Can You Spell HansonSmith?

Pizza Night

2012-03-05T00:15:00.000-08:00

Melissa and the kids are leaving in a few days, so we had a dinner to spend some time with them a bit before they take off.

We made some bread stick letters with the leftover pizza dough.

They traded the piano that was in the party room downstairs - for a POOL TABLE!

It was a hit.

Running around a bit before they got here

They were airplanes

Girls - Emi had a bit of an attitude. No. I will NOT smile.

Working on beads with Jason

BBQ chicken pizza - yum.

And we made dirt & worms for dessert. Pudding, crushed oreos and gummy worms.

Clearly a fan.

The girls just hangin'

Tag!

Nutella Banana crepes for dessert

Happy ladies while the guys cleaned up :)

Stuff...

2012-03-04T19:49:00.000-08:00

Shaving Cream fun

Emi decided to lay in it

And Eaton liked to paint himself with it

Chillin' - watching a movie and eating snacks in our skivies

Melissa, Jack and Maggie came over for Chocolate Chip Micky Mouse pancakes

Emi got a new princess costume

I love my wand!

And she lost the wand when she kept smacking everything and everyone with it.

Puzzles!

Emi told me that Minnie was wearing a hat...Poor Minnie.

Happy Birthday GG!

2012-03-03T19:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Papa!

2012-03-03T01:59:00.001-08:00

This week...

2012-03-02T02:35:00.001-08:00

Had basketball - we didn't go. Just a comedy of errors...Started walking to base for b-ball practice, Eaton fell asleep less than 5 minutes into walk, got to train station - 25 minutes away, found I had forgotten my Pasmo (train card), instead bought a ticket to Chuo station, didn't realize I was supposed to take my ticket after I put it in the turnstile, Wes calls to say he has a mtg and might not make it to b-ball, I decide to bag it and let Eaton sleep, leave the train station - which is hard because I had to leave the turnstile after paying for a ticket and then not going anywhere so I had to talk to the guy about how I didn't realize I was supposed to take my ticket and he had no idea what I was saying, get home and realize I have a flat tire, Now both kids were asleep when I got home and slept til 6:15pm - which meant they didn't go to bed until 10... When Eaton woke up from his nap he cried because he missed basketball :( And they still got up at 6:15 am the next day.

Had a fun playdate with a new friend.

I got to take 3 hour nap one day.

Had co-op. It's so fun for me to plan an hour a week :) People say I should teach when I go back to school/work. we'll see. Always been on my radar, but don't know if I've got the patience. Or desire.

Emi peed on her little pink potty twice.

Had a great dinner out with a wonderful friend. Zero English menu and the server spoke zero English, we managed to get food and drink. The food didn't really matter though, the company was amazing. Success.

A couple nights ago at about 11:30pm we had a 5.7 earthquake which really shook the apartment. I had just gone to bed and Wes was at work. I sat up, waiting to see if it was going to grow. It was a long one - and I think it felt longer because we are on the 11th floor of our building and we swayed for a while. The building was creaking and moaning. I had a mini panic attack and ran around and plug everything in to charge it. I called Wes at work. I put a flashlight next to my bed and and planned in my head wheat I would do once the power went out. I knew we had enough food and water... A little PTSD maybe? We've had a few other 5+ quakes during the day that haven't really bugged me, but this one was different some reason. Maybe because it was dark and just reminded me of all the time in the dark last year as it kept shaking and shaking for days. Maybe because Wes wasn't home. Maybe it's because I'm a wimp. Needless to say, I couldn't got back to sleep for a while, so I was able to catch the first 2 hours of the Today Show live on the West Coast. I realized I kinda miss watching it - maybe I'll start DVRing it. Woke up the next day fine. Not traumatized - so quit worrying :)

Didn't take a lot of pictures this week. Lots of fun. Lots of food - constant flow, these kids graze all day long. Lots of love.

Chicken...

2012-02-29T06:59:00.001-08:00

Recently Eaton has started to want to play pretend. Tonight we were all dinosaurs. I said, "I'm a long necked dinosaur looking for some leaves to eat." He said, "I'm a hungry dinosaur looking for some yummy chicken to eat." Then he broke character and said, "Chicken the food, not chicken the animal, mom."

Hmmm...wonder when we're gonna have to have that discussion.

Co-op Wednesday

2012-02-28T20:44:00.001-08:00

This was Jack and Maggie's last preschool for a while as they will be enjoying a trip back to the states for a bit.

Wes joined us today! Good thing too - Emi had a couple hard spills and Eaton was particularly rambunctious this morning.

Mixing chocolate pudding

Jack and Mags sampled a bit before we put it into the fridge to set up.

Art project - blowing paint through straws. This was kind of a test - saw a cute project where you make a tree by blowing blown paint and then put pink crumpled paper on for cherry blossoms. We'll see if we can swing that in a few weeks.

Ball time!

Parachute

All Emi's shirts are getting a bit small for her - her belly's peaking out :)

Ribbon wands - crate paper, decorate and attach to Popsicle sticks

Mom, I just want you to hold me...

Eaton loved it. He's quite the dancer :)

Finally getting to enjoy his pudding

Story time.

Eaton ate during story time so he had time to get every bit of chocolate out of his cup.

Wes chillin' with the children after class.

Snowy Days

2012-02-28T20:29:00.000-08:00

Today it has been snowing all morning. It doesn't snow much here and this is the most we've seen in our times here. The kids are warm weather kids. They got super excited when they saw the flakes this morning, so we went out on the balcony for a bit. Eaton was insistent that he needed to catch snowflakes on his tongue. he did, then was ready to come inside because he was cold :) Emi barely got outside the door before she was asking to go back in. Nice to watch - glad I didn't need to go anywhere today.

He kept watching out the window in his room.

Eaton's view. See the trains?

A few from the week...Cuisine, Co-op and Costumes

2012-02-25T22:57:00.002-08:00

Wes and I got out for racquetball and dinner one night.

Co-Op - Smaller group due to sick some little ones...

oobleck makes a repeat appearance.

Dodgeball/tag with balls and velcro vests

Chillin' at home. Recently emi has really enjoyed wearing other people's things :)

Eaton really likes homework

Hot Dog Pizza - Eaton's specialty

On this day, Eaton was Superhero King Butterfly :)

Playing with Jack at the park

Taking a little nap?

After our girls/boys outing.

