Friday, June 11, 2010

Mother's Day (Part I)

Yeah, late.  But I've got tons of pix!  That makes up for it, right?

It was actually Mother's Weekend.  We made a 3-day extravaganza of my day.

The Saturday before Mom's Day, we headed for the Navy base in Yokosuka.  Arrived in the early evening and went shopping at the big, beautiful department store on base.  Didn't buy heaps, but enough to put a smile on my face.  Several pairs of cute flip-flops, a few pair of my favorite undies (this is the only place in Japan I can get them) some cosmetics and toiletries I like, but that we don't have up here, a new book and some other odds and ends.  Had dinner at the food court, I had super yum sesame chicken and egg rolls from my fave, Manchu Wok.

Sunday morning we had b'fast at Chili's.  Yes, BREAKFAST, at CHILI's!!!!  Our Chili's doesn't serve b'fast, and I'd never seen one in the U.S. that did either.  It was YUM!  (Lots of YUM on this trip!!!)



Pancakes shaped like chilis!!! 
They were soooo good!  And that's WARM, MELTED BUTTER at the top! Perfect for drizzling over the pancakes.  The best Mother's Day b'fast I've ever had!

After b'fast we headed for Yokohama.  We've been there once before, but it was just a quick trip, no time for site seeing.  My one goal was to go to China Town. 

We started at Landmark Tower.  This building is the tallest building in Japan, and has the second fastest elevator in world!  We went to the observation deck on the 69th floor.  The elevator goes so fast, your ears actually pop!







That's the kids up on the bridge




From Landmark tower, we walked to ChinaTown!  It was quite a haul, but as you know, I love, love, love to just wander around.  I could walk for hours in the city.  There's so much to see.  I just love it.  And I was shocked and touched that there wasn't a single grumble or complaint from the peanut gallery the entire day, and it was a loooong one.  No one whined, no one argued, no one pouted.  They all just trudged along, indulging their mom on her day.  We stopped for an ice cream, and another time at a playground.  

We made it to China Town, and poked around for a while, taking in all the sights, sounds and smells.  It was pretty crowded, but lots of fun.


This guy was just cruising around on his bike. He was very friendly and asked me to take his picture with the girls.
  Look at those goldfish hanging from his ears!  He looks just like Colonel Sanders!


Ethan was terrified of these statues, he wouldn't get any closer,
and bolted as soon as the camera clicked.

It's hard to tell, but there's a 4th pup tucked in there. 
Their dad posed them while Mom took the pic!


It was a really great day.  We did exactly what I wanted all day.  We walked for miles around the city, exploring back alleys, taking side streets just to see where they led.  The kids were awesome.  The girls entertained and herded Ethan around all day.  They're plenty good a tending him, they've had lots of practice, but to shlep him around the city all day (nearly 7 hours when we finally got back to the hotel) doing "mom" stuff, keeping him happy and cooperative, giving him piggy back rides when his little legs just couldn't keep up, distracting him when I wanted to stop and look around at "boring" stuff.  Even when I tried to do whatever it was he needed or wanted, one of the girls stepped up and said "I'll do it Mom".  They really went above and beyond to make my day extra special. *Sigh*  Love my kiddos. 

Day 2 coming soon!

4 comments:

Rachel said...

What a GREAT day! And don't you love big sisters? Amy mothers Erica - her latest project is toilet training, she loves taking her for a wee-wee in the morning!

Brenda said...

Sounds like a great Mothers Day Weekend. I love those pancakes from Chili's. Its funny how they do things differently in other countries.

Gaijin Wife said...

What a special trip. Food looked yuuuuuummmmmyyy. You would know by looking at how beautiful and grown-up Gabi is that she was a biter!! There is hope for Sakura yet.

Was going to say the pic of the girls jumping was my fav but then I saw the one of Ethan with the two statues. Classic.

And that dud on the bike - he should so be outside KFC. Great.

Rebecca said...

Ditto Rachel...great day!! The girls are so great, NO WAY Jaz and Belle could do that whole no fight, no whine thing. As a matter of fact...they didn't...not even for 10 minutes.

Everyone looks wonderful. Ethan is coming into his picture taking zone - too cute!