Doggie Days

Today Ami and Johanna got to go to KCS with Grandma.  They had a blast being guest students for the day, each participating in their grade's class.  Despite having to get up before 6:30 am and not getting home until 6pm, they loved it and want to go back again.  Part of the incentive for going was that one of the teachers is a fellow animal lover.  She promised Johanna that after school they could play with her dogs for a bit.  Oh my....Johanna was in heaven and took lots of pictures to prove it.

I think two of the dogs are toy poodles and one is a maltese.  All of the clothes are handmade and the girls got to change outfits several times.  Like I've mentioned before....dogs in Japan, a little over the top!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Michaela and Benjamin attended Japanese class.  Not a great picture, but I was impressed with Benjamin's kanji (character writing) practice from today.

Elijah got some school done, and Grandpa and I took pictures of pictures.  :)   Dad has quite the Nixon collection.  He was our friend that went with us on our YoSemite backpack last summer and his prints rival those of Ansel Adams'.  I'm trying to help Dad catalog his extensive YoSemite related collection of prints, books, and ephemera in his research library for his book project.

On another note (pun intended), Ami and Johanna have loved having a piano and getting a few tips from Grandma.  

Okonomiyaki

This afternoon we helped Dad get some things cleaned out of his shed.  It is SO hard to throw things away here in Japan.  You can't just throw stuff out in the garbage, or take a load to the dump.  You have to totally sort things.  There are specific instructions on how to get rid of everything from an old chair, to an old fish tank, to an old ironing board.  It's crazy.  I get the whole recycling thing, but what do people do when they are getting rid of a whole bunch of stuff at once?  Anyway, we sorted, bagged, and labeled.  Hopefully we'll get things right and set the right things out on the curb on the right days along with the labeled and numbered bags. 

For dinner we had one of my favorite Japanese dishes.  It's nothing fancy, and in fact is frequently sold by street vendors as a "fast food".  It's hard to describe, and sounds kind of unappetizing when you do, but it's more or less a cabbage pancake.  Okonomiyaki is chopped cabbage mixed into an egg and flour batter.  But it's the sauce and seasoning that make it so yummy.  If you go to an okonomiyaki restaurant, you typically sit at a table with a griddle in the center where you cook your own.  (Unfortunately we had an incident when Michaela was five where she burned her hand on one....a story for another day.)  Each region in Japan is known for a particular food, and Osaka is known for Okonomiyaki.  This is a dish that I make at home because I can actually get the ingredients for it at my local Oriental market.  But, it's all the better when you eat it in Osaka!

Had to get this shot....it was a "snuggy pal" kind of day.  :)

In light of recent events, I don't know that this is the best bag to be carrying around on the streets.

This is the window of a toy store.  Hmm, that just doesn't seem fitting!

Now this is a store front that I know!

Rainy Day

I have absolutely no pictures from this day.  Guess I may have to resort to pulling pictures off my phone.  Mom was gone to KCS.  M, B, and J had Japanese class.  We did some grocery shopping in the afternoon.  That's about it!  It was rainy, cooler, and a day to hang around the house.  No park, no badminton.  I feel like it was a "too wet to play" day from Dr. Seuss, but no Cat in the Hat appeared to entertain us. 

We have just two weeks left of our field trip to Japan.  The time has actually gone by pretty quickly.  Hopefully the time will go by quickly when we get back to the States for the six weeks that we leave Michaela here.  That might be the hardest part of all.

High School Reunion

When you attend a school with only about 40 students from first grade through high school, you pretty much become family.  I had my last two years of high school here in Japan at KCS.  The high school probably only had about 15 students at that time. 

One of my friends that was two grades below me still lives in Japan.  She grew up here as a missionary kid, went to the US for college, but then returned to Japan and met and married a Chinese American that was also living here.  So, fast forward to twenty five years after I left Japan, Betty and her family invited us over for the afternoon and evening.  It was wonderful to reconnect (love that FB helped us with that!), meet her husband and kids, and chat about where we are in life now.  The icing on the cake was that her four kids and my five kids hit it off and had a lot of fun together.  So fun!

Betty's family lives in the mountains with property that backs up to a huge park.  It was so awesome to be in the woods again, a bit like being back at home, except that a lot more of the trees were bamboo.  :)  It was refreshing to be away from the city a bit.  We enjoyed a hike through the woods and up to a view point.

Look at this great bunch of kids!

We enjoyed some yummy BBQ together:

Can you say....three fourteen year-old boys together?!  There was never a dull moment!

These pictures speak a lot to me.  Twenty-five years later, two blessed girls, each with faithful Christian husbands, nine happy and healthy children, enjoying time together.  Thank you, Father!

Dad's Pictures

Today Michaela went to KCS with Grandma.  She helped with the 1st-2nd grade class in the morning, worked on her own school work for a bit in the afternoon, and then then joined the high school Japanese class.  The rest of us stayed at home and helped Grandpa get some more yard work done.  The kids also had fun playing around with their new badminton set.  That was 200 yen well spent.  :)

I combed through Grandpa's hundreds of pictures that he has taken since we arrived.  Here are a few that I picked to post.

Our arrival at KIX:

Ami, tuckered out after our long day of travel, tucked in under Great Grandma Rickard's blanket.  :)

Guess Dad was up in the middle of the night and shot pictures of us sleeping on the ferry!

Our trail map as we hiked along the Takachiho Gorge in Kyushu:

Hmm, I doubt Sofi would care to sport this for Aunt Amy!

Despite the rain, we enjoyed the "hell pots" in Beppu:

Ferry return trip home:

There are special "golden" seats in the train cars that are for elderly or pregnant women.  Apparently Chris tried to justify sitting there.

Mmmm, waiting for our takoyaki (octopus) and taiyaki (red bean pastries):

Children's Day is celebrated in Japan in May and carp flags are flown.  This spot to pose with a "cheese" is in front of ToysRUs.

I think it's a little too much for nine of us to grocery shop together.  The kids and Chris are all about choosing drinks that they like, I'm all about finding stuff to take back to the States, Grandpa is goofing around, and Grandma is the only one serious about feeding this tribe.

Fellowship lunch after church:

A sad day, at 5:30 in the morning.  :(  I miss my sweetie.  We get to Skype and text several times a day, although with the time difference it is somewhat limited.

I love this shot of Ami.  It's rare that I get to gaze deeply into her beautiful almond eyes.  As often as I try, they are so dark that she has to be in just the right light!

Game time at International Night:

School in the morning, playing the geography game.  The kids are pretty great at naming countries and capitals.

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Mmmm, sushi-go-round.  Might have to make another trip there before we leave.  Notice we waited until Chris had left to eat out there.  :)

Helping Grandpa get ready for next winter:

Johanna's birthday dinner:

At one of the spots that Grandpa met us along our Nara route: