Sunday, July 23rd. Costco cart pic in Arvada, Colorado. Popeye’s Chicken and Biscuits. Going to the movies to see, War for the Planet of the Apes...

Sunday, July 23rd, the breakfast buffet started at our hotel at 6:30am (daily), we were definitely one of the first 3 families downstairs. It's just because...we had jet lag. So we were up and ready to go. We went downstairs. They have many different types of cold and hot cereal and different varieties of yogurt and chocolate milk and regular milk and apple and orange juice daily, plus hot coffee. And cinnamon rolls baked daily and pancakes you can make yourself via a cool automated machine. But the main part of breakfast changes every single day. This day, they had omelet and scrambled eggs and bacon. I had a slice of toast and a fresh hot biscuit too. And a hot coffee with Irish coffee creamer first and my 2nd and final cup of hot coffee had hazel nut creamer. They had so many different flavors and variety's of coffee creamers daily, so good and totally free. 

With me being an American mom and living in Japan. There are often many things that I "need" from my country to bring back to Japan with me. What are they? Normal stuff. For everyone what *you* need... it may vary from person to person. But for me personally. I need Advil. Deodorant, tampons. coffee creamer. So for example those are my supplies that I make sure to bring back with me every year. And like I said for everyone it could be a different story...what you individually may need. What you can NOT live without, perhaps I could live without it and vice versa. Each person is different...so what each person brings back is so super personal, ykwim? : ) Immediately after breakfast we all went upstairs to our room and we all went to the restroom and got ready to leave. Anyone have to do a last minute pee? Anyone, anyone? And off we went. The plan was to hit Costco on a Sunday, clearly we must be crazy to brave such crowds...however I know that most folks are at church in the AM and if we hit Costco as soon as it opens at 10am. We can zip in and out before it starts getting crowded which is what we did. However...it was only about 8am-ish. So we made use of our time and hit 2 grocery stores to buy all they had in stock of their cinnamon roll coffee creamer. So we hit 2 King Soopers as soon as we left the hotel. I use 1 container of coffee cream a month. So, I knew I had to leave Denver with at least 12 containers of coffee creamer, to ensure I had a year supply. However when 1 store... only has 2 containers of coffee creamer for example. And the other has only about 7. You know you will indeed be going to a 3rd and final King Soopers after hitting Costco. So we went to 2 King Soopers. Then we parked in the Arvada Costco parking lot... which is my nearest Costco from my childhood home. And my original Costco, I always went to in the US. And as soon as the store opened we went right inside. I had a short list and scratched everything off my list. We exited the store by 10:50am.

Every single year I buy Advil at Target or Walmart or Kmart when in Guam. And they sell them in 50 tablets or even 100 tablets. And they're pricey. And I know they're tons cheaper buying at Costco. And yet... I have never ever bought Advil at Costco. I must be a complete nitwit for not buying it earlier there. @_@ And...I have mentioned this before on here. But, I am quite cheap. I will always buy store brand or brand X, when I can. However...once I bought Target brand ibuprofen and it didn't work at all. I always assumed active ingredients are the same...regardless... doesn't matter which brand it is. But one time...I had a horrible pounding booming headache and I grabbed a Target brand ibuprofen and waited for 20 minutes for it to kick in...like Advil always does. And it never kicked in. And as you know...I only get to the US...few and far between. And yes...I was pissed off...that I brought back essentially...ineffective headache/fever reducer. For the next year. And I was lucky in that I did zip to Guam a few months afterwards and bought a small bottle of Advil. But...really.  While I do... cut corners and buy store brand when it's as good as the name brand. I will never scrimp for headache or fever reducer. Not ever. I do go to American original Costco every year. Yet I never buy Advil. Which is just nuts. This time...while I was writing my list down on a piece of paper, yes I'm old school in that I prefer a paper list, electronics can glitch out and paper lists are just safer in my opinion. I wrote under Target/Walmart...Advil. And I stopped and thought. How come I don't buy it at Costco? I went and checked the price online and saw how cheap it was. And so...I am now...very smartly buying my Advil in bulk at Costco USA now. 