King superhero doing homework.

Some naptime crafties

Homemade baked chicken strips. Trying to break out of the noodles for dinner rut the kids and I are in. THey actually gobbled them up! I was amazed.

Emi dressed as Eaton :)

Emi loves her new shirt from Aunt Kellie.

A couple more hotel fun pics...

2012-02-25T22:43:00.002-08:00

Couple more vids...

2012-02-24T16:15:00.000-08:00

Dancing Machine

Some Insanity...

A Couple Emi Videos

2012-02-24T03:25:00.003-08:00

These are off my iPhone - not off our regular camera (which I still haven't gotten around to downloading...) but cute nonetheless.

Emi Counts :)

Emi's happy and she knows it.

A funny night...

2012-02-24T03:25:00.002-08:00

The kids started playing with shaving cream in the tub.

Then fudgesicles - They got them at the same time...Eaton ate his a bit faster.

And then he finished Emi's :)

Sh doesn't look happy about it now, but

Emi wanted to be a "fly" for the night.

Emi was peeking under the door...We lock them because Emi likes to go back and find stuff in the bath room and put them on like she thinks she should. Her favorite is to use Wes' deodorant like chapstick.

Heading Home

2012-02-24T03:25:00.001-08:00

Asleep and watching videos the whole trip. Awesome.

Mt. Takao

2012-02-23T21:00:00.001-08:00

We did a day trip to Mt. Takao (pronounced Ta-cow). *Sidenote - when I told Melissa what we had done that weekend she thought I said we "milked a cow" - too funny :) It's considered a sacred mountain about an hour outside Tokyo. There is a big Buddist Temple almost at the top - The Yakuoin - and it is big and beautiful. At the top you can see Fuji - but we could barely see it through the distant haze/fog today.

Emi all wrapped up and ready to go. We bought a small stroller so it's easier to get around at times. In Japan every place is not ADA friendly like in the US. Some train stations don't have elevators or even wide turnstiles. On crowded trains you are technically supposed to fold it up, which we can never do with the big one. Anyway - we use this one when we think it might be handy.

Eaton was so excited to see snow.

Emi - asleep again :)

We rode the cable car part way up. It is the steepest cable car in Japan.

You could buy these halfway up the hike. Too funny.

So...past the temple it got muddy. Super muddy. It was amazing Eaton was the only one who fell. Wes started pushing Emi in the stroller, then had to fold it up and she went onto his shoulders.

We made it to the TOP!!!

Mt Fuji is behind us in the haze.

Mud. Dee.

On the way back down we hit the Mt. Takao Monkey Park.

It was more like a zoo exhibit. About 30 monkeys running around. 7 of them were babies. We were the only ones there and a super nice guide did his best to relay info to us in English. He showed us the "big boss" monkey and threw sunflower seeds to them to make them run around. We watched them for a while.

Emi LOVED it. She kept saying, "Mo-wa Maaaa?" (More Monkey) She's gonna love SeaWorld and the Zoo in SD.

On our way back down!

Emi and Daddy cuddling on the way back to the hotel on the train.

Odaiba

2012-02-23T03:44:00.001-08:00

After the rugby game we got on yet another train and headed to Odaiba. It's a man made island in Tokyo bay. It's supposed to be "futuristic" and was really developed in the late 90s. It was fun,different and I'd like to go back and explore more when we have more time.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3008.html

The Rainbow Bridge -which is what connects the island to Tokyo - in the background

The Fuji TV Building

They have a replica of the Statue of Liberty :)

Liberty with the Bridge in the background

In front of the Fuji TV Building

Ate dinner at a nice restaurant overlooking the bay/bridge/downtown Tokyo.

Emi loves Hello Kitty

Wes and Eaton checking out the big robot. Wes kept teasing him that it was coming to life.

Getting onto the big Ferris Wheel. In 1999 this was the biggest ferris wheel in the world.

The kids couldn't wait to get on it. Then I think they were disappointed. Eaton wanted to go fast :) Imagine that.

Rugby Game

2012-02-23T03:00:00.001-08:00

On the way to the rugby game, both kids passed out. Full and happy from brunch. One on Wes' back and one in the stroller. We stopped by Metropolitan Building to check out the view, Harajuku, Yoyogi park and the Meiji Shrine - all places we've been before, therefore we didn't spend much time of take many/any pictures.

Meiji Shrine

Making Tacoyaki - Octopus balls. Japanese Word of the day.... Taco = Octopus. Can you remember that?

Met Building

At the rugby game

Emi's way more into it than Eaton. She kept saying, "GO BALL!" Ball is what she calls football. Too cute.

Sunday Brunch

2012-02-21T23:51:00.002-08:00

The New Sanno (the DoD hotel in Tokyo where we stayed) has an amazing Sunday brunch, so when we're up there, we like to take advantage. I didn't take too many pictures of all the beautifully displayed food with all the ice sculptures on the tables because we were too busy getting food for ourselves and our hungry tots.

I have to say...the kids and my favorite are the waffles.

Mac and Cheese, Spag & Meatballs, Pizza, Chicken Nuggets and more...

Sushi, anyone?

Big ole dessert bar - Emi chowed on the ice cream

Would you like a barrel of shrimp...

or a giant bowl of caviar?

Dinner Without Kids!

2012-02-21T23:45:00.001-08:00

Melissa and Jason stayed one night at the hotel with us and we both got sitters - who were friends so the kids got to play together! - and had a great adults-only dinner at a Teppanyaki restaurant the floor below our rooms. We had a private chef cooking in front of us and 4 different people stand directly behind us waiting to take care of our every wish. We felt very special. Sushi, sauteed veggies, fried rice, tuna, beef, swordfish and drinks! Ended the night stuffed and happy.

We ended the night in the hallway between our rooms. Chatting before bed as their kids slept and mine kept coming out wanting to join the party in the hall.

Tokyo Science Museum

2012-02-21T14:48:00.003-08:00

We visited the super cool Tokyo Science Museum - http://www.jsf.or.jp/eng/ during our Tokyo trip. The kids had SO much fun and we were able to negotiate the museum pretty well, even though most things were in Japanese.

Super cool star walls covered the building

The teeter totter makes the wheel spin

Eaton thought it was so cool that his hands made the liquid rise

See him at the table? Visiting the Japanese Mr. Wizard

;)

Looking at a big microscope of germs

They had an AMAZING Rube Goldberg machine that took up a whole room - and most of the hallway. You moved a bowling ball all around - up and over and under and etc.

