First Day of School

Mom's Thoughts

It's back to our early morning routine. I was up at 5am to run and the kids were up by 6am to get dressed and eat breakfast. We were out the door by 6:30am, but not without a few pictures to remember our first day of school. Since Emma is in the multiage K/1 grade class this year she was able to start with all of the older kids while all her friends who are in the regular kindergarten classes have to wait until next week. I didn't realize when I signed Emma up for the multiage class that she would be starting at the same time as the boys so I was really thrown back when we looked at the class list last Friday and I realized that she would be starting on Monday. I think because of that I was a little more emotional over the weekend than normal. I was really happy for the kids to go back to school but I felt unprepared to send Emma off so soon. For the first day I decided to drive the kids to the school instead of sending them on the bus. It turns out that it was a good thing I did that because it was utter chaos with children everywhere. That didn't phase the boys at all but it was a little overwhelming for Emma who after being so confident and excited decided to pull a little shy card on me. As soon as we saw her classroom aid Ms. Arandia, she perked up a bit. I love that lady. She truly is fabulous. There were a few girls that were now in first grade who were in the class last year. One girl in particular really took Emma under her wing and it didn't take too long before I could see Emma perk up and get excited to be at school again. Emma and her new friend Audrey walked to class together and then we waved our goodbyes. We didn't even get to walk into the classroom like I did with the boys so that was a little wierd. As I drove away from the school I am a little embarrased to say that a few tears were shed. The fact of the matter is that I will miss the kids but I know it won't take long before I fill up my days with things to get done. I know that this is going to be a great year where I will be able to focus so much of my attention on Abby. She stayed by my side most of the day beaming as she kept telling me, "It's mom and me time now." Here's to hoping that this will be a great year for all the kids!

Andrew

Today was my first day of school for 5th grade. My teacher is Ms. Musgrove and she is really nice. She is really funny too. She said that on her rules she wanted us to respect the other students. I am sitting next to my friend Max. He goes to church with me and is in my cub scout den. During the day we played a spelling game called "Sparkle" and I was in the top three winners. Ms. Musgrove really makes learning fun. We got our planners and had PE today. After PE we had a snack and I ate pretzels. During recess we got to play on the brand new playground and it was really fun. First I ran two laps around the brand new track. I played with my friend Max, John, Bryce, Matthew, and John's friends. We all played on the big web. In the middle of the web there is a little piece of black rubber that is a trampoline. Only one person can fit on that. Me and my friends took turns to jump on the trampoline. We also played hide and go seek and tag. We can only play tag when there are no guards out, especially the "big meany" guard. We only have one recess but it is 40 minutes long and I love that. I made so many friends today.

Peter

Today was my first day of 3rd grade. My teacher's name is Ms. Yokers. She is really fun. She likes singing songs and when we work she plays music for us. She said we can bring in appropriate music to listen to while we work...but no country music expect for the song "Backwards" by Rascal Flatts. The only learning thing I did today was get to know the other people in my class. We also did a treasure hunt for math. For art class we just talked about the rules. Back in our regular class we worked on a painting of our faces. After we did the paintings we worked on more of the "All About Me" packet. Then we went to lunch and then recess. I had a great time at recess. I got to see Colton, Gavin, Christopher, Gregory, Gabe, Madison, Mya, and Max. These were all friends from my old class. After recess we talked about all the rules of the classroom and then Ms. Yokers read stories to us. She read, "The Can Do Pigs" and "The New Kid." Our classroom motto is "Can Do Kids" meaning we can do anything we put our minds to. It was a very short day and a really good day.

Emma

Today was a good day. It was my first day of school. I am in the Kindergarten multi age class. First we got to pick colors for our mats and I picked purple. My first friend I met picked the blue one and my other friend also picked the purple one. I got to play a game on the computer. We got to bake cookies there. We first did it with the teacher and then we got to add the ingredients by ourselves. The teachers did the eggs for us because that was hard. We had to leave them there and we will get to eat them tomorrow. Tomorrow we get to make pizza dough. Today we also talked about the rules of the class. She said that there is no running and to listen to your teacher. Tomorrow I get to check out a book and I want to the monster book. At recess I got to play on the big playground and we hid from the boys that were bullies. I got to swing on the swings and play on the spiderweb. At lunch I sat next to my friend named Audrey. I met her in the morning when we were lining up to go to the class. I liked being at the cafeteria to eat. My teacher Ms. Edwards read a book to us today. I give her two thumbs up. My favorite part about school today was making the cookies and using the heart shapes to cut them out. I also liked going on the bus. The bus has curtains and I got to sit in the back. I also liked playing with my friends at recess.

