winding down for a nap

(We were trying the AOL Radio lullabye station.)

brunch and such

A friend and I went to the E-Club for free brunch today (with our "deployed family" coupons.) The kids' play area was fun, but Ariel preferred the dancefloor!

multitasking
Thanks to Yaoyao's Mom for the Chinese-English picture books. Yaoyao is expecting a new baby very soon!

helping out at a baby shower Saturday

She got to play with Noah and tiny Marcus. When the expectant mom opened "Goodnight Moon", Ariel wanted to grab it. It's her recent most favorite bedtime book.

pizza party

Ariel, the cats, and I hosted this month's spouse social (the spouses and active duty ladies from Jeff's office.) We took the easy way, and ordered pizza. Other kids came to enjoy the playroom.

Maevyn and Tey playing a clapping game with the babies.

The couch was reserved for those in need!

Casie & I give Doraemon the special loving he deserves. I tried to keep the cats upstairs, but Doraemon insisted on joining the party.

Anpanman Museum

Ariel & I had a great time Monday at the Yokohama Anpanman Children's Museum. It was about an hour south by train. The cartoon is famous in Japan, with themes of love and courage. It also holds a world record for the most characters in a cartoon. We both went crazy exploring the 3 floors of playland, and the outdoor plaza with shops, cafes, and live shows.

Bananas.

Exploring Baikinman world. Baikinman is the villain, but he's not all bad. This area had little windows in each "world" with lighted dioramas of the characters' houses and bedrooms.

Going out in Japan is always fun because the other kids and parents like to play nicely.

at the Jam Ojisan bakery

("Ojisan" means "grandpa", and Jam Ojisan is the baker who bakes Anpanman's sweet bean bun head.)

drum, drum, drum!

lighted dioramas in the floor got her crawling all over

Shashin, oneigaishimasu? (Photo please?) We use this phrase a lot.

That's her hand in my shirt.

play food stands: ice cream, sushi, udon....

This area had paintings of the characters, and photos of Takashi Yanase, Anpanman's creator.

We met Baikinman (above, playing inai, inai, bah! with Ariel) and his crush, Dokinchan.

playing at Anpanman Museum

Ariel & I went to the Anpanman Children's Museum in Yokohama. It was more like a playland. She rode around on this Anpanman toy, but when I turned on the camera, she stopped to watch TV. Still, it's cute:

relaxing weekend

gentle with all cats (usually)

hugging DaDa

horsing around with our neighbors

Bonsai

A friend went with us into neighboring Saitama Prefecture. We wanted to see the John Lennon Museum in Saitama City. I had it all planned, and read about it online (what I thought was current info), but when we got there, we found out it had closed in September. The people we met told us it had been open 10 years, and wasn't getting many visitors anymore. We were disappointed. It had a telephone that Yoko Ono randomly called to talk to museum visitors.

So we found the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum and Bonsai Village. Bonsai are regular trees grown in a special miniaturized way. It takes skill to grow them and manipulate the branches, re-pot, etc. The trees are very valuable. We could only photograph this one. Ariel, in her Zen way, slept through the entire bonsai experience.

Cats, Cats, Cats

our sweet boys

Milo will stay until the end of February. He brings a happy energy to the house. Ariel adores him.

Disneyland!

The rides were impressive, but just walking and climbing were fun for her.

a lovely, uncrowded day at Disneyland

We focused on Fantasyland: Alice's Teacups, It's a Small World (twice!), Pooh's Hunny Pot

We ran into friends from Yokota, including Mallory, one of Ariel's Kindermusik classmates. We rode some rides together.

arukimasu! (walking)

By afternoon, we were beat, and took the train home. Thanks, Barb & Rich, for this perfect overnight bag. It's easy to wheel around train stations, and soft enough to stuff in lockers. The side pockets keep things organized. We look forward to using it more!

Maihama Station

Maihama Station, about 1.5 hours away, is the train station at Tokyo Disney. Ariel & I went there Sunday and stayed the night in a small hotel near the station.

Sunday, we just relaxed and explored Ikspiari, a Disney shopping & entertainment area.

"What's with the expensive purse craze?"

modeling the Spring Valley hat

breakfast in our room

Friday

Doraemon goes out. He just wants to enjoy the outdoors, and isn't climbing the fence. At this moment, they were bird-watching.

We attended a "hail & farewell" and awards ceremony at the flying squadron. Meredith is D.C.-bound. She and her husband arrived here the same time we did. We'll miss you!

Destry gets a medal and tells a few stories of his year in Afghanistan.

a big hug for Cameron

Cutting loose at home after our busy day.

eyeing Doraemon's flounder fillets

Girl, egg, slide

video of Ariel playing with her new Kindermusik shaker egg (from Angela across the street):



We started Kindermusik this week, a very popular class here at Yokota. It was a lot of fun.

gettin' our Japan on

Ariel, TaTa, and I took the Seibu train line to Shinjuku (part of Tokyo.) The Seibu line is cheaper and less crowded than Japan Rail, but with no stop announcements, and certainly no English announcements. Our nearby Seibu Line stop is in the middle of a field.

Taking Takashiymaya (a department store) by storm. This is the kids' floor.

taking in the view

view of Shinjuku Gyoen (a large garden/park) and downtown Tokyo

"Wait, wait. I'll look it up."

(at Kinokuniya bookstore - it has a large English language section)

Dragging TaTa's Tokyu Hands bag all over the bookstore.

Tokyu Hands is a fun novelty department store.

Grocery shopping on the way home. This is vegetable "Indo Curry."

The result of grocery shopping while hungry. We did have lunch at a sandwich cafe, but the sandwiches were tiny!