Xmas Preview

Had this pic on my phone.  The other Chrimmy pix are still on the PC.

We started a new tradition for Xmas dinner this year for Xmas:  Christmas Yakiniku!
The kids love yakiniku, Ethan especially loves cooking our own food at our table.  This restaurant is a favorite, it's a yakiniku viking (all you can eat) plus has DIY cotton candy and crepe machines!  Oishii! (Christmas is not a big deal in Japan, it's just another day, so everything is open)
In the pic is also Meg's BFF, Tasha.  She was at our house by 8:00a Christmas morning, just for a quick gift review, then came back after lunch and spent the rest of the day and night.

Once you go Mac....

Isn't she pretty?

I've made the switch, and so far I'm pretty happy.  Still figuring things out and trying to break my old PC habits, but I love my little, pink Mac!

I haven't blogged in a while because my PC went all wonky and wouldn't let me upload pix to Blogger, and I HATE blogging w/out pictures, so I just didn't.  Now I've just got to get all my pix and files transferred from the PC (Piece of Crap) and I'll be able to catch up!

All brats present and accounted for!

Gabi and Meg are home from Guam.  Pix coming soon!

Turkey Day Plans

I've never been a fan of Thanksgiving.  I love holidays, all the decorations and celebrations, but for some strange reason, I just really don't like Turkey Day.  No clue why.  Once I moved out of my parents house, I stopped celebrating it completely.  While I was married, I stepped up and did the whole cook-the-turkey thing, or we celebrated w/ in-laws, to make everyone else happy, but now that I'm single again...not gonna happen.  When the girls were younger (and I was single) our Thanksgiving tradition was to go to Waffle House for lunch, then go see whatever new animated movie was playing at the theater (T-Day week is always a popular time to release kids' movies in the US).

Now that I find myself single, again, on Thanksgiving, we'll be re-instituting our own Turkey Day traditions.  Of course, there's no Waffle House in Japan (sob, sob), so we've had to come up with other ideas.  The girls will be heading to Guam on Wednesday to spend the holiday with their dad and bonus mom (they moved to Guam last month!  So, so happy that M and G will get to see them on a fairly regular basis now!), they'll return Sunday night.  So that'll be their tradition for at least the next 3 Thanksgivings. This year Ethan and I are heading to Yokohama/Yokosuka Thur - Sat.  We'll check out Hakkejima Sea Paradise, which has a really cool aquarium, see the USS George Washington, which is in port right now at Yokosuka Navy base, and get in some Xmas shopping while we're there.

To all my US friends and fam - Happy Thanksgiving!  Gobble, gobble!

Just a really great day!

On Wednesday morning, I headed into Tokyo, going to the U.S. Embassy to give some training to a group of 12 people.  Nothing lifts my spirits like a trip to T-town.  I love everything about that place. I love driving through the crowded streets, I could sit in traffic for hours, just soaking up all the big city vibes.  I can, and have, wander aimlessly for hours, and never run out of things interesting things to see.

This was my first trip to the Embassy, and I got a really nice tour of the whole place before the class started.  The training went off without a hitch, I even used candy to keep everyone's attention.  I'd ask questions about the material I had covered, and the first correct answer got a piece of candy. There's nothing funnier than grown men, in suits and ties, competing for a mini Snickers bar!

After class, we all walked through Roppongi to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch.  The weather was absolutely perfect, a beautiful, crisp, clear autumn day.  At HRC I had the greasiest, cheesiest, most delicious burger I've had in a long, long time.  We took the scenic route back to the Embassy, to walk off the burger brick now lodged in my belly.

After the Embassy, I headed for the New Sanno, my home away from home, for a mani/pedi.  The foot massage that came w/ the pedi was heavenly after all the walking we'd done!

When I finished in the salon, I popped into the little liquor store at the NS to stock up on my favorite wine coolers, Fuzzy Navel flavor, which I can no longer get here at home.  

