august 20, 2016

today i head back to reality..

it has been such a swell time...

the first couple of weeks it was just me and the boys, casey and chieko were still working..

we didn't do too much, it's been SO hot, the usual routine was.. 

me waking up at 5-5:30 and having my coffee on the front porch, rain or shine !!

it's a great porch..

ray almost always woke up in time for our radio taiso..

i did let him sleep a couple of times, but he was always a bit disappointed when i did.

leo is a night owl and we didn't even try to get him to go with us..

after our "work out", we'd come back and sit with the laptop and iPad, entertaining ourselves till the parents woke up and made us put them away ;-)

 

we tried to get to the playground a little bit each day, before it was too hot to touch the monkey bars or slide down the slide

or breathe the air..

we picked berries and vegetables from the garden, 

the boys played with their water blasters

we made cookies...

once casey started his vacation we started getting out of the house,

lots of beach time.. 

the bug museum...

some shopping..

a visit to a farm, a light house

costco!

we made brownies and banana bread...

more beach time 

we went to several different beaches, some with big waves, some with small waves.. it was fun, the water was wicked salty and cool, so refreshing on these hot, hot days..

poor ray got stung by jelly fish yesterday, on his face and leg.. apparently they make their appearance around the time of obon.. casey got stung on the leg as well, at a different beach, a couple of days before

chieko had some time off as well, for obon and she took a few extras days afterwards, so she was able to join us on several outings

we went out for a delicious dinner last night..

it was a buffet restaurant, farm to table, featuring japanese food (of course)

we ate until ray and i had "food babies" (thanks for that term, gina, if you're reading this), our bellies were so full..

thank you casey, chieko, ray and leo, for making me feel so welcome, as always, and letting me stay for so long, again...

i love you 

xo

july 27, 2016

i've been here for a week!

i arrived tuesday evening after uneventful (thankfully) flights.

thank you, cheryl, for the ride to the airport

there were no lines checking in or going through security.

i was a little concerned that i might not have enough time, between flights, to get through customs and get to the domestic terminal at haneda airport in tokyo.

 i usually fly into narita airport, so i know which way to head when i clear customs...

although i am not familiar with haneda, it was very easy.. i was able to recheck my bag (as well as one of my carry ons), so i only had my backpack, before boarding a shuttle bus to the domestic terminal..

the nice thing about short layovers, (if you don't worry so much about missing your flight) is that boarding starts almost immediately when you get to your gate!

ray still had one day of school before his summer break started, leo was at daycare, so i had wednesday to myself to unpack and store my stuff...

radio taiso started on thursday.. ray and i walk down to the community center, at 6:30 a.m., monday through friday (weather permitting), for a 10ish minute exercise program.. leo says he wants to come to, but he has been too sleepy so far. ( he is not going to daycare while i am visiting :-) )

monday everyone was asleep, except me, and i wasn't going to go by myself!! yesterday it rained.. we were back to it this morning, though

pictures from one of our daily trips to the playground at the community center

leo "i'm gonna cut this tree"

ray, frustrated because he cannot do a pullover ( yet;-) )