Our wonderful friend Paige (and the kids’ second grade teacher from the USA) came to Tokyo for two weeks in June. We adore her and we all had such a great time. It was fun to see Tokyo through fresh(er) eyes and remember how we felt when we first saw this amazing city. Shoot, we’re still amazed everyday! This picture is from our visit to "Andy's" izakaya. Izakaya are a Tokyo tradition so we went one day after Paige's arrival. Even though she's completely jet-lagged, she still looks great!Here are some photos from our adventures. Remember to click on them if you want to see a larger photo
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We took the Odakyu "Romancecar" (so named for the scenic views as well as the standard seating which turn into love seats when you lift the middle arm rest!) to Hakone about an hour outside of Tokyo. It is a beautiful area in the mountains but still very close to Tokyo. The area all around Hakone is actually a collapsed volcano. We went to the Hakone Open Air Museum which had "playable" art for the kids to play on.
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We took the Odakyu "Romancecar" (so named for the scenic views as well as the standard seating which turn into love seats when you lift the middle arm rest!) to Hakone about an hour outside of Tokyo. It is a beautiful area in the mountains but still very close to Tokyo. The area all around Hakone is actually a collapsed volcano. We went to the Hakone Open Air Museum which had "playable" art for the kids to play on.
We stayed in a traditional Japanese Inn called a Ryokan. Instead of sleeping on beds, 
we slept on futons (matresses) on the tatami mats. We're glad we did it but we can't say we'll be doing it anytime again soon.
One of the best parts of the trip was eating a black egg. Since Hakone is built on a collapsed volcano, there are hot springs all around. There is a place where they trolly chicken eggs by cable up the mountain to be boiled in the hot springs. The springs are very hot so eggs are easily boiled in the water. The hot springs have a very high sulphur content which turns the outside of the eggs completely black (the inside stays white...and yellow). 
It is said that if you eat one black egg it will 
add seven years to your life. So, we're all going to live to 140! We actually only ate one egg although Nathan wanted more. We're going back there this fall to get photos of Mt. Fuji. Unfortunately, it was too misty to see it while we were there.After a great start to the summer and not one earthquake to be felt, we all flew back on the same flight to the USA for our summer adventure there. The kids truly had the summer of their lives. Swimming at the pool everyday, playing in the cul-de-sac, sleep overs, going to new release movies, shopping at Target, eating at Chick-fil-a, buying DVD’s and Wii games for our region (Japan’s DVD’s and video games won’t run on our systems…not to mention they’re in Japanese!) and of course seeing family and friends. Darren joined us a few weeks later and was able to hang out with his buddies, play tennis, golf, etc. We already miss all of you.
Even though we spent too much money while in the US (bringing our comfort foods back Tokyo with us) we realized that even with the rising prices in the USA, they still have a ways to go to catch up to Tokyo (where prices are also rising)! I spent four hours in Target one day and then four hours in Wal-Mart the next marveling at the affordability of everything! Zandy decided she’s never going shopping with me again at Publix! Movies in the US are a huge bargain at $6.00 for a matinee ($18.00 here, all ages, all times) and milk at only $4.00 a gallon ($8.00 here – and they don’t even sell it by the gallon). I won’t keep going on, you get the idea.
Darren and I celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary September 14th and he has surprised the kids and me with a trip to Hong Kong. I’ll blog about that next week. Also, September 14th marks the two-year celebration of my mom’s new life in heaven.
The kids got off to a great start at Tokyo International School (TIS). On a scale of one to ten they rated the bus ride a two million! They only have a 10 minute ride one way compared to the 50 minute ride one way last year. I love having them home everyday by 3:20 instead of 4:15. They have jumped right into making new friends and getting involved in afterschool programs. Nathan is taking Woodchippers (making things out of wood) and Tennis and Maddie is taking Cheerleading and Drama. 
There are 16 kids in each of their classes. The student body at TIS is incredibly diverse. In Madeline's class, 12 countries are represented and she is the only American. 
English is the common language and amazingly many of the children are tri-lingual (their home country, English and Japanese). So far we are extremely happy with our move to TIS...and so far they haven't complained about their uniforms (actually I think they kind of like them!). Nathan and Madeline continue to impress us with their positive outlook and even excitement toward these new experiences.
Even though we spent too much money while in the US (bringing our comfort foods back Tokyo with us) we realized that even with the rising prices in the USA, they still have a ways to go to catch up to Tokyo (where prices are also rising)! I spent four hours in Target one day and then four hours in Wal-Mart the next marveling at the affordability of everything! Zandy decided she’s never going shopping with me again at Publix! Movies in the US are a huge bargain at $6.00 for a matinee ($18.00 here, all ages, all times) and milk at only $4.00 a gallon ($8.00 here – and they don’t even sell it by the gallon). I won’t keep going on, you get the idea.
Darren and I celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary September 14th and he has surprised the kids and me with a trip to Hong Kong. I’ll blog about that next week. Also, September 14th marks the two-year celebration of my mom’s new life in heaven.
The kids got off to a great start at Tokyo International School (TIS). On a scale of one to ten they rated the bus ride a two million! They only have a 10 minute ride one way compared to the 50 minute ride one way last year. I love having them home everyday by 3:20 instead of 4:15. They have jumped right into making new friends and getting involved in afterschool programs. Nathan is taking Woodchippers (making things out of wood) and Tennis and Maddie is taking Cheerleading and Drama. 
There are 16 kids in each of their classes. The student body at TIS is incredibly diverse. In Madeline's class, 12 countries are represented and she is the only American. 
English is the common language and amazingly many of the children are tri-lingual (their home country, English and Japanese). So far we are extremely happy with our move to TIS...and so far they haven't complained about their uniforms (actually I think they kind of like them!). Nathan and Madeline continue to impress us with their positive outlook and even excitement toward these new experiences.In an effort to help my dear friend Monica and her husband Andy expand their family through the adoption of a baby, I am including their website in this blog. If you know of anyone that can help them in this endeavor, they have set up a website all about themselves: http://www.andyandmonicaadopt.com/. They are an amazing couple and will be loving parents to any child with which God chooses to bless them.
Funny Photo of the Week:
Funny Photo of the Week:
This was in a vending machine in Hakone. How about some dried fish?
Words we should all live by. "Do not touch doubtful things."