Then is was time to head to Okachimachi to meet the ever lovely Cecelia.  I'd been to Okachimachi a few times, but it was great to see some of C's favorite stores.  We parked ourselves at Starbucks and chatted   the evening away over caramel fraps and hot tea.  It was so great to see Cecelia, I can talk to her about absolutely anything with no fear of judgement.  A visit with her never fails to soothe my frazzled emotions, calm my fears that I'm complete nut-job and encourage me to just keep on keepin' on.  I'm so lucky to have met her and to be able to count her as a friend (Thanks Lil!).

All too soon, it was time to head for home.  I hopped on the subway back to Hiro-o, got my car from the NS (free parking, in the middle of Tokyo!!!), and made excellent time back to the base, not a spot of traffic!  

When I got home, the girls had rustled up dinner for themselves and E (Gabi picks him up from daycare most days), and had him bathed, in his jammies, and settled in front of  an episode of Pink Panther, all with no prompting from me. (yes, I paid them handsomely).

I was in bed by 9:30p, even though the next day was a holiday!  It was the perfect end to a perfect day!  (And somehow, I slept until nearly 11:00a the next morning!  That never, EVER happens!)

BolleyBall

As Ethan calls it.  Meg is playing volleyball this season and had her first game this weekend.  I don't know anything about the sport, I don't think I've ever even actually seen a game before this weekend, but it was fun (and over quickly, I'm favorite kind of game!)  

At Meg's level, a full volleyball match is made up of three separate games, the winner is the team that wins the most games (at higher levels it's best out of 5) .  The first two games are to 25 points, the third game, if it's needed, is played to 15 points, BUT, the winning team must win by 2 points, so in our case, the last game went to 16 points.  I guess if both teams are really good, a match could go on for a long time, but fortunately for us, both teams were pretty stinky, so it was over fast.  And Meg's team won!  Hooray!

I have no idea where the girls get their athleticism from, I'm the most un-athletic, uncoordinated, non-joiner I've ever known, but they've both always loved sports and between them have tried just about every one for at least one season (and they typically excel at whatever they try).  I'm doing everything I can to encourage them to keep playing as they get older in the hopes it'll help them stay active and fit, and less likely to be battling the sloth-like tendencies and sheer hatred of exercise their mom has, when they hit middle age. 

Now that E is old enough to join and play his own sports, and I'm on my own, it's kind of tough trying to cover 3 different events for 3 different kids in 3 different places, all on the same day (every sport here plays on Saturdays) especially if someone has an away game, but like everything else, we're working it out!

 

 

The last point never made it on the board, but they won 16 - 14.

Happy Birthday To Me!

3.5 months later!  My b-day was actually July 14, but I was looking through my photos tonight and realized that I never blogged about it!

On my b-day morning, I woke up to something tickling my nose, opened my eyes and there was E, holding a red carnation, tickling my nose with it.  He'd also drawn a cute picture for me.  I got ready for work, headed out to the van, and found this:

In addition to going the the flower shop the evening before to buy the flower for her brother to give me, and helping him draw the pic for me, my sweet, oldest daughter had woken up at 6:00a (during her summer vacay!!!), snuck out to the convenience store and bought me my favorite brekky, a cheesy Tornadoe and large Coke (I said favorite, not healthy)!  And when I turned the key in the van, a rockin' "Happy Birthday" song blasted from the speakers.  Gabi had somehow recorded herself, M and E singing, burned it on to a CD and had it all queued up in the CD player (remember, M had been the U.S. at her dad's for more than a month by this time).

I promptly burst into tears.  I had been DREADING my b-day this year.  I was still struggling to cope and recover from the devastation wreaked on our lives by DB, and still had no clue what our future held, whether or not I was getting my job, where we would go if I didn't, etc.  And all I kept thinking about was my last birthday.  DB was in school in the U.S. but had still managed to have flowers and a balloon delivered to me.  Anyway, I wasn't expecting anything good to come from this day.  But already, it was shaping up to be one of my best b-days ever.