360 tablets for $12.89 US. Such a bargain. First it was just Noboru and I using Advil tablets. And Bran and Noah used liquid kids ibuprofen. But when Bran became 12, we switched Bran to Advil tablets. And he uses them and they work like a charm for him. You can't use Advil until age 12. When Noah turned 12 years old, this July 7th. I told Noah...you still have 2 bottles of liquid kids Advil that you will use first...since we still have it, but once that's done. No more for you. You will now be...team Advil tablets. And he said okay. : ) He's very chill. So...now it's peace of mind that I have 360 tablets. They won't expire until December 2019. And I'm quite happy with the deal I have. And this way...if one of my kiddos has a horrible pounding headache. No worries at all. 

96 Tampax Pearl tampons for just $9.99. You just can't get a better deal then that. That's practically a year supply right there for 1 box! Best deal ever! 

This is the best daytime facial moisturizer. I wear it under my makeup. I wear it even if I don't wear makeup. It has SPF 15. I do wear SPF 50 when I go out. But...on days that I just stay home...it's nice knowing I am at least using some sun protection. I also have extremely sensitive skin. Meaning...if I just look at a french fry...I could break out. I have seriously sensitive skin. And this has never broken me out. And my skin is dry in the winter and it's enough moisture for me year round. 100ml for $29.99 is perfect. At Target the 50ml ones are like $24 US. So...so much smarter to buy Olay at Costco. I have used this for years and I love this. 

My "Ride or Die" night cream for years. Olay and in a 2 pack. 

$38.99 for 2. Every morning I wake up and my skin is all plumped up and all uniform in color. I love this. 

Last year when I was in Denver...I lugged back 2 micellar waters. Garnier and Simple. I have 30% of the Garnier one left. I really like it. The Simple one, I have not even opened yet. But...it's sometimes a pain to grab my cotton pad...then soak said cotton pad and take off my makeup before I wash my face for real...with my wash cloth and Basis face wash. I always double cleanse. This year...I am taking an even easier route at makeup removal and using Neutrogena makeup remover wipes. All I have to do is wipe my face down. And then wash my face for real, with a hot steamy sudsy wash cloth and face wash afterwards. Couldn't be easier then that. 

$14.99...perfect price. 

Americans you already know what this is. Peeps not from America. The Olive Garden is a very delicious Italian American restaurant, it's a chain. They are super famous for their delicious salad dressing. So they started selling it. You can buy it at Walmart for like $6 for a big 24 oz bottle of it. Or you can buy it at Costco USA, where it's way cheaper. They sell it in a 2 pack. 

For only $7.49. ...$7 and some change... is amazing considering you get 2 huge bottles of it. 

Miracle Whip. For all those leftover Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches this November. Also a steal at Costco.

Only $3.99 for 2 huge containers of Miracle Whip. So cheap. That's insane type cheap!

Costco Arvada cart pic! 2 boxes of tampons. 2 bottles of Olay daily facial moisturizer. 1 two pack of Olay night cream. Neutrogena wipes. 3 two packs of Olive Garden dressing. Yes it is THAT good! Thanksgiving salad...we have the dressing covered now. Advil. And Miracle Whip. We went in, shopped our list and left. Before it was even 11am. We were in our car by 10:50am. And the store was still pretty quiet and not very many people. Woohoo! We hit 1 final King Soopers and bought the remainder of cinnamon roll coffee creamer. Instead of getting 12. We bought 13. Figured better to have more than enough...than not enough. 

At noon, we stopped for lunch. And we each enjoyed some Popeye's. Flaky buttery biscuits, mashed potatoes and spicy gravy. Some chicken strips. Noboru picked the fish and shrimp combo. 