Even had to use a crane to lift it!

Eaton and Emi lifted a car!

Fun with lights

You jumped and the camera got you from different angles - and replayed it in slow motion for you a few times.

This oddity was in the "future" area. Apparently in the future the Japanese are going to have seal pups as pets. Emi thought that was a great idea.

A Long Tokyo Weekend!

2012-02-21T03:23:00.003-08:00

We spent 4 days in Tokyo over the long weekend and we had a great time exploring, swimming, eating, relaxing, playing and just having a blast.

On the train on Friday night headed to the hotel.

Saturday morning we went out early to the Imperial Palace.

The palace in the background. Emi's peeking over her glasses :)

Did this with the Joby tripod. We bring it with us when we got out - need one? I got it from Amazon - click here.

There was snow on the ground! It was pretty chilly.

In the East gardens

HUGE rock walls!

We hit the big Sony Building after. Eaton fell asleep in the stroller, so Emi and Wes rocked out a bit.

Then we went back to the hotel. Jack and Maggie met us there!

Getting ready to go swimming. We celebrated Maggie's birthday because they planned Mag's party for a few days later when we were still in Tokyo and we were going to miss it.

More adventures to come...stay tuned!

Enoshima - Part 3 of 3

2012-02-19T04:05:00.000-08:00

We stuck around to see the area all lit up. The pictures don't do it justice. It was cool, yet awesomely cheesy. Kinda like a fancy zoo lights. There was music playing and some of the things were set to the beat. Eaton kept running around saying, "Dance Party!"

The tower flashed and changed along to some upbeat American love songs :)

Emi adn Eaton rocking out - dancing their tails off!

And Eaton passed out on the hour long ride home. Good exploring day!

Enoshima - Part 2 of 3

2012-02-16T21:55:00.000-08:00

Emi fell asleep quickly on the walk to the island, so we tucked into a small restaurant and got a bite to eat.

Off of the menu...Wes chose this. A squid. Eaton and I had rice and curry.

Emi got her picture took quite a few times by other people in her sleeping-state :)

Heading up!

Lots of temples, lots of stairs...lots to explore.

Eaton met a monkey! This monkey was giving Eaton a hug on the leg. It was funny, the Monkey's owner was talking to us for a bit, then he said, "Did you know Whitney Houston dies today?" We did not know that, but it was such a funny thing for him to say.

In the garden.

They were doing a special Valentine's Day night time light display - hence all the disco balls :)

At the bottom of the tower...

Up at the top of the tower!

Eaton said, Nana will love these flowers - take my picture and send it to her!

Chillin'

Both kids loved and were scared of all the dragons all over the island. There's a myth that goes:

Long, long ago, a five-headed dragon lived here and always did evil things to the people in a nearby village. He especially loved to eat children and parents had to continually overcome the sadness of their deaths. Because of this, the village was called Koshigoe (“place people recover from tragedy”). One day, amidst ominous clouds and a strong earthquake, a beautiful maiden came down from the heavens to the sea. An island suddenly appeared as a place for her to land. The dragon was watching her and fell in love immediately. He asked for her hand in marriage. The maiden who knew the dragon did horrible things, turned down his proposal. But she said she would reconsider the proposal if he mended his ways and tried to help people instead. Thereafter, the dragon devoted himself to protecting and assisting people. And the maiden accepted him finally. The island was then developed and improved due to the dragon’s support and protection for a long time. But at last the dragon died a natural death. He laid his body on Fukasawa village (in modern day Kamakura) and his mouth settled on the earth just at the location of Ryu-ko-jinja shrine (“the mouth of the dragon”). If you look closely at the shape of the hills between Kamakura and Enoshima, you might feel that he is still there, watching and protecting the island.

http://japantourist.jp/view/enoshima-an-attractive-island-brimming-with-mythology

Cool sinks

The we walked down to the ocean - and there are 2 caves to explore. The caves were created by the ocean carving them out of the side of the rock. Both kids loved the candles and wanted to hold them.

Took a break to explore the tide pools. Aside from some hermit crabs, they were pretty picked clean. People can come down and take what they find home for dinner!

Back up at the top, we killed some time while we waited for the sun to set. Eaton played with this stick for 20 minutes. Love it.

Heading out to find some dinner

This was our waitress. Eaton does not look like he wants to be there, but after we left, he said - You forgot to take my picture in there! And we had to go back in. This was the roughest time of communication we've had since being here. Even my best pantomimes weren't working well. We finally got it figured out and got our bellies fed.

Then we went off to see the lights!

A busy week...

2012-02-16T00:44:00.000-08:00

So our week has been filled with fun - Monday Wes and I got a sitter and went out exploring for almost 4 hours. Had lunch out and just enjoyed being able to get around without a massive double stroller that Japan was not designed around. Then that night we went to base for Eaton to play basketball. That was my first experience getting both kids on the shuttle from our complex and folding up the stroller and loading it by myself. Wes and I aren't convinced that Eaton is quite ready for organized sports yet, as Wes spends most of the time chasing Eaton and making him follow along. I asked him, though, after the last practice and Eaton told me, "I love basketball - I want to keep going!" So we'll see :) Tuesday was the Valentine's Day party and I think it went great. All the kids - and adults - seemed to be having a great time.

Tuesday night - at almost midnight, I was woken up by a, "Guess what mom?" pouty faced boy. What??? I said. "I barfed in my bed " :( He was up until 4am and threw up a few more times. Also, Emi just knew we were having fun without her and so she decided to be up too. He didn't feel too bad and seemed fine in between puking sessions. He woke up the next day at 6:30am ready to go! And he wouldn't take a nap that day...

Wednesday am we were supposed to have Co-Op, but canceled due to Eaton. Also - a few other kids were sick and were gonna miss too. Took the kids on a 2 hour walk through the hilly streets of Japan with Melissa and Hallie instead. Eaton watched the iPod the whole time and Emi chatted with everyone. Wednesday, Eaton felt fine and ate like nothing was wrong - those he was consuming the BRAT (Bananas, Rice, Apple(sauce) and Toast) diet. But he ate a lot of it. That night I went to a book club with some of the women over here. Nice to get out and chat a bit.

