Noah's Fun Run at his middle school...

The first week of October, Noah brought home a note from school about the upcoming "Fun Run." Since this is America afterall, and we respect everyone's individuality. You do have a choice if you would like to join the Fun Run or not. It's not mandatory (a must!) if you would *not* like to participate in the Fun Run, you can go to study hall and just read quietly. Get a jump start on your homework. Again it's entirely up to you... if you would like to participate or not. I asked Noah, "would you like to join?" And he said, "absolutely!" Second question on the note was. Since the Fun Run will be so close to Halloween, everyone is invited or encouraged to wear a costume during the Fun Run. Again, you are free to wear a costume or not. It's entirely up to you. Nothing is mandatory. I asked Noah, if he wanted to dress up? He said, he thinks it sounds fun to dress up and wear something fun. I couldn't agree more. And since Target was having a sale, buy 1 costume, get one 50% off last week. And considering for Halloween too, both kids schools...encourage wearing Halloween costumes. So, I asked the boys who were with me at Target. To each pick out a costume if they wanted one and they both picked the same exact thing. They both wanted to be hot dogs. With bun, mustard and relish. The whole bit! So if that's what they both wanted to be this year? So be it. Done and done. Got such a great deal on their costumes. Noah will be getting to wear his 3 times. For the Fun Run, for Halloween at school on Wednesday and for trick or treating. Bran will wear his to school on Halloween day. And he'll wear his when we walk Noah around to do trick or treating. Bran's too old to get candy this year. So, we'll both take Noah. So last Friday was Noah's Fun Run. It was also the last/final day of the schools first quarter. So his first period teacher brought 2 dozen Krispy Kreme donuts, a huge fruit platter. Chocolate milk and juice. Noah apparently thought a class party... just for ending the first quarter was pretty cool! Again, he never got to experience anything like this in Japan. 

I'm just sharing a few pics. The Fun Run was held during the final class. So, if you participated in the Fun Run, you could be excused for your last class. That means Noah was excused from History class, last Friday. Nearly the entire school participated in the Fun Run. On the left of the School Bus Parking only sign. You see one fast running hot dog! That's Noah! Aww, go Noah go!!! I was sitting in my car. I was the first car/parent to arrive. And I saw the kids exiting the building in costume. Keep in mind, I lived in Japan for the last 16 years, so I was so excited seeing the kids in costume. I immediately without even thinking... left my car to watch. It was exciting for me. Seeing Noah get "American school" life experiences like this. Makes me just realize even more so... living here is so worth it and so right for us. When I see first hand. Wow...he's getting these experiences that he would *never* have gotten in Japan. As an American mother, yeah...it makes me so thrilled getting to see my kids get these types of experiences.

There were also 4 American girls and 1 American boy right on Noah's heels too. But again...if you want to run okay. If you prefer walk. I'd say, 90% of the kids walked. And hey... that's okay too. Because they still walked their field for the entire final hour anyway. On the intercom it said, if you run 4 laps you get a free Powerade drink. After Noah got a Powerade drink, he walked slowly the rest of the Fun Run with his friends and just "kicked it" and enjoyed. I saw him talking a mile a minute, with 3 friends of his. Watching them all interact. And laugh as they walked around the field. At least twice a week, Noboru tells me on the phone when we talk on LINE (although we talk daily)..."he is so glad they are getting the chance to go to school in the U.S. Nothing can compare to the education level they're receiving and the friendships that are forming and the experiences, they're experiencing." I agree too. 

There were some Sully's from Monster's Inc. There was an *udderly* magnificent cow. LOL. The principal...he was Mr. Incredible from the movie The Incredibles. 

Just walking, relaxing all the kids. And funny...because I got out of my car. Another mom got out of her white truck. She started talking to me. Her daughter's a 6th grader, she was worried the mom said.. that her daughter was wearing a costume in the morning and nobody else was. I mentioned that, Noah told me.. that his friends were taking their costumes to school... but weren't going to change until right before last period. So we were chatting about that. She said, she'll have her do that next year. And we both enjoyed some friendly chit chat. But, not wanting to sound like a "know it all" I told her...I honestly wouldn't have known about that either. So we had a nice chit chat. And then another mom came. And another. Just about 4 of us... were enjoying watching together. 

