Yup, it's official, I'm a tightwad, lol! Wink, wink! : )

Early Saturday afternoon, I went into my attic and pulled out the size 2T clothes boxes out. See this fairly large plastic sealed box? Well, I had to pull out 2 of them. Both boxes were mixed with summer and winter clothes in size 2T. I went through the box and got out, just the summer stuff and packed back up the winter stuff for later when winter comes. I might mix seasons in my boxes, but I won't mix sizes. That way it's perfectly easy for me to find whatever size Noah needs next.

They fit great, and I tried them on Noah. They're a size 2T. Khaki shorts with cargo pockets. I have 2 of these and with messes and spills toddlers "on the go" can have, is why I originally bought 2 for Branden. I washed them, before I packed them all away originally. They actually still smelled like fabric softener still to be honest with ya, fresh and clean and perfect still. But I still washed all of the stuff again this afternoon anyways. I know some of you might not want your kids to wear last years fashions. And given the last time Branden was age 2, was 3 years ago, lol. So we are talking 3 years old fashions here. But, I really don't care in the least! I figure clothes are clothes! They're all perfect condition. They're all name brands and good brands. So if my little ragamuffin Noah, can get away, with wearing his bigger brother's recycled, hand me downs or "inherited clothes", as I prefer call them, ha ha ha! So be it! Plus boy's fashions really don't change as much or as fast as girl's fashions do. And all the money saved...could mean yet another upcoming vacation even! Ha ha ha! : )

Here's just a teeny tiny peek of some of the stuff we got from the boxes. And keep in mind, heaps more not even shown were found as well. These 2 Gap brand polo type tops. I clearly remember buying these, these are in size 3T but they ran so freakishly small, that when Branden was 3, he couldn't even wear them. And since I ordered online, I just kept them vs, sending them back. I threw them in the size 2T box long ago, and sure enough, they fit Noah perfectly! So he will be wearing these all this spring and summer. And the cost for us? Nothing since we had them to begin with! A Thomas top. I swear every little boy who hits age 2, instantly gets really big into Thomas the Tank engine. Branden was one of their biggest fans, we even went to meet the real train, Thomas that actually runs and stuff on the "a day out with Thomas" days we have in the US! You should see the enormous collection Branden has. Rail's, trains, he has about 50 trains and they are expensive, so I held onto them which is a good thing for Noah, now ha ha ha. B has the magnet trains, the battery trains. He has them all. Which is quite lucky for Noah, since Branden isn't really into Thomas much anymore. So Noah will certainly inherit everything Thomas from Branden! The 10-12 DVD's from Gordon, to James, to Steamies VS. Diesel's. Various Thomas cups, forks, spoons, ahhh it pays to have a big brother sometimes! Ha ha ha! And a whole assortment of Thomas t shirts was given to Noah today via B. Branden has been teaching Noah, #5 is James, and # this, is named that! And they have been singing the songs for weeks now! He has a good teacher, his brother! And again, money spent? Nothing! Ahhhh, there was a bonus to having 2 sons after all! I am finding that out, I really am ha ha ha! : )

A simple little sweatshirt Noah can get usage out of. And we will buy Noah new stuff too, so please don't feel all, sorry for Noah you guys! Ha ha ha! : )

Two shortall's, one Gap and one Osh Kosh in size 2T, were beyond greatly appreciated by me today, when I found them in my nicely packed box. Noah will cruise all over Japan with these and wherever else we go this summer. And again, I don't mind in the least if my older son wore them first or if they aren't new. If it saves me money and Noah still gets usage out of them, I'm all for it and so be it. I actually found 2 other pairs of shortalls as well, but ones that weren't jeans, pattern ones too.

Even the 2 pairs of summer PJ's will help me. Yes, I might buy an extra set. But this does help me a bunch still. I'm trying to remember if I got these ones from Carter's or Mervyn's. Again I know some might turn their noses up and say...used clothes? Blech! But not me! Ha ha ha. I don't mind one bit! : )

Cheap little house shorts/play shorts. Perfect for hanging in the backyard or in the house. All of these came from Old Navy. Again might not seem important to many, but it saves me money and I won't have to buy Noah any "play shorts" this coming summer and spring. The actual money saved for not having to buy an entire heap of clothes for Noah, we could actually use that money and head to Korea or Hong Kong for a short 2 nights stay. Seriously. It could cover the cost for the hotel most certainly! Even if we don't, you know what I mean by the money saved could be spent elsewhere because it could. So it all helps in the long run!

