Good eats! : )

One of our nights, we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant. We got a great big round table in the corner for more privacy. And ordered heaps of food! Vegetable egg foo young, pork fried rice, ebi mayo, beef and broccoli, chicken lo mein, a few orders of egg rolls, a giant bowl of egg drop soup, chicken fried *twice* , yes that really was the name, and man is that good! So crunchy, well I guess it would be crunchy, if it was fried twice though huh? Ha ha ha! White rice and more. We had sodas, hot teas and everything else you could imagine. We spun the table in the center around and ate until we were all stuffed!


My dad eating. And there were about 8 or so seats so we had extra unused seats all over the place. Gaps between us all, but it gave us more room which was nice.



Branden eating the, "twice fried chicken"



Do, these boys eat or what? Ha ha ha, you can see B nibbling on that chicken in the background of this pic, ha ha ha. And Noah wanted more food. I feel badly Noah made a bit of a mess. However, I must say, this was the only restaurant I have ever been that did not have..."kid forks and spoons", I don't recall what we did last time we ate here, maybe we fed him or what. But this time was hard! Noah was trying to eat by himself which he has no trouble doing so. With child sized utensils though of course. But it was impossible to expect this little guy to not have trouble when he was trying to use an adults big fork and adults big spoon. Poor Noah. But he did his best and he was stuffed by the time we left. And yes of course we did wipe up the mess on the table cloth before we left. I still wish they woulda had children utensils though. Hmm, perhaps next time I will bring a spare one from the house next time, ha ha ha. : )



My plate. : )


Here's another meal we had while there. One of our days we hit the Micronesia shopping mall. We actually ate there a few times but here's just one of the times I actually brought my camera with me. Branden had a Subway sandwich, called an Italian BMT, hmmm they don't have this sandwich in Japanese Subway fast food shops. Which makes B sad, but he gets to eat it when he's here! : ) Meanwhile I had a plate lunch from the Korean restaurant. So good and only 5 bucks! I got spicy BBQ chicken and rice and plenty of kimchee. : )



We asked Noah what he wanted, whether he wanted Burger King or Taco Bell, KFC or what. He said he wanted pizza. So we got him a slice of pizza! And he ate that thing until there was nothing left! Ha ha ha. Swimming makes everyone so hungry, doesn't it? : )



My dad got his lunch from a Chinese fast food in the food court, none of us have ever tried before. My dad disliked his lunch and I don't blame him. One of his dishes was spicy shrimp and the thing was so dried and old. Not moist or juicy. He gave me one to try. Yup, terrible tasting! Awww, my poor dad, got a yucky lunch! We learned one thing today, we will never go to that place again! : )

This food court is enormous. If any of you ever go to Guam, please avoid the Chinese restaurant next to the Subway sandwich shop. Well, I mean if you wanna try it, feel free. Knock yourself out. But in our opinion, you really might wanna avoid this place! Shhhh! : )

And yet here is another meal we had. One day after a long whole day of swimming, we showered, soaped up and all headed to have dinner around 5:00 pm at our favorite Mexican restaurant called Carmen's. I got the chili relleno (sp?) plate with bean and rice.

My dad ordered the same thing, I did. : )

Branden had chicken taquito's and beans and rice.

Noboru had a burrito that was so big, it literally did need it's own plate, ha ha ha! Noah had beans, rice and nachos, and quesadilla (sp?)

And here is the last meal or snack pic, I am sharing this time around. One night after a full day at the beach, and a very early small dinner. And a trip to Kmart. We decided to grab some more snacks to take back to the hotel. Each of the boys got a cheeseburger "happy meal", Each kid was squeaky clean and wearing their play clothes, stuff we let them crash in while we are on vacation.

One crispy ranch snack wrap from Mc Donald's. And 2 bean burritos and 1 taco supreme. Noboru and I both munched and shared these. He also ordered a nacho supreme and he munched that too. It was barely 9:30 pm by now. We were all just hanging in the room and watching TV. Around 10:30 pm the kids went to sleep and then we sat and hung out on the balcony for about an hour just chatting, watching the moonlight off the ocean water and looking at the city lights in the distance. It was a pretty awesome day!