  

Later that day, my co-workers took me out for lunch, and when we returned to the office, they had a big b-day cake waiting.  After work the kids joined me and my whole office for dinner at Chili's and I celebrated with b-day margaritas. This was also the day my job was finally posted so that I could officially apply for it, and, as we all know now, I got the job, and am in the process of living happily ever after!.  It ended up being a really great day.

Update!

No much going on, which is probably a good thing!  We still don't have a house yet, meaning we've been homeless going on 5 weeks since we returned to Japan, but 9 weeks since we actually last had a home of our own.  I'm fine with it for myself, the daily maid service still hasn't lost it's novelty, and neither has the big, fat check they give me every month for staying in the temporary lodging facility (TLF)!  But it's getting harder and harder on the kids.  Especially Ethan.

My heart is breaking for my sweet baby.  We drove by our old house today, and all his friends were outside playing, and he just broke down, sobbing, begging me to let us move back to our old house.  This is the 3rd or 4th time he's had a break down like that since we've been back.  It's just so sad.  After the 2nd time, I realized that in the last year, his entire little world has just crumbled down around him, he's literally lost everything he knows and loves.  First, his dad disappears off the face of the earth, then we had to give away his beloved dog (as you know, we got Feni when E was two, he called Feni his "brother" and loved him so much), then he had to leave the school he loved as the year ended and he was moving on to kindergarten, then he lost his house, which is the only home he's ever known, and along with that went all his neighborhood friends.  My only consolation is that in a few years he won't remember all this loss and pain, but I am worried about how it will affect him in the long run.  Have I scarred him for life?

On the up side, all 3 kids are settled in school.  None of them had any trouble catching up, they're all happy with their teachers and so far they're all doing really well.  Both girls opted not to run cross country this year, they'd already missed nearly half the season by the time we returned to Japan, and knew they'd have extra homework and studying the first few weeks back in school.

Work is AWESOME!!!  Several times a day I just shake my head in wonder "I'm actually getting PAID to do this!"  Unbelievable.  I'm making more money than I've ever made in my entire life (that's actually not saying much, I haven't exactly been the most productive worker over the last 2 decades) doing a job that I *LOVE*.  My co-workers are great, I have my own office and a secretary (all of my working life, I'VE always been the secretary!!!) and I'm my own boss.  I pretty much set my own schedule as well, as long as the work gets done on time, my time is pretty much my own.  Today I was able to leave at 10:30 to go eat lunch w/ E at school.  I buzz in and out of international meetings and conference calls everyday, working w/ the Japanese military, as well as people in Thailand, Singapore, Australia, Guam, Hawaii and the US.  Just got word this week that I'll "required" to attend a week long workshop in Hawaii next month.  Geez, talk about torture!  Sigh.  Life is good right now.  (I was soooooo afraid to actually type that!  I'm terrified of jinxing myself!)

This weekend, Sarah and fam will be coming to visit for the day, so I'll get my fix of the adorable Sakura-chan, while enjoying a yummy brunch and great company.

I could go on, but those are the highlights!  I still have pix from the States, and some nice ones from Day Two of our Mother's Day trip last May that I really want to post.  I'll try to get to it this week, I promise.

My beautiful girl

Yokota High School Homecoming 2010

Beach Babies

These were taken on Navarre Beach.

Beach Bums

While in Florida, we stayed in a little efficiency apartment on the base that was situated about 50 yards from Choctawhatchee Bay.  There was a marina w/ a little convenience store and a really nice beach area.  We were at the beach, and in the water, every.single.day. sometimes all day long. Most of the time we were the only ones there because summer vacay was over and everyone else was back to work and school.

Ethan over came his fear of the water and swam like a little fishy for hours on end and we all got mega  awesome tans!

I really, really miss living near the water and beach! 

 We had beautiful views like this at every single restaurant we went to, most places had awesome patio dining, which we took full advantage of it (this was at Red Lobster)!

Our lunchtime view at Harry T's in Destin, FL

First Day of School

G and M, 11th and 8th grade (that's G's pride and joy behind them)

 My baby started "big kid" school, full-fledged kindergarten!

Home Sweet Home!