Most kids wore "easy to move around in" costumes. Ykwim? This adorable dinosaur, stole my heart. Number one... it was so incredibly hard for this adorable dinosaur to move around. But, I must tell ya, he gets an A+++ for effort. You couldn't do much beside waddle in this costume because of it's shape. It was a very fit kid, just the design of the costume. But I loved the costume though. Also... you know how when you fall facing forward. Common knee jerk reaction is to... stick your arms out to brace your fall, right? This dinosaur had the little itty bitty arms that dinosaurs have (the costume, his arms were normal obviously, but inside the costume). It couldn't be helped really. I worried about this adorable dinosaur as he went around the field the entire time. I kept thinking..."Ganbatte!!!" You can do it! Whatever you do...please don't trip. Be safe. This dino was my favorite of the day. So adorable. I am thankful he did not fall, his arms wouldn't have been able to brace his fall. He was safe. I was relieved. But...I was just charmed by this cutest dinosaur costume.  And also some kids opted to wear no costume and that was fine too.

How did I feel about the Fun Run? Noah loved it. I loved it too. I appreciated that as luck would have it, I just happened to get to school a tad early...granted I was hoping to see the tail end of it. But was glad I could see it completely.

Having experienced... 2 kids worth of shogakko/elementary school "marathons" in Japan.Which for us Americans, means Cross Country marathons. Shogakko marathons were not optional. There was no choice. You did the marathon. You don't like it? Tough! Suck it up! Gaman! The kids at our elementary in Japan... also had a full month at our elementary school of "marathon practice" every single morning.. before school started. Also, our school did give out medals, so there were winners and there were losers. And the day of the actual marathon. Our town always held it in December. Weather was like 32 degrees F which is freezing. Kids must wear a short sleeve gym shirt and shorts. Regardless if the empty rice fields had ice. Or the little canals in town had a thin covering of ice on them. Kids had to tough it out. And run. Regardless if they were so cold...that their muscles and joints were getting frozen solid.. like the Tin Man, without his oil can. Sure they would do warm ups... before the run. But after a month of stressful marathon PRACTICE daily. My kids honestly started to hate it after a while. B was also a slow runner, but a fish in the pool and top speeds. Noah is fast with running and swimming. But by the time he got to the 4th grade...and the month long "practice daily" for marathons... he started to dread the marathons. I could relate because... I would have hated the marathons too. Talk about sucking every drop of fun out of everything.

Now my thoughts on the Fun Run. The kids had fun. Actual real heartfelt fun. There was no practice fun runs... the days beforehand. No month long Fun Run mandatory practice. They ran the day of...and that's it. There was no... 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place. There were no winners. They all were winners because they all got an hours worth of exercise. They got to wear costumes which I noticed made the kids have even more fun. The teachers and staff wore costumes too. The whole school had just... a fun....run. Noah did not dread this Fun Run. He was actually looking forward to it all week. And when he got into my car after the Fun Run. He was beaming. He was telling me a mile a minute...."mom, I had so much fun" Did you see my friend blank? He was a cow. Did, you see my friend such and such...he was a....

I mean no disrespect to the Japanese marathon at all. I have had 2 kids who experienced Japanese marathons all 6 years for each of them. I noticed most kids and not just my own either...but seriously for a lot of them...they didn't really dig it at all. But hey. That's the way it is in Japan. And I accepted that. I know many of my friends' kids didn't enjoy the marathons either. And I "get it." Noah's lucky in the fact that he got to experience 6 years of Japanese elementary school marathons. And on the other hand... also get to experience an "all American" Fun Run too. For many people they only get to experience 1 way of living. Either just a Japan way. Or just an American way of schooling. But for Noah to be able to draw on living in both countries. Being schooled in both school systems. It's very cool.

