Mitake-san

On Jeff's last weekend at home, we had cooler weather for a refreshing trip to Mount Mitake ("Mitake-san").

Ariel likes to watch trains go by.  She also likes to charm all the passengers.

We took a cable car up to the mountain, and walked on its quiet, forested pathways.  This small street of restaurants and souvenir shops is just before a huge shrine.

Relaxing "biru" and beer snacks (some kind of mountain herb.)  Ariel ate most of the snacks.

 She started with her baby food (some type of Japanese risotto and fruit)

but she quickly switched to noodles.

Both soba (thin buckwheat) with mountain herbs and udon (thick white noodles) appealed to her.  Jeff did the messy job of holding her!

Good times with Dada!

home playtime

strawberry milk to the rescue!

We were doing some errands on base, and Ariel got a craving for a certain something.  In this case, the hand-licking means hunger.  She already had some food, so I knew it must mean milk.  Luckily, our little coffee shop had strawberry milk just for her.

bouncy birthday videos

Happy 2nd birthday, sweet Ariel!  We love you so much.

(These photos and videos are from her actual birthday on the 15th.)

We went to a playland in the mall on Ariel's birthday. She has been practicing bouncing ever since!

Birthday festivities

A good birthday-girl breakfast

Skyping Grandma Barb and Papa Rich, while computing on her own laptop.

Walking around the mall.  It was crowded with Obon festival (a week-long vacation for the Japanese) crowds.  But we found the Bornelund play area not too crowded.  The weather was hot and overcast, so we stayed indoors.

pre-birthday noodle trip

 We went to our favorite noodle place, Yamada Udon, on the eve of Ariel's birthday.  She did slurp down some udon and soba noodles, which made me a bit nervous, but she had no problem chewing and swallowing them.

Playing with her Leapfrog phone in Jeff's lap.

We always have to finish with a walk to the Bunny Store (Nishimatsuya).  She likes to see the big white bunny sign.  We bought her two new shirts: "Strong for Dinosaur" and "Giraffe is Tall", along with our favorite diapers called "Moonies".

Daddy's home!

These are photos from shortly after Jeff got home (taken around August 8-14.)

at Moritown Mall

in Mitake (but we didn't take the cable car up to the mountain - too crowded with Obon festival crowds)

Girls' playdate

I am now catching up on the blog.  On August 5th, the day before Jeff came home, we had a playdate with Ariel's friend Paige and her mom Kyla.  The girls had a fun time in their almost-matching outfits.

airport head massage

Jeff is on his way back to his deployment. We enjoyed his company up to the last minute at the airport:



(Sorry, my camera lens was a bit slimy.)

Ariel's Big Birthday

Jeff's home!

Jeff arrived last night for his 2-week vacation.  Ariel was surprised and happy to see the real (3-D) DaDa!  We're so happy to have him home.  We'll be relaxing and staying cool, maybe going out for noodles and playtime in Nihon.  And hitting the pool!

On a side note, Ariel thanks everyone for the birthday boxes she's received.  She's waiting for the big day to open them, and hasn't even peeked at the customs forms.

upstairs playroom paradise

We spend a lot of time upstairs.  All the rooms have toys and books, but this one is the best.  It's a cool and relaxing haven, where little and big friends can dive into the toys.

 Ariel likes to take my floss (or I give her a fresh piece.)  She also wanted the camera.

Ralph loves to play up here, too.