Today, Wes took the boys and Melissa, me and the girls ran around for about 3 hours. So nice to be able to spend that time with such a cool girl. And also so thankful to have a hubby that thinks nothing of hanging with 2 -3.5 year old boys for 3 hours so his wife can have some fun.

Also - for Eaton - this week "hun-gee" became "hun-gar-ee"

I'm working on getting some videos up, as the kids are growing and changing so quickly. It takes quite a bit of time to review, upload, edit and get them up and since I see the kids in person everyday it is kinda a low priority for me. Even sometimes when I am doing this blog - and it takes lot of time too! - I question, is any one even looking at this? Is it worth my time? Does anyone care?

Tomorrow we're heading to The New Sanno for the 3 day weekend. Super excited. Looking forward to exploring Tokyo, watching another rugby game, having a fun/fancy dinner out, celebrating Maggie's birthday, indulging in the massive Sunday brunch, and sleeping in a big, comfy bed.

Here's a few pics from our week...

Ava and Emi watching the boys play B-ball.

He thought it was too loud. The kid's got some sensory issues.

Eaton picked each valentine for each kid, folded them, picked their M&Ms bags and helped tape them. He was very proud of his 20 valentines.

Eaton loves building now. Legos and trains are the favorites. He got another set of Duplos for V-day and I just bought him another set of tracks from the Off-House today (screamin' deal!!!) One day his flip just switched from demolition, to construction.

Emi in her love bug Jammies on V-Day night.

We had a pink bubble bath on V-Day.

My walls are getting covered in art projects...love it.

Found a Dora snow cone maker - like new! - today for $1.00. The boys had some fun with it. Did anyone besides me have a Snoopy one when they were a kid???

Trains.

Love the little table and chairs!

So, this is normal most days. Toy chaos. I have these two cupboards FILLED with toys, games, puzzles, etc. I have another in the hallway filled with art supplies. When we packed up our home to rent, we packed boxes full of the stuff and shipped it over here. We also do weekly visits to second hand stores to see what we can find! Suffice to say, we are never bored.

Another lounger. Remember the old beach chair where you bend it forward, bend it all the way back so it's flat, then pull it forward a few clicks and it stays in place? This is one of those, so it can lay flat, sit upright at 90 degrees - or be anywhere in between!

Enoshima - Part 1 of 3

2012-02-15T22:45:00.000-08:00

So - last Sunday we hit up Enoshima in an all day outing. We left our apartment at 8:30am with 2 awake and excited kids and one small umbrella stroller - and returned just after 8 pm with everyone in one, happy, sleepy piece.

First off we headed to the aquarium. Mt Fuji was beautiful and clear. Wes and I both commented on how big it looks in person - but how small it comes across in these pics!

Behind the boys are a bunch of surfers! Made us long a bit for San Diego!

Emi would have sat here and looked and watched and pointed all day. Eaton, however, treats each window like a scavenger hunt. Fish, check! Crabs, check! and then he runs to the next window. It was a little tough to get him to engage and take the time to slow down.

In each of these glasses is a moon jellyfish

My favorite part - this was so cool to sit in front of this and watch.

Hi crabby!

See Fuji behind the dolphin show! What a view.

Next we walked across the bridge to the island...

Valentine's Day Party!

2012-02-14T04:10:00.000-08:00

I Planned a Valentine's Day party for the kiddos we know over here in Japan. We had about 20 kids in the party room in our complex. It was fun, loud, busy, yummy, messy, and great 2 hours!

Melissa was a good sport and modeled the hats the kids made. I prepped stuff the night before. Cut out LOTS of hearts :)

Maggie and Hallie hanging out

Hugs

Pretty girl in a tutu.

Hallie brought some puzzles, toys and books for the corner and the kids loved it.

We had a number of activities - painting salt dough ornaments, making Valentine's Day hats, making I Love You in sign language hand prints, eating snacks, cookie decorating...

Cookies!!!

Hallie and I - sporting the hats :)

Emi smeared frosting all over her face...

then tried to lick it off!

Most of the kids!

All the moms!

The 3 little girls in their pigtails and tutus - Maggie, Emi & Ava

My favorite decoration of the day - I kept the cutouts from the hearts that went on the hats - and attached them with colored/patterned tape. So cute!

So excited to go through their Valentine boxes!!!

Great day :)

Valentine's Day Morning

2012-02-14T03:47:00.000-08:00

Heart pancakes and presents! Fun, Fun!!!

Smiles for Miles

2012-02-12T16:05:00.000-08:00

Sometime we have a stalled point in the middle of the day - and since my kids love water, we sometimes just have a mid-day bath. Add some fun with 75% off candy canes.

Making Valentines

2012-02-12T16:04:00.000-08:00

Cut sponges into heart shapes - give your kids paint - and see what happens!

ps. a big mess happens :)

Earthquakes

2012-02-11T03:55:00.000-08:00

Today we were at a drive-through on base, and Melissa & I looked at each other as our car was shaking, rocking from side to side. We both said, we're having an earthquake! She asked the person in the speaker if we were having one. They didn't respond. Then we got up to the window, we asked again. They didn't feel anything. So, maybe we were crazy.

Later Melissa's phone told us - Nope - a 5.1 here.

People are just used to them here :)

Girls and Boys

2012-02-11T03:49:00.000-08:00

Melissa picked Emi and I up from home and we left the boys at home why we went out and explored a bit.

Heading up the flat escalator.

Running around the store with 2 pig-tailed American toddlers, you get a lot of attention.

Maggie saw a costumed character and hid like this for 20 minutes. She was obviously not a fan.

Melissa and Emi heading into Off House - a favorite treasure store.

The girls shopped a bit

Maggie - that will look great on you...

Played in dressing rooms

And threw some fits.

And we came home to this! Happy boys playing with shaving cream with their Valentine's Day hats.

Then everyone ate a banana :)

A Rainy Day and Co-Op

2012-02-08T02:46:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, Melissa and Hallie and the kids walked up for a visit. We hung out for a while and shared some mac and cheese.

Wednesday was Co-Op day! On the agenda today - pancakes, show & tell and making valentine's day party decorations!

The kids got to measure and mix their own batter

Pancakes with Chocolate chips!

Eaton is in love with Maggie...

All the kids decorated outlines of themselves and showed them off to the class.

Art time

Story time

Ended the day talking to family...phone call to G&G and Skype with Nana & Papa.

Rugby and SuperBowl - in Tokyo!