Anyways, today is actual Halloween here in America. We will be going out trick or treating this evening. The 3 of us. 

A Bits and Pieces post from when Noboru was here...

I snapped this pic of Noboru driving right after Noah and I picked him up at the airport. I was originally supposed to pick him up at 1pm. And the plan was, we'd go immediately to Noah's school and pick him up at 2:25pm. And we were even considering first swinging by our townhouse and dropping off his luggage first or not. We were playing it by ear, just depending on our timing. However, as luck would have it, Noboru's flight was delayed. He landed at 2pm. Thank goodness for airplane wifi. So he and I could LINE each other. Considering Noah's a child. And Noboru's an adult. We put our child first. And so Noboru told me, "I'm an adult, I can wait at the airport, go get Noah first and then swing by the airport to get me" FWIW, we have 3 townhouse keys. And Branden has a key always and he knew, to let himself in our townhouse. Since he rides the school bus home anyways. And doesn't get home because of the school buses stops...that they make all along the way, he gets home around 3:10pm. Good thing the kids can have cell phones here at school. So, I texted them around noon and let them know the plan. Noah knew he had to "haul a**" to my car. And he did. He quickly hopped in my car. I quickly hopped the highway. And to the airport we went. Noboru was waiting outside. I parked the car curbside. Hugged and kissed my husband. Noah got out and smiled and hugged his dad. And Noboru jumped in the drivers seat right away. And we actually got to our townhouse about a couple minutes before Branden got there. The boys were both so happy to see their dad. I was happy to see my sweetie pie too.

He brought me, a few extra Cook-Do sweet and sour sauces/packs. Another bag of panko. A new bottle of mirin (for niku jaga). Some sara udon packs. Karaage and ginger. Melting sugar for niku jaga. Three cream stew roux. Another pack of curry roux. Small things yes... but super helpful useful things that we will appreciate when it gets cold and Fall turns into Winter. 

He also brought cookies and snacks for the boys. 

I did mention to Noboru that Branden's backpack has a mesh bottle spot on the outside of his Jansport. Noah picked the size smaller Jansport than Bran's is. And I told Noah his would have no mesh bottle holder. He was fine with it. But, I do notice he wraps his 500ml bottle of water every day in a grocery store bag. Noboru said, not to worry...that he'll bring him some drink covers from the amazing Daiso. And he brought 2. 1 is a back up. This is probably the most useful item he brought. Noah uses the navy blue one every single day now. : ) 

The entire United States is in pumpkin pie flavor mode, now that it's Fall. It's sorta nice to be able to enjoy every little thing available now that I live here. Noboru and I went to lunch one afternoon when the kids were at school. We went for the $5 buck lunch. It comes with a free sundae or you can pay 1 dollar extra and get a blizzard. Of course we had to get  Pumpkin Pie Blizzards.  

The 5 buck lunch, you can get your choice of all white meat chicken strips and fries and country gravy for dunking your strips in. You can also get a grilled cheeseburger if you prefer. Noboru went for the burger. It comes with a drink and also includes a free sundae or you can upgrade to a blizzard. We usually go for the sundae but considering it was a limited time only...we went for the pumpkin pie blizzards. 

Aside from spending the day in Seattle. We mostly stayed in our tiny city of $12,000-$15,000 people. We did go to the next city over and hit Costco though. This is a cart pic. A case of toilet paper beneath the cart. Chicken breast in that box. The chicken breast here is individually wrapped in sets of 2 breasts in each pack. And it comes with many packs. A case of paper plates. Tortillas. A big jug of shoyu (Kikkoman Soy Sauce) and tampons and at night, I will wear a pad for extra protection during that TOM. I think we're all adults here. Just bought basics. Of stuff that can last a good chunk of time. He also filled up my gas tank, while at Costco.

