Ugh...a tough weekend

This weekend was definitely not our best weekend here. Overly tired, emotionally drained, and just all around grouchiness (displayed by everyone at one point or another) made the weekend a little rough. On Saturday we headed off after nap time to go swimming up on base. Olivia was really looking forward to it as was Claire. But when we arrived we found out little girl either drowned (or near drowned) we don't know what happened in the pool just moments before we arrived and after a lot of trying to discover what was going on it was finally communicated that the pool was closed so we were unable to go swimming. We had met up with our friends the Michauds so we decided to head with them over to the mall to get some dinner and let the kids play in the play area. They did have a blast there (once Claire warmed up), but we headed home quite grouchy. But that is the way it can be with kids sometimes things just don't work out the way we would like them to and the children can really wear mom and dad out and they don't always handle it the best.

Sunday we decided to try the swimming pool again. This time it was opened and we had a great time playing in the pool. Olivia really loves swimming and we look forward to her being able to take some swimming lessons when we get home this summer. After that we did our weekly shopping trip for groceries (as weekends are pretty much our only time to do it) and I was fortunately allowed in to help with the shopping. It was nice to be able to team up and get all our groceries and then head home. So it wasn't a very exciting weekend, but one we needed to get rested up (hopefully get all our grouchiness out) as my parents arrive this week and we have some traveling around Japan planned which will more than likely wear us out.

Olympics in Japan

I never thought that I would come to Japan, much less come to Japan two years in a row and watch the 2010 Olympics here, but that is our reality. It has been interesting to watch the Olympics in a different country, but I must say that at least I have gotten to see some of the coverage and haven't missed it all. I have even kind of gotten used to watching the Olympics here. But I thought I would share a little bit of what the experience is like with this video clip and share with you some of the funny, interesting and sometimes annoying things I have observed.

First you don't realize how much you depend on commentators when watching sports to let you know what is going on (as much as we might complain about some of them) they really are useful in helping you understand what is going on. (Pay special attention to the commentating in the video you can sometimes here announcements in English about who is going to skate or such but mostly you hear Japanese only.) We especially missed all the background stories that are told in the U.S. Also it is sometimes challenging to figure out what race they are giving the metal stats on and who won when it is all written in Kanji (you will notice some of this in the video clip).

For the most part though (although I missed my DVR) they have a lot of coverage of the sports I like to watch with 2 different channels running different events throughout the day. So I was usually able to at one point or another get to watch most of the high lights or see at least all the Japanese competitors and and usually parts of the gold, silver, and bronze metal routines, races, jumps, etc. They replay a lot of stuff and one time Hans had gotten home and was watching the women's curling event of Japan vs. China. (I got to watch a lot of curling of the Japanese women, but really enjoyed it even got to see them play the US once.) He said wow these Chinese are good and I said yeah they beat Japan yesterday. Little did I know that that was the game he was watching and I had just ruined it for him. Oops!

Of course we have to read about the stories online to realize what is going on. Like the 4th torch not coming up, we saw it but had no commentating to let us know what was going on. And one of the most annoying things of being here is that they will not let us watch the Olympic high light videos online because we are out of the country. It is the dumbest rule I have ever heard of. (We actually can't watch any TV shows outside the country off any of the network websites that is.)

Finally, I get a kick out of the breaks they take to talk about the Olympics (there is a short clip of this). They show pictures that I think are drawn by people and sent in and during curling they pull out a magnet board to show the score. They often had scores written on paper and brought out which is funny since they are technically savvy they just don't always use it. You will here them say "Hai" pronounced hi a lot and this means yes.

So I hope you enjoy a little glimpse into the Olympics we have viewed this year and will let me know what you think is funny or interesting.

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My heart is breaking...

for this sweet family who's little girl Layla Grace is dying of stage 4 cancer. She is just a mere 2 years old the youngest in their family. She is absolutely adorable and will grab hold of your heart. Their story is truly heartbreaking won't you take some time to read it here. I have also added their blog to my blog roll on the right. And be sure to check their twitter updates on the side as that is where you can get a lot of the story of what these last few days have been like for this precious family going through this very tough trial.

Seeing stories like this even though I don't know these people and never will in real life just brings reality home. That many people have these deep losses and how precious and short life is. So when you are frustrated because you can't seem to get anything done and don't have enough time in the day, it brings you back to what is truly precious and what we should be spending our time on is our kids. This time on earth is so fleeting and their time as little ones is even faster so enjoying each and every moment and investing in our kids is what is important. This is sometimes easier said than done, but it is a great reminder of the importance of life. So grab your kids, read a book and give them lots of cuddles and love and never take this life we have for granted.