2012-02-06T04:08:00.000-08:00

A college friend of Wes plays on a professional rugby team here in Japan, and he was able to get us tickets to the game in Tokyo. It was fun to see rugby here and I know Wes had a blast.

However, we started out the day not too great. After a 2 hour commute to get to out hotel, we sat down to breakfast, only to have Emi puke all over herself. Soaked in stink. It was too early to check in, though. I was so lucky to run into some friends also staying there, in the gift shop, and the so nicely let us use their bath tub to wash up our little girl. She was acting fine before and after the puking incident, so we proceeded with our day - and she kept everything else down the rest of the day. We are now 2 for 2 with kids throwing up at the New Sanno Hotel.

Wes' friend Todd Clever - he's the long haired dude.

Watching intently

See what's happening next to them? No interest.

OH no - we lost Emi too!

Christmas idea for Emi for net year - leg warmers, scarves, gloves (or gubs as Emi calls them)

His future :)

Eaton passed out on his dad's head.

Emi got a Gorilla! It's from the team Todd plays on.

We stayed at the New Sanno. Here I catch my family enjoying cookie dough ice cream without me.

Super Bowl Sunday! (Actually Monday here...) Emi though Pooh was better.

Wes was hoping for a Pats win. He would have won $1,600 on a $10 pick em league that started months ago. Is it legal to say that?

HALF TIME! Heading to the pool :)

Eaton - pats/giants - no matter, I'm watching Manny!

Emi and I fooling around.

The kid is obsessed with chapstick. So I bought her some of her own. She ate an entire tube today...

Tonight Eaton started Basketball! So fun to watch. Really glad I'm the one hanging back with Emi while I watch Wes wrangle Eaton. He likes shooting. Doesn't like dribbling. It's great each kids gets a t-shirt and 2 basketballs!

Then dad gave Eaton a ride to the taxi. No way Momma wants to walk home in the dark and rain with extra bags after benig out all weekend!

When we got home we had some packages! Eaton LOVES getting packaged here. Email me if you don't have our mailing address. The kids love getting treats from home. They take about a week to arrive.

Valentine's Day extreme! Thanks Nana and Papa!!!

Such a fun, full 2 days!!!

Sunny days

2012-02-04T05:04:00.001-08:00

We went on a walk with Melissa and kids to a new park this morning. It was a great way to spend a sunny am.

Eaton's got a cold and he fell asleep on the way there...see the leaning lion in my stroller?

We scored at Off House - 2 chairs and a tent for $10! And Wes disabled the squeakers. These chairs squeaked every time the kids sat on or got up from the seat. Had to take care of that. Emi carries them all over the apartment.

Aunt Kellie - remember these? You got these for Eaton his first Christmas!

Windy days and climbing trees

2012-02-02T21:34:00.000-08:00

It was a funny day. Pretty warm (compared to how it's been), but super windy!

Emi giving Ava a push.

Can you find Eaton?

5k?

2012-02-02T03:14:00.000-08:00

So - on base they have a series of 5k runs. We did the first one. I'm gonna need a lot of convincing to do the next one. I don't like to run. At. All.

Co-Op

2012-02-02T03:07:00.000-08:00

We postponed our Co-Op Preschool a day due to some sick kids - so Thursday morning this week we had some fun downstairs.

Emi's here today... Emi's here today...

Ring around the rosy...

We all fall down.

And then what happened, Maggie?

You can barely tell from the pics, but in the middle of class we had snow flurries. The kids had to go out and run around in the SNOW!

Paint letters in rubber cement. Color over it. Then rub the rubber cement away. It took a little more elbow grease than I realized it would to get rid of the rubber cement.

Painting salt dough hearts

Finished products. Just need to put a ribbon through the hole.

Maggie's loving it. Ava's not.

Outlining bodies.

Homework - take the body home and decorate for next class.

Told Emi to lay down on the paper and this is what she did :)

Then we made playdough!

Everyone picked a color and mixed it in a baggie.

Then we played in it for a bit.

Hi Laura!

2012-01-31T21:40:00.000-08:00

So... every time Emi gets her hands on a phone - or something that looks like it could be a phone - she puts it to her ear and says, "Hi Laura!" Laura is my sister-in-law, who is married to my brother, Evan. Not sure why she is the chosen one, but for now, she is :)

Baby Love

2012-01-31T04:08:00.000-08:00

The kids are making the move from big brother and baby - to siblings. They play, they fight, they share, they hug, Emi bites, they tickle, they cuddle, they're friends.

I wonder why I bought 2 chairs, when they often only use one...

So, these pictures are cute. But know that in the bath, before bed, I was making Eaton's bed (which is in sight of the bath tub) and I heard him scream. I looked in the bathroom and saw Eaton full on crying. I asked what happened (I already knew) and he said Emi bit him on the back. She left killer teeth marker. Poor kid. So, Emi got taken out of the bath and put on timeout - big trouble. Then she had to apologize to Eaton. I brought her back in the bathroom and told her to say she was sorry. She did. Then Eaton said, "I have to say sorry to Emi too. I laid on her and made her hit her head on the bath tub and that's why she bit me. I'm sorry Emi." Ugh.

Tuesday and Some Randoms

2012-01-31T03:58:00.000-08:00

Melissa picked me up this morning and we went in to the base with the girls, while Wes kept the boys for a park outing. We went to Hallie's 40th birthday party at Starbucks and then did a little shopping. We found some screamin' deals at some second hand stores on some fun toys for the kids. They were toys I would not have considered getting normally, but since I was with Melissa - and her car - I didn't have to be able to carry home all my treasures on the stroller!

We came back to our place and the kids had some noodles - with their chopsticks :)

Mags and Em

The boys after the park

Some pics from the last few days...

Eaton loves the bath

Emi loves her boots she got for 200 yen

Don't laugh. You know you vacuum in your underwear, too.

We bought these funny hats at the Off House. When one kid puts one on - the other has to put the other one on.

Emi put it on by herself...can you tell?

Fun at Flower World

2012-01-29T21:44:00.000-08:00

We took a morning outing to Flower World with Eaton's friend, James (and James' mom and dad, Emily and Chris). It was so funny...Emily and I met each other at the first mom's meet-up here in Japan and knew we knew each other from somewhere...but where??? Emily finally figured out. More than a year ago Eaton and James were in gymnastics together at Poulsbo Parks and Rec - Crazy! At the time Emi was only a few weeks old and she spent most of the class in the carrier. Emily and I chatted every class - and now they are here! They'll also be in San Diego when we are there later this year :)

It was pretty cold, so we were all bundled up today. The kids didn't complain, though - they were having too much fun (and they were wearing 6 layers)! We'll probably take a trip or two back here before we leave in May.

