Round 1- Japanese Super Fun

We went to this awesome Japanese recreation center on Friday as part of a family fun day for Tom’s work. It's called Round 1 and is this huge indoor facility with a little bit of everything to do. It had ball pits and bike tracks for the kids, basketball, tennis, ping pong, darts, etc. for the adults, a roller skating rink, huge arcade with free games and much more. In the kids play area they had 8 nice big massage chairs for the adults to sit in while they watched their kids play, it felt really nice! Sadly, I didn’t have my camera but it was a lot of fun and nice to be out in town again. We’ve been spending far too much time stuck on base! My favorite two Japanese observations were these:

1. We went to the snack bar and found that we had two main choices, chicken nuggets or octopus dumplings. (I wish I could say I had tried the dumplings but a las we just got a sno cone.)

2. The main kids play area was didn’t allow you to wear shoes. When I took the girls to the bathroom they had plastic slippers laid out at the door for you to wear into the bathroom. It was so perfect. They had adult sizes that said "toilet" and kid sizes with Mickey Mouse, the girls loved it! The Japanese are really onto something here...I searched online and discovered this is normal and in most houses you would remove your house slippers and put on the toilet slippers when entering the bathroom. It makes perfect sense! I love it and just may buy myself a pair!

Priceless

Nike shoes, $90
Waterpack, $50
Sports shorts and tank, $35
Babysitter, $15
Sportsbeans, $4
Running 17+ miles with Tom, priceless.

We're on our way to 20...

Ahhhh!!!!!!

What can ruin a perfect evening of spending time with my kids? Let me tell you...there we were, relishing the fact that it had actually cooled off enough to make us want to go jump on the trampoline to kill time after dinner. It was Saturday and Tom was at a church meeting. I was chasing the kids in circles and playing a new zombie game that Hayden made up. Then it was Hayden's turn to be the zombie, he laid down on the trampoline, closed his eyes and when he opened them he just froze, pointed his finger and started stammering "ummm...mom...ummmm....mom..." I looked at where he was pointing and found this, dangling above my head!!!

Danica yelled "Kill it mom!" I yelled "Run!" and we all scrambled off the tramp as quick as we could. Luckily, Tom walked in the front door as we ran in the back. He came to our rescue, took pictures of it (you can see the top off the trampoline net enclosure in the second picture to give perspective) and then killed it for us. He sprayed it with spider killer then knocked it out of it's web onto the trampoline, you should have heard the THUD it made! It was still alive so he flicked it off the trampoline and told me to step on it. Yeah right! I was in flip flops!!! But I had the spider spray in my hand so I coated him with it and that was the end! I ran in the house and didn't look back! Tom informs me I need to go clean the guts off the trampoline before I let the kids jump again...hmmmm....when will that be? We've been out there a lot lately and that spider and his web were so big he's been around a while, I wonder how long he's been watching us and we just didn't notice because we never looked up! You can guarantee I will always check from now on!

15 Miles and Counting...

We've had another great week. Nothing major going on. I've been busy pulling weeds all along the flower bed that runs the length of the front of my house. Then I laid down plastic and rocks to keep them from coming back so quick, the results look really nice and were worth all the work. Tom and I ran 15+ miles on Thursday night, my farthest run ever and we actually felt pretty good. We've been building up to it and we go 17-18 this week. I've been getting bored of running circles around the base and dreading the fatigue of the marathon so I have been working to have an attitude shift. I'm focusing on looking forward to my runs and tell myself I just can't wait for the marathon. It's actually working because as any runner knows, running is mostly mental. Tom and I are training for a marathon on Halloween this year. It is on a small island off the northwestern coast of Okinawa. It is a 2 hour boat ride from a port up north and it should be awesome. Here are some pictures of the course and the port.



Anyway, it should be a beautiful course and looks to be fairly flat with elevation changes no greater than 20 m at any point. Everything is in Japanese and after the race we will sleep in a gymnasium because there are no hotels on the little island and no fairies available after the race. The race doesn't start until 3:30pm... should be an adventure!

Well I'm off to figure out the book order for Hayden's class, I get to be in charge of it this year!!

Tracey

Quick Update

Well, that post was outrageously long and I don't blame any of you for not reading it. This time I am hoping to keep it short and sweet. Here are the updates:

Hayden started first grade, his teacher is great, reported to be the best one at the school. He really likes recess and free time....he is bored doing “kindergarten work” and wishes he could sleep in and stay home with me but hopefully he’ll get into the groove soon. . He reports that he started “the boys club” at recess and he is the captain and everyone wants to be in his club. The girls like to chase the members of the club. He is enjoying t-ball and the fact that a new boy moved in across the street.

Danica started preschool for the first time. She goes Tuesday and Thursday morning to a cute little school on base. She tells me she is a big girl now and really likes going. It feels like she has grown up a ton in the last few months and this is just one more step. She was an invaluable help in potty training Alyssa and was so cute trying to be her mom....Alyssa sorta like it. :)

Alyssa is potty trained!!! Woohoo!!!! She’s been really interested so I decided to just take the plunge before she lost interest. The first day was terrible but it’s been great since then. She’s even dry during naps and bedtime! She’s sleeping in a twin bed now, sharing the bunk beds with Danica and loving it. Her physical therapist closed her to services because she’s doing so well and just a regular little two year old now. She’s adorable and still flashes smiles whenever she gets a chance.

Tom is really into biking now. He got a really nice road bike (you know Tom, he only likes the best.) He goes every Saturday and holiday on these 30-50 mile rides around the island with his friends. It seems like a fantastic way to see the beauty of the island and he says he loves it. His new clinic is great, he really likes working there. His car died and was junked a month ago so we got another one and it wouldn’t start yesterday.... fun times.... hopefully this one is repairable!


Tracey is looking forward to settling into a routine with school and activities. She can’t figure out how her house was ever clean because it seems impossible now even though she knows that it used to be. She is busy training for the marathon with Tom. She is running a lot and just hoping it will cool off soon. She was trying to weed the flower beds today and just had to stop it got so hot!

Things are bit sad here on base due to some recent deaths in Iraq, the dads of classmates. It brings the war so close to home and makes the sacrifice of these soldiers and their families so poignant. No matter what you believe, you have to believe that these men and their families are doing their best and giving their all and they deserve our respect, admiration, thanks and prayers. I know I will never be the same after living here but I just haven’t figured out how I can help. My next goal is to find a way to give back while I am here. There’s got to be something I can do even in my “mom with young children” status.

On a brighter note, we continued lasts years new tradition of going to Sesoku Island on Labor Day and had a great time snorkeling and digging and hanging out with friends! There were a ton of kids!

Well, that’s all from here. Happy September!