be on board and they were - so voila! Preschool! We had six kids today and we'll probably have a few more next week - and then we'll be at capacity. We're using the (free) party room downstairs at our complex and the space available combined with the ability to control a group of kids mixed with a limited amount of supplies makes it kinda hard to be much bigger. The time consisted of some songs, games, activities, snack and crazy kids running around. Actually the kids did pretty well for Mom being the teacher.

Again, these pictures are courtesy of Melissa, as I was running around getting each thing ready :)

The kids waiting for Melissa's kids.

Today we had Eaton, Emi, Andrew, Ava, Jack & Maggie. All 3 boys are 3.5-almost 4 and all 3 girls are 1.5-almost 2.

We made our snacks - you thread pasta through hot dog slices, then boil.

We had some balloon time,

followed by some parachute time

Hide & Seek

Then ate our snack with chopsticks

Art Project - We made tambourines. Decorate paper plates, add pasta, staple and done! Dance Party follows.

Moms after class - Me, Ashley & Melissa :)

A Boys Day - and A Girls Day!

2012-01-11T02:26:00.000-08:00

So - Wes took Jack and Eaton today so that Melissa, Maggie, Emi and I could go to Costco! It was about a 20 minute drive from our place and it was great to have some girl shopping time. I think from the pics below, Wes and the boys had fun today too :)

Drawing pictures

Using chopsticks

Flying on the zipline

My Costco receipt. Can you tell what I bought?

Oobleck!

2012-01-10T22:25:00.000-08:00

Eaton made Oobleck with Nana and Papa and has been asking to make it again, so I put corn starch on the shopping list. Eaton loved it - Emi's not so sure...

Papa loves me!

2012-01-10T04:47:00.000-08:00

Look at this cute outfit I found at a second hand store in Japan for 100 yen!

Working on it...

2012-01-10T04:41:00.000-08:00

So, the kids have adjusted to the time difference - pretty much. They are still (and always have been) early risers, currently waking between 5:00 and 6:00am. And, due to our close quarters, once one is awake, the other quickly follows. This is causing a bit of an issue with Eaton, who refuses a nap - but now often conks out at about 5pm on the couch. Then I have to try and wake him up. Just yucky and exhausting for both of us. So - yesterday the kids both napped and they stayed up late (almost 10pm) and they STILL woke up early. Today they both napped (Emi two and Eaton one) and finally went down at 9pm, so we'll see what happens tomorrow!

Practicing with Chopsticks!

2012-01-10T04:31:00.001-08:00

Some pics from life in Japan...

2012-01-09T00:15:00.000-08:00

Our wall hanging above our TV. Removable hooks, string, binder clips and pics. Easy and cute!

At the park with friends

We went to a park with friends that had a cool grass slide!

Laura, Wes calls this Emi's Duggar dress :) I think it's super cute!

The kids love to play with trains

Both kids love chocolate.

Really,

Really love it.

Eaton's whale. And him making a funny face.

A Fun Night with the Frasers

2012-01-08T04:04:00.001-08:00

Melissa and Jason

Wes & Carlyn

All the Kids...Jack, Maggie, Emi & Eaton

We said smile!

Peek a Boo - Look at Mom!

Seriously, kids....OK - good job girls :)

Wes was pumped that Maggie wasn't scared of him anymore :)

Here's to many more evenings with the Frasers!

A Fun Saturday

2012-01-07T00:06:00.000-08:00

Wes had to work on Saturday at 3 - so we decided to seize the day, even though the kids slept in til 5:30am. :( Anyway, we hit the park, the Off House (a cool second hand store), a 100 yen conveyor belt sushi joint, a french bakery for dessert - and we walked so we logged more than 4 miles! We were home by 1:00pm!

Eaton trying to figure out the chopsticks.

Emi was a happy girl. She gobbled down fried fish and rice.

The conveyor belt.

The menu - unfortunately, no English to be found.

The kids love the zip line at the park

Wes ties the two together so they can ride it.