An actual "happy meal" box ha ha ha, I miss those since moving to Japan. : )

Drinking his apple juice! : )

Thank heavens for hotel fridges. We could keep our drinks cold yes, but also it kept the deli meat, I brought back to Japan with me nice and cold. And since the flight is only 3 hours long, it stays cool still. Ha ha ha. 2 packs of shaved turkey and 1 thing of shaved honey ham. Swiss cheese and provolone cheese. 2 packs of Oscar Meyer beef hot dogs. 1 thing of Pillsbury Cinnabon cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting, these actually made it to Narita just fine! Ha ha ha! : )

Happy Fourth of July!!! : )

The Military base was having a big 4th of July celebration and it was open to the public. So heck yeah, we totally went! : )


Some of the troops brought out the flag. Everyone stood, people wearing hats took them off to be respectful. I took off both our kids hats, right away. A woman came out and sang the National Anthem and it was lovely! I felt so lucky to be able to spend the 4th of July like this! I really appreciated it! : )


Checking out the Budweiser hot rod! Ha ha ha! : )

Some American military vehicles were on display! That was neat to go and check them out!

It was just your regular traditional 4th of July! The fire trucks were shooting water out the hoses and kids were running through them, since it was so hot, hot, hot! So it was a nice way to cool off!

They had a bounce land. Branden and Noah bounced and played in there off and on during the afternoon.

Look at Branden. His facial expression, tells it all! He's so happy and having so much fun, you guys! Plus, the kid can actually bounce on his butt! What a talent, ha ha ha! Just kidding! : )

At the US military base, they actually had an obstacle course for kids. Branden went through it. They sent 2 at a time. B and and another little American boy went through, the man who worked this, yelled "on your mark, get set, GO!!!!!" Branden took off like a lightning bolt! He was miles ahead of that other kid, poor kid. He ran through the hole, through the punching bag jungle thing, and running and then up a hill. Sorta like rock climbing.

He went up this rock climbing thing with such ease, I was actually a bit shocked myself, ha ha ha!

The other kid was still no where in site, so my dad said, Branden smile, so he did a quick smile which is this pic and a fast wave. And I clicked the pic and he scaled down the backside and he finished! It was all for fun. Not anything major, but I thought, man this Branden is pretty quick on his feet! : )

Yup a whole inflatable kingdom was here! Ha ha ha! : )

Branden met a storm trooper. You know Darth Vader's guys. They are called storm troopers, right? Noah was freaked by the guy. And actually even Branden was a bit nervous to be around this storm trooper guy! I can't really blame them! Ha ha ha! They do look a bit scary! : )

So many different tents for food!

Snow cones and more!

Pizza, chicken wings, Italian sausage sandwiches and more! Yumm! Talk about a wonderful way to spent the 4th of July! : )

I love that my dad retired and moved from Denver, Colorado to Guam. Because, we get to see each other so often. Spend so much time together as a family, that he literally gets to watch the boys grow up for this, I am thankful. Before I would only go to Denver twice a year and good byes were so sad, so filled with tears. But now, it's great for both of us. Dad didn't have to spend the fourth of July alone (okay not that he's a sad lonely guy, he isn't, he has tons of friends from church on Guam and he has a beautiful though his own age, girlfriend who is accomplished just like my dad and educated, she happens to be an engineer, they met at church, lol. But it was nice to be able to spend time together is what I mean, I guess. Plus the kids got to hang with grandpa and heck we are all just thankful the military base was open to us all.

Noah watching as the fighter jets flew over head after the National anthem was sung! It was awesome! : )

The US military strolled around. Serving and protecting us all. They were all so nice and awesome! And that dog was just so sweet!

Noah wanted to go into the bounce castle. I was a bit afraid to let him go, but he insisted. So, we sent B in there with him, just in case.

Branden is probably one of the world's sweetest big brothers. Here he is, bending down gently to take his little brother's hand and help him up.