Besides my husband being my best friend. Lunch date. Laugher at each others jokes etc etc. Him coming here was for peace of mind, for him too. He worries all the time, if we're okay. He wanted to make sure my car here is winterized. He washed my car and really scrubbed the daylights out of it. He also took my car for an oil change. He filled up the tires with air. Changed all my filters in my car. Changed my windshield wiper blades. Rain X-ed my windshield.  He did all sorts of things a husband usually does. For his peace of mind and for my mind too. He's seriously so helpful. So wonderful. 

Pumpkin Pie Twinkies. Again Americans love everything and anything Pumpkin Pie flavored. Noboru had some of these too. I was expecting these to not be any good. I was shocked because these are actually better than regular Twinkies. Hostess is also selling some Caramel Apple Spice flavored Cupcakes. I took a pass of those cupcakes. But these Pumpkin Pie Twinkies are the bomb. Also Jack and the Box Pumpkin Pie shakes are out right now too. 

Another time we took the whole family to Dairy Queen too. We all had the 5 buck lunch and sadly the Pumpkin Pie Shake was no longer sold anymore. So we all had a sundae. Bran and I,  each picked a peanut butter sundae. Noah picked hot fudge and Noboru went with strawberry. It was just the best, us 4 all being together as a family again. But we also know.. that the kids getting this opportunity at an American education. They're lucky. They're so fortunate to be getting this education. These experiences. They were in Japan in their younger years, when a family should be intact. Now that they're older, they are open for an American education. And American dances, like Homecoming. And driving school. And American style school lunch. And Fun Runs. 

The week before Noboru left. I went to the driving school. I filled out all the paperwork. And talked to the folks there. And got Branden all signed up for drivers ed. He's in like... a 6 week driver course. He goes Tuesday through Thursday, 4pm-6pm. He also has 6 hours/6 drives with the instructors in their Priuses. They have quite a few. A parent meeting was required. Noboru and I showed up for that meeting. He wanted to go... because he knew he wasn't going to be a part of it, so he just wanted to attend the meeting. Noboru told me later. In Japan he handled all the paperwork and all the meetings (although, I went too), all the official stuff. But he finds it cute that in America, although he fluently speaks English. He doesn't feel the pressure to have to handle *it all*. Does that make sense? It's sort of cool and nice for him to just... get to sit back. Sit next to me and say..."the wife is handling it all. She's got this" And yes, here, I got this. Friday October 12th. Was a "no school day" and so the 4 of us went first thing in the morning to the Motor vehicles department to get Branden signed up for his driving permit. He was omitted from taking the test at the DMV because he took it at the state approved driving school, he's attending. So, Noboru and Noah just got to relax and sit in the chairs at the DMV. Mama (me) I handled it. Bran and I took a number. The place was dead. We went right up. You need to prove American citizenship or that you have a greencard or something. I was prepared. I had Branden's American passport. Branden's American birth certificate, his social security card. I had my state drivers license. And he needed a parents signature of consent. Next he went up and took a picture at another window/area. And next, he went and did an eye exam. And she gave him a paper permit that is good for a year. And the hard permit looks just like a license but it's oblong, up an down versus how us adults licenses are. As soon as he had the permit in hand. It was not even 9:10 am yet. We went to the Costco parking lot. And we gave him his first driving lesson until 10am. When Costco opened. After shopping at Costco, which took us only 5 minutes tops. I already knew what I needed.

A bulk amount of pumpkin spice bread. 

And a case of 24 chicken flavored Cup Noodles. That's it. Then we went to the movie theater parking lot and he drove for a good 30 minutes. We placed an order for Wing Stop and they wouldn't be ready until a certain time, so it gave Branden more time to practice driving.

Hunger Games reference here. Instead of "May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor"..."May the Wings Be Ever in Your Flavor"...I swear...Americans have the best sense of humor. Noboru asked each of the boys, the day he arrived. What do you want him to make sure... gets done while he's here. And Branden said, "that I get registered for driving school." And Noah said, "I hope I can try Wing Stop" lol. Noah loves buffalo wings and that was the only thing on his wish list. Adorable, Noboru thought! So he said, to the both of them, done and done! So I ordered them on my cell. While we were driving with B in the movie theater parking lot. And then we went to get wings. Noboru and Noah are the biggest wing fans, I have ever seen. They truly love buffalo wings. 

