Japan

We're here in Japan FINALLY. It's been a long few days, so long in fact that I keep forgetting what today is. We got here late Thursday night and are still trying to get our bodies used to the time change. All of us did well on the flights (ears are okay! yay!) but we get tired early and want to go to bed, and then when we do we wake up really early (like 5:30am early) and then we're tired throughout the day. We're trying to get on some kind of schedule. We still don't have Internet access readily available (we drove to get this connection) so I'm making do without my beloved email and blog. Actually it's not that hard, just annoying.

We bought a van today--I am the proud owner of a Mitsubishi Dion. NEVER AGAIN will we own a mini-van, but here? I needed a van. It's got three rows of seats and the buttons for the radio are in Japanese. We're still looking for something for Josh.

Thank you for all the prayers for safe travel. We are slowly getting used to the way of life over here (driving on the left side of the road is just WRONG) and are looking forward to driving off base soon. Pictures are coming soon, I promise!

Happy Father's Day ( a few days late)

I just realized I skipped right over Father's Day on the blog. I posted a picture on Facebook but totally forgot to put it here. So. Here it is:We didn't do anything special for Father's Day, unless you count Josh cooperating in taking some pictures with the girls as being "special". He's not a big picture taker so for him to readily agree to my request, I was surprised. The girls, however, did NOT cooperate and so this is about the only picture I got that was decent.

We spent Father's Day with Josh's family. But now it's just us, just the four of us, and we're spending some quality time together. Well, not if you count the time I'm spending writing on the blog. But other than that, quality time. In fact, as I'm writing this, Callie and Josh are sharing a bowl of Rainier cherries from Pike Place Market. Callie's enjoying spitting the cherry "pitbulls" in the trashcan. Avery's taking a much needed nap (she was horrible at Pike Place, even after she got to pick out and buy her favorite-at-the-moment flower). Everyone's content.

Happy Father's Day!

How to tell if your kids have never flown before:

• the 3-year-old constantly asks, "Are we flying yet?" while we're still at the gate. Loading the plane.
• the 3-year-old constantly asks, "Are we in Japan yet?" while we're still on the ground. In Charlotte, NC.
• the 3-year-old yells, "CAN I HAVE SOME JUICE? ARE WE FLYING YET?" while wearing her headphones
• the 5-year-old keeps turning the volume up on the DVD player because she can't hear it. And she's NOT wearing her headphones.
• the 5-year-old is overly excited about eating Pringles on the plane. Pringles that cost her Daddy $3 a pop.
• the 5-year-old thinks the ground below looks "like a giant map" and thinks she can see "cactuses" in the desert as we fly over. At 32,000 feet.
• the 3-year-old asks, "Are we on the ground yet?" while we're still in the air. At 32,000 feet.
• the 3-year-old asks, "HEY! Where's Grandpa?!" after we've already taken off. (Grandpa drove us to the airport this morning)

One 5.5hr flight down, one 10hr flight to go. Plus another 2.5hrs after that. We're in Seattle right now for a couple nights. And then we'll be on our way to Japan. Ready or not.

More pictures

What to do with restless kids:

JUMP!

Pictures

Happy Early Birthday, Callie!

We gave Callie an early birthday party on the 6th of June, so she could have a fun day with some of her friends. Really it was just an excuse to eat cupcakes. Since we'll be in Japan when her actual birthday rolls around in August, we had a get together at the park and had gobs of kids eat pizza and all of our cupcakes. All 36 of them. I had just one.

Since the party was at a local park, there was no way to reserve picnic tables unless I got there really early in the morning. So I got there really early in the morning (8:45am). The party didn't start until 11am. But by 10am all of the tables were taken so I'm glad I got there early.

The kids had fun and we only had one full pizza left over. Out of six pizzas, five were eaten. I'm so glad everyone came hungry! We didn't do presents this time because our house was in the process of being packed up, but a few friends came armed with homemade cards which Callie (and me, too) loved. Callie always does homemade cards for her friends and it was nice that some of them reciprocated.


Daddy dared Callie, "I'll put my face in the water if you will."

So she did.

Avery picked the sand off her toes.

And then had fun on the swings...

...with Daddy's help.

Blowing bubbles, one of the "treasures" in the treasure hunt.

Happy birthday, sweet girl.

More inconvenience. And LOTS of praise.

We left our house on Thursday. Said goodbye to our neighbors of 4 years and headed out of town. Never to return. Probably.

We are now officially on our way to Japan. After a long drive Thursday afternoon/evening, a stop overnight in an RV park, and then a super long drive Friday, we're finally at my parents' house. Our trips to NC are usually uneventful to say the least. This time? Not so much.

First: We got out later than we wanted to. Josh wanted to leave at 2pm, we left a little after 3pm. But that's not too bad considering we took some time out to visit with our neighbors AND paint some baseboards AND clean the house for the new owners.

Second: It was so hot Thursday and the Suburban had to work so hard to pull the trailer, that the engine light came on. Thankfully it wasn't the Service Engine Soon light, it was just some light that says the car is not burning fuel efficiently and something needs to be checked soon. So we kept driving.