Sunday

2012-01-29T03:53:00.000-08:00

Emi peed in the potty! First time! She tries all the time, but this was the first success. We got her a little potty because she sees her brother go and has to do everything he does. The problem is - she's kinda afraid of the big toilet.

Playing with money. Flipping it over, stacking it, making it rows, sorting... He thinks it's just fun and doesn't realize he's working on his fine motor skills.

After a quiet morning at home watching the Husky game we headed to the Off House to see if we could find any treasures. Found a few fun things, then went to the Family Forrest at thew Daiei Mall! We've been coming here since Eaton was 6 months old. We spent an hour here and had to drag the kids out.

Emi made some friends

Emi went back and forth between loving and being unsure of the balloon room.

Wrestling with Mom

We finished the night at Go Go Curry with some of Wes' co-workers. We were the only ones with kids there - they thanked us for providing the entertainment.

Emi loved all the food. Eaton ate white rice.

Eaton can't be bothered...

All bundled up for the walk home.

Wes' Quote of the Weekend

2012-01-29T03:37:00.000-08:00

Said with clenched teeth and furrowed eyebrows,

"Eaton...if you do not stop throwing a fit, I will headbutt you."

You had to be there :)

Mt Nokogiri

2012-01-28T02:39:00.000-08:00

This is the third time we have taken the trip to the Nihon Temple on Mt. Nokogiri, the first - however - on our own. We took a bus, transferred to another bus, took a ferry, walked, took a gondola, and walked (actually climbed stairs) all the way to the big Buddha. It was cold, but we did OK. Good thing we had to walk a lot. It is a challenging trip because, as you can see from the pictures, it's a no stroller outing!

On the bus

Found a way to contain Emi in the bathroom

Starting the big hike. Emi fell asleep in her carrier.

The boys being still like statues.

The statues are some of the 1500 Arhat Statues. The statues are all different and are pretty cool. An Arhat is a spiritual practitioner (in Buddhism) who has realized certain high stages of attainment. THere were made by the same people who made the big Buddha. It took a master artisan and his 27 apprentices 20 years to make them all!

I SEE IT!!!

Can you see Eaton?

The Buddha was originally completed in 1783! It was restored in 1969. It had eroded over time.

The Buddha is 31.05 meters tall - over 100 feet! It's the largest Buddha in Japan.

There were a lot of big rocks - and Eaton wanted to climb them all.

Eaton and Emi both climbed A LOT of stairs today.

Emi refused to be carried for a bit. She wanted to walk.

We made it!

Now resting for a bit...

In the background is where we came from - the boat is the ferry.

Watch your head!

The gondola ride - headed back down.

Having a snack on the ferry.

Emi was walking around the pole saying, Spin, Spin, Spin. Wes told her she could keep doing it as long as she was spinning and not dancing.

On the ferry after the walk - need a beer from a vending machine?

Hi Brother!

We're almost home!

One ride on the zip line (those yellow apartments are ours) before we head in.

And tonight. We. Are. Tired.

Here's links to our previous trips to Mt. Nokogiri

2011

http://hansonsmith.blogspot.com/2011/01/our-first-sight-seeing-trip.html

2009

http://hansonsmith.blogspot.com/2009/01/mt-nokogiri.html

Emi

2012-01-26T04:11:00.000-08:00

She is almost 18 months old and this kid is amazing. She is beautiful and funny. She loves. She loves so much - her brother, her parents, her toys, her blanket, etc. She is a gentle soul - and doesn't like loud noises (never has) or yelling - at or around her. The other day I tried to get the Co-Op kids to be quiet, so I had them all yell for a second. Emi burst into tears. If her brother gets put in timeout, she will dutifully go and sit next to him until the timeout has been completed. She's a hugger. One of my favorite things about this child are her warm, tight, totally-means-it hugs - and when she pulls away from the hug, she usually has a huge, eyes-lit-up, scrunchy nosed grin.

But don't get me wrong, she's pretty tough, too. Being Eaton's little sister, she's been in training for toughness since birth. (For a video of Eaton holding - and "tickling" - Emi hours after she was born - click here) She's probably gonna have a scar under her lip from the table incident a couple weeks ago and she got her first bloody nose after smacking her face on the floor at the Yunesson. She is always trying to keep up. Running, climbing, jumping. If she sees Eaton doing it - sign her up. She is pretty socialable and gets along with kids much better than Eaton did at this age. I think we were at the point with Eaton around this age, where he would tackle, or completely ignore any other kids his age. She loves to do what the older kids are doing. She always wants what her brother has, wants to do what he's doing, wants to see what he's seeing...

She's talking like crazy now. Recently she's started saying some 2 syllable words (More went from Mo to Mo-Wa, and the Wa goes up like she's asking a question) and 2 or 3 word phrases. It's so fun to hear. I think my favorite as of now, is "Hi, Mama!" and "Hi, Daddy!" They come unprompted and randomly multiple time throughout the day, and she always sounds so genuinely happy to see us. There's a few words that she uses signs for as well - more (mo-wa and 2 pointer fingers touching), please (pees ad rubbing her belly), help (haaaap said with both arms up). She is always copying what other people are saying and she's picking up more and more words every day. Eaton likes teaching her words too - then he gets really excited and proud when she does repeat it. She has some very strong opinions and "No, Mine" - "My [insert thing she wants here]" or - "More [insert thing she wants here]" are common phrases around here. When Wes is gone she walks around going, "Dada, wook? Dada, wook?" Yesterday I heard "No! Mine braa-ah (brother)" which made me smile and cringe at the same time.

She loves songs. Little Bunny Foo Foo and Itsy Bitsy Spider are her current favs. We sing a little song that goes "Emi's here today, Emi's here today, We're so happy that Emi's here today." We insert different people's names and she loves it. Today I was walking back with the kids in the stroller and I heard Emi quietly saying in a sing-song voice, "dada...day...dada...day...mama...day...mama...day..." and so on. MELTED my heart, my breath left my chest and made my legs weak. So cute, my baby girl, singing to herself about her mom and dad. I will revisit this many times over the course of her life when she doesn't like us quite as much.