I can't believe we're finally home!  It felt like we were gone for months!  Out of my mind with happiness, terrified something tragic is going to happen, I never, ever have this kind of good fortune, where everything just falls so perfectly into place.  All the stars just keep aligning themselves as one thing after another goes my way!  Scary stuff :(

Although I did have to play the crazy gaijin bitch card before we even left the airport, w/ the shmucks on the terminal transfer bus!  Planting themselves and their one little bag 2 steps inside the door, or directly in front of the luggage rack, blocking all access, as I struggle to load 10 suitcases, 4 carry ones, a menagerie of blankets, pillows and loveys, and 3 exhausted kids onto the bus in the 60 seconds it stops!  Come people!?!?!?!?!  Get a clue! (No, that's not a typo, between the 4 of us, we had TEN full size suitcases!!!!)

Other than that, I am rapidly sinking into Nippon bliss.......

Got E registered for big kindy, he starts on Wednesday.  My baby!  A school boy!

We didn't get to the hotel until after 10:00 last night, so I let the girls play hooky today, they'll start school tomorrow.  They missed the first 3 weeks, but their teachers all know them well and all agreed they'd have no trouble catching up.

Miss Gabi is now the proud owner of 1998 Daihatsu Sirion.  She's over the moon excited and keeps looking out the window every 10 minutes, "I just want to see it one more time!".  She's had the car for 2 hours and has already been to the gas station (twice:  once for gas, the second time to clean her windshield), the conbini, the ATM and to pick up Meg at a friends.  All separate trips.  And she keeps asking me if I need any errands run.

I go back to work tomorrow, hoping my desk isn't buried under an avalanche of crap to catch up on, but I know my e-mail inbox will be overflowing!

Now we just have to wait for a house to become available (although I certainly don't mind staying at the hotel, w/ the daily maid service and all, plus I'll be reimbursed for all of our expenses!)

I tried keeping up w/ everyone's while we were gone, but there were lots of days I was w/out internet, so I'll spend the rest of the week catching up, I've missed all of you!

There's no place like home...There's no place like home...There's no place like home....

And this time next week, we'll be there! WOO HOO! We leave the U.S. stupidly early Saturday morning, arriving in T-town Sunday afternoon!

I've got some serious eating and major shopping to do over the next 6 days, but I think I'm up for the challenge!

Just in case you're wondering, over the last 4 weeks I've eaten at:

Dave and Busters (left me craving steak fajitas the whole trip!)
Cafe' Du Monde (A legendary cafe in the French Quarter of New Orleans)
Olive Garden
Applebee's
Po' Folks ("Down home country" food)
Cracker Barrel (ditto. Chicken and dumplings were to die for!)
Chuck E. Cheese
Sonic
Arby's
CiCi's Pizza (all-you-can-eat buffet w/ amazing BBQ pizza)
Ranchito Morin (Mexican)
Dairy Queen (Oh Peanut Buster Parfait, how I'll miss you!)
McD's (Japanese McD's is better)
Fudpucker's

Still need to hit Harry T's, Cafe Graziea and a Chinese buffet (American Chinese food is very different from Japanese Chinese food. Weird, I know), .

From the mouth of my sweetie boy...

After seeing a Match.com commercial for 100th time:

E: Mom, you can go on Match.com to find a new husband.

Me: I don't think I need a new husband Sweets, I'm fine all by myself, with just you and your sisters!

E: Well, you'll have a husband when I grow up.

Me: How?

E: 'Cause I'm gonna be your husband.

When I explained that he couldn't marry me, he cried :( What a sweetie, sweet mama's boy! I'm sure his future spouse will hate me!

Home (?)

I have mixed emotions about my hometown.  Mainly because I never really considered it my "home".  We left Japan when I was 9, moving to a base in Montgomery, AL.  When I was 12, my dad retired from the Air Force and we moved to a little, country town just north of the base. 

I was devasted.  Even at only 12, I considered myself a city girl, and more of a "global citizen" than an American citizen.  Moving to this tiny, hick town felt like a death sentence to me. 