He held his hand and walked him through the first time. Sorta just got him used to things. After a few minutes Noah was bouncing like crazy and having a blast! : )

Noah was having a really great time with it! : )

Noah and Branden and a few other kids were playing in this jump house together, my kids speak Japanese of course, however they are both more comfortable speaking English, so it was really nice for them to get a whole day of fun and play with other kids who can speak Native English like they do. : )

All in all, it was a really wonderful 4th of July! : )

First we swam in the morning, then in the afternoon we went here to the Military Fourth of July Rocks festival. And we watched fireworks when it got dark courtesy of the US Military, ha ha ha! They were beautiful fireworks. We all had a really amazing American Independence day! : )

Hanging out at the Chamorro Village! Very cool btw! : )

On another day, again after a full day of swimming we headed to the Chamorro Village, to go hang out and get some local island snacks and fun! I've actually never been here before, even though we've driven past this place about a billion times in the past years, ha ha ha. I guess I was expecting, high tourist prices like in Honolulu, Hawaii how it is at the International Marketplace ( a wonderful tourist trap btw). You know, just overpriced souvenirs type stuff. But I was *wrong* because the Chamorro village rocks!!! All the stuff at the Chamorro Village were so reasonably priced. Down right bargains to be honest! We had BBQ chickens on a stick and they were just $1.00 each! And they also had BBQ beef on a stick for a mere $1.00 as well. I got a huge cup of fresh mango juice with ice for $2.00 and the thing was enormous! I bought some hand crafted wood earrings and I was thinking they were like $15.00 bucks each and I asked the lady, "how much?" she said, $3.00 each! Geeze was I shocked! I bought 2 pair! Ha ha ha. Aloha shirts for only $5.00 each! For kids, seriously! And I could go on, but I'll just say, the prices were good. They were freaking great actually! I will absolutely be going back there on my next trip to Guam, no doubt! And the people were nice, friendly and awesome! : ) I snapped only a few pics from the village. See the ladies dancing? But then also see the crowds of people in front of me, ha ha ha. Sorry for the crappy picture you guys. I did my best! : )

I zoomed in a bit closer and snapped and this is the picture I got. Not too bad. The ladies and their dances were so cool! I sorta wish I could dance like that! Ha ha ha! It was really neat to watch though!

Branden was lucky because grandpa gave him a birds eye view since he was on his shoulders! Ha ha ha! Noboru held up Noah as well, so he could get a good shot of the lovely dancers! And hey....some guy dancers woulda been nice for us ladies to look at, you know ha ha ha! Wink, wink! : )

These were the most wicked dancers of them all! The drum beats. Bum bum bum bum. Bum bum bum bum bum. It was just really cool! And a shake, shake and a shake shake shake! The bright colors of green and red, the grass skirts and all. It was just really, really awesome you guys! I really felt blessed to be able to be on this very cool island to get to see these people and just have a very cool night, wonderful relaxed vibe. Eating various BBQ meats on sticks, lol and many mango juices later. Some homemade coconut candy and we were good to go! Ha ha ha. We will totally be hanging out at the Chamorro Village again, for sure! Lovely people, lovely place! Really nice place to go! Two thumbs super duperly way up! : )

The day we left! : (

All good things must come to an end. Sadly our trip came to an end and it was time to head back to Japan and once again start our backyard BBQ's again in Chiba and such. So it was time to say , "not" good-bye, but see ya later! My dad saw us off at the airport. No cries or tears. All happy faces. Time certainly well spent together! They have these crazy water buffalo all over Guam island. Obviously they are fake but they are all dressed in funky or fun outfits. We saw one wearing jeans some place. We all wondered what they were. Were they cows? Nah, nope! Were they buffaloes? Now coming from Colorado and driving to Buffalo Bill's Grave a few times, they certainly look a bit different then regular buffaloes, ha ha ha. Again we wondered, hmmm. After research online, I found out they are actually water buffalo or carabao as they call them in Guam. Out of all the ceramic water buffalo we have seen and they are all over Guam you guys! This one is by far my most favorite and it's at the airport! Isn't he the grooviest water buffalo ever? Aloha shirt and flip flops! How adorable! So much so, I actually had to take pause and take a pic of my dad and the boys with Mr. Surfer water buffalo! He he! : )


Grandpa brought his binoculars to watch the plane take off. How cute and grandpa like, huh? Ha ha ha! Noah got to play with said, binoculars before we went through the security check point.