After lunch we decided to hit Walmart and call it a day. I only need 1 full day to shop. But, we split it up in 2 days. Because that way... we still ended each day with fun. Such as a movie or amusement park. So...yep. We hit Walmart. We were in here for about an hour. We walked every aisle. Cosmetics aisle. Food aisle. Noah bought another fidget spinner. Food to bring back to Japan.  Such as meal helpers or side dishes. After this. It was about 2:30pm. We went back to our hotel. Unloaded all our stuff. And we rested our bodies for a good hour. Laid on our beds. Noah napped for an hour. Noboru checked the movie schedule online. And we knew our movie was to start at 5pm. So we left our hotel at 4pm. And slowly drove to the movies. We made it in no time at all. by 4:15 we were parked and walking into the movies. 

Another smart move or change we made this year. Is every summer we take the kids to the movies in the US. And every year we pay full price. And every year... we also hit Costco too. This year we decided to buy our movies tickets at Costco America and that saved us about 7 or 8 dollars. We also bought our movie snacks at Walmart and I snuck them in my purse. 

These were only 80 cents a box at Walmart. Versus $2.50 each at the movies. Sorry...but it's just a smarter way to enjoy the movies.  : )

Colorado Mills movie theater here we come!!! The guy at the ticket counter was so funny. So warm. And truly such a delight. He cracked jokes. And he was a nice good kid. Sandy dark blond hair probably senior in high school. 

Hi Branden. Hi Noah!!! Ready to go and watch the new Planet of the Apes movie? 

Concession stand. For a Sunday evening it was relatively quiet. And we loved that. No huge crowds of people. 

Everyone was full from lunch still. So we bought a medium popcorn. It would have just been... less than a dollar for a large popcorn with free refills. But nobody was hungry enough to warrant us getting a large We did buy 2 medium sodas...which look like extra large sizes if you compare them to Japanese sizes. : ) 

Noboru was sitting far right, then Bran, then me and then Noah. The movie theater was so quiet and the only other family sat far away...we didn't even feel like we needed to book-end the kids. We enjoyed going to a movie not stuffed to the gills with people. How was the movie? It was so excellent. It definitely tied in the old ones from the 60's or 70's (my dad always watched the old ones on TV). I really enjoyed this movie a lot. : ) 

Planet of the Apes. 5pm and yep..told ya...7/23/17. : ) 

After the movie it was... what...after 7pm or so? Because of the sodas and the snacks. None of us were very hungry. Just a little peckish. Just a tad. Nobody was hungry enough... to want to get a full dinner at a sit down restaurant. So we didn't...we just went to Wendy's instead. And brought it back to our hotel room. We had Vitamin Waters in our room. And we watched TV and ate and then showered. 

The boys each had an adults cheeseburger. The single with cheese. They shared a large fry. They each had Vitamin Waters. And I had a chicken sandwich and a Vitamin Water.

How was our Sunday? It was awesome. We bought 13 coffee creamers (I ended up getting a few extra at other places too, so ended up with 16 total) but I had a year supply, so I was thrilled at that. Noboru bought me... my face lotions and creams. So, I should be safe now, for the year. I most definitely have a year or two supply of tampons now. So, gee whiz. I was feeling quite accomplished for a Sunday. I had picked up deodorants for us all. A year supply of Advil. About an 8 month supply or year supply of salad dressing. And an... until February supply of Miracle Whip. 2 concealers from Walmart some mascara from Walmart too. We managed to enjoy a movie too. That way we ended our day with a fun way...with a movie. And we kept the shopping for supplies part... as stress free as possible. Meaning Noboru and Bran and Noah bummed around Walmart and looked at things guys like. Such as drones and movies and TV's and whatnot. Meanwhile I felt like Santa Clause checking the list and checking it twice. Going from aisle to aisle. We all have free-wifi in store and could LINE each other in the store. So...if they needed to tell me something or I them. We could message easily. I would message Noboru, I'm ready to check out. And then he'd take the cart and check out. We'd all go and check out. : ) Costco...we all stayed together... but that's because we had a small list and were quite fast. We took breaks in between such as..for lunch to Popeye's. And an hour nap. I never want anyone to feel overwhelmed. And nobody did. Which is why I broke the shopping day... in 2 days. And kept things light.

