Halloween fun at Tokyo Disney Sea 2012!!!

So last Friday, October 5, 2012 we woke up at 5:30am and immediately started getting ready to leave our house for Tokyo Disney. I had prepped everything on Wednesday, over night bags, the clothes they would be wearing was laid out on the backs of their chairs in their rooms. So last Friday the boys went to the bathroom. Ran downstairs had 2 yogurts each, the squeeze kind, like Gogurt. And then ran upstairs, brushed their teeth combed their hair and got dressed. I meanwhile checked my email and then brushed my teeth, did my hair ,put my makeup on and put on the clothes I laid out for myself the night before. Popped on my clothes and at around 6:45am we left the house last Friday. Once we hopped on the highway it took a good 1  full hour drive. So yeah we don't live all too close. And if we took the regular roads it would be about a 2 hour drive. @_@  We made a pit stop to 7-11 the boys each got a danish, apple I think. We each bought 1 500ml of drink (four total). To take into Disney. I chose jasmine tea, the boys chose lemon water or orange water. Noboru picked green tea. We smartly parked our car at the hotel versus pay the 2,000 yen parking at Disney. And waited for the shuttle bus from the hotel to Disney. The shuttle was free if you stayed at the hotel. The hotel we stayed at, is pictured.

While Noboru was getting our parking pass I took this pic inside the hotel lobby.

Halloween 2012!

Trick or Treat. I liked the spider pumpkin. And the star pumpkin also.  Their decorations were awesome.

Halloween festival indeed. So anyway, most of the time we head to Disneyland for Halloween. However it's getting so popular that the wait time for rides is growing and growing. Sure most rides have short wait times but the Haunted Mansion for example is always a bit of a wait. So we decided this year let's go to Disney Sea it's less crowded. 

This is a brand new ride that recently opened it's called...Toy Story Mania! The wait time for this ride was 90 minutes all day long, so we rode everything else first that had small wait times. But we did ride this later in the evening.

The seating outside is cool near Toy Story Mania. There's Hamm (aka, Evil Doctor Porkchop!!!) And Wheezy, remember when his squeaker was broken? : )

Mr. Pricklepants and Dolly. All where there!!!

We first filled up 3 buckets with apple cinnamon popcorn. This was delicious! If you've ever had and liked Apple Jacks cereal you'll love this! Yumm!

Also cast members are walking the park with treats. And if you walk up and say...."trick or treat!" She'll give you a treat! Same how we do in America. So the boys loved that! Here is Noah saying..trick or treat! Branden got one first.

And here she is, giving a treat to Noah.

If you have been reading here for  along time, you'll remember how when they were small, I'd carry everything for the boys in the stroller basket. This time, they carried their own stuff. Very light backpacks. But, in Noah's backpack he had 1 pair of jeans in case it got chilly at night, and 1 sweatshirt in case he got cold at night and 1 raincoat in case it were to rain. That's all, and I folded them small. And Noah was a real champ, he carried it the whole day. Branden also carried the same, 1 pair of jeans, 1 sweatshirt and 1 raincoat. They didn't need any of it. @_@ It was just warm enough, go figure. Anyway up until now, Noah has never been tall enough to ride the Indiana Jones ride, in fact there are many rides at Disney Sea he couldn't ride last year.... however this year he can ride them all! So this picture is of Noah entering the Indiana Jones ride for the first time last Friday!!!

If your kids are too small, get these passes anyway and keep them. They let you bump to the front of the line when they finally get tall enough. Branden's old card got us all a fast pass to ride this.

Noah looking around before getting in the jeep on the Indian Jones ride. This was Noah's favorite ride.

This was a different ride, Journey to the Center of the earth. This ride is cool!

Noah enjoying the ride Aquatopia.

Hi cutie pie!

A happy smiling Branden and Noboru!

The boys were so full from the popcorn, or yogurt or danish. Neither wanted to eat lunch. However we said "you gotta try something." We don't want them starving to death or anything, lol. They shared a smoked chicken leg! They both really liked it. In fact Branden loved it!