But like most kids, I adapted and settled in, making the best of my life in Wetumpka, always knowing it was only temporary, and I'd be leaving as soon as I possibly could (and I did). I made a lot of really good friends during my 8 years here, we had a lot of fun, and I have tons of great memories of my time here.  But it's still doesn't feel like home to me.  My parents have lived here for almost 30 years now, so it's most definitely their home, but somehow, it's just not mine.  When people ask me where I'm from, I don't say "Alabama".  I just say I've lived all over the place, and don't come from any place in particular (I was born in Missouri, but we left there when I was just a few weeks old, and I've never been back).

That being said, I've really enjoyed coming back and reconnecting, face-to-face with so many of my high school besties, some that I haven't seen in 15+ years.  We've strolled down memory lane, shared some laughs and loved on each others kiddos.

Our first day in town, I met up with a bunch of friends at Chick-a-filet for lunch.  Later that night, we met up again for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant (my first Mexican food in over 3 years!  DELICIOSO!)   We stuffed our faces with yummy queso dip and margaritas and spent the evening reminiscing, swapping stories and discovering that apparently I was the ring leader of the vast majority of our.........adventures (misadventures?).  Of course, that's not how I remember it at all, but everyone else agreed that I was, in fact, the mastermind behind most of our escapades.  Funny how time can blur the edges of your memories......

Note:  Donna, Lori and I became friends in the 7th grade, we were all only 12 years old. Debra, Jeanna, Monica and I became good friends during high school.

Anyway, pix from Ranchito Morin:

E devouring his fried ice cream (how fattening does that sound  FRIED ice cream?)

Clockwise from the left: 

Lori, Monica, Debra, Donna and yours truly (check out my cleavage! Woo hoo!)

Our spawn, L to R: 

 Daniel, Jesse, G w/ Miss Sylvia, M w/ baby Nico, E and Phoenix

E and Sylvia, both 5 years old.

Tubing on the Chatahoochee River

Last Saturday, while visiting the BFF in Hot-lanta, we took the kids tubing on the Chatahoochee River in Helen, Ga.  It was a great day, the weather was perfect, and we all had a really good time.  As always, our time w/ R and fam was waaaaaay too short, but it was definitely better than nothing!

Helaina, Gabi, Meg and Mallory

(H and M are twins, and are only 4.5 mths younger than Meg.  All week we were constantly mistaking them all for each other, some how they all look so similar they could be triplets!)

Two blonde ones on the slide, not really sure who it is!

Mata ne!

OMG!

I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT  THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB!I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT  THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB!I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT  THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT  THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT  THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT  THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT  THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT  THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT  THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT  THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT  THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT  THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT  THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT  THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT  THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT  THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB! I GOT  THE JOB!

Bats in the belfry.

Well, in the kitchen pantry actually.Gabi found a tiny, little bat this morning, laying on the ground near the house where she's dogsitting.  She thought it was dead, so didn't mess with it, but when she went back to walk the dogs again about 4 hours later, it was wiggling around a bit, trying to get away from the ants that were swarming it.  So of course, she had to rescue it.  Of course.  So now, we've got a bat.  In a beetle box.  She cut the leg off a pair of old sweatpants and with some bits of wood from our overwhelming stock of beetle paraphernalia, she fashioned a little cozy bat cave, added some beetle jelly and a bottle cap of water, and put it in our kitchen pantry (a cool, dark place).  So now there's a bat in my pantry, right next to the microwave popcorn and ginger snaps.

She's actually kind of cute.  All fuzzy, with teeny, tiny bat feet.  I've never seen a bat up and personal.  But I have no idea what to do with her.  I don't know if she's just a baby and fell from her, nest (?) or if she's full grown but got hurt some how.  She's creeps around in the box, and is eating the beetle jelly.  Anyone know anything about bats?

I pray for you......