Emi always asks to ride the "bug"

This is the spot we were at - almost a year ago - when we got the call that airborne radiation was being detected and were told to get indoors. We had a flat tire at the time and it was difficult to get the 2ish miles back home...

Here's the 2nd hand store

Sleepy kids

The french bakery! We had a pear tart.

Some of our cool finds of the day...a cool Japanese back pack. We always see these in stores for hundreds of dollars. I've wanted one since our first trip over here 3 years ago. I'm sure it's a knock-off, but for $6 we couldn't say no.

A safari Lego set

And a Mickey Mouse rugby ball!!!

A Night Out

2012-01-05T23:54:00.000-08:00

Melissa and I had a girls night and ventured out for dinner and drinks. We found a cute restaurant on the 8th floor above a pachinko parlor :) It was so nice to visit, eat and just catch up without kiddos running around. We met Melissa and her family last year in Japan - they went to Aunt Carmen's church in Bremerton and she referred them to us, and we're SO glad she did!

Touch screen to order - and thank you for the English! I know not to order the octopus balls. Actually I've tried then before - I'm not a fan, however, Wes is. We got a bunch of different dishes and they were all really good.

Me and our Shochu on the rocks. I switched to a more girly pineapple drink after this one.

We did NOT try the Salted Squid Guts...

Getting ready to head out.

Wes asked if it was cold in the restaurant. No, we were just getting ready to leave :)

And Melissa, thanks for letting me steal your pics! Actually, I didn't ask, so hopefully you don't get mad at me for stealing your pics...

A Few Pics

2012-01-05T12:00:00.000-08:00

An apartment complex near us. See all the clothes drying on the balconies. We have a dryer, thank goodness.

Our first dinner out. Ramen and potstickers. While 2 kids slept in the stroller.

Our range and oven. And fish oven. That won't get used much.

Can you figure out how to turn our oven? I can. :)

It's nice b/c this version actually has a lock for the burners. Look at how easy it is for a kid to turn it on!

Teeny Tiny dishwasher.

Again, could you control this dishwasher? Again, I can :)

Washing Machine

Dryer on top

Photo collages from Costco. The kids love these.

Our "lived in" apartment. See the awesome "pleather" couch???

I'll update pics later, as we're working on getting some more personalized items up. Gotta find some paint-and-wall-paper safe hooks first.

Playtime!

2012-01-05T05:30:00.000-08:00

The kids are adjusting really well to their new environment. They are loving all the new toys. We brought most of the stuff they got for Christmas, and last fall we shipped a bunch of stuff when we were packing up our house. It's all new to them and they're loving it!

Ouch!

2012-01-04T21:37:00.000-08:00

So Emi had a super crash yesterday morning. She was playing on the hippity-hop she got for Christmas; kinda leaning against/sitting on it while holding onto the coffee table and her feet went out from under her, the ball carried her little body forward and she smashed her face into the coffee table. I saw it happening, and just couldn't get there in time. Her face just exploded. Her mouth was gushing blood. It was pretty scary. Wes was at work and so I managed myself. Her little mouth is pretty beat up. She has a cut on her face; right under her bottom lip, a big cut on the inside of her bottom lip (where her teeth cut her - I initially thought her teeth went all the way through her lip), and bleeding/bruised gums on the top and bottom. She was pretty hysterical for a bit, but settled down after a long 10 minutes. We both looked like we belonged in a horror movie - mouth injuries bleed a lot! Everytime she bumps her mouth she starts bleeding again. She doesn't seem to be in pain now, but I've been giving her some pain meds. We're gonna have to watch her teeth, though. They don't seem loose, but it's possible that she damaged the root and they may become discolored. We'll see. Poor girl :(

These pics are from yesterday evening and this morning.

