birthday cake

I know it looks gross, but we need to be creative with Gavin's egg allergy. I get sad for him when he can't eat cake like everyone else on special occasions - so I found a bunch of alternative ways to make a cake without eggs. This particular one was posted on a lot of different sites so I gave it a shot. It looks gross - but was super easy and got great reviews. I think it turned out great (better than using applesauce). It is sweet with a moist, but spongy texture. A perfect alternative for us! Also, Evelyn made the whole thing...with just a little help from me at the end for stirring. She also frosted it (and learned a secret trick from me on how to eat the frosting out of the can before you put it on the cake :-)!

I posted a few pictures of her opening her early birthday gifts (that she opened at breakfast so she could call the East Coast people to thank them). She loved everything! She opened each one, even the outfits, one by one admiring and ohhing and ahhing. She even took each pair of Princess panties out of the package to play! She got a new Wii game, DS game, her annual outfits from Godmother Eileen, clothes, pjs, some homemade felt food, money and a renewed subscription to National Geographic Wildlife magazine for kids. What a spoiled little girl!!!

Obstacle Course Park - lots of pics (sorry!)

I was rummaging through some of the suggestions for local activities to do with kids today and I cam across one for a roller slide park. These are huge slides with rolling pin type things throughout the slide that roll with the kids as they go down. I called my friend, Michele, to ask for directions or advice and she told me about ANOTHER park near here that they call the obstacle course park. Their family ended up joining us since they had only been once and wanted to go again! It was so much fun!!!

It was about a 15-20 minute drive - primarily because of all the traffic lights. Once we got there we parked and walked across the street into some woods. There were "stairs" built from wooden planks that led the way up a slippery steep hill. Along the way we passed teeter totters, walking beams, springy circle things, nets, webs, slides, forts, huts, zip cords, tree houses, hills, more stairs, bridges, ultimately ending up at a super cool playground area. It was so nice to be outside surrounded by gorgeous forests! It was totally worth all the bug bites we got! We did see some huge spiders too along the way - they even sounded like they were hissing at us!

The kids liked the huge slide the most. They kept running back up the stairs/hill to get back to the top. It was quite a work out! I am sure they will sleep soundly tonight! We also learned a valuable lesson on the zip lines....always test out how fast it is first on an adult!!! We learned this the hard way, sending Evie a bit too quick :-) She was a trooper though and shook it off! The picture I took of her is right before she hit the end of the rope and bounced back :-) We also learned that the mud is super slick - so always stay on the guided course! I think Michele and I ended up with the most mud on us from slipping down a few hills while not using the stairs.

I am so grateful to have friends to go on fun adventures with and teach us new sights around Japan. Thank E family!!! I also posted a picture of the road we take to get there. You can see how small it is and how close the truck is to us!

Early Birthday Gift

I was running errands on Friday and I stopped by the Officer Spouse Club's Thrift Shop. They had just gotten in 2 super cute pink and white (perfect for Evie's room) doll houses. They were about 3 feet tall and came with some Barbie Dream house accessories (even though it was not a Barbie house...it looked custom built to be LIKE a Barbie house). One had the front door missing and they were selling it (with the inside furniture) for only $10!!! I quickly grabbed it for Evie's b-day gift and headed home.

Unfortunately, we needed space in our car to get some top soil so I had to bring in the house. We ended up giving it to her for an early gift. She played with it for hours (literally)! It was the best $10 gift we spent on her :-) She doesn't really have many Barbies (maybe one or two) so she used her Princesses (Barbie sized) as well as her mini-princesses to be used as babies.

Japanese Culture Groups

Tonight I had my first class (a 10 week course) for learning Japanese Culture. There were about 25 Japanese citizens (mostly from Olympus Company - cameras/optical) and about 25 Americans that were broken into 3 groups. I knew 2 other ladies in the class (which always makes things more fun :-) and we all ended up in Group 1. Everyone went around the table (Japanese folks first) and introduced ourselves and stated our hobbies. It was fun to watch and hear the Japanese speak in all English. Some were very good while others were just learning - but still very understandable. Some of them made handouts with their pictures (to help us remember them) with info about themselves. The guy next to me was an engineer in the microscope department as well as a virtual reality techy. He wrote "I wonder being friendly with you" - meaning he wants to become friends with us. A girl near us wrote "My smile is my charm point. I love watching the movie which title is 'Fast and Furious'". It was too cute!!!

After the introductions, one of the elder ladies performed a traditional tea ceremony. They taught us that it originated in China but was brought to Japan in the 16th century because it incorporated many zen customs. We learned how to look for signals from the host before we eat/drink. We learned how to place the tea bowl, rotate it before sipping, taking a 3.5 small sips and then giving feedback. The last sip should be a slurp to remove any remaining tea. Then we wiped the area where we sipped from.

Of course, I did not bring my camera (grrrr....) but I will try to find someone who did take pics so I can post some. Next week we are learning about calligraphy, then cooking Japanese Food, then origami, then out to karaoke, visiting Tokyo and finally a graduation ceremony! How fun does all that sound!!!???

The course is the most sought-after activity on base and you are actually only allowed to participate ONE time during your tour here. I am so glad I was signed up early :-)

I also signed up for another culture course with some friends. There will be 6 of us, and 6 Japanese women. We will rotate months (Oct will be on base...teaching them American culture, Nov will be off base...learning Japanese culture). So in Oct we will make a pumpkin craft, make caramel apples, eat chili and soup in breadbowls, and make some apple cider. Very American! We met today to create the schedule and activities for our months. I can't wait - as it seems like a truly intimate experience in Japan. We will be in their houses, their restaurants, etc and they will be in ours. So fun!