I haven't been to church since I don’t remember when
Things were going great ‘til they fell apart again
So I listened to the preacher as he told me what to do
He said you can’t go hating others who have done wrong to you
Sometimes we get angry, but we must not condemn
Let the good Lord do His job and you just pray for them

I pray your brakes go out running down a hill
I pray a flowerpot falls from a window sill and knocks you in the head like I’d like to
I pray your birthday comes and nobody calls
I pray you’re flying high when your engine stalls
I pray all your dreams never come true

Just know whereever you are honey, I pray for you
I’m really glad I found my way to church
‘Cause I’m already feeling better and I thank God for the words
Yeah I’m going to take the high road
And do what the preacher told me to do
You keep messing up and I’ll keep prayig’ for you

I pray your tire blows out at 110
I pray you pass out drunk with your best friend and wake up with his and her tattoos
I pray your brakes go out runnin’ down a hill
I pray a flowerpot falls from a window sill and knocks you in the head like I’d like to
I pray your birthday comes and nobody calls
I pray you’re flyining high when your engine stalls
I pray all your dreams, never come true

Just know whereever you are, near or far, in your house or in your car,
wherever you are honey, I pray for you.

(lyrics from "I Pray for You", Jaron Lowenstein)

Who's that rockstar?

My beautiful daughter, of course!

Meg left on June 28 to spend 6 weeks with her dad and bonus mom in Florida.  She made the all by herself!!!  She's having a great time, going to gymnastics camp every day and soaking up the sun on the beach and out on the boat every weekend.  *Sigh*  What a tough life.   Have a great summer Bub, we love you and miss you!

My Little Phoenix

Rising out of the ash that was the garden massacre:

My garden is thriving, nearly out of control! 

The happy, sunny yellow pretties:

 and the bold, bright pink beauties:

found each other in my garden of love, and produced:

 How awesome is that?

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiigata!

Two weekends ago (wow, has it really been that long already?) shortly after THE INCIDENT and my subsequent closer-than-I've-ever-come-to-murder near breakdown, the beautiful, kind, sweet Lily hosted my brood and I at her home in Niigata.  Lily and I had never met, and before THE INCIDENT we'd never even spoken before.  We'd just been following each other's blogs, and both followed some of the same blogs.  But because of the awesomeness that is Lily, she reached out to me, a stranger in need, and opened her home and her heart to me and mine.

Meg, Ethan and I set out early Saturday morning (Gabi had her driving class starting Monday, and I wasn't about to cut my trip short to bring her home, so she stayed behind) anticipating a 5 - 6 hour drive.  All the kids travel well, and I'd never driven through that part of Japan, so we were kind of excited about the drive.  A mere 3.5 hrs later we rolled into Niigata!  I couldn't believe how quickly we'd travelled to the other side of the country!

It was pouring rain when we arrived, but Lily, with all three Chibis in tow, met us in front of Niigata station to guide us to her apartment.  On a side note, I drove the entire 300 + km with absolutely no problem, but promptly got lost when we exited the expressway and it took a full 30 min to finally make my way to where Lily was waiting!

Because of the mega-awesome-super-all-terrain stroller she was driving, we couldn't fit everyone in my van, so Lily walked the 3 blocks to her building, while Tomo hopped in with us and "navigated" for me.  What a friendly, outgoing guy!  As soon as the door closed, he launched into huge description of his favorite Pokemon, engaging the normally shy E in an animated conversation about their favorite battles.

Me:  Tomo, should I turn here?

Tomo:  ....and then he explodes.....Um, I don't remember.......

Me:  Tomo, is this your street?

Tomo: ......then they fly........My street sort of looks like this, but I don't remember.....and there's thunder

Me:  Tomo, is that your building?

Tomo:......but do you like Tigamorphamon?......I don't think my building is that color......I love Milaminamon..

We arrived and unloaded the van, then Lily and I ran to McD's to grab a quick lunch for everyone while Meg minded the boys.

After lunch, we set off for Lily's favorite hang out, Tully's.  There's a huge open area right in front of the shop, with benches, so we parked ourselves and broke out the bubbles and soccer ball. 