Emi Lou - you are so incredible and I love waking up everyday as your mom. However, I don't love the how early you have me wake up most days though :) I am cherishing this time with you as a baby and can't wait to see all the amazing things (even the things that may be amazing only to me) you will do each and every day of your life.

Co-Op Kids

2012-01-25T04:33:00.000-08:00

Today we had 8 kids (and one baby!) and 5 moms!

We made Valentines! We did it early so that there was time to get them in the mail in time for them to reach the states :)

It was so cute... I rolled the ball to each of the kids and asked them a question. The first question was, "What's your name?" Emi said, "Emi!" The next questions was, "What's your favorite color?" Emi said, "Emi!" Next was favorite food. Emi squealed, "EMI!!!"

Snack time

Eaton got put on timeout. Emi went to sit by him :)

We made footprint butterflies today. All the kids' prints turned out great!

Wes doesn't usually come down, but I needed a little Eaton wrangling help the last few minutes.

Story time

The whole group.

2 days...

2012-01-24T21:45:00.000-08:00

On Monday, Melissa picked me up to run some errands and Wes stayed home with the kids and Jack, who came over to play with Eaton. They had a great time - and so did we!

Here are the cute chairs I got for the kids at the Japanese Target-type store. They love them, except I swear they were more reclined at the store... They stand tall at 90 degrees, but they don't seem to mind too much. They sit flat on the ground and also fold flat. Right now, they're a hit.

Then on Tuesday morning we got together at Melissa's. Jack took this picture. He did pretty good, but Ian is cut off on the left and Melissa and Mags are on the right. So fun!

And that night - it snowed! We went down for a bit and played in the flurries.

Fun with Shaving Cream

2012-01-24T05:40:00.000-08:00

Rough and Tumble

2012-01-24T05:39:00.000-08:00

Eaton is tough. Always running and jumping - and therefore falling. He's always bruised up. I think he's got upwards of 20 bruises on his legs right now.

Sneaky Kid

2012-01-24T05:37:00.000-08:00

So...I'm still having a lot of problems uploading pictures. So instead you get a story today.

Today when we were over at Melissa's house Eaton and Jackkept wanting to go and play hide and seek. We told them no, they had to stay in the living room/playroom, as we didn't want to run around the house after them,nor let them hide throughout the house unsupervised. They did somehow escape, and this is whatEaton said...

Eaton: My plan didn't work.

Me: What plan?

Eaton: Well you said we couldn't play hide and seek, so wedidn't go out of the door by you, we went out the other door - the one youcouldn't see.

Me: Well, that was a pretty good plan.

Eaton: Yeah...but it didn't work (said with a pouty face).

He's already scheming...

Look Who Got a Potty Chair!

2012-01-24T02:52:00.000-08:00

We Are Loud.

2012-01-22T23:58:00.000-08:00

So I think I'm going to need to start taking some anxietymedication...

When we first got to Japan, the wood floors took somegetting used to. The kids run up anddown the hallway, jump/fall off the furniture, they push chairs to and from thetable, each dropped toy echos through the all wood (floors, cupboards, furniture)apartment. We got some carpet squares for the living room which GREATLYdecreased the noise of the toys getting dropped - at least in the living room. I have finally gotten used to the noise. Then today, we met the downstairsneighbor. Who works with Wes. Oops.

He came up this morning to ask us to quiet down and I guessit was slightly (really) awkward when Wes opened the door and they bothrealized they knew each other. So allday I have been scrutinizing every noise. And there are a lot of them. The kids run down the hall and I say,"WALK!!!" The kids drop their toys and I cringe,"CAREFUL!!!" The kids (Eaton) jumps off his bed - and goes straightto time out. Ok that last one has alwaysbeen a big no-no. It's all making my blood pressure rise. Got some hallway carpets today to try and muffle the sounds of the kids running up and down the hallway. We'll see if it helps.

I know we have kids and kids make noise, but I realize thata single dude that lives below a family isn't quite as understanding. I try to be considerate and control my kid'snoise level. But sometimes it's impossible. And it's giving me anxiety.

A Couple Pics Pre-Yunesson

2012-01-22T03:47:00.000-08:00

Eaton was SO excited to see snow on the ground. It had snowed about 4 inches the night before.

The kids on the bus. Emi's got my phone...it's starting early.

On the standing room only train. Emi was stored as luggage.

Emi and I next to a sleeping woman. Everyone over here sleeps on the train.

Eaton hanging with more sleeping people on the train. This woman was brave to sit by him, as when she was getting on the train Eaton chucked his cup to me - I was sitting across the isle from them - not tossed, chucked. He almost nailed her.

We stopped for Pizza. We got the Margherita - which was good. We passed on the Seafood and the Tuna, Mayo and Corn pizza. Ick.

Snowball Fight

2012-01-21T16:49:00.000-08:00

Here is our snowball fight at the hot spring. Eaton and I did this for a well over an hour, he loved it (so did I). I thought the lens was fogging up, so that's why I was dunking the camera. After watching the video it looks like it was just the screen fogging so the dunking was probably unnecessary.

The Yunessun - A Post with Too Many Pics...

2012-01-21T06:07:00.000-08:00

On this rainy Saturday, we thought, what could we do? So we made the long trek to The Yunesson in Hakone, near the base of Mt. Fuji. It's an indoor/outdoor hot spring. All sorts of different pools - some with just water, and others infused with things such as coffee, wine, green tea and even chocolate. All warm (some super hot) and wonderful. It took about 2.5 hours to get there and we had to ride four trains and take one bus. Long trek, but it was totally worth it. The kids did great and had a fantastic time at the park.

I bought a waterproof camera last year, but wasn't impressed with the quality - so back to Costco it went. This time we used a waterproof case we got for Christmas and it worked pretty well. I figured out pretty quick, that to get a good pic you can't really use the flash. So once we turned off the flash, we got some fun shots. No flash, however means more blur and the person has to stand relatively still...a challenge in our family. Don't think the pics capture all the fun we had today.

Now, I had some issues with some of the uploading, so pics may not be in the exact order and it's late and I don't feel like messing with it anymore :) The pics are pretty much in backward order, with the exception of a few randoms.

The characters there...All square headed cat-ish beings.

There were all type of pools - which supposedly give you different type of health benefits. Here we are bathing in red wine.