For lunch Noboru and I had Indian like we usually do. The quality of the food this time.... really went down. The portion of the rice was so tiny. We were both really disappointed with what happened with the Indian food since we last went there. : ( Also, we had been looking forward to their delicious soft serve coconut ice cream. @_@ Imagine our surprise that it was gone and now it's just vanilla. We were disappointed by the coconut ice cream being replaced. Total bummer. So we bought these and didn't let it ruin our day...no way! Branden, Noah and I picked orange and Noboru picked apple.

These were so good. Coconut ice cream would have been nice, but this wasn't bad at all either.

Trick or treat....they did this about 9 times throughout the day and night. This is very fun for the kids!

Branden and Noah got a refill and they picked caramel popcorn. I however picked strawberry.

I like how they decorate for Halloween and how cute the NY Deli looks at Disney Sea. However, given the Indian food lunch disappointment, Noboru said, why don't we leave Disney Sea for a half hour, the Disney mall is the next stop, called Ikspiari. And we can have Kua Aina burger, we've eaten there before. It would be cheaper then eating at Disney Sea and plus you get more volume meaning, bigger portions and it's tastier. We agreed, so we got our hands stamped so we could enter Disney Sea again. And headed to Ikspiari.

This is probably my favorite picture I took from Disney Sea last Friday and it wasn't even at Disney Sea, lol! I like it because you know sometimes you snap a pic of your kids and you think they sorta look like that but...it's hard to capture them completely. This is exactly how Noah looks in real life and how Branden looks in real life. This picture captures them best is what I mean. And dad, I didn't lock this pic down you can double click this one.

We hopped the Disney monorail and 1 stop away was our stop. Like in 1 minute we were there already, lol.

Branden and Noah had their own chicken strips and a large fries they shared, they also shared a huge soda. They were so stuffed afterwards. A bit blurry but you get the idea. ; )

I had the teriyaki chicken sandwich with onion rings and fries. This chicken teriyaki is the best chargrilled and most tastiest flavor. I chargrill my teriyaki at home too but mine doesn't taste nearly as good as theirs! I could eat these forever! They are that good!

We came back to Disney Sea and everyone went to the bathroom before standing in line for Toy Story Mania! 90 minute wait! @_@ And yep we waited.

It's this side of the Tower of Terror, to give you a better idea of where it's located. And see the lights? It's so pretty at night.

Once inside you quickly realize, you are inside Andy's room. All of the things are huge sized, these crayons were way taller then I was. Also notice, some crayons are used and some are not. Crayons scuff marks on the inside of the box like how it would really look.

Okay, here is Andy's coloring book.

Dominoes and blocks.

Barrel of Monkey's. Giant yo yo, Enormous Tinker Toys. Airplane. And see the door? This was such a realistic child's bedroom.

This is a pic of the actual ride. Look very close...see the bed post? You are under Andy's bed for the ride!!!!! This ride is so fun! I was iffy about waiting 90 minutes but I tell ya, it was worth it! This ride rocks! It's THAT fun!

By now it's about time for the fireworks. Wow, we had been there since it opened and we are going to stay until near closing. The boys are chatting while waiting for the fireworks.

It's hard to take pictures of fireworks and also enjoy them too. So, I took one pic and then I enjoyed them.  After this, we rode Indiana Jones one more time. Raising Spirits roller coaster 360 degree loop. And then we had a fast pass for Journey to the Center of the Earth. That was the last ride we rode. We went to the shops real fast and then to catch the shuttle back to the hotel. We were happy but exhausted.

Noboru went to check in and we waited. A lady was making balloon animals for the kids who were staying at the hotel. Lots of tired folks ready to enjoy their stay and get some rest. Us included.

Our room, we had 4 beds. It's super clean, very basic and for us free.

Talk about feeling like Lucy and Ricky. We usually sleep in the same bed. : )  We ran downstairs and in the lobby area there is a Lawson's. Every other family was also in there grabbing food to take back to their rooms. Noboru bought soba. We each picked a drink and the boys and I picked some grape popsicle chips/rocks/pieces (sorry hard to describe) in a cup, they are crushed pieces and so good.

Noah enjoying his grape popsicle pieces.

Branden also enjoying his. Then I had them both jump into the shower wash their hair and bodies and into jammies they went and they went to sleep immediately.

I also had one of these.

Noah dead asleep, you can tell his hair is slightly wet/damp still. But he's zonked out.

Branden is also fresh and clean but he's zonked out too.

I ate my grape popsicle thingy and then I showered. Noboru showered too. We all went to sleep pretty much right away.