Slices of Life

August 12, 2011

Well I guess it was inevitable with the laws being as they are here that eventually one of us would get a traffic ticket off base. Mike was running late one morning and since it was still summer break all the kids were at home. I took Abby in the car with me to drop Mike off at the train station just a mile down the road. With banana bread in the oven and the big kids left with specific instructions to be good while I was gone for a couple of minutes I headed out the door. Since our little road to the train station does not allow for very many places to turn around we always turn up the very last street where there is a tiny parking lot that I can pull into, let Mike out, and turn around to go home. Well, on this particular day there was a police trap set up right when I turned down this street. I wasn't speeding but apparently I had disobeyed a sign that was posted before the turn that said I was not allowed to turn right between 7:00-8:30 am. Honestly, I never really noticed this sign before and even if I had I am not sure I would have thought that it meant what it did. Unlucky for me there was a police man who spoke English so there was none of this playing the dumb American card which usually doesn't work very well here anyways. After telling him I needed to hurry back home because I had bread in the oven and kids at home he quickly wrote me out a ticket for 7,000 yen (about $90) and I left pretty upset. It is really hard sometimes to live in a country where nothing is intuitive and you are treated like a third rate citizen. I do believe that most Japanese people are kind and considerate but they are also very nation minded and because of that foreigners are not seen as equals at all. In fact most people here see everything in black and white. The way things are done here are done because that is the way they have been done forever. The rules are the rules and there are absolutely no exceptions. Well, I was given one week to go and pay my ticket and my local post office. Everything can be paid at the post office through their bank that is inside. It was a busy week and I waited until the last day to go and pay it. I got to the post office before it closed but didn't realize that the bank inside the post office had closed a half hour earlier. The lady inside was kind enough to call the number on the back of the ticket to see what my options were. Option 1 said I could go to the Yokosuka Police Station on a specific date in September during a short window of time and get issued a new ticket with a new due date OR I could go with Option 2 where I would basically do nothing and wait for a new ticket to get issued to me in the mail with a 800 yen additional charge. I opted for the later option and we will see what comes of all of this. Needless to say I have been very cautious about paying attention to signs I normally don't pay any attention to so that I don't run into this situation again.

August 14, 2011

I love to watch Abby play. She has become quite an independent and creative little girl. On this particular day she took all the dress-ups out of the toy box and got inside it like it was a car. She was dressed in her swimming shirt and hat because she was going to the beach. I quickly grabbed my camera and tried to be discrete but as soon as she saw me she just put on the cutest little smile. I love this girl.

August 15, 2011

Mike and I spent our 13th year Anniversary having dinner at a really great Italian Restaurant (Marlo's) right near the water. We got there a little before the restaurant opened so we took a walk along the beach and walked out to the rocks. The sun was setting and it was just beautiful. We enjoyed the peace and quiet and the awesome sound of the waves crashing against the rocks. I couldn't think of any place I would rather be than with Mike at that very moment. It was simple and perfect.

August 25, 2011

Both of the boys participated in the Raingutter Regatta for cub scouts this summer. With not very much time to prepare the boats Mike and I both worked together to help the boys with their boats. Mike bought the spray paint and painted the boats while I helped the boys decorate their boats with some fun rub on letters. The boys used some pirate stickers to decorate their sails. Andrew's boat was the Silver Bandit and Peter's boat was the Golden Pirates. Both of the boys won some of their races and in the end I was just grateful that they didn't continue with more heats because it was SO HOT outside and there was hardly any shade to sit in. I think the boys had just as much fun eating from the bake sale and being with their cub scout friends. The pumpkin muffins were so delicious and I have already been asked when I am going to be making those. It made me think of fall and that made me happy. It's too bad it is still so humid here. Fall still feels like it is far away.

Summer Road Trip . Day 3

Our last day was spent up at Kamikochi hiking up and down the river bank. We made sure not to miss the little town where we were suppossed to park. We opted to take a taxi because it was cheaper than the bus and it was much easier. We were a little sad to see that it was starting to rain. When we got out of the taxi the rain really started coming down. Luckily there were some shops at the entrance where we could buy some umbrellas. We decided to just tough it out and go anyways even with the rain. The first little stretch to get to the main trail was an easy, paved trail but it was POURING. We had three umbrellas so each one of us was sharing with someone else. It was a little discouraging at first because when we got on the main trail we could see how cool it was and how much fun we could have if it was only sunny out. Abby refused to be in the pack so I held her hand and swung her over most of the puddles and mud piles. Emma had fun as Mike swung her across all the same mess. The boys were like two peas in a pod and decided to hike ahead of the rest of us. When they would get too far they were pretty good about stopping to wait for us. During part of more swampy parts of the trail there was this cool doubled walkway which we thought was pretty cool. The boys would jump from one platform to the other. Everyone was just happy that it finally stopped raining. We found a cool creek along the trail and stopped for a couple of minutes to throw rocks in the water but we kept moving until we found an awesome riverbank to stop and play. It was neat to be nestled in the Japan Alps and the views of the moutains were spectacular even though it was still a little misty. When it is clear you are suppossed to see the snow peaked tops of the alps. We stopped and played there for an hour while Abby slept in the pack. There were plenty of rocks to throw in the water and a sandy area where the big kids enjoyed playing. Peter was really proud of his long sand wall and made me take a picture of it. After a while of playing and relaxing we decided to keep going down the trail. The kids were a little disappointed at first that we were pulling them away from their fun but after getting back on the trail they were easily distracted.