Noboru taking a pic to send to his friends in Japan. : ) At Wing Stop. 

We let Noah pick which flavors, since it was his wish to eat there. Noboru helped him decide. I personally am open to any flavor. They picked garlic parmesan and original. We drove home and had these for lunch. Mission accomplished that day. Bran got his drivers permit and Noah got to try the wings he'd been dreaming about and hoping to try. Noboru and Noah weren't blown away by the wings sad to say. Oh well, at least he got to try. : )

Gap USA, online was having a 50% off sale. We urged Bran to pick some sweatshirts. He didn't want any. @_@ Noah picked 2. Also Old Navy was having a sale, 1 sweatshirt in particular was $10, for just that 1 day. Noboru loved the price so much. We 4 all hopped in the car and drove to the bigger-ish city and Noboru got that sweatshirt, so did Noah and he wanted to buy Bran the same one too. B didn't want that sweatshirt either. It's a zip hoodie, gray and the navy blue wording says simply Old Navy. I thought what a good basic. So did Noboru and Noah but, you know Bran is getting older. He's a teen and I do respect his ideas. On what clothes he'd like. So Noah did get 3 sweatshirts. 2 Gap and 1 Old Navy. Noboru just wanted to make sure the boys were going to be warm in the Fall and Winter months. : ) 

Noboru was here for 3 long wonderful weeks. We were looking for a navy blue warm cozy fleece type winter blanket for each of the boys beds. We checked Walmart and Target first. No navy blue fleece blankets there. But we found them at Marshalls. For super cheap. Cheaper than the prices at Walmart. 

Super high quality by American designer Tommy Hilfiger. And only $16.99 each. 

They are a nice thick weight. And super super soft. I washed them both and put both on each of the boys beds. Definitely warm enough for Fall. Not sure how winter will feel around here. But if need be, I can always zip out and pick up another at Marshall's. But for Fall weather, they're plenty warm.

We also picked up a warm fleece blanket for my bed too. They had one at Walmart for $26. But Marshall's was just cheaper. And the quality is better.

We all have T shirt sheets and pillow cases. Because they're so soft. And the color of my sheets is this pillow case on the left. I actually took this pillow case with me to Marshall's because they had so many different shades of gray, that I didn't wnat to buy the wrong shade, so I brought my own gray pillow case and doing that... made sure I found a dead on match and look. How the pillow case matches my fleece blanket. 

Loved the price. I did wash it and tumbled it dry. And my bed is so cozy now. Again though, perfect for Fall. I have never lived in this state before. I have never experienced winter here. If I were to guess, I would say their winters are mild. Just like my area of Chiba was. I do not think it gets like serious winter here like Minnesota does. Or Alaska does. But again, I have no winter experience of this state yet. Plus keep in mind.. all townhouses and houses in America have central heating. So, again, I'm not sure if 1 warm thick weight blanket will be enough plus our comforter too. Or if I will... start of December run out and buy more blankets? Again, I'll find out. : )

Noboru had take out pizza 3 times. What, I do is I cook dinner in America 6 nights each week. Every Saturday we order pizza. Depending on who is cheaper that week. We order from either Papa John's or Pizza Hut. The first weekend Noboru was here, we had Papa John's. The 2nd weekend Noboru was here we had Pizza Hut and the final weekend Noboru was here we had Papa John's. Pizzas run around $7.99 for a 2 topping pizza, size large at Pizza Hut and size extra large at Papa John's which is about the same size of a Pizza Hut large. In Japan, I cooked dinner just about 7 nights a week. So for me, it's sort of wonderful to get a break from cooking once a week.  And sure we could hit Wendy's or Taco Bell or KFC or whatever. But we mostly just go for the pizza.