These were the ones Noah tried on against the window in the above pic. And a jean jacket for chilly stylin' spring nights. Again, I won't have to buy it all over again, and I appreciate it! And just a ton more things. And I know you guys won't mind me talking about this. Because most of you ladies/fellow moms understand the money saved. So I am sure you will appreciate this post a lot because it's honest though admitedly frugal, but it's what I really did today. And many of you have kids who have shared clothes before as well. So you'll totally get this post I'm sure. : )

For dinner, I roasted 2 small chickens with herbs and butter. We had baked potatoes, and green beans. And we also had a simple lettuce and tomato salad with goma dressing. Again, nothing fancy shmancy, just simple simple simple. We watched American Idol. And I just have to say, I know many people dislike Simon. But I love him! He is honest. He tells it like it is. When someone sings great, he says they sing great! When someone sucks, meaning their voice is pitchy or maybe the song choice wasn't great for them, he will say so. He's not out to win a popularity contest. He is however honest and I find most contestants listen to his advice more so, then the other judges. Paula Abdul says everyone sings fantastic, all of the time. It's almost like she *is* trying to win a popularity contest. While people enjoy her comments, it's as if her comments have little clout because she says the same stuff to everyone. Meaning there's no honesty in her words almost! Antonella was kicked off this weekend and so was Sundance and another 3rd person. I have seen an episode ahead when I was in Guam, so I sorta recall that episode. But other then that I am just watching the 2-3 weeks delay in Japan like the rest of us. Bottom line, I'm still a huge American idol fan here! Ha ha ha! : )

Tidbits from our second week on school break (what we have been up to, shhh! : )

Okay, it's no big secret, I love holidays. western one's, Japanese one's. I love them all! Any reason to celebrate? I'm sure to be in the mix of it!!! Ha ha ha! I decided to have a really fun Easter party and invite some of Branden's friends, he goes to the Catholic yochien with. It's going to be really cool, all the kids will be dying Easter eggs outside on the back terrace (that way no mess in the house, thank you very much! ha ha ha) have loads of Easter goodies that I brought back with me thanks to Kmart lol! And just sorta have a nice hang out afternoon with some yochien mom's/friends of mine and B's friends/classmates! It's going to be held on Saturday, the actual day before Easter Sunday. That way, we keep the "real" Easter Sunday, just a family thing at home! So on Wednesday afternoon, March 28th, while I sat watching B attend swimming class. I sat upstairs, both watching B through the glass window, and also it gave me time to write up the invitations for our little Easter shindig I'm throwing! : ) The cracked seat is because I'm at the swim school obviously, ha ha ha : )

This is what I wrote inside. I am asking everyone to bring their own hard boiled egg's for dying and obviously they will be taking their own eggs home with them. I don't want their egg's, lol. It's just, I didn't really wanna buy 12 cases of egg's or anything. I have heaps of the dye of course. But with B's friends having siblings and stuff, I really was unsure of how many egg's. So, 5 eggs per whomever kid. That way, each family is responsible whether they have enough eggs for their family or not. Of course I will boil a dozen extra just in case though. And names? Come, on, I admit I'm horrible with the names, so I thought if I just wrote it....especially for you. It was more personal, yet without horribly botching someones name. Phew! I did write a time table....I do know it will run over that time. But by adding an "end" time, I do know it will for surely be over by 4:00 pm. So I at least have a window of when it will end. And nope I didn't need anyone to mail me an RSVP or anything to let me know who's coming. At our yochien, pretty much everyone knows where we live. And since it's a western party, I purposely wrote the invitation in English. But yes, I did explain what it all said in Japanese. I think the mom's will be keeping the invitations for keepsakes. Because they loved looking at them, which I thought was sorta cute of them for doing that! They're excited, I'm excited! Ha ha ha, it's going to be a hoot! : )

These were some of the invitations, I wrote out 2 more after this. I wrote 7 invitations total. That way, even if 2 can't make it, 5 will. Plus kids. One of my girlfriend's says a lot of the mom's want to come to this, like more then I invited. I told her, everyone who wants from our yochien can come. Noboru meanwhile worries it will be too many people! Ha ha ha! How many will end up coming? We'll see, but it sure will be fun regardless! : )

After swimming class, we came home. And I made chicken chow mein, but in Japan it's called, Sara/sala (sp?) udon. Just chopped up some veggies. While Branden took his swimming bag upstairs. I guess, I coulda used more veggies. But I was keeping it simple, just Chinese cabbage, mushroom, carrots and bell pepper and bean sprouts.