They have a bakery buffet at this hotel and the price to eat here is very fair. 500 yen per child. 900 yen for adults. Or 950 yen.

See all the bakery goods? Ever walk into a bakery and think..."gosh it smells so good in here." It smells *good* in this buffet. They keep baking more and more bakery breads. Juice to the right.

A bit blurry but gives you an idea. It's smallish but they keep restocking with warm and fresh baked goods. Pumpkin danish and apple tarts. They had a good variety. And coco sprinkled churros even!

Fresh hot piping butter rolls and the flakiest croissants and they were still hot/warm too. Omelets.

They had a good selection. And the boys filled themselves up good before we left. And Noah wanted to keep his wrist tag on so everyone would know he is indeed tall enough to ride the big rides. : ) Kids! So innocent, so silly!

My coffee and Noah's milk and also apple juice. Noah had 2 full milks and 2 full apple juice. Branden had so many croissants. He enjoyed this place, they both did.

Noboru eating his meal.

On our way out, we bought the boys a wooden key charm.

The view of the courtyard from our bedroom. we all went to pee before leaving the hotel and checking out. Sorry TMI but it's a long drive back to our neck of the woods. Especially since we didn't take the highway home.

These are what we brought back this time.

This is a present for my good friend Rumi who gave me the potatoes the week before. Plus the container she can keep, it's cute like a big Lego. : )  This was bought near the new ride Toy Story Mania.

A keychain/charm for Noah's randoseru. Since Noah's randoseru is caramel brown.

They each got this. Toy Story Mania lunch napkin, to lay your lunch on. It has Hamm, Wheezy, Bulls Eye, Jessie, it has everyone.

Gotta be fair and even Stevens. One for Branden and one for Noah.

These files are used a lot in shogakko. These are 3-D. And of course 1 for each Branden and Noah. Gotta be fair and evens Stevens like I said. Especially now that they go to the same school.

This is what it looks like. And Noah said his class loved it! Branden said the same.

We bought chocolates for ourselves to enjoy later at home.

The wood keitai charm from that machine. Anyway that is the long and short of it ; )...that's our trip in a nut shell. : ) Just letting the boys celebrate the Halloween season with fun and special little ways like this. Disney Sea 2012. : )

Movie with friends, The Bourne Legacy

Thursday, October 4, 2012 was my morning movie with Noriko and the Jogo-san. The movie started at 9:50am and we had planned to meet up at 9:30am. So Thursday morning, I made sure both Branden and Noah had a nice breakfast, dropped them off with umbrella in hand for the both of them and a drop off at the front of the school since it was drizzling rain, but the forcast said by noon it would be clear skies, which it was. And back home, for a slice of toast and a cup of hot coffee. Then I quickly got myself dressed and make up on and I then drove to the movies. We went to see the Bourne Legacy. It was a pretty good movie and Jeremy Renner is *so* easy on the eyes. After the movie we went to have lunch. We decided to have Saizeriya. Yep, Noriko and I went there the week before, but it's delicious and cheap and there are just so many different things to choose from, so we went there, the 3 of us.  After lunch, I went directly to pick up both Branden and Noah from school.

Also last week, my really good friend Rumi who lives on the next block/street. She lives literally 1 minute away. Anyway we often chit chat at the plaza while we pick up our kids after school. I enjoy chatting with her and look forward to my afternoon chats. Anyway last week she brought me some potatoes. We love potatoes.

I made a pork roast last week. And gratin potatoes from scratch.

These were so good! We had pork roast, gratin potatoes and veggie, that night.

Pulled out Noah's yellow Asics from the shoe closet, cut the tags off and he wore them to Disney Sea on Friday.  Anyway, there you have it, my movie with friends and a few extra bits thrown in as well.