Our misty beginning

We made it all the way to this pond and upon entering the entrance area we realized how comercialized the area was with Japanese food vendors and such. It seemed like such a shame to have to drag all that into such a beautiful area and ruin the ambiance. We are just not used to that when we go hiking. The same was true when we hiked Mt. Fuji. We opted to not explore the pond area because in typical Japanese fashion we had to pay to go and see it. We left that area and headed over the big bridge to the other side of the river and decided to eat lunch and play there for awhile. We headed down the river a bit and found the perfect spot to throw rocks in the water. There was a narrow section where Mike and the boys tried to build a dam. They spent most of the time having fun with that while the girls and I played with the smaller rocks. When it was time to go I realized that it was the perfect time to take one family photo. Afterall, Mike and I both took turns carrying my new tripod so it was the perfect time to get some use out of it. I l love my new carbon fiber Manifrotto tripod with pistol grip but it is probably not the best tripod to hike with because it is still a regular size tripod. Thank goodness it was pretty light though.

Hiking back was a breeze. Mike ended up carrying Abby on his shoulders because she just did not want to be in the pack but was tired of walking. We all took turns doing 1-2-3 with Abby and swinging her. Andrew was especially good with Abby. When we made it back to the entrance we got the kids ice-cream cones. There were at least 8 flavors to choose from including some crazy flavors like soda, green tea, peach, and mango. Mike and I both agreed that we should come back and do some of the other hikes up in the mountains and hike in to camp like we saw many people doing. I think hiking in to camp might be in our immediate future. We loved how Kamikochi reminded us of Washington state. We felt like we were home in a way. It was an extremely nice feeling to be in our element here.

Summer Road Trip . Day 2

We got an early start today and headed out of Matsumoto into the mountains towards Kamikochi. We had planned on spending time hiking up at Kamikochi but we changed plans while on the road. Since POV's aren't allowed to drive into Kamikoochi you have to park in the closest town and either take a bus or taxi to the entrance of the park. We missed the town and decided to keep on driving towards Takayama and explore that area today since it was the farthest west we would travel on this trip. It was a good thing we changed plans because we spent all day exploring Takayama and Shirakawa-go. We would have been pressed to do this on our way home. First we drove into the old town of Takayama which sits in the mountainous Hida region of Gifu Prefecture. Two of the main sites to see here are the beautifully preserved old town streets and the Hida Open Air Folk Village. First we spent time walking up and down the old streets and browsing the shops. The boys found some cool Gassho house piggy banks and I kept my eyes peeled for a red traditional paper umbrella. It was a bit hot and extremely crowded but nothing that a good ice-cream cone couldn't take care of. We saw some cool rickshaws and wanted to go for a ride but it was a bit pricey for all six of us to go on them so we enjoyed them from below instead. We didn't shop for very long knowing that it wasn't really something the kids would be interested in for very long.

After getting some souvenirs in town we headed to the outskirts of Takayama to explore the Hida Folk Village. This was definitely the highlight of the day for the kids. Everything in the village was hands on and FREE. The kids got to try on traditional hats and robes and pull carts. They also got to have fun with water pistols and traditional stilts and other wooden toys. Then we headed over to the main part of the village where there were a number of gassho-zukuri houses. The massive farmhouses with their steep, thatched roofs which look like praying hands ("gassho-zukuri") were moved here from the nearby Shirakawa-go region. The kids had such a blast going from house to house, up and down all the stairs in each house, and looking in each and every room. The village wasn't crowded at all and it felt like we were the only ones there which was really nice. Every gassho house had a description of the familly it belonged to and what livelihood was done primarily in that house. We got to witness a man taking big logs and chopping them down and making thin wood slats. It was really impressive. Another house had a huge rice pounder and Andrew and Emma had fun trying to get it to go up and down like a see saw.

After getting our fill of fun at the village we decided to head out so that we could drive even further to the town of Shirakawa-go where one of the original towns of gassho houses still exists. This little adventure was really for me as I desperately wanted a photo of the cool gassho houses. It was afternoon and the lighting was really good. I just had to be patient and wait for the right moments when the tourists were out of the way. I am so grateful for a good husband who dropped me off and then drove up and down the town looking for just the right houses to photograph. I have to give him credit for finding the perfect spot. I was completely enamored by all the perfectly green rice fields. It was a long drive back to the campsite but I couldn't complain after such a great day!