A few more photos

We had a few friends over and each finger painted father's day gifts for dads! Andrew jumped in head first and was definitely awarded most messy!! No, he doesn't have a bloody nose, or red mustache...just having a little fun!

The outdoor pool on base just opened, and this was our first trip! He's enjoying poolside fun with new friend Maddie!! The water was a bit cool!!

Here's Andrew in his bike helmet! This is taken the morning he woke up saying 'Momma...Bike!' see story below!!

We go to the library every Thursday morning for story hour where they sing songs and read books. Here he is having a great time!!  

We had a spell of rainy days...about a week's worth. This is just how desperate we get to play outside in the backyard!! 

It's been a while.....

Well, it's been a while...and I don't have any good excuses for why it has been so long! We're keeping busy, having fun with friends and getting into a nice routine! We did have to say good-bye to Dan for a bit as he left on deployment at the end of May. He was only away for 2 weeks when the boat came back for a port call. The port call was 4 days long, which was great, but made saying good-bye again hard! He's currently on the boat, so we keep him updated with emails and photos as much as possible! We did make a family trip to the carrier before he left so he could drop off some of his stuff...and I realized once again how tough it must be to live like that! Thankfully his deployments out here are a bit shorter then the average cruises, but still long enough! (and a bit more frequent, I think!?) While he was home we also made a trip to the Enoshima Aquarium and stumbled upon a nice garden/park area a few minutes from base.

Here's the carrier...

This was a quick photo before getting in the car to drop daddy off for deployment. Andrew doesn't exactly understand that he's gone for an extended amount of time, which I guess is a good thing! While he was home for the port call I let him sleep in a couple times and one morning had Andrew wake him up by pounding on the door saying 'wake up daddy...eat...wake up daddy' and so now when Andrew is missing him he looks at me and says 'wake up daddy' with a look of confusion!? It's heartbreaking, as he usually proceeds to check the bedroom to see if he is still sleeping, at which point I let him know that daddy is working, or daddy went bye bye for a bit. It'll be harder the older he gets and more he understands, so I'll take this for now!!

This is the train ride to the aquarium...Andrew seems to be a natural on the train!! He is in a train obsession phase right now, so the choo choo is a thrill!! He later was doing acrobats and hanging from the rings...who knew the train was so much fun!!?

The aquarium was great! It was about a 45 minute car/train ride away and just enough to see without having any meltdowns!! They had a huge fish tank, with all sorts of fish. Andrew is below, I believe he's counting the fish, which goes like this...one, two, three, four, three...and then he gets preoccupied!! At least we get to four, right?!  

Here's a smaller tank...finding Nemo!!

These even smaller aquariums were at the perfect level. Andrew went from tank to tank peaking in...he seemed most fascinated by the seahorses!!

We ended the day with the Dolphin/Seal/Whale show! Andrew was getting tired, but seemed completely mesmerized!! We couldn't understand a word that the trainers were saying, and couldn't join in on the crowd interaction because of it, but it was still fun and amazing to see what the animals can be trained to do!

The last day of Dan's port call was spent having lots of fun! Dan had rented a bike with a child seat on back the day before and Andrew woke up at 6:15a, that morning saying 'Momma, bike!' He loved it!! They were on the bike by 8:30am! We had also heard about a small fishing pond nearby, so Dan thought it would be fun to take Andrew fishing. He rented a pole and got directions and we made an attempt to find this pond based on those not-so-good directions!! We ended up stumbling upon a neat garden area, with a small pond, a waterfall, a temple, and various paths to walk on! It was really pretty, very relaxing and a nice way to spend the afternoon! This is a picture of some of the flowers...

There was a nice man fishing for crawfish that called us over so that he could show Andrew his latest catch!! Andrew thought it was great, but as you can see by the picture he was still a little unsure!! The man was great and it was fun to try to communicate with him. We think he was recommending we take a crawfish home as a pet for Andrew, but we're not real sure!! :)

Here's the waterfall...Andrew enjoyed putting his hands in the water.

This is outside the temple we saw. This is where you place your bad fortune. If you get a good fortune you keep it, but if it's a bad one you tie it on one of these and the Gods will take that bad fortune away! I think it'd be nice if we all had one of these!!  :)

Well, those are some of our most recent adventures. I do hope to get better about getting off base and also about posting to the blog!! A few friends and I have vowed to take a trip a month, whether it be to a children's fun place, a zoo, or anywhere else, but hopefully we follow through and I have great stories to share!! 

Random pictures

Some random pictures of how we're passing the time!!!

Here's what he did when I asked him to say 'cheese!'

Great hiding place in the hotel room!!

This is what we do when we're bored...who doesn't love to play in water?!

Out for a walk...stopping to smell the flowers!

Gotta love the shades!!!

Dads are always more fun!!

Again...boredom in a hotel room...and another great hiding place!!

Home Sweet Home...and a sushi story

Well, it's finally here...our move in day! We've been in Japan for one month now, and our house is finally ready! We picked up our keys this morning and were able to check it out, move some things in and finally get some real groceries!! The Lodge was nice, but we only had 2 burners and a mini fridge, so we're now living large!! I'm thinking they may put everyone in temporary housing for a bit just to make the base housing feel like luxury!!  (to those of you that may visit - the Navy Lodge is probably where you'll be staying and really not at all bad, it just gets old after a month!)