A Mom Meetup in Yokosuka

2012-01-04T14:19:00.001-08:00

Making it Our Own

2012-01-03T18:00:00.000-08:00

So, we have moved around a lot and and as the kids have gotten older, we've realized that they really like things that are "theirs" in the places we live. Makes sense. It is hard though, when pressed for space. So we get creative :) For Christmas, the kids got wall-paper-and-paint-safe wall stickers to personalize their space. They loved it!

The First of Many Trips to the Park

2012-01-03T06:00:00.000-08:00

So, if you walk outside our complex and turn right, there are a whole bunch of parks right there! The kids are fans.

Another Great View...

2012-01-02T22:23:00.000-08:00

Our first sunset in Japan. This is the view from all of our bedrooms. Mt. Fuji in the distance.

Planes are Fun!

2012-01-02T21:46:00.001-08:00

Cookies!

2012-01-02T08:00:00.000-08:00

We're Back in Japan!

2012-01-02T01:39:00.000-08:00

So - We're in Japan! The trip here was pretty smooth and rather uneventful. The trip last year was much moreinteresting. To read it click here.

To summarize -

9am - Left Olympia to go to the airport. Thanks to Kevan and Betsy for driving asecond car so that we, and all our luggage, could make it.

10am - Checked in. All 6 checked bags, 3 carry-on bags, big double stroller, two adults andtwo kids got checked in, through security, sat down to eat lunch and made it toour gate with a comfortable amount of time to spare.

12:30pm - Boarded plane

1:15pm - Flight took off on time. The flight was really good. The plane was EMPTY and we took up about 8seats during the flight. The flightattendants were great. The food wasgross - but hey, if that was the only sour point, we'll take it. Actually, the child's meal that they broughtfor Eaton each time was good - and he didn't want it so we ate his food :) Emihad one rough stretch about 1/3 of the way into the flight, while fighting anap which she eventually took. She onlyslept for about 1.5 hours on the whole 10 hour flight. Eaton deserved a goldmedal for his performance. He watchedmovies, colored, ate snacks, used the bathroom when he needed to, and then wentto sleep when he was tired. It wasAMAZING!

11:00pm-ish (4:00pm Japan Time) - Flight lands

11:45pm (4:45pm Japan Time) - Catch the chauffeured van(thanks so much Jason and Melissa!). Itwas WAY better than taking the base bus - and it saved us at least 2 hours (anda lot of hassle). The kids slept the whole way. The wonderful driver even drove us directly toour apartment, instead of dropping us outside the base - which is what they aresupposed to do. This saved us fromunloading everything - 6 checked bags, 3 carry on bags, a big double strollerand 2 sleepy kids - off of the van and onto 2 cabs which would then have had todrive us to our apartment.

1:15am (6:15pm Japan Time) - We got to our apartment about17.5 hours after we left our home in Olympia - a personal best! Last year ittook about 20 hours. We put the kids inbed, unloaded all our stuff, got settled.

3:00am (8:00pm Japan Time) - We went to bed.

7:00am (12:00am Japan Time...Yes, just 4 hours later) - Thekids wake up.

Emi took 5 differentnaps today since getting up at midnight. And Eaton only took one 2 hour nap in the late afternoon. We'll see what happens tonight! These parent's are keeping our fingerscrossed for some sleep tonight...

Christmas Morning at Grandma Liz's

2012-01-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

This was the last Christmas at the house - as Grandma is moving soon. We had a great time and we'll miss it there! I'm sure we'll make new fun memories at the new place and create new traditions at Panorama City.

Fun at Grandma and Grandpa's

2012-01-01T19:30:00.000-08:00

Santa Came!

2012-01-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

The stomach bug went through the entire family - Evan came down with it on Christmas morning.

Eaton got his magnifying glass - and it was a snake!

And they got a DOLLHOUSE!!! Eaton has been asking for one for months.

New cameras!

Funny drinking straw glasses

All the kids got capes

Christmas Eve at Amma's & Mom & Dad's

2011-12-31T20:00:00.000-08:00

The traditional photo in front of the tree at Amma's

The photos are a bit out of order - the kiddos waiting for Santa at the end of the night.