I am starting to get more involved with lots of things (Mah Jongg, golf, Bunco, PTO, etc) which is good. I love getting involved and feeling part of the community!

how to make a house a home...

Start by putting pictures up!!!

best parts of the day...

#1. Patrick's team won!!! And the other med squad team came in 3rd. Out of 10 teams - that is awesome!!!

#2. Girlfriend who rocked the competition shows up in a hot pink slammin' dress with 3 inch black lace up heels. Girl knows how to kill it on and off the field :-)

#3. Moment of silence to honor the fallen. We will always remember.

#4. Giving daddy hugs at the end of it all and telling him how proud we are!

I'ma let you in on a secret...

While preparing for his Combat Endurance challenge the other night, Patrick told me, "I'ma let you in on a secret. Every guy out there wants more than anything to have his wife be able to look back one day and say...'my man was a stud'. More than the guy himself wants to think it, he wants her to think it." I already have a bazillion instances where I KNOW my man is a stud...but he took it to a whole new level with this challenge.

The competition is to benefit the 9/11 Run to Remember. They raise money from the different teams to go towards a great cause. It is a 3 mile course broken into 1/4 mile segments. The first is just a jog/run. Next is an ammo can carry (40 lbs each * 2), then a humvee push (4 members push the hummer while one steers), an "injured warrior carry (one person fireman carries another while 2 others carry the 5th member), a low crawl (think barbed wire), 50 lb sand bag carry, litter/stretcher carry (4 people to carry 220 lbs on a stretcher - although Patrick's team ended up with just him and another guy doing it all because 2 guys couldn't do it and the 3rd person - A GIRL WHO WAS AMAZING - would've thrown off the balance so she helped walk the other 2 and encourage them), and they ended with a 3/4 Muck run with a 60 lb backpack. Patrick was the first to finish at the end so he ran back to help others at many stages (if you see him at the end in some of the pictures that is why). He helped some of the guys carry the sand bags, he crawled back to push the guys through the low crawl, he and another guy did all the stretcher carry, and he even went back and helped carry a guys backpack across with him to finish for the team! I was so proud of the whole team - especially when I heard people talking about Patrick in the crowds. Not many people know who he is (since we are newer) so he definitely took people by surprise! No one expected the geeky med squad to do well - but they kicked A**!

And I have to say I am so glad that the girl was on his team. She made 90% of the guys out there feel shame because she had to carry the same weight, run the same distance, everything!!! She was an inspiration for everyone! She even put Patrick to shame when they took a picture and they had to flex. This woman's arms were the most cut I have ever seen!!!! She is a nurse in the OB dept :-) Good for her!!! They even have marines come up from other bases to try to compete...but so far the geeky med squad is in the lead :-)

After the event, Patrick came home, made lunches, helped clean, hung curtains, fixed walls and then went back to help volunteer as a medic since there was only one guy and lots of people were dropping out and needing to be sent to the hospital. Seriously...my man IS A STUD!!!!!!!

Gavin's real first day

Today Gavin finally went to school all day! He has been looking forward to kindergarten since last year :-) So he was counting down the weeks/days/hours/minutes until he got to go. Once we crossed the street behind our house and entered the school yard, Gavin asked me if he could walk alone to his class. I almost cried - but was also so proud that I know he will flourish in school! But, the answer was still no - it is a base rule that kids in kindergarten cannot walk by themselves yet. Next year, buddy :-)

Showa Park

Yesterday was Labor day - so Gavin had the day off, but Evelyn still had her school (not a Japanese holiday). Patrick also had off so we decided to venture out to a local park. We took one of Gavin's new friends also - and made our way. I felt bad though because the park was literally down the street from Evie's school. So we sent her on the bus and went on our separate way. There are so many activities to do at the park, but we decided to stay in the section with a lot of fun kid activities. We paid for parking - but were afraid the park was closed because there were only 2 other cars there. But, since it was not a Japanese holiday, everyone was working. So it was open and we had the place basically to ourselves. If you check out the link above and look at the pictures, you will see tons of people. But there was not one other family in sight until lunchtime!

The kids had fun and Patrick and I were in awe of the beauty behind the park (and the fact that no one else was there). We had a great time until we were playing on the net course and Gavin decided to run up a hill and slide down. We told him not to do it - but he didn't listen and ran to the top of the hill only to realize that the ground was burning hot (he had his shoes off because of the nets) so he was screaming and crying and couldn't get off the hot ground. Patrick had to try to hurdle the nets to run up to him - but by then he had burned the bottoms of his feet and sat on the ground (he had shorts on that were long to protect his legs thank goodness). That basically put an end to our trip - which was ok though because it was HOT out and we had to head back to get Evie.

We are glad we found the park though - and plan to go back again when it is not as hot out so we can explore more areas :-)

Evie's first bus ride to school

Today was the first day that Evelyn took the bus to school. I never thought I would have a child take the bus (since I am a SAHM and can drive her - I thought it was useless to take a bus) but after long deliberation and discussions about both kids' school schedules (and the fact that all the other kids from the base take the bus) we decided to try it out.

In true Evelyn fashion, she pushed to the front of the line and jumped on the bus without even looking back or blowing us kisses. And of course, she decided she wanted to sit in the front seat next to the driver (which I am not sure is even allowed) but she did it. One of her friends joined her and off they went! She looked a bit nervous - but also was all smiles! I wish my baby girl good luck :-)