Slices of Life

November 3, 2012

Mike has been trying his hand at bread making. He and Andrew have enjoyed sitting with the iPad in bed at night watching Julia Childs on YouTube. Today he made baguettes and they not only looked good but they were absolutely delicious. I must admit that Mike has a knack for baking.

 

November 8, 2012

In celebration of the end of cross country season we joined Andrew in his cross country banquet tonight. We are so proud of how hard Andrew worked throughout the entire season and how much he was able to improve his time over the course of 8 weeks.  We hope Andrew will continue to enjoy running.

November 14, 2012

I have been enjoying running track workouts with the Namban Rengo running group up in Tokyo most Wednesdays in preparation for my 10K next month.  It has been fun to run with a good group of runners and to see the crowds of different running groups there.  It is a serious 5 hour journey round trip including training time but I have really enjoyed it and my family has been super supportive. I have also added some longer runs on the weekends. I had a fabulous 10 mile run along the coast one Saturday and because it was so clear I got to enjoy the wonderful views of Mt. Fuji. These are the kinds of runs I live for.

 

November 19, 2012

We went on our yearly fall visit to Disney and decided on Disney Sea this time.  Since we have already been there a few times we know exactly what our favorite rides are and exactly where we want to spend our time.  It is so much fun to go to Disney here in Japan even with the crazy crowds.  We always seem to get the fast passes we want and then we just have fun playing and eating yummy treats all day.  This fall the new Toy Story ride opened up but we didn't even attempt to go there as the lines were already crazy long when we entered the park.  Just for fun we stopped by there on our way out to see how long the line was.  It was a crazy 400 minutes!!  The people here in Japan really are crazy to wait so long.  I guess Americans just aren't that patient.

November 27, 2012

I took Abby in for her 4 year old check up (a little late) and to get her updated with all of her kindergarten immunizations. I was so sad when I found out that she had to have 7 shots (6 for kindergarten and 1 for her second round of the flu shot). I knew getting them done at the same time was probably for the best. We both shed some tears today.  It was a sad occassion followed by smiles with ice-cream afterwards and lots of hugs and kisses at home. 

 

November 22, 2012

After two years of not being able to cook a turkey in our small oven because all the turkeys have normally been too large I was really looking forward to a change this year.  I was so excited to see that our commissary was selling smaller turkeys this year.  I grabbed one right away and prepared for a "normal" Thanksgiving dinner this year.  Mike and I found a great method online for prepping and cooking the turkey without using a turkey bag which is what we normally used in the past.  I didn't want the bag to burn against the sides of my small oven so we needed to cook it differently.  Our turkey ended up looking fantastic and it was the tastiest turkey I have ever made.  Go figure.  We had the usual sides of mashed potatoes, sweet potatoe pie, deviled eggs, homemade rolls, stuffing, and sparkling apple cider.  My mashed potatoes also turned out great this year after a huge mishap the last time I made them.  I found a better recipe online and used a potatoe masher (homemade by Mike because I didn't have one) and they turned out so well.  Our Thanksgiving dinner was a huge success this year.  It required teamwork of which I was grateful for.  That is really how I see my family.  We are essentially a team that works together pretty well.  I would be so sad without all of my teammates.  I am so grateful for my family!

Decorating the Christmas Tree

In keeping with tradition we set up our tree and decorated it the day after Thanksgiving. The kids always have so much fun going through all the ornaments and finding their favorites. Over the years we have even kept some of the ornaments they have made in school. We even have Mike's ornaments from when he was younger. Some of those older ornaments have become favorites amongst the kids. This year we added some new new ornaments to the mix - our Tori gate ornament from Kyoto, a glass camera ornament I found online and the yearly ornaments that Grandma Ann sends for the kids. The kids always love collecting the ornaments that their grandmother gets them every year and lining them all up. This year Abby had her heart set on putting the star on the tree and everyone got a ride on dad's shoulders to put some of the ornaments higher up on the tree. This year we decided to tie the stockings along the banister going up the stairs. After it was all decorated we stood back and it just looked beautiful. Now that our tree is up the Christmas season has officially begun in the Wilhelm home!

First Grade Fun

This month I was able to be part of two fun events with Emma's multiage K/1 class. On November 7th I was able to go on a field trip with Emma's class to one of the farms down near Muira to pick sweet potatoes and mikans. Emma was so excited to sit with me on the bus and she had a blast picking Japanese sweet potatoes out of the ground with her friend Catherine. They both found some ridiculously long sweet potatoes. Between Emma and I we both came away with two big bags of yummy potatoes. Then it was off to the mikan orchard to pick sweet Japanese tangerines called mikans. They only gave us small bags to collect them in but between the both of us we were able to pick quite a few. We also got to eat as many as we wanted while we were there. After having a picnic in the orchard we wandered between the mikan trees looking for the best ones and eating just as many along the way. Field trips are fun, especially when you get to eat yummy things along the way.

 

The following week Emma's class and the other multiage K/1 class held a 50's party to celebrate the 50th day of school. Lucky for Emma she already had a great 50's costume from Halloween so I sent her to school all dressed up in her poodle skirt, shoes, glasses and hair pulled in a ponytail. Abby was excited to wear her 50's costume as well and she joined Emma during their party. Emma was so sweet to let Abby tag along with her. She just made her feel part of the group. There were a couple of different stations that the kids rotated through. The stations were: gluing cotton balls on the poodle, making soda jerk hats, playing hopscotch and hula hoop, and playing jacks and other fun floor games. After each station the kids earned one penny and then at the end of all the stations they got to use their pennys to buy candy at the penny parlor. The party was a huge hit. They ended with lunch of burgers, fries and milkshakes. Yum Yum!

Hakone

The kids didn't have school so we decided to spend the day in Hakone. The closer we got to the mountains the more beautiful the scenery became. We took the scenic road through the mountains and couldn't help but be amazed by the beautiful fall trees. The leaves were finally starting to change colors. We stopped at the top of the scenic road to get a better look at Mt. Fuji. We could only see the top of Mt. Fuji as the bottom part was covered by the clouds. On a clear day this would be a great spot to see Mt. Fuji. We continued on down the scenic road down the mountain towards Lake Ashinoko which rests at the heart of Hakone. We choose not to take the pirate ship across the lake but instead headed up the Komagatake Ropeway to one of Hakone's multiple peaks to get a better view of Mt. Fuji and to visit Mototsumiya Shrine which standds at the summit of Komagatake. We got some great views of the lake and we did get to see Mt. Fuji but the cloud cover made it hard to see the whole mountain. Still, it was beautiful no matter which direction we looked. The kids had a great time at the summit playing tag and running up and down the trails. I roamed around taking pictures of the shrine while soaking up the little sun that we did have that day. It was a bit cold but with the sun it was manageable to be up at the top of the mountain. After heading back down the ropeway the kids enjoyed riding the panda and drinking hot cocoa out of the vending machine. It wasn't the best tasting hot chocolate but it was warm and that is what we all needed. Hakone wasn't our favorite Japanese destination but it was nice just to be together today.