Emi with the quillow (quilt + pillow) that Amma made for Eaton

Emi, Ella and Curtis. Ella is my cousin's daughter and she is 3 weeks younger than Eaton. She and Eaton play really well together now. He used to continually tackle her..and she would continually cry :)

I'm Curtis - and I eat sandwiches like a big kid.

Christmas Eve at the Conovers

2011-12-31T12:00:00.000-08:00

Funny Faces on Christmas Eve

2011-12-31T08:00:00.000-08:00

Staches

2011-12-30T19:00:00.000-08:00

My moustache is a bit askew...

I found these moustache necklaces on etsy and thought it'd be a fun a gift for my cousins :)

Go Huskies!

2011-12-30T18:48:00.000-08:00

We were so close! Emi had to eat away her tears.

Merry Christmas from Nana and Papa - Great Wolf Lodge!!!

2011-12-30T18:08:00.000-08:00

Hanging in the room

Emi decided the drawer was more comfy than her bed

Telling stories

It was so pretty inside!

Eaton got a magic wand and made magic all over the lodge!

Listening to the bedtime story

Here's what they were looking at

Then it started to snow!

He swam like this everywhere - and kept getting stepped on. Didn't bug him at all.

Eaton is 41.5 inches tall. You have to be 42 inches tall to go on the tube rides. On the first day he didn't make the cut. On the second day - he was tall enough! He was super pumped. He went on the different slides with everyone - probably more than 20 times. Then, around lunch time, one of the lifeguards asked to remeasure him. It resulted in a sad faced little kid doing the walk of shame back down the slide and getting his bracelet cut off :(

Happy going on the big slides...

Then sad after :(

Remembering the good times :)

It's snowing!

SugerBear

2011-12-27T13:28:00.000-08:00

I had the wrong lens on my camera - so the pics are not framed really well. The kids loved riding on SugarBear - Janet's horse. The kids got to feed her and help make her bed too - they had tons of fun. Thanks Janet!

Playing in the Yard with Papa and dad

2011-12-26T13:22:00.000-08:00

They figured out that the ball will float on the leaf blower!

The Boat Parade

2011-12-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

We got to watch some amazing boats go by that were all decked out for Christmas. It was a warm night and we had a lot of fun. Not a lot of pics - just enjoyed the company and the view.

Christmas Cookies

2011-12-24T15:00:00.000-08:00

We spent some time with Aunt Kellie, Brandon, Ben, Grandma Liz, Laura and Curtis making some cookies

Kellie has three boys, so her and Eaton get along really well.

Wes spun the kids in the laundry basket - an old favorite at our place. I had some fun getting these pics with my camera.

Emi approves of the final product.

As does Eaton

Our last day in SD - a bit delayed :)

2011-12-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

Eaton loved taking pictures of the sunset from the balcony. he'd turn the camera around and say - How does it look?

Guess what Ralph brought - DISNEYLAND MONEY!!!

Disneyland at Christmas!!!

2011-12-23T13:30:00.000-08:00

So, it was back and forth at Wes' work on when we were going to get to head home. Finally, we got word that we would leave on Thursday the 15th - so I convinced Wes that for our 8th anniversary, we should go to Disneyland! I love it there, the kids do too - and Wes puts up with it :) We had so much fun and we missed the crowds that come during Christmas break. I think the longest line we stood in was for Peter Pan (my favorite). Eaton did Thunder Mountain railroad six times, with Wes and I trading off going with him. Four of those times were back to back in the dark, which he thought was AWESOME!!! Both kids took naps in the stroller - at different times - so we were able to last quite a long time at the park. The only bummer was that it was windy all day, so the fireworks show was canceled. But we all had such fun, rode lots and lots of rides and met some of our favorite characters!

In front of the 60 ft Christmas tree

Eaton wanted to go on Buzz first! There were no lines, so it was great!