The next post, will be the next day. Hitting Sephora. The Bath and Body Works. Walmart for 1 last time. For side dish/ meal helper stuff. And that was it. Monday's shopping was done by 2:30pm too. We also ended our Monday with a trip to the amusement park. Which the kids *absolutely* loved. That post will be for next time. : ) 

Last week's Costco cart pic. Some new movies from Amazon.com. And The Gong Show reboot...

Last Friday, June 23rd Noboru and I made a Costco Chiba New Town run. And also a Besia (regular grocery store run) and also we hit the meat store in Inzai/Chiba New Town too, which is of course Joyful Honda. But only this pic from Costco is what I am sharing today. No other cart pics from that day. : ) What's in my Costco cart from last Friday? Let's see. 3 big jars of Ragu pasta sauce. 4 Kirkland frozen cheese pizzas. Tortilla chips (nachos are coming up for us, this coming Thursday night according to the weekly menu that I make) 2 types of grated cheese (mozzarella and a blend they call a Mexican blend.) Tortillas, dinner rolls and a rotisserie chicken that we had a delicious quick dinner from last Friday night. So an easy dinner last Friday was very nice. : ) 

We did stop and have lunch before we left Costco and went on our way to a few other grocery stores that morning. : )

My Amazon.com order arrived too. 

Split...we watched it yesterday and it's really good. We also enjoyed Get Out. This movie was *so* excellent. And it's funny because... one of the guys who was in Hawaii for the couple years of training when we were there. He's a good friend of Noboru's. Anyways he was telling Noboru...he had seen Get Out and he loved it and he told Noboru. "You have got to see that movie" That it was so good. And 2 days after his friend told him that. My fellow American friend in Yokohama emailed me and she's so super nice. Anyways we were emailing about fun stuff. You know movies and food and good stuff like that. : ) Anyways...she told me...."Gina, you should totally watch Get Out." I told my husband..."now my friend, also told me to see the same movie your friend mentioned too." @_@. So, I went and checked the trailer on YouTube and was like...wow this looks so good. So, I ordered it. And I won't spoil anything for any of you, except to say...everyone is totally right!!! This movie is so good! No wonder there is a buzz about Get Out. Because it's totally a good movie. I am so glad I have this... because I will be watching it again...probably this week. Beauty and the Beast. I remember being in middle school and watching an old black and white version of Beauty and the Beast all in French in my French class. Thank gawd for subtitles. LOL. And yep...wish I woulda took Spanish instead. But anyways. The story though...I fell in love with the story of this. And I have loved Beauty and the Beast since my French class in middle school. I guess I love the story of the Beast... how he was tested and turned that old poor beggar woman away... when she was seeking a place to stay for the night. And no wonder he was cursed because she was not truly an old beggar woman at all. As we all know. I think it just makes me always think...don't judge a book by it's cover. And...always be kind. Kindness *always* wins. And perhaps the Beast should have been kinder in the beginning. No wonder he was cursed! And then the Disney cartoon version came and I loved that one too. And I frankly know some folks like this new version and some don't. But...I know for me personally...the story I love. And I wanted this in my collection. I'll let ya'll know how I liked it. And the other movie...looks like Groundhogs Day but modern. And I have not seen it yet...but I have seen the previews and I will let you know how I like it. But...we are saving that for this coming weekend, same for Beauty and the Beast for...family movie night. : )  And as for Star Wars...we are the biggest Star Wars loving family and same with Terminator. You guys know that. One DVD is not shipping to my house until first weak of August, it's still too new and not released yet. : )  

Is it just me or is *everything* being rebooted. The TV show Roseanne is being rebooted too. With Roseanne Barr and the whole cast. Anyways...anyone remember the original Gong Show??? It was a popular American TV show in America. It ran from 1976-1980. I was like too little for preschool, then preschool aged... then kindergarten aged when this show ran. I might have even gotten to the first grade or 2nd grade during the run of this show. I was a little kid when this was on. But I do remember how popular this show was. If you performed good, you finished your act. If you were horrible they would gong you!!! I remember when I was little...Kids would ask other kids..."hey did you see the Gong Show last night?" Everyone did! It was just that popular. Anyway it's been rebooted and it just started in America again. I decided to catch the first show. And I read online that in America they're once again saying it's going to be the funnest thing all summer. So, I did make sure to tune in. And it's hilarious. I watched it Friday evening with my family. We were laughing so hard. This lady here. Dressed like Little Bo Peep. She had a tarantula. And put it into her mouth. Grossed out the audience. The host. Grossed us out over here too. @_@