I forgot to take pictures of our lovely home today, but it was naked, so I'll post some once it feels more like home!! Someone had warned me that it was 'pink' but I didn't think a thing of it at the time...come to find out, all of the cabinets and some floor tile truly are pink. It appears, and I say appears because I feel it will change once we start unpacking boxes, that we have a good amount of storage and closet space. I think Andrew's favorite part of the whole deal is the backyard. He's figured out how to work the door already, and can let himself out, and the neighbor  (who we share a backyard fence with) has a dog! He was trying to tell the dog 'c'mon' this morning and was frustrated when he couldn't get through the fence to our backyard. Well, we're excited to finally get settled, so hopefully it all goes smoothly!! 

A sushi story...

We have a sushi restaurant right outside of the Main Gate to the base. People call it 'The Fish Tank' as there is a fish tank in the window. (the first time we were looking for it we were looking for English on the building reading 'The Fish Tank' but come to find out there's just a fish tank in the window...I guess we have to get used to the landmarks instead of English!!) This is a hole in the wall sushi place with maybe 6 stools at the bar and 2 tables (traditional Japanese tables where you take off your shoes and sit on you knees or with your legs crossed). We have a couple of stories that go along with our first experience there...first, we've realized that we need to point to the menu to insure we're getting what we ordered. Example...I ordered a coke, which the waiter repeated back as 'co-ke' (sounding like coke-ay), and I just assumed I was saying it incorrectly. WRONG. I guess I was ordering a grilled (or cooked) fish! Thankfully Dan had room to eat it...I never did get my coke!! Second...Dan has been dying to go to this place just to get the 'fresh' sushi, or sashimi...I may be misspelling this?! Anyway, the fish tank in the window houses the fish they serve. You guessed it...you order it, they catch it, they kill it and you eat it. They serve it to you soon enough that you get to say good-bye to the fish...he takes his few last breaths, and you enjoy him. (see video clip below, hope it works?) I'm sure you all know me well enough to know that I wasn't touching the poor thing!!! Dan said it was good and I'll take his word on that!! After we were done eating, and waiting for the check Andrew noticed the fish from across the table, so I handed him to Dan to get a closer look at the fish. As Andrew was reaching to touch the adorable fish that lay displayed for all of us to see Dan grabbed him from behind as if the fish was biting back, and Andrew about went through the roof...he was mama's boy after that!!

Well, we have been off base again, to Ebina for Mother's Day where we did some shopping and ate at Outback Steakhouse. It was Andrew's first experience on the train, a.k.a. 'choo choo,' and he was pretty upset when we had to get off and it drove away. We've also had a playdate where Andrew showed his true colors...stepping in the dog's water dish, peeing on the floor, sitting on the dog, and screaming as we left. We really hope they invite us back!! :) All in all it's been fun!! I hope to get some more pictures and stories up before too long!!

Andrew's first train experience!

Two weeks down!!

Well, I'm happy to say we've survived the first 2 weeks in Japan! It's actually hard to believe that it's already been 2 weeks! I feel like it was just yesterday that we were packing up and dreading the flight!! Anyway, we've made a lot of progress and have gotten a lot figured out in those short 2 weeks...although not much of it is real exciting?! Just the normal 'getting settled' stuff! 

We are currently still staying in the Navy Lodge, which is a hotel on base. It's tight living quarters, but we're settled so I guess that's what's important! We did find out that we will be moving into our Garden Apartment on May 12. It is a spacious 845 sq ft, 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom luxurious base housing arrangement. I think they throw the word 'Garden' into the name to make it sound fancy, but I'll post some photos once we're in and you'll soon see just how fancy it is!! It was my choice to live on base, which definitely has it's benefits, so I guess I won't, or will try not to complain too much!!

Dan and I have successfully passed the driving course, so we can officially drive in Japan! Just in case you didn't know, they do drive on the other side of the street, and the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. They have a joke out here...how do you pick out a new driver in Japan? ...they always have their windshield wipers on. Yes, I'm guilty. The lights and blinker are also reversed, so in the short drive I took I had the wipers on twice. Andrew and I took a trip to the Commissary (grocery store on base) yesterday (the day after I got the license, and first attempt behind the wheel). It's only a four block walk, but a pain hauling both Andrew and the groceries home, so I thought it was a good chance to try out the driving thing. We cheered when we got there, and when we got home...it was quite an accomplishment!! Yes, the picture above is our little Japanese car! You see a ton of these on the street...space is limited, but I guess it's nice to have as compact as possible because it makes the u-turns easier!! I'll keep you updated on how the driving goes out in town. I plan to use the base as a practice course for a while before venturing out too far!! 

I'll do my best to keep updating this site and letting you know how we're doing! I'd love to hear from you all too, so email or send messages here! The next couple weeks are hectic as we'll be moving and then Dan will be leaving on deployment before the end of the month, so you may not get many updates between then and now, but I'll do my best!! 

Test entry

Just a quick note to test this out! I'm new at this, so we'll see how it goes!! Here's a picture of Andrew, just trying everything out!