Words of the Month

The other day my sister Hillary told me on the phone that we needed to post more with Ethan talking - so we did include the Easter video but I thought I'd better let you in on some of our new lingo straight from Ethanese - Ethan's favorite words right now are "compy" (which is usually a derogatory term) and it is stated in multiples ie "Compy compy compy compy..." Our other new word is "jamoted" - I have no idea what that means - maybe it means something like demoted - but we all get called Jamoted a lot....try them out - they're fun to say!

Easter

Dyeing Easter Eggs...

in the buff!

TADAAA!

Ethan levitates an egg just like a master magician!

Well not really but it does look a little creepy - like some glowing orb of power conjured up by magic...

Happy Hunting

Ethan cashes in...the Easter Bunny left a whole bucket full of fun stuff...and the favorite is....

Somebody was really excited about playdough...

so much for the candy, silly balloons, dart gun, books, and eggs.

Jared finds his stash...He was so excited when he found it that he did a little victory dance and squeaked like a girl. His favorite...obviously the dart gun...hmmm I think the Easter Bunny was anticipating wants but not focusing on the real reason to celebrate this holiday when he dropped that into the bucket! OOOPS!

This is a stick up!

Kinugasa Park

A Saturday Walkabout...

This first photo is the street we walk along to reach the train stations and any shopping we want to do out in town - just thought ya'll would like to see what "home" looks like here... We began our trip with a walk through Verny Park (Yes, it is named for a French guy - so not Japanese)...

After we caught the train to Kinugasa we walked through this covered shopping center/walkway and then through a little tunnel that crossed under the tracks and up into a neighborhood where we wandered in the general direction of the place we wanted to go...after about 15 minutes we asked someone for directions....which of course was delivered in perfect Japanese so when we missed the turn off the guy was referring to he shouted at us and drove his car to the trail head we needed - so many people here are so nice!

On the trail...the right one this time!

Group shot...at the base of the park

Bonzai!

At least it looks like he could be saying that...Just in case you missed the enthusiasm in the group shot we wanted to do a special close up for the little guy.




















The boys loved playing at the play ground and loved the roller slide that ran just above the picnic area.

The Playground

After Scott told Ethan he didn't have to crawl he had a little more fun.

The Obstacle Course


Scotty, here at the top of the climbing course......>>>

Uh, what can I say? The Japanese love obstacle courses and this is one of the most impressive we've come across. Of course Scott couldn't pass up the opportunity to test his skills.

The boys loved the wild life at the park - namely the fuzzy caterpillars. Scott and I admired the landscape and the flowers while the boys admired the bugs and sticks.

The Bridge

The Stairs

At the end of the dirt path the stairs begin...

and continue...stairs, more stairs

and more stairs!

Jared needed a little break and so did Mom! There were so many stairs set into the hillside - it took us about 20 minutes to climb all the way to the top.

Can't get enough of those cherry blossoms!

The View

The view from the top of the hill - this is Yokosuka City.

The Flowers...wish I knew what they were! The flowers were all along the trails.

A dollar isn't what it used to be...

A dollar isn't what it used to be...

but it can buy more than you think!

They say that a penny saved is a penny earned so Jared and Ethan invested the hefty sum of 50 cents each to purchase their first car! Yes, folks it's true for $1 Jared and Ethan bought the family sedan you see before you. Scott told the boys that if they bought the car that when we leave they can split the profits. Make and model? A 1995 Nissan Laurel - engine included! It runs all over base and may eventually roam the freeways of Japan carrying us to exotic destinations like Disneyland Tokyo, Narita airport (if any of you come to see us), and the roller slide parks. Jared complained of being too tired to walk and Ethan always wants to be carried so thanks to the boys we now have "Japaneser" wheels!

Tsukayama Park

Sakura Picnic

Our cherry blossom picnic at Tsukayama Park

This is spring at its best!

Brothers...

A dirt slide - imagine that! Where there's a will, there's a way - or does it go like this - Where there's a boy, there's play?

Just a few of our friends from the branch that went with us, Darwin, Ryan, and Chris. Good times, good times!

We had a great time at our picnic - we were only missing two things - Scott and all of you! The Japanese seemed impressed with the number of blue eyed blonde haired kids roaming the hillside. One older lady moved her picnic closer to ours so she could see all of the kids at once. One gentleman was so kind as to approach me and give me a brochure about the park that was in Japanese and English. The Japanese are so generous! Another notable incident: Jared was having a bit of an allergic reaction to all those beautiful blossoms (and for those of you who know Jared, he never does anything by halves) and he sneezed - an all out Jared shoestring sneeze! I was at the bottom of the hill and by the time I climbed up to where he was with tissue in hand there was a Japanese gentleman who was kindly wiping Jared's nose for me - WOW! How nice is that?!?!? When I thanked him with my very limited "Domo arigato gozaimashta" he said "doitashimashte" and "You have a very handsome boy" in English. I am always amazed at how kind the people are. Thank you Japan!