They had 3 famous/actors as guest judges. 2 were from The Hangover. Ken Jeong the funny guy who played Mr. Chow. He's so sharp and so funny.

Putting it in her mouth. Bleh! Yikes. @_@

Yep the audience was totally grossed out. By the way...sorry the spider just reminded me.. speaking of rebooting shows. Fear Factor was also rebooted on MTV. Ludacris is the host. And my kids love Fear Factor!!! Bran and Noah watch every single week. And I watch with them. And Noboru watches it with us too when he's home and not working.

And of course went a warning on the screen. Please do not put spiders in your mouth. Ummm duh! : )

More audience members too. Again everyone was totally grossed out with the whole spider in the mouth thing. Us too.

Will Arnett.

Zach Galifianakas. He's always so funny. My whole family really likes him. Same for Ken Jeong, my kids crack up whenever they see Mr. Chow. : )

Anyway, Noboru did get his vacation days off. So we will be going on vacation at the end of July for sure 100%.  We can't wait!!! I'll give more details a bit later. : ) But...if my blog does go a bit quiet, between now and then. It's just because...I'm starting to watch a bunch of YouTube videos lately. You guys know...I always get caught up with everything new in the U.S. before I get there. I'd like to know...what's new. What's good. And so...I have started a small list so far. And just...you know slowly getting a list gathered up of what I'd like to bring back to Japan with me. : ) So if my blog doesn't get updated in 4 days. I am either just enjoying my family time. Or watching many makeup...what's new at Sephora or what's new at the drugstore videos. But, I am here. Anything else to add? : )

Noah has observation day July 4th at school. Holy smokes....didn't Noah just have observation day...not too long ago too? I could swear he *just* had observation day about 3 weeks ago...pretty recently/not too long ago. Hmm.

I'd like to get my hair straightened again. Before Japanese summer and humidity hits. I'm thinking either this week or next. Maybe this week. Hmm. Decisions decisions. : )

How has the weather been? Outside it's been warm to almost hot in the days and cooler at night still, but the humidity is really starting to rise outside though. Last week it started to get really humid. It's quite dry in our home, so we don't feel or notice a change inside our home. Thank goodness for central air conditioning. But it's really noticeable the second you leave the house.

Homemade apple crisp. Bought the cutest rice bowls from Costco. We watched Doctor Strange. Noah was invited to a yochien class reunion. Plus enjoying my dad’s visit in Japan right now...

How's everyone doing? As for me here. Pretty great. My dad's here visiting. The kids are at school, although Bran gets out today at 10:40am. 9th graders sure get off early their last few months of school as 9th graders here. I have a free 45 minutes and I figured it's the perfect time to get my blog up to date. You know how in Japan...Pringles potato chips are pretty popular. Meanwhile... Frito Lay is a popular chip brand in the USA. Calbee is a hugely popular well known brand for chips here in Japan. However they have always sold just regular normal bags of potato chips. And about 3 weeks ago, I saw these. I thought...what a fantastic idea! Calbee making a Pringles type of chip too. Perfect idea. So, I bought 2 packs, 1 for BrannyB and 1 for Noah. And after they munched them, I asked them. How did you like them? They both said they were delicious! And would be happy if I bought them again. And the price, at my local store was 78 yen a pack. And I saw them at a different store yesterday for 80 yen. So about 75 cents US. 

What else...oh yes, I also made an apple crisp. I made this last week. 

This was our cart pic from when....about 10-12 days ago? Around there. Noboru was with me and he bought the chocolates for me. And let's see...what's in the cart. A 2 pack of milk. A 2 pack of Pace salsa. Organic tortilla chips. Tortillas underneath the eggs. Eggs. Lean ground beef and a pack of bowls. Rice bowls.