The castle got some snow

The carousel is always a favorite

We found Santa

Emi was not a fan

She actually liked him, as long as he wasn't holding her

All the characters had their Holiday gear on - so cute!

The haunted mansion was decked out as the Nightmare before Christmas

On Peter Pan

Jungle Cruise

Tea Cups!

Emi thought she was the parade.

Emi loved Minnie - her and Mickey were the only ones she ran to and hugged on her own.

Some princesses - she had no ides who these girls were and were more interested in the flowers next to them :)

Night time parade

Our Last SeaWorld Trip

2011-12-23T04:00:00.000-08:00

Eaton's finally tall enough!!!

Emi loves all animals

Weeeeeeee!!! Eaton has wanted to go on this for so long and he finally is 42 inches tall (With shoes on)

Playing in the snow. Both kids love the idea of it, but think it's too cold when it comes down to playing for very long.

Eaton REALLY wanted to make a snow angel

One more ride that Eaton was tall enough for!

Letters to Santa

2011-12-22T14:09:00.000-08:00

Happy 8th Anniversary!

2011-12-22T12:21:00.001-08:00

Oh, what a great 8 years it's been!

Bed Head!

2011-12-22T12:00:00.000-08:00

A last sunset in SD

2011-12-22T11:30:00.000-08:00

Gingerbread House 2.0

2011-12-22T11:00:00.000-08:00

Oh, Ralph...

2011-12-18T14:09:00.000-08:00

Someone had a snowball fight...

Emi - No Biting!!!

2011-12-18T14:07:00.000-08:00

Emi's 1st Ponytail!

2011-12-18T14:05:00.000-08:00

Breakfast with Santa

2011-12-13T14:59:00.000-08:00

The community center next door had a Santa breakfast - so fun! The kids loved it...Well, most of it.

Emi all dressed up

All the kids got reindeer antlers

Eaton is bummed here because he thought he was literally going to eat with Santa. He kept saying, "Santa is missing breakfast!"

Getting faces painted

Emi picked out a present to be painted on her - she needed a bit of help sitting still :)

Craft projects - Both kids are really into art/craft projects right now and so we spent a lot of time here. I think we made about 10 different ornaments.

Ok - to be fair, Emi was SUPER excited waiting in line to see Santa. Then she got put on his lap. She was clearly not a fan.

Eaton loved it, though.

Both kids loved Safety Duck.

Emi with one of the prizes from the spinning wheel - a little stuffed bear. She loves animals right now.

Hugging the bear

Round 2 - High fives are OK...

OK guys, I'm not crying this time, but I obviously don't want to do this...

Ralph the Elf

2011-12-13T14:24:00.000-08:00

Do you have an Elf on the Shelf? We do and the kids love it. Eaton named it Ralph last year, when he was two. As many of you know, Ralph was Wes' dad's name. Eaton came up with the name by himself. It's a crazy story - you should ask us about it.

Anyway, Ralph watches over the kids and brings little gifts for the kids on the days leading up to Christmas. He also does all sorts of funny things - like on this day, he made cookies for the kids. They were elf size cookies - and Eaton's favorite part - he left a snow angel in the flour!

December Nights at Balboa Park

2011-12-10T10:08:00.000-08:00

We went to December Nights at Balboa Park - It was fun, but CRAZY busy! It is San Diego's largest free festival and about 300,000 people visit over the 2 days. Free museums, lots of food, Christmas lights, live music and more. Wes had to work so we didn't get as early of a start as we would have liked, so it took us an hour to find a parking spot! Re-routes of roads to control he crowds blocked our progress... But the kids still had fun. I didn't get me camera out until the end, but they loved the museums! I need to take them there more. They kept running around, looking at and touching everything! We ended the day with the carousel and the train ride. Which, again, the kids loved.

Emi got a book alone tonight because...

Someone fell asleep on the car ride home. And this someone is looking way too big for the stroller :)

The After Party

2011-12-09T22:23:00.000-08:00

After the Holiday Party we grabbed dinner at the local BBQ place and then hit the parade!!!