I was really sad when Noboru left. But, we accomplished a lot while he was here. We winterized the kids a little bit more. We winterized the beds. We winterized the car. We got to have that amazing important family time. And he'll be back here in January. The kids and I... are just quietly living here. The kids are doing so well here. Halloween is this coming week. They both have their Halloween costumes already. Branden did enjoy his homecoming. Branden's driving is improving little by little. Today is Branden's birthday. He turns 17 years old today. Can you believe it? He has his second scheduled drive with his driving instructor this evening at 6:30pm. And after an hour of driving, he drives himself to our townhouse. And the instructor then drives back to the driving school. We went out to an early birthday dinner when Noboru was here. A place of Branden's choosing (The Red Lobster) he also got birthday money from grandpa in Denver and from us too and got to pick out some new clothes. I do have an ice cream cake here. And we'll have a quiet little family thing here at home, just us 3. Tomorrow the kids and I are going to the movies too. We'd go tonight, but B has his driving lesson. So we'll go and enjoy a movie tomorrow. How is the weather? Yesterday and today feels really cold. Up until yesterday... it felt really warm in the daytime and cool at night. But yesterday was a gray day all day, low heavy clouds and while I was picking up Noah at middle school yesterday. And it's been raining off and on, ever since yesterday. It's still gray skies and cool. The wind is starting to have a bite to it.  

Touristy stuff in Seattle Washington. Pike Place Market, The very first Starbucks, etc etc...

Saturday, September 29th, 2018, our family went to do some touristy stuff. We went to Pike Place Market! We went to the the very first Starbucks. The one that started it all! We also went to China Town aka the International District. There's a an area called "Japan Town" Which is an area with a huge Japanese grocery store in it. We had lunch in the food court there, by the way. And it was delicious! It was a very cool way to spend a Saturday for the 4 of us. 

Noboru and Noah walking towards the very first Starbucks.

Of course, I had to take a picture. The original logo on the window! 

I hope you can see the reflection of the window, just how many people were trying to take a photo of this special spot! The very first Starbucks. There also was a very long line to get a drink. We didn't go inside. Because frankly there was another Starbucks but 1-2 minutes away on foot and empty. So if you need a drink, maybe go to the empty less famous one. And of course take tons of pics outside this one, just as a keep sake. : )

The address of the original Starbucks. 

These next couple of pics were taken inside the Pike Place Market. The whole vibe being there was excitement. There were tons of tourists. American tourists as well as from overseas. Everyone was happy to be there. Everyone was with a camera snapping pics. The workers were used to it and smiling. The whole place was buzzing. Exciting and fun.

Fresh fruits, veggies. Vibrant colors. And my gosh are the people in Seattle friendly! So nice!

King crab legs from Alaska.

Lobster. The only seafood, I like is shrimp and lobster. I was thinking..."hello there you gorgeous delicious looking lobster tails!!!" LOL.

There was so many interesting shops inside Pike Place Market. Like this candy shop.

The kids enjoyed this button shop which had former president election buttons. 

Clown shoe. : )

Hi Noah! And the World's tallest man. It said actual size. 

When I first saw this, I immediately thought, Zoltar from the movie Big with Tom Hanks. And then near Noah's hand, it does say, "Think... Big" And of course, I smiled. I'm sure so many have thought of the Big movie too. : )

China Town was very cool. We went inside quite a few shops. 

The Japanese grocery store, Uwajimaya. My goodness is everything inside there... double and somethings were even triple and quadruple the price of what you can buy in Japan. I didn't buy 1 thing in there. It was still cool to look around in there though. 

Noboru handed them $30 bucks, while we guarded our 4 seats to sit and eat and said to pick anything they wanted in the food court and to bring him back the change. They both picked a big hot bowl of ramen. 

I went to the Korean restaurant in the same food court and had a spicy chicken breast with veggie dish. It came with rice and a salad. Mine was delicious. The 4 of us enjoyed our lunch. 

Random pic inside the Japanese supermarket. It's nice to know it's available. But wowsa those prices. Anyway, it was a fabulous way to spend the day.