Stir fried the chicken, meanwhile I got my crunchy noodles ready. And this sauce doesn't contain shrimp or taste seafoody, so the pic with the shrimp on it, is a bit misleading for me. Ha!

After everything was cooked, I added the packets of sauce from the crunchy noodles and some water. I also added a bit of soy sauce for some ooomph! Ha ha ha.

Pic doesn't look very appetizing to me. But it was so great! Very yummy and quick! We watched TV and hung out at home in the evening! A totally very nice and relaxing week, was had in our house!

Okay and this doesn't have anything to do with anything really! But again my blog does say talking about everything from the big, to the mundane, lol! I was at the store the other day. And I had to pick up 2 boxes of detergent, I always buy them in 2's, I know, I know. It's just I do heaps of laundry all the time, so buying in 2's is a necessity for me. Anyway, here's the funny bit. The packaging says, thanks for 20 years. I guess this company has been in business for 20 years? Okay anyways, then said, this is a limited edition/time, scent. And the scent is floral soap. But, the limited edition's, in Japan are nothing new and why I am mentioning it at all! Since living in Japan, I have seen limited edition, Kit Kat's, limited edition deodorant where the scent would only be sold in summer. And so on to infinity! If you live in Japan, I am sure by now you must be smiling because you *know* exactly what I'm talking about! What is it about Japan that likes to sell stuff that is "limited edition"or for sale for only a special amount of time??? Even Mc Donald's sells that what...that "moon burger" or whatever every Sakura season! Ha ha ha! And people rush out, and buy whatever it is, being sold because it is only for a limited time! Ha ha ha. I do it myself! With exception of the moon burger, I dislike that thing. So, there I was at the store, me and my 2 boy's. I read the box. Could read bits and pieces of it. But enough so, that I got....limited time only??? Shit! I must buy this ASAP!!!! So, me and the hoards of other Japanese housewives swarmed around this mini mountain of floral soap scented detergent, lol. And I chucked the 2 in my cart right away! Ahhh, the longer I live in Japan.....I tell ya! It's so funny, I am now a total sucker for limited edition or "for a limited time only" stuff! Ha ha ha! Oh come on....I don't mind poking fun at myself! I never take myself too seriously at all. But you guys shoulda seen me! Observing crowds of women around the detergent. And finding out, what? Did they just say...limted? LIMITED??? OMG, throwing 2 into my cart. What a total nerd I am, seriously! : ) So later that night, I tell Noboru and show him the box....he says oh yeah, it was indeed a limited editon scent! Having grown up in Japan obviously, he knows the importance of this crazy stuff! Ha! I say...I know, I know! I *had* to buy them! Ohhhh, I just love Japan sometimes! And yes, America does stuff like this, but not even, 1 tenth as much as Japan does. They've got it down to a science here! Ha ha ha! And I am one of the many who often fall for this marketing! : )

And by the way, the price was pretty cheap. under 3 bucks! : )

And on a similar note. I have been quietly stocking up on my obento food stuff. Little by little. I bought 2 packs of hash browns. 1 pack for obento's and the other pack for house use. We don't fry them. We throw them in the toaster oven. They still get crunchy and yummy, but without the deep fry. The kids are always munching on potato cakes/hash browns around here. And they're for super cheap. I also bought 2 packs of the jelly thing for obento's already. I have my nori stocked up on for onigiri Wednesday's, as well. I am indeed getting ready for making my kiddo's obento at school. I'm gearing up! Ha ha ha! I can almost hear the theme to Rocky right now! LOL! : )

On Thursday, my flying pig order came. Funny, I grew up thinking, pigs *didn't* fly!!! Now living in Japan, I realize, *yes* they do! Ha ha ha, just kidding! I told the kids, to keep looking out the window and if they saw a big giant pig with a curly tail landing in our driveway with a box on her back. Our order got here! Ha ha ha! : )

Just the basics, mam! Bacon, waffles and rolls and no thrills whatsoever. Sniff, sniff! Ha ha ha : )

We had this for dinner on Thursday.