Lily took Meg to the furoshiki shop to pick out her very own furoshiki (thanks so much Lil, she loved it and wore it on the plane last week!), then we relaxed with our coffees while the kiddos had a blast playing together.  It was so nice, the kids got on like they'd known each other forever!  You never would have guessed they'd only met for the first time an hour early.  And I felt exactly the same way about Lily.  She was so warm and welcoming, I immediately felt comfortable and at ease with her.

We headed back to Lily's and relaxed for a little while, then started working on dinner.  We'd planned a Mexican fiesta, complete with tacos, fajitas and all the fixings.  Around this time Masa arrived home from work.  What a nice guy!  Equally as warm and welcoming as Lily.  I can only wondered what he must have been thinking when his wife tells him "Honey, I met this woman online, her life is a complete disaster, and I've invited her and her children to spend the weekend in our home!"  But there was absolutely no hesitation in his welcome.  Maybe he was dazzled by the promise of margaritas?

After a quick, yummy dinner, Lily and I slipped out for little GNO.  While Masa stayed home with all 5 kids!  What a guy!  First we went to a little Canadian pub owned by a friend of Lily's called Northern Lights.  Lily was a good girl and only had one small glass of wine, but I quickly scoffed back two yummy Screwdrivers.  Then we strolled around beautiful downtown Niigata for a while, finally stopping at Dragon Typhoon (I think) which had a lovely little outdoor deck. Another small glass of vino for Lily, another Screwdriver for me.  Then we decided we'd probably better head back and rescue Masa from the mayhem.  Back at the mansion I fixed Masa and I some margaritas and the three of us stayed up talking until 3:00am!!!!  I haven't been up that late since.....crap, I can't even remember the last time I was up the late.  But it was so great.  (My pix from that night are MIA, but I think they're on the disc I sent to Lily, so maybe she can post them).

The next morning everyone but me and E were up bright and early, making onigiri for our picnic and homemade banana chocolate chip muffins for our planned b'fast onboard a steam train! 

Baby Sora devouring a yummy muffin on the steam train.

E explaining the finer points of Lego Star Wars droid troopers to Tomo

We got back from the train ride just in time to meet Heather and her beautiful girls coming off the shinkansen from Nagano.  This phenomenal woman loaded up her girls and spent 7 hours travelling, just to spend 4 hours with Lily and I in Niigata!  I was beyond excited to meet yet another bloggy friend for the first time!!! We headed off to a park near the train station, let the kids run wild and chatted the afternoon away.  It was such a nice day.  The weather was perfect, and the company couldn't have been better.

Masahiko, E peeking from behind, Lily, Reo, Heather and Amy

 Homemade Shinshu apple juice, compliments of Heather!

All too soon, it was time for Heather and the girls to head back home, so we all walked them to the station.  There was a last minute, mad dash for souveneirs, quick hugs and they were off.  I really wish they could have stayed longer!

We headed back to the apartment, and again Masa wrangled the kiddos while Lily and I walked to the grocery store to pick up dinner.

We called it a night earlier this time, knowing the kids and I had a big drive the next day.

Monday morning we made pancakes for brekky, then headed for the Niigata Aquarium.  Due to some sort of fishy massacre, admission to the aquarium was free!  Score!  After hearing that over 7000 fish had died, we didn't think there'd be a whole lot going on, but really, it was just a few small tanks of fish that were affected.  The big tank, with the walk through tunnel, was just fine, the penguins were perky and the dolphin show went off without a hitch.  It was a great day, made even better by the fact that it was free!

Lily's pancake masterpiece.

(E still doesn't get the whole "peace" fingers, he thinks you're supposed to hold up your age)

Meg and Sora watching the dolphin show

I was really proud of Meg all weekend. She really stepped up, helping out so much with the all the boys, playing with them, entertaining them, wrangling them all without even being asked. There wasn't a single sigh, huff, eye roll or sarcastic remark the entire 3 days! She absolutely fell in love with Lily's boys and was a big help all weekend.

Thank you so much Lily for inviting us.  I know it was a lot of extra work for you, and you'll never know how much it meant to me.  I really hope you guys make it down here this month so I can repay just a little of your kindness and generosity!