The kids playing the iPods...Yes, we are awesome parents.

The kids on Wes' shoulders watching the parade reminded me so much of the parade scene in A Christmas Story before they go to visit Santa - HO, HO, HO...

Emi kept trying to join the parade

The kids LOVED it!

Emi

2011-12-09T11:30:00.000-08:00

Here's a video of Emi. We tried to get her talking, but she's a little camera shy.

Santa at the Holiday Party!

2011-12-07T21:48:00.000-08:00

Coronado Christmas Party

2011-12-07T21:44:00.000-08:00

We went to the city of Coronado's Holiday Party and Open House. Cookies, Hot Cocoa, Snow Mountain (a pile of snow in the middle of town for the kiddos to play in), face painting, Santa, decorating cookies, painting ornaments... The kids had a blast. It was pretty crowded, but we managed to have a good time :)

Emi napped while I waited in the snow mountain line.

Eaton ran around with Wes and did the other activities while I waited in the longer lines

Emi did NOT like the snow. She had just woken up, though.

Eaton shared his sucker to make her feel better. It worked :)

Free Cookies? Yes, please!

Surfing Video

2011-12-06T16:08:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick video of Eaton surfing this morning. Carlyn took the video from our balcony while Emi was taking her nap. As you can see we aren't exactly roughing it in our current place. We only have a couple more weeks in this place, so we are tyring to take advantage. Eaton's loving surfing right now and getting pretty proud of himself. It's fun to watch. The water is getting pretty cold and even in his wetsuit so we typically only surf for about 30 min before heading up to the hot tub (roughing it again).

Ho Ho Ho!!!

2011-12-05T18:09:00.001-08:00

Christmas at SeaWorld

2011-12-04T20:19:00.000-08:00

We hit some of the SeaWorld Christmas stuff...

Reindeer - which Emi loved

Sannta - which Eaton loved.

More characters - Eaton loved - Emi hated.

No, Mrs. Clause...I will not give you a high five.

Decorations - Eaton said, Take My Picture!

And snow!!!

Eaton loved it - Emi, again, not a big fan.

We met Maria, Shane, Brooklyn and Brody there and here is the one pic with all of them looking at the camera :)

The Del Holiday Party

2011-12-03T21:18:00.000-08:00

The Del has an Open House Holiday Party that is always fun to go to. It can get a bit crazy and crowded, so we make sure to get there early. We walked there without a stroller (a big thing for us!) and the kids did pretty well. They had some carnival games for the kids (along with prizes that were left over from Halloween), some snacks and it ended with fireworks! We started at the party, then when it got to crowded and we had seen what we wanted to see, we got dinner at the local pizza joint - then walked back for fireworks and hot cocoa on the beach. We sat right under the fireworks and the kids loved it!

Our Panda and Lion heading to the party

Emi trying her hand at the ball toss

One of Eaton's prizes...

The Sand Castle Guy was there too!

Our view from the beach

Waiting for the fireworks

See the hot cocoa dripping from Eaton's chin?

OK...these pictures are upside down I think.

When we got home we found that they had put up lights outside our building - which our kids LOVED!

Another good night in Coronado :)

Did your December 1st Look Like This?

2011-12-03T21:16:00.000-08:00

Surfer Dude (and Dudette)

2011-12-02T20:58:00.000-08:00

Eaton's learning to surf, and getting pretty good. He can (almost) stand up, it's more of a squat but he has good balance. One time he even had a group of tourists watching and cheering him on from the beach. Of course Emi has to do anything her brother does, so she gets her turn also.

I tried to get both kids on the board at the same time.

Starting to crash. Save the baby, sorry Eaton you're on your own.

That handle on the life jacket really does come in handy.

Starting off, I push him in the wave.

Popping up to his feet.

Surfing at Sunset!

Hands up!

Some More Beautiful Skies

2011-12-01T20:57:00.000-08:00