After the chicken baked in the oven. I meanwhile boiled some spaghetti and we had chicken parmigiana, thanks to Costco and it was fantastic! Our 3 week school break was spent like this so far. First week, we were in Guam. And this is our second week, and we spent it at home, eating stuff like chicken chow mein, or chicken parmigiana and pasta or steaks. We've been renting DVD's from Tsutaya. We rented the one with Jack Black, about a wrestler in Mexico. Mucho Libre or something. I forget the name. It wasn't so good. But we've just been hanging home. The boys have been playing in the backyard every single day. Branden and I played Candyland twice this week. And we have worked on his spelling and have been reading books together every day. I still have been cleaning and doing my regular stuff, but I've really cut back this week. Just taking less time, cleaning and blogging. And spending every second with my boy's. And of course joking with the hubby every second I get, never gets boring. We took a nice romantic bath the other night, after the boys went to bed. Life is good, I have no complaints. : )

PS, My brother in law Jun and his wife Satoe had their baby girl!!! They had her the day before, we arrived in Japan from Guam. They named her Mia, which I think is a fab name! : )

Favorite TV shows from the 70's (or early 80's), what were yours? : )

Were you one of the many of kids who grew up, watching the New Zoo Revue in the 1970s? I was, I remember watching...Freddie the Frog and Henrietta Hippo, etc. Ha ha ha! : )

However my most favorite of shows as a child growing up in the 70's was the Krofft Superstars!....with H.R. Pufnstuf , Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, The Bugaloos and you can't forget the Land of the Lost with Will and Holly and Chaka, ha ha ha! And the Sleestacks? Weren't they called the sleestacks? LOL!

My Saturday mornings growing up in the 70's wouldn't have been the same without these shows! Geeze I even remember the Bay City Roller's used to be on the Krofft show once in a while.

Anyone remember, Witchiepoo? Or Plastic Man or the Little's or the Smurf's?

How about the Electric Company? Anyone remember the Electric Company? I looooved the Electric Company! Ha ha ha! A remember a very young Morgan Freeman used to be on that show! I recall the show used to count like....12345......6,7,8,9,10,11,12!!! Ha ha ha!

Okay one last one....how about, Conjunction junction what's your function? From School House Rock! LOL, I used to love that show too! I got the DVD of School House Rock a couple years ago and I watch this with my boys sometimes!

Anyway, I'm not sure if these shows were on only in America or if other western countries also watched these shows in the 70's or not like we did in US.

So, I ask you, what shows were your favorites growing up? Some of my favorites were, The Facts of Life, with Mrs. Garret and Blair, and Tootie, and Jo, etc! And the song wasn't it something like this?...."you take the good, you take the bad ,you take them all and there you have the facts of life." LOL, weren't those the words from that song or something like that? And the Love Boat and Fantasy Island, oh man I loved those shows! So seriously, since most of us are on the 3 weeks school break, if you have time, please share. What were your television favs growing up? : )

PS, did any of you own the Strawberry Shortcake dolls with the scented hair? Oh man, I did. I had all of them, like Lemon Meringue, with the blond lemon scented hair, Blueberry muffin with the yummy hair, she was my favorite btw, lol. And of course strawberry shortcake. LOL. And most of all, did any of you own the rainbow shirt that was everywhere in the 70's? I owned it too. It was white based and had like 3/4 length sleeves and it had a rainbow in the front of the shirt and even had the end of the rainbow on the sleeves? Ha ha ha, funny about the stuff I remember ha ha ha! : )

PSS, and what am I doing today? Absolutely nothing! I do have my "to do" list. But, I'll get it all done tomorrow. For today, I'm waiting on my order from Costco that should be arriving this afternoon. And I got a comfy couch waiting for me and a remote I will be using to surf the TV channels. I'm snuggling on the couch and watching TV today. Yup, I'm having a lazy bum day. The kids can play in the back yard or they can hang inside. Besides we did swimming yesterday, so a day of some R and R is looking pretty good to me today. I will enjoy every moment of the kids vacation. I've already started staying awake to 1:00 am now.and I am sleeping in until 9:00 am too when Noah wakes up. B wakes up around 10:00 am and 11:00 am every morning. We have all gotten quite relaxed being on break. Ha ha ha : )

Our final day March 24th

With our flight not even leaving until like 4:00 pm. We had a half day of play. My dad drove over and brought everyone Mc Donald's breakfasts. I had the bacon egg and cheese biscuit combo. We all ate all the meals my dad brought (and he asked everyone what they wanted before he left his condo in the morning). Then we all swam in the hotel pool until 11:30 am. From 9:00 am to 11:30 was great, because it made the kids tired. And we wanted tired as hell kids for our flight, ha ha ha! We said our goodbye in the lobby. I hugged my dad and gave him another kiss on the cheek, he told us all to have a safe flight and then he hugged and kissed the kids and he left. Meanwhile we all went upstairs and showered and changed our clothes for our return back to Japan. We did have a late check-out. We left around 1:00 pm and got in the car and stopped at Mc Donald's for lunch, since the airport food can sometimes be so expensive.