Branden and Noah's Fall observation day

Tuesday, October 2, 2012 was Branden and Noah's Fall Observation day. There are 2 kinds of observation days at our particular school. One type is the come any time of day and stay as long as you want observation days! These I love and they are my favorite!  The 2nd are the come for the "last class only" type observation day and then stay for about 2 different meetings after that, meaning class meeting (I have 2 meetings in grade 1 and grade 5, since I have 2 kids) plus then stay for the school meeting after that. These I go to anyway but they are my least favorite. Anyway I was glad this was a go anytime you want type one yesterday! Also our particular school has a Spring observation day, Summer observation day and a Fall one and a Winter one too. Ha ha ha. : ) So, anyway yesterday was the Fall observation day. Outside of the one and only first grade class was a painting of undokai. Your child could create any picture that was important to them that helped them think of undokai 2012! Now according to Noah he said this picture is of kids rolling the great big undokai ball around the field. So that is what stood out in his mind and that's cute. That is his memory and what he enjoyed about undokai.

Noboru and I came and watched the entire first class of Noah's. It was math class. Now the Yuka-sensei is Noah's main #1 sensei. But because of the class size (35 kids, I think, if I remember right) they technically have 2 teachers all day long. the other sensei is a man and his name is Hanawa-sensei. He's in the Father's club since all male teachers have to join. : )

Noah doing his math.

Decorated like a first grade class. Their artwork hanging inside the classroom and outside the classroom. Pictures of them on the walls and their diaries displayed on the wall also.

The birthday train on the wall. Chuggachugga chuggachugga choochoo!!! Toot toot! I see July! Typical happy fun classroom!

Noah wearing a yellow shirt of course! Ha ha ha. : ) 4 July birthday's for grade 1!

Noah has 2 of the silliest teachers around! He dresses up, puts on fake glasses and hats. Yuka-sensei ribs Hanwa-sensei. The whole class breaks out in laughter. These 2 teachers you can tell genuinely love teaching!

Since we live in the inaka/countryside in Japan. And are surrounded by rice fields and pure country life! It's 100% acceptable at our particular school, for the kids to bring their bug boxes to school and to collect things during their break time. If you look at this pic closely the box closest to the camera.... it's black with green handle has a mantis in it. : ) Noah being a country kid has a few bug boxes here at home and he brings one of them at least 3 times a week.  He brought a huge spider he caught in his net 2 weeks ago, that he found near the shed to show his classmates. The boys loved it! Knew the type and species of spider! Smart country kids! And then Noah brought him safely back home after school and he set him free in the field next door. Noah also finds mantis at school and brings them home so they can eat the 'bad bugs" he means, pest bugs that eat flowers in hanging baskets type bugs, so he says. ; ) It's a good country life here. And I love the school Branden and Noah get to go to school in.

Pictures on their wall in their classroom. There are so many pictures of all the kids on the walls in this classroom, they know this is "their" class. : )

Noah when he went to the Bokujo for his class field trip in Spring. And the Yuka-sensei, with some goats.

So the first class bell rings and class is over but they get a 10 minute free time. All the kids grabbed their red and white hats and rushed outside. That way any built up energy gets released. Noah and his 2 besties ran directly to the ball area and started practicing their soccer kicks. My gosh Noah kicks so hard and so far!

The field area is huge and they own a lot of land surrounding this school plus it is on a hill. Not a mountain mind you, but it is indeed on a hill, so there are no houses right near the school, there is just nothing near the school. There is a huge empty land buffer zone surrounding our school and I like that! See all the way right of Noboru, there are swing sets, slide, bars you can flip around. Jungle gym type thing. Empty land and the one and only drive way up the hill to the right. No houses to the right. At the back you see trees and behind those again...huge land the school owns.

And in this picture, again, trees, field and behind that they own that land also. Nobody can peek into the school grounds if you look at this pic,there are no roads behind looking at this pic, just hills and trees and bushes type landscape, there is 1 road up to the school but it near the other direction and they can see who is coming and if they belong here otherwise you have to park at the plaza and trek up the side of the hill and that's what we do, it's built in a secluded safe part of town and like I said on a hill. And anyone coming to the school needs to sign in and wear a neck tag with last name so they know who you are and why you are here. See those stairs at the back of this pic that go into the bushes and hill? Again it is just wildlife back there that the school owns.

Some random boys playing in the country school grounds.

Random 1st grader with his bug box..how is he going to spend his 10 minute break? Catching bugs of course!  Go country kids go! ; )

Noah running about with friends! Having fun, meanwhile a "warning" bell rang at this point saying the break was almost done.