Third: It took us 6 hours to get to the RV park because we were pulling the trailer. Normally, without the trailer, it would have taken 3 hours.

Fourth Eh, forget it, it's a long list: The water at the RV park was NASTY. So the girls drank Josh's Powerade right before bed. But they slept well!

We pulled out "on time" on Friday morning, but got stuck in traffic a few miles from our exit for I-295. It was from a truck that was on fire. I took pictures. Of course.

No more incidents until we got to Myrtle Beach, where we will be keeping the trailer to try to sell it. It was there that we had to unpack the car, get everything out of the trailer (all our suitcases) and repack the car. Josh and I were both drenched with sweat when we were done. Thank God our A/C in the Suburban was fixed the month before.

Around 10:30 last night we pulled into my parents' driveway. Callie had just woken up and Avery was still asleep and Trim the dog was wired and crazy from being cooped up for so long in the car. I got out and heard a hissing sound. Walked around to the other side of the car and heard my dad say, "You've got a flat tire."

We unloaded the car while the air slowly leaked out of the rear tire around the valve stem. Seems as though this has happened before. So this morning we had AAA come change out the tire and put on the spare. Funny how we never used AAA before, and yet in the last 5 days we've used them twice.

Yep, that's real funny.

The point, if I can ever get there, is we have been plagued by inconveniences on this trip. From the brakes on the car, to the house, to the tire...all inconveniences. And that's all they are. I am not blind to the fact that the Lord has covered us with blessings, HUGE blessings in these last few weeks. If I dwell on what could have happened if I'd driven off with no brakes, if we'd had the blow-out with the tire this time while towing the trailer, I would go crazy. Literally. It's just too much to think about. Instead I have been spending my time dwelling on Him, thanking Him for keeping us safe, for all the annoying happenings that could have been so much worse, but weren't. My God is a big God. He is bigger than our circumstances. And yet, He's been in our circumstances, with us, the whole time. Praise the Lord.

In motion

Inconvenience and praise

The last thing I wanted to do today was sit in the Walmart parking lot with two bored girls waiting for a tow truck. I thought I was going up there to get the oil changed in the Suburban and then I'd be on my way to finish the rest of my errands (run to base, deliver a CD of pictures, get paid for said pictures (which was an unexpected blessing itself), shred some papers at Josh's office with their Super Shredder, turn our DVR in to our cable company, drop off some donated items at a charity downtown, and pick up some things at the Post Office). But God had other plans.

The girls and I ate breakfast in Walmart while we were waiting for the car to be done. I felt so white-trash-ish eating a McDonald's breakfast while walking around Walmart, but it was early in the morning and not many people were there. After 20 minutes of walking around I heard them call my name over the store intercom and just knew they had some kind of problem with my car.

Yep. They didn't have the oil filter in stock. So I just decided to leave and get the oil changed somewhere else. Got the girls strapped in the car, hopped in the driver's seat, and pressed the brake pedal to shift into reverse. Only when I pressed the brakes, they went all the way to the floor. SO not normal. I tried them again. And again. And for half a second, I considered leaving anyway. But they just didn't seem normal to me. And my stubborn streak took over and I just knew one of the Walmart mechanics did something to the brakes accidentally and I was NOT going to leave that parking lot without telling someone OFF.

Okay, not really. But I did go back inside and get the manager and she called over the chief mechanic and we all went back out to the car. I popped the hood so they could look at who-knows-what and I suddenly noticed a big puddle by my left front tire. Brake fluid. Leaking.

Suddenly I was thankful for my stubbornness. Suddenly I was very thankful that I didn't just leave anyway and think the brakes would be fine. And I was thankful we had not canceled our AAA policy yet. See, kids? Procrastination is GOOD.

I called Josh, told him what happened, then politely told the Walmart guy that No, I would not be driving my car to the nearest mechanic WITHOUT ANY BRAKES, thanks for the suggestion.

The tow truck showed up within 40 minutes of me calling AAA and we had the Suburban towed to a nearby mechanic we'd been to before. So now we're down to one car with me still needing to go drop off donated stuff, go to the post office, and turn in the DVR. But at least I delivered the CD and got paid (twice as much as I expected, which will pay for a new UNchipped 50mm lens!) and we are all safe and sound. Praise God, praise GOD! Oh, and our other car has good brakes.

Avery-ism

in the parking lot of Kohl's...
Avery: "Uh-oh, Mama, someone left that on the floor."

Me, looking down at where she's pointing: "Yep."

Avery, halfway to the entrance of Kohl's, turns around: "That's a big tire that someone left."

Me, thoroughly confused: "A what-now? Tire? Where's a tire?"

Avery points to our car: "Over there. A big, long tire. Like Daddy has tires."

Me, finally getting it: "Ohhh, you mean the shoelace we saw on the ground by our car?"

Avery: "Yes."

Avery couldn't remember the word shoelace so she said the next best thing: what the shoelace does, which is tie your shoes. So it's a tie-er.

Genius.