I got 1 chicken club sandwich on whole wheat and one snack wrap. The snack wraps are just $1.20




I first tried this sandwich back in December in Hawaii. I really like this sandwich. It just tastes really yummy. I love swiss.

It was pretty windy the day we left. Branden had the chicken nugget kids meal.

Since we got B the 6 piece chicken versus the 4 piece, we gave Noah the extra 2 pieces of chicken and he shared Noboru's fries and had some of my snack wrap too. You can see in the picture Noah was mouthing/saying, "juice", ha ha ha.

We ate, and took the rental car back and then they drove us to the airport. We were pretty early but we checked in anyway. The flight back was pretty uneventful. The boys slept but that's because they were tired from the swimming. Some little girl was crying in the back (poor mom). The mom was trying so hard you guys, she was walking her baby around. Her daughter was fussy but she was doing everything she could think of. I smiled at the mom a few times when she passed us, to say, I feel for you. I have been there. You are okay!!! And would you believe some very young Japanese lady. Who obviously isn't married or has kids. She was annoyed by the crying and she shouted "urusai" Noboru heard it first and he was so pissed! Noboru was upset because he understands how hard it is to fly with small kids (he has 2 B and N.) He actually walked a few laps alone. Waiting for that young twenty something to complain to that poor helpless mom with her young daughter. Noboru was going to jump in there and say something, yet she never said anything after that. Yup, my hubs got all pissed off about it. He told me..."she doesn't know how hard it is" I said...I know, I know! Other then that, the flight was pretty uneventful. Our friends with the 5 year old sat behind us. But with our 2 kids sleeping, the little boy behind us, didn't have much company. I gave him some snacks though. Anyway, sorry for the delayed posting, but that's our trip in a nutshell. Very uneventful, I'm afraid! Ha ha ha : ) And sorry I didn't take more pictures. Just I found myself putting the camera away for a lot of moments and just enjoying them in the moment versus, *stop, click and enjoy again*, ha ha ha! And 1 day completely, but that's because I was at the spa and swimming too much to take pics. But I tried my best though! : )

March 23rd

First thing we did we woke up and we all went to Denny's for breakfast. I had a veggie cheese omelet and hash brown and white toast with coffee. Noboru ordered the island special with Spam. And the kids had a kids breakfast. Noah had scrambled eggs and hashbrowns with bacon and Branden got the smilie face pancakes. We then went to a hardware store so Noboru could get some home improvement stuff and some grass seed, the nerd! Ha! And then we hit the big Micronesia mall to get the kids a picture with the Easter Bunny. He didn't arrive until noon so we waited a bit.

We were the first in line. PS, this is the mall where I saw Kaya (sp?) Kawasaki and her daughter in the food court last year. Nobody knew who she was, I noticed her right off. In my opinion, she was really beautiful. And she was extremely super tall and very thin. Not fat at all. And I have seen shows where she is trying to diet or complains about her weight but she really was beautiful. My MIL has told me, one of her kids is going to school in Guam and they have a place in Guam, as well as Japan. My MIL says she read that somewhere.

We had 2 hand twisted pretzels and shared between us 4, just as a little snack, boy were they yummy!

We were waiting until he arrived. We were waiting. We did get there a bit too early, I think. We're early birds! After the picture taking was done, i went to the grocery store and bought a couple things. Just bologna and peperoni (2 packs each) and some frosting.

