Inokashira Park with the Okanos

 Ariel & I met Izumi, Serina, and Tetsuya at Inokashira Park.  It's a popular park near Tokyo.  Jeff was planning on going, but he had to work an exercise.

 Serina has grown so much!  Ariel fell asleep during our picnic lunch by the lake.

 When she woke up, we walked through a craft fair, heard musicians, and saw fish and turtles.

 Then we pedaled boats around the lake!

 Ariel and Serina petted guinea pigs at the little zoo.  Serina was good at calming the nervous pigs.

 We all enjoyed the popular squirrel pavilion.  This squirrel was eating lots of worms.  It's rare to see a wild squirrel in Japan.

The zoo also has a small "yuenchi" (amusement park.)  Ariel's favorite was the spinning teacup ride.  Serina liked the flying baskets.  We had a fun day with the Okanos, and the weather was perfect.

the outing Part One

2nd official picnic; 2nd picnic napped through

More to follow tomorrow about this mysterious outing....

all dressed to get on the bus and train

teacup rides rock!

in the whale shirt (which is getting too small)

 Out at Daiso (a "dollar" store) with Kelly and Megan.  We also visited the farmer's market and drove in the country a bit to Summerland (a water park.)

studying and computing at home (with a whale tale in her hair)

my kitchen helper

 We were making pizza crust (with ground flax seeds + warm water as the egg replacer.)  Ariel's Hello Kitty apron is one we got her for preschool (a craft smock.)  I'll be glad when she can really help in the kitchen!

reading "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear Turn Around"

This video is cute, but a bit long. She loves to read this book and recite the song. It goes: "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear turn around. Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, touch the ground. Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear shine your shoes. Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear say... Skidoo! Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear go upstairs. Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear say your prayers. Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear switch off the light. Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear say good night!

Ralph & Nene resting together

It's so nice to have two cats.

convalescing

 We've been taking it easy.  Ariel has been a bit tired as she heals after the adenoidectomy.  We did get out to a new farmer's market and got this giant brown root.  We boiled it, and made "mashed potatoes with garlic & broccoli" with it.  We have quite a variety of weird potato-like roots in Japan.

Ariel's home gymnastics practice hasn't slowed down.  She has some new squeaky sandals that have her jumping with delight.

the big surgery

On May 7th, Ariel went under anesthesia to examine her ears and give her a hearing test.  The plan was to place ear tubes if there was fluid behind her ears (there was clear fluid), and remove her adenoids if they were enlarged and blocking eustachian tube drainage (they were.)  Luckily, we knew most of the people in surgery that day, and felt confident she was in good care.  Our friend Laura Belt was her surgical nurse that morning.

 Getting ready (she had a little sedation before going in, so she was mellow and not scared.)  Baby Jaguar went with her.

 In recovery.

 Baby Jaguar helped prop up her IV-ed hand.

Apple juice never tasted so good!

She's recovering well, but needs to take it easy for two weeks.

Thanks to Dr. McCusker (the ENT), Laura, Lt. Col Tilley and Dr. Eric the anesthesiologists, nurses Kyle, Tracy, SSgt Johnson, and Dr. Martukovich the audiologist.  We'll follow up with ENT and audiology in a few weeks to see how she's doing.

Hangin' with Dad

 Last week was Golden Week in Japan, when many people are off work.  The off-base crowds didn't keep us from visiting Yamada Udon!

(Don't tell Sushi-chan, but she ate a fish.)

Strolling in our neighborhood after visiting a playground.

Sayonara, Sushi-chan

 Ariel's Little Seedlings Preschool (2 mornings a week) ended suddenly, when Mrs. Sarah's husband got a short-notice deployment to Africa.  The whole family is moving stateside for his pre-deployment training, etc.  Sarah had a little goodbye party before they left.  Ariel got a chance to say goodbye to her fish friend, Sushi-chan.

We were getting quite attached to the little guy or girl.

Of course, we'll miss Sarah and her preschool.  It was good for Ariel.  But hopefully we can find something similar in Louisiana.

Asakusa

We took the Ginza subway line from Omotesando to Asakusa (after sitting and watching the fashions at Omotesando!)  In Asakusa, we found Senso-ji temple.

We stopped for beer and snacks at this sidewalk place.  This man in charge of it didn't speak Japanese.  He is French.  He laughed a lot, and we could barely understand him.  We had a good visit there, though.

Walking and running with Alice in Asakusa, where there's lots of souvenir and garment shopping.

The train ride home.  Ariel tried to control her schmiggliness, and we tried to control our coughing!

Yoyogi Park

We walked through forested Yoyogi Park in Tokyo to get to Meiji Shrine.

Ariel could only take so much walking.  She was cute as a button in her "Dance, Sing, and Be Happy" outfit from Grandma Barb and Papa Rich.

snacktime at Yoyogi Park

Ariel was at the end of her cold, and Alice was at the beginning of hers.  That day, we took the bus from Yokota to the New Sanno Hotel in Tokyo, then had coffee (and matcha latte) at Starbucks and took a taxi to Yoyogi Park.  The weather was good!

Alice visits Japan

 My mom, who we call "Alice" because the "Grandma" is implied, visited us a couple weeks ago.  The weather was cool, but we had some sunshine.  This day we took a walk around the east side of base and played at a playground (and with bugs.)

at Yamada Udon, our favorite local eatery

2 year Gotcha Day

 This was from April 19th.  Two years ago on that day, we met her at Guangzhou Civil Affairs Office.  Some people (and we do, too), call this day "Forever Family Day."

We were staying at Atsugi Naval Air Station south of here.  Ariel had a cold, and her face was chapped from rubbing her nose.  She still had fun in the hotel room, and played with some Indian bracelets from Singapore.

Sweet, sweet Ariel.  We love you so much.

cherry blossoms falling

This is our backyard from about April 18th.  After the cherry blossoms peak, they fall like snow.  We were happy to experience our last cherry blossom season in Japan.  In case you're wondering, these sakura (cherry blossom) trees do not bear cherries.  I guess that's a different kind of tree.

Ariel loved seeing the "snowfall" while playing in the yard.