These bowls caught my eye as soon as I entered the store. And so many Japanese women were also instantly stopped oohing and ahhing at these too. And I was oohing and ahhing right along. For one thing, the price was 1400 yen for the pack of bowls... so they were affordable. And another thing is...we all use rice bowls in Japan. And sure...every family likes to have cute ones. Some families even have their own special rice bowels for each person in the house. We in our house... don't have set bowls for set people. But we do like cute ones. And usually you can find one with a cute outside but a plain inside. Or vice versa. But to find a rice bowl with a gorgeous design outside and a gorgeous design inside too. It's just...really unusual. And very cool actually. So I jumped on my chance and picked up a pack of them. 

Like it says...uniquely designed with beautiful patterns inside and out. Exactly. And the mix and match design...is so cool.  And 6 is a good amount. 

And dishwasher *and* microwave safe helps in the modern world. 

So pretty and yes...so unique. I am just in love with our rice bowls. : )

The day before my dad got here, the kids and I watched the new movie at home...Doctor Strange. 

He was a brilliant doctor. Surgeon who...needs his hands. His living is his hands. He was in a horrible car accident because he was texting and driving. And look at his hands. Totally ruined. His life of a surgeon, gone.

He heard of some healer who could help him.

She taught him many things.

She sent him to the top of a mountain to use his power to make it back. To show him...he had the power too.

He was either going to freeze to death or use magic to get back. 

He used it and he got back. Phew. : ) I won't say the ending or the main parts of the story only to say. It was a really good movie. : )

This is what we bought the day we went to Loft, in Tsukuba, Ibaraki. 

You know how I always say they have a sale most of the time at Gap... mostly 30% off. Well this day it was 50% off. And I love getting quality clothes and super cheap prices. We paid 1900 yen about US$18 dollars. Saving money and still getting cute clothes makes me happy. : )

I love that preppy button and the jean shorts are really nice. Noah will be wearing these this coming Summer or as soon as it gets warm enough for shorts. Maybe in late May. : ) 

And then my dad arrived Saturday at 3pm. He told me...I read on your blog that you were looking for the coconut Girl Scout cookies. And I was like...yeah, I was. : ) And he said, I brought you back a box! Aww. How nice! Thank you dad. 

And my dad told me... that my auntie had asked him to give this to me. : )

Anyway....my dad and I just had toast and yogurts and coffee. He just jumped out of the shower. And I am about to jump in the shower now...that he is out. I just wanted to pop on real quick. Just quickly update...the regular day to day type stuff we've been doing. Yesterday afternoon all 5 of us went to Saizeriya for lunch, lol.

Noah received a post card in the mail about 2 weeks ago asking for him to attend a yochien school reunion. They never had this for Branden's years or anything. And I was talking to my friend when we went to the movies to see "The Accountant" about it. And even showed her the postcard. She also has 2 older daughters too and they never had this reunion for her children's years either. We both wished they had. : ) But...perhaps they just started it for Noah's graduation year? And the grades younger too? Oh well. The bright side is...they started this. And I think it's fantastic! A kindergarten school reunion. Hahaha. : ) It's March 29th or something. And you have to RSVP whether you will be attending or not. We did fill it back and Noah will be attending his yochien class reunion, hahaha. : ) Anyway...I think it sounds like fun. And I look forward to it.. because most 99% of Noah's classmates live in the small city nearest us. And only like 2 live in our town and 1 being Noah. So...it will be nice to catch up with our friends. : )  We can't wait. : )

Anything else to add? It snowed yesterday (Sunday), or the night before while we were sleeping. We woke up and there were about 2 inches of snow on the ground all over...everywhere. My dad was surprised. However by 11am Sunday, it was completely melted and gone. We've been having Japanese for dinner the last 2 nights my dad has been here. So, we're having tostadas tonight. : ) Anyway...I better go. Just wanted to say hi and catch up a bit with you all. : )