Roller Sliding

On Sunday we went to brunch at the Officer's Club which as always was so good. Then we headed home to watch a little Olympics and get Claire a nap before heading back to Kannonzaki Park to take some of our friends roller sliding. We headed up there with Lance and Meg and met up there with the Anthony family and Rylynn. We had a great time, got a lot of exercise (both walking up there and then multiple walks up the stairs after roller sliding), and Hans had some wounds and rubbing on his coat to show for all the fun he had. We ended our evening at an Indonesian restaurant for dinner. It was very good and I loved our dessert and Olivia loved her kids plate so we will probably have to head back there at least once before we leave Japan. Here are a few pictures from the day and then a video montage of our roller sliding fun.

At Sunday brunch...Claire loves her food.
Meg's first trip down the slide.
Claire driving the pirate ship.

Olivia at the Indonesian restaurant.

Note: For some reason blogger would not let me upload some of my pictures so I will have to try and upload them on a different day.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Transportation

One of the perks of living where we do this year is that the person that set up our apartment and manages it also provides a bike and helmet for Hans to ride to work. She even gave him another one when he popped the back tire of the first bike the first week we were here. This makes his commute a mere 15 minutes which is the shortest commute he has had since working at the shipyard which is so great (especially since he works such long hours this year). The bike itself cracks me up especially seeing Hans on it. But this is the type of bike you see here all the time and they are all silver (sometimes white) it seems. So Hans fits right in with the Japanese bike traffic.

I actually like this bike despite the squeaky brakes, it is pretty comfortable to ride and easy to get on and off of. And the basket is great for getting extra stuff home when need be.

Survived...

Last week we had really long days as Hans was working really long hours leaving before we woke and not getting home till after 8:30 (when the girls are usually in bed) but wouldn't be asleep yet so they would hear him come home and have to get up to have a little dad time. It was also a really cold and rainy type of week and with the Olympics going on we didn't have much motivation to get outside and do anything. We survived and Friday we went up to base to play at the playground before meeting Daddy after work at a normal time of 4:30. We headed over to Chili's for some dinner (that tasted so great for some reason and was actually relaxing) and then home for some much needed weekend time with Dad.

One night playing with the camera and getting a picture of all of us.

That night at the playground. It is always fun to take pictures of the girls in play.










The other favorite riding the fire truck and small merry go round on base next to the NEX. They love it and every time they see it beg for a ride.

Common Sayings

Olivia:

What's the big deal!

Al-s-way (it cracks me up how she says it and she "always" says it in her sentences)

Awesome! (with a thumbs up)

I want to go home!

I miss all my best friends!

I want my best buddy to play with me! (that is in reference to Claire)

Claire:

Momma uh-oh (this said when she spills anything and happens often)

La-la (Olivia) Loves to call for her for breakfast, lunch and dinner and loves to just be near her and doing everything that she does

Daddy, Mommy, La-la and Papa are her favorite names to say

Baby (she loves her baby dolls and asks for them often)

uh-oh poopy (she isn't potty trained yet but she is starting to notice when she pees or poops and often announces it as poopy)

MINE!

Mom:

Stop! Stop the screaming!

Stop fighting!

Oh I love you when you girls play so nice together!

Are you stinky? The answer: uh-huh (every time whether she actually is or not)

In just a minute...

Please don't do that any more...

You are driving me crazy!

You guys wear me out!

And of course...lots of "I LOVE YOU!!!" because even though we sometimes don't get a long since we spend so much time together we still love each other and enjoy being together.

Chinatown and Ice Skating

After our morning Valentine celebrations at home we decided to head to Chinatown since it was also the Chinese New Year and there was going to be some festivities going on and as well as some of our friends were going to be there. We made it to the Chinatown about 3 or so. We called our friends and they were all down ice skating so headed that way walking through Chinatown that was packed as you can see from the pictures.

This is a street performer we saw on the way to ice skating rink.
People in Japan always have their pets dressed up. You rarely see a dog that doesn't at least have a sweater of some sort on. I had to snap a picture of this dog because it just cracked me up with the sun glasses and hat on. We saw plenty of dog strollers rolling around as well. I am so not a stroller person (except for here when we have to walk everywhere) so to actually have a stroller for your dog is beyond me.
This red brick building next to the skating rink was really neat and where we ended up having dinner later on.

Claire and I did not ice skate, but Olivia had so much fun skating she didn't want to quit and she wanted to go back after dinner (but we didn't). She keeps talking about it now and how much she likes it so we will have to try to get back before they take the rink down.






Vann was having fun too.


Claire was a little bored and wanted to take a few trips around with Hans.



I love this shot!

After a yummy dinner with our friends where we had some amazing Chinese food (we especially liked this black vinegar chicken which wasn't much to look at, but was so amazingly yummy) we headed back home through the route of Chinatown again to see if anything was going on.


All that we saw was a this blue lion dance where they danced for each of the stores along the street and you couldn't see hardly anything. They were also playing drums and shooting off firecrackers.




Here come the lamborginis

The rest of the night was a little rough as we were all very tired and grouchy and there were no seats on the long stretch of the train ride we had so dealing with the kids was not fun. But we survived and now we are in the week and back to getting rested up for next weekends fun.