After that we went to Kmart and did a bit of shopping. Noboru took the boys in one cart, meanwhile I did some shopping on behalf of the Easter Bunny and paid and took the stuff to the trunk and then I met back with Noboru! And Noboru got whatever he needed and I got a few things. Mostly toiletries but not many! I bought a bottle of Pepto Bismol for myself and a kids Pepto tablets. Only because of me having that funky horrible stomach bug a few days earlier and I thought just in case I ever get it, I can at least take something for it. A tube of generic Kmart brand of Neosporin and a few other things. I also got some underwear for myself and bought Branden a pack of Diego underwear, lol. He's like Dora the explorer but for boys. Nothing major really. Just a few odds and ends!I also bought a 4 pack of cake mix at the Cost-u-less and a big box of Rice Krispie treats. Again nothing too major here. Almost not even worth mentioning, sorry! : )

We were done with everything by 2:30 pm. We had Taco Bell for lunch around 2:00 pm actually. With all our minuscule shopping done. Not that is was much. And shots given and birthday over. We had nothing to do. So we went back to the hotel and we soaked in the hot tub until 5:00 pm. Noboru played with the kids in the pool next to the hot tub for a good hour and then they came back and soaked in the tub with me. We showered and then we went to my dad's condo and we actually had a BBQ at my dad's place. We watched TV and just ate and enjoyed our night. We headed back to the hotel around 8 or 9. And we just watched TV in the hotel room and had some late night snacks.

My wonderful, yet very uneventful birthday! : )

My birthday. I informed Noboru that I really needed need an LV bag right now. I did however mention a spa treatment would be greatly appreciated. We talked about it the night before. So he made me an appointment for early March 22nd to get a spa service from Mandara Spa at the Hilton where we were staying. I got something called the "tropical escape" it was basically a foot soak and foot massage. And a full body coconut scrub with essential oils and real coconut and salts.I then got a full body massage. the entire thing lasted 80 long minutes. I was putty in their hands. I just relaxed and enjoyed it! Noboru meanwhile had 80 minutes of play time in the pool with the boys. After this, I met them in the pool and my dad also joined us in the pool as our guest. We all stayed pool side until about 3:30. My dad was exhausted and threw on his t shirt and headed back to his condo. Poor guy is getting old, ha ha ha. We showered and we headed to the bigger mall. The Micronesia for some late lunch at the food court,again just a cheap and affordable lunch. I also saw a salon there who does eyebrow waxes for $10.00, I have seen this shop every time I go to Guam and have always wanted to get my eyebrows waxed from there but today, with it being my birthday, I went for it. And I got a nice eyebrow wax. We then left the mall and strolled the main strip tourist row and walked and window shopped and stuff. Killed an hour there and then we went to the hotel and freshened up and then we all went to Tony Roma's for my birthday dinner. I was happy my dad was able to enjoy my birthday with me. So there you have it. That was my birthday. No bell's or whistles, no waking up surrounded by hundreds of pressies. Not even a birthday cake with candles for me. I was happy though. Couldn't have been happier actually. I was enjoying myself. I was with my kids, husband and my dad whom I adore. I got a fantastic spa from my hubby. I got a flower from Branden that I am pretty sure he picked from the landscaped flower bed, lol. And a hug from Noah with a smooch. And a pair of simple earrings from my dad. And for me, it's just not about the presents at my age (not that I am all super old or anything). It's more about my family. Dinner was amazing. Finally a sit down meal that did ask, do you want fries with that? Ha ha ha! I had the baked potato cheese soup right away. So did the kids, since I ordered a whole bowl of it. Oink, oink. And I had the chicken and ribs combo meal, with salad and baked potato and veggie. Yup baked potato soup and an actual baked potato, ha ha ha.. We all had dessert from there and I had chocolate cake. Best of all Noah was perfect and quiet for the entire meal and so we enjoyed it all even more. My dad left, I gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. and he headed to his condo and we headed to our hotel. And I hate to admit this, but I had Noboru stop at the same convenience store and I got myself one more slice of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. the boys got some Frito's, lol. Noboru got some beer and some pork rinds, what's up with that??? Ha ha ha! And we again sat watching TV until we all fell asleep. Just nothing gigantic going on during our trip. Truly just hanging out.

Hi, if you've been to Guam you might not need to see these pics. But I thought it might be interesting for some of you guys if you're interested, to see some pics of the different areas. These pics are of the main tourist strip and all the shops and restaurants that are on there. An LV store.

And Chanel. They have all the big ones.

Planet Hollywood and a DFS (duty free store) and you can see another trolley waiting to pick up passengers. Streets looks clean, shops look nice.

They have Sam Choy, same as in Honolulu. An Underwater World as well.

Hard Rock Cafe!