Noah waving, he is so happy here! He loves his school! Noboru told me when we were looking out at the kids playing...he said this is a very good environment for both Branden and Noah. I agreed.  Noah came running down the hall about to enter his classroom and we told him, we are off to see your brother now, "you okay? "Yep, I'm fine" he said. And so to the 3rd floor we went. Ready for class #2.

Branden and Saya-chan! You know, I say this all the time but Saya-chan is such a good girl! Her artwork is so excellent. She has such good manners. She's so kind and nice. Her parents are awesome! I really like this girl. Good girl, good girl! Branden meanwhile studying hard! They are just really good pals/friends.

Aha the 5th graders also painted their undokai picture as well. This is Branden's. I fuzzed out the kanji where our last name is in his painting pic. Same when I whited out Noah's last name in hiragana up top somewhere. Anyway....I really liked Branden's painting a lot. He painted the kids who ran in those enormous size pants. That was a fun relay! And he also painted the sun shade in the background. Where the parents stood under. I really think Branden has a real talent with his drawing and painting, someday I'll share a whole bunch of his artwork on here. : )

Branden's teacher is really hands on! He's 26 years old or something like that and married and they just had their first baby. He kept telling the parents please..."walk around the classroom" "you don't have to just stand at the back of the class" His words fell on deaf ears because the parents still stood at the back. I heard him loud and clear, I went and stood near Branden and saw what he was doing. The Jinbei boys mom also hopped on it and walked near her son. And so on. After I had a good look, I then sat back at the back of the class again and enjoyed listening to the class. And Noboru wanted to watch Branden some.  He's a very hands on type dad, I know. : ) The bright side is, at least the boys will remember fondly, "gee dad was always here" "And of course so was mom"

A pinch of a grin from Noboru. He's just so proud of Branden. And Noah too.

Branden's teacher loves to do the interactive TV screen, slides type thing while teaching lessons. The kids seem to like it. Branden was doing math for his 2nd class. We stayed the entire 2nd class. And then we left. We waved Branden good bye. He gave us a dimple smile and we went downstairs.

Back to the first grade yet one more time. Now Noah was doing Japanese. Noah turned around and he saw mommy and daddy standing back there and his face lit up! We stayed for his Japanese class. And then the bell rang. And this time was a "big recess" with 20 minutes of free time for the entire school. Noah grabbed his hat. His 2 besties grabbed theirs. And I said to Noah, "okay so mommy and daddy are going home now, okay?"  Okay! he said. "Now you go and play with your friends and have a really good day and remember mommy loves you lots and lots okay?" Okay...and off he ran with his 2 besties. And down the side of the school and hill we walked to get to our parked car at the plaza.

Tuesday nights dinner/last nights dinner. goulash and fresh baguette bread with butter.  Noboru had 2 huge servings of goulash, he loves this. Branden had a big bowl of it and Noah had a big serving for his size they all love this. Simple but yumm!

I also baked a homemade from scratch banana bread yesterday after I came home from observation day.

Monday nights meal. If you are American you more then likely know what a potato cake is (mashed potato cake) or have had them while growing up. We had mashed potatoes Sunday from the roasted chicken dinner we had. And we had a lot of leftover mashed potatoes. So, I made potato cakes with them Monday evening for supper. My mom used to make delicious potato cakes. She'd even sometimes put corn in hers.

Pork chops from Monday and potato cakes and broccoli. They each wanted another potato cake. So the boys ended up having 3 potato cakes each Monday after Kumon with their supper. Noboru had 4 big potato cakes with his pork chops on Monday. : )

After the boys went to sleep Monday. I watched Family Guy and American Dad on TV.  Roger was in love with Haley.

Stan was trying to sell his car.

Haley was singing at Roger's club.

Anyway, that was Branden and Noah's Fall observation day 2012. And a few extra bits and pieces thrown in there. : )

Today's plan is to get a jump start on packing for Disney. I will throw Noah's duck rain boots and Branden's rain boots in a plastic bag and keep them in the MPV for emergency, if it rains for when we head to Disney. I will also be packing their raincoats and putting them away in my LeSportsac travel bag in the MPV also, just in case. After I publish this, I will get out the Disney popcorn bowls also. And pack an overnight bag for the hotel for after Disney. I just want to get a head start on this. Oh yeah, this coming Sunday we have the town undokai. And it's drizzling rain right now. And the weather for right this second where we live is 69 degrees F right now, so a bit chilly here today.