Green Tea.

Ice cream after lunch. The ticket prices were pretty good, but the food prices were pretty steep!

Family in Wine

Practicing Karate in Green Tea

Ice Cream

Ok - no, I am not covered in ice cream. We were in the chocolate baths when it came time for the "bathing in chocolate" time. They walked around, pitting liquid chocolate in your hands and you're supposed to rub it all over you. Eaton decided he wanted to eat it. Off my face.

Emi just kept wiping her face, and licking her fingers.

The boys floating in the Dean Sea hot spring. Full of floaty salt.

One thing that was SO fun, was that it was all snowy there! Eaton loved playing in the snow - then running back into the pools to get warm. Emi didn't really want anything to do with the snow.

Yes, They are making snow angels in their bathing suits.

I am SO mad that this pic is blurry. Grrrrr... Eaton has a lot of fake smiles for the camera and I love it when I catch a real one. Like the one you can see above through the blur of a shaky handed woman covered in chocolate balancing on one foot.

Here's the pool where the fish eat the dead skin off your toes. Emi and I chose to keep our feet out of the water. I did it when we went 3 years ago and do not wish to ever do it again. I think Eaton stayed still enough to get one tiny nibble. He tried so hard to stay still, but this kid is a wiggler. Wes however, I think set the record for the most fish - at least while we were there.

Goggles

In the coffee pool. This is Emi crying after she got coffee poured on her. Like the chocolate pool, they infuse the pools every so often and it becomes crowd participation time. Bucket of cold coffees were thrown. Emi was not impressed. After this we sat down and she fell asleep on me. Because of this, we missed the wine infusing...

Earlier in the day...

Ending the day.

While Emi slept on me Wes took Eaton out to play in the snow a bit more. I guess the two had snowball fights for an hour :)

click here are pics from our 2009 trip Eaton has grown a little since then

Eggs

2012-01-20T03:37:00.000-08:00

Over here eggs come in a 10 pack - not a 12 pack or dozen as you may call it. There are also 10 little egg sized holes for eggs in the fridge. Plastic sealed containers - no egg cartons. Funny differences :)

Just standing around...

2012-01-18T23:41:00.000-08:00

Eaton loves Duplos...and he constantly is saying, "Look at my tower!"

Silly Girl :)

More Random iPhone pics...

2012-01-18T23:40:00.000-08:00

Some of our packing insanity... Thanks mom and dad for letting us completely take over your home for 2 weeks :)

Emi cheering for Huskies during the bowl game...We were so close!

Emi & Curtis.

The Great Wolf Lodge was beautiful!

Showing muscules

Out of order pic - but more packing mayhem.

Emi playing with her doggy she got for Christmas

Coloring at GWL

Eaton and his tattoo.

All smiles :)

Co-Op Preschool - Day 2

2012-01-17T18:52:00.000-08:00

Today went well again at preschool. We had 5 kids - and the noise and energy of that many kids fills the room! Songs were sang, we painted with ice cubes, built puzzles, played games, blew bubbles, made oobleck, ate snack...kids seemed to have a great time!

My loose plans - I always just have a list of things and we go through them. Mostly in order. I try to fill and hour and it turns into a bit more.

Group alphabet puzzle

Eaton was in time out - the girls decided to keep him company

Snack time

Making Oobleck - Corn starch and water. Makes a substance that is liquid and solid. Lots of fun for kiddos. I must say the moms may have played a bit with it as well.

Insect cards - what card do you have? What do you think it is? They were all pretty yucky bugs - perfect for kids.

Working on our Japanese words while eating treats from the Japanese 100 yen store.

The hippity hop!

Finishing with some coloring.

A Lazy Day

2012-01-17T03:33:00.000-08:00

Tuesday we expected to go to base to do Tot Class, but found out it had been canceled until at least February. Bummer. Instead, we went to the park in the morning and met some of the families from Sakura. We chatted with Nana and Papa (Carlyn's mom and dad) for a while on Skype and they gave the kids a tour of the snow and read them some books. At Eaton's request they even made snow balls and put them in the freezer so that the kids could play with them when we get back to WA. Melissa brought over our final box that we shipped along with some Diet Pepsi (Hooray b/c I was out!). We got some new toys and some clothes we had shipped from SD and had some fun playing with the new treasures. We watched movies, played with toys, made messes and just chilled all day. I also did a bit of planning for the next day of Co-op.

Yes, the room is destroyed and no, I don't care what you think about that.

They loved the new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse playset

And we shipped the Kitty Piano!

Eaton loves chopsticks

Both kids love doing art projects right now. Crayons, stickers, scissors (for Eaton) and they're in heaven.

She had bed head all day long.

Yum!

Fun with Dad

2012-01-17T03:20:00.000-08:00

Wes gets creative when playing with the kids and a new favorite is a mixture of a Nerf dart gun, plastic Disney characters and a table top dodge ball game Wes got for Christmas.

Eaton doesn't like to wait his turn.

The targets

Shooting from across the room

Some iPhone Pics...

2012-01-16T18:39:00.000-08:00

I just downloaded some pics from the past few months. Here's some Cali pics...

Relaxing on our balcony in Coronado

Pancakes and Nutella

The beach. I miss it.

Finally let himself get all the way buried

Me and a REAL Emmy! My cousin won one for his work on American Idol. We forgot to get a pic of Emi holding the Emmy. Next time.

A Busy MLK Day!

2012-01-16T02:17:00.000-08:00

We started out the day walking and taking the bus to Kannonzaki Park. It was about a 30 minute walk, a 10 minute bus ride and another 15-20 minute walk up to the slide. For a video of last year's run down the huge roller slide click here. We met Melissa, Jack & Maggie there and hiked up the hill to the big roller slide. It's a big park and we could have spent more time there, but it was COLD! Another day we'll spend a bit more time exploring the big park, but we need it to be a bit warmer first.

All bundled up!

Wes took both strollers for a bit up the hills. Superstar. Superdad.

At the top of the hill!

WHEEEEEEEEE!!!

Melissa took this pic of us getting on the bus to head home.

Then some new friends came over for dinner. Annie, Matt and Lily came over to visit! Eaton was MAYBE a bit excited and we MAY have let him watch a movie in his room while they were here and that MAY have let us have some great conversation! Matt is over here working on the same project as Wes and they live a few floors below us. Lily is 4 months younger than Emi. So fun!