TGI Friday's restaurant. And there's a Mc Donald's right next to it. Everything is really convenient. Plenty of choices to eat. And if you don't like what they have, hop a trolley and had to the food court at one of the mall's. They also have plenty of Chinese restaurants and many Japanese ramen shops down the main street as well. This TGI Friday's and Mc Donald's complex is in front of the Guam Plaza where our friends stayed so they stayed at a very convenient spot. And I loved the shop upstairs. I got stuck in there browsing and Noboru had to say "hurry up" a few times. So anyway, I just thought I'd share a few pictures of what Guam looks like : )

Our pics from March 21st.

So immediately after the shots and an extremely early lunch, we headed back to the hotel, quickly changed into our swim suits and we were off swimming around 10:45 am. They had a clock near the bar, so I checked when we walked passed it. Everyone who is supposed to be there,meaning a hotel guest wears the wrist tags and they verify it with the room # you give,with your last name. But then mostly every hotel does that nowadays. PIC does that too. I guess they want no party/swimming crashers? LOL. : )

Branden went down the slide about a billion times. He loves that darned slide. It's not too rough, so I don't worry too much. But he does swim and we do keep an eye on him too just in case : )

I like the expression on B's face in this pic. Just happy, is all.

Horrible expressions on both kids in this pic. Ha ha ha. I tell ya, sometimes trying to capture both the kids smiling can be a total challenge. Either just 1 kid smiles and the other is either making a weird face or not looking at my direction at all. LOL : )

Noboru and the boys in the hot tub. I really spent a lot of time in this hot tub over the 4 nights we stayed there. I sat looking at the ocean and watched the blueness of the water. Thought about how life can get so hectic at our house during the school year. Thought about how we need to relax more. Especially me. Whether it's just for a walk in the neighborhood or a hot soak in my bath tub at home. And I promised myself not to over do myself once school resumes again. Well I'll try. But it's hard when I don';t live in my home country and don't really have help with the kids and most of everything falls on me. At least if I lived in Denver, I;'d have a cousin or auntie to help out. Or California I'd have my mom to help. Or my dad would help if we were living in Guam. But in Japan, like most of us expat moms do, it falls on just me. I think that's why it is important for me to get away as much as I can, to just unwind and recharge my batteries from it all. I only wish more of us could do this, because I know we *all* need this.

There was this one very hard jet in the hot tub. And I preferred sit in front of that one. It felt like a massage to my back. Honestly the jet might have been broken but it felt so good on my back.

We all played in this pool a lot.

Not bad really for 66 bucks. A few pools, and a slide. Totally no PIC, but it was pretty great still. : )

A gecko, oh the kids loved him!

Noboru wanted to take Noah down the slide. I was really hesitant about it. But then I know Noboru would never let anything happen to either of the kids. He was so safe, poor Noah didn't even get wet, look how he put him in the air once they came down the slide. After seeing this I felt I was being too mother hen, so I let them go again a few more times.

Noah and Noboru going down the slide. Noah sat on Noboru's lap. They had fun this time. Branden was going too but he was going alone because it's way funner for him that way.

Coming down the slide either the 3rd or 4th time.

The Japanese lady on the right whose kid was Noah's age too, you can sorta see her child on the ground near her feet. This lady had a little crush on Noah for whatever reason. All day long since the morning, she would wave at him and talk with him. At this time it was nearing 5:00 pm. We were all swimmed out for the day. We went upstairs and took showers and headed to eat. The lady told Noah, "see you later" in Japanese and Noah turned and said it back to her in the picture and that's why she smiled. And I really didn't want this lady in my picture, lol. But it's the only one I got of Noah walking. Sigh, ha ha ha.

We met my dad at Pizza Hut for dinner and we all ordered a large peperoni lovers pan pizza and a large order of spicy buffalo wings and an order of breadsticks. Free refill on the drinks. It was pretty good. No fancy meals for us, I know. We are just very simple, cheap eaters. But man it was good! We said good bye and we headed back to our room and we watched American Idol. American Idol was so good! There was a very strange girl in the audience around age 12 and she cried when Sanjaya was singing. At first I thought it was cute because she maybe had a crush on him. But then she seemed to cry for everyone who sang. She squeezed her eyes really tight as if to try to produce more tears. She was just sorta weird. She was "the crying audience girl", if you watch AI at all, please catch this episode in a few weeks since it's a bit delayed in Japan. I've seen on a few American based blogs I read, that a bunch of people thought the same thing as I did. She really was sorta strange. The kids fell asleep. And I sat up drinking a tea with ice. And munching on a slice of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting that I got from a convenience store and watched TV while laying on the bed.