B, eating a personal pan pizza from Dominoes. In the airplane about to watch a DVD on his mini DVD player. I brought a giganto bag of snacks for the kids. Corn Nuts, Teddy Grahams, dried mango, mixed nuts etc. And even though we all had a big breakfast from Denny's (I had the American grandslam ha ha ha), we still bought each kid, a personal peperoni pizza in the food court of the Guam airport. So they could munch on them on the plane, just in case. Noboru and I snacked on beef jerky.The kids were great on the plane. The flight was short. And although I missed my dad a bunch, but it was still really nice to be home and sleep in my own bed. So there you have it, that's our trip in a nutshell. : )

Happy days are here again! Ha ha ha, in other words, I survived! : )

Okay, I survived. I'm alive! Ha ha ha. Now originally, I had hoped and planned to have an absolute blast at home. Make the most of our time alone. Noah's and mine. I didn't want to have any worries. But again. Sometimes you can never tell how things will play out in the end, you know what I mean? Last night turned out better, after I posted my "missing my son post" lol. I had gotten it off my chest, felt much better just saying it and getting it out of my system versus bottling it up. I really don't like things to fester and bottle up anyways. I much prefer get it out and over with. Ha ha ha. So, yeah, I felt much better just typing it all out. After that, I did have myself a cup of hot caramel machiatto. And a toasted English muffin with margarine. I channel surfed for about an hour. Watched TV and found myself dozing off on the couch. I went up stairs and I slept hugging Noah-chan. I did get a pretty good night sleep after all. All the worry must have made me exhausted or, I don't know what. Ha ha ha. I slept like a rock. I woke up at 7:00 am. I am not sure why I woke up so early exactly. I hate mornings with a passion. Could be because I knew I could wake up and get ready to pick up B. So, I woke up. Had yet another hot coffee, checked a emails. Emailed back to everyone. Noboru came home. And in an hour we left.

We arrived 15 minutes early and nearly 80% of the families were already there as well. We all gathered in a circle and asked each other how we all were. Every mother had admitted they cried at some point since they left yesterday, even just a little bit. I admitted, I cried too. Then we all asked. Did you sleep well? How did every one's night go? Everyone said funny stories about how sad or how badly their nights were. I felt so so *so* relieved. Nice to be among friends who admitted they felt the same. Noboru told them all how sad, I was last night. I told them myself how, when Noboru went to work and with Branden gone, my house felt so lonely, so quiet. I was so sad. We were all shaking ours heads in agreement and laughing. These were laughs of relief now, because we knew it was over with. Our kids were coming out of the building at any minute at this point. One older sister, told us all really loudly "my mom was so sad last night without my brother" Ha ha ha. We had all survived. We all stuck it out. Yes, it was hard on all of us. I hoped like heck, it was going to be a piece of cake, and it wasn't! Ugh, just glad it's over with! Ha ha ha! : ) But it was very comforting that we all were feeling pretty much the same thing.

We saw them first walking from the big window upstairs, all us parents were on the outside of the building. I looked at that window hoping to get a glance or glimpse of my son. White shirt, (thinking), "yup I packed that" yellow backpack yup it is him!!! When I saw him from the window on the second floor, I was so happy. I was waving. He waved back. Oh, what utter glee! Insert happy dance! All the other parents were also waving at their kids happily. All the kids were waving back. I was so happy. I was thinking "Hot diggity dog, that's my son"!!! And about 1 minute later they all came out the door. I wanted to do one of those. You know.....one of those slow motion runs of embrace, lol, (hey I never said I wasn't a dork here)! The kind you see in the movies. Ha ha ha. But forget that. The teachers shouted, "all kids must stand in a neat line" (ala Madeleine) "and they will call each child's name one by one and then you come and collect you're kid." Now in a way, I wanted to just grab my kid and run for the hills. Just leave. Screw the waiting in line stuff! LOL just kidding. But, of course I didn't. I was actually on such a natural high by just seeing my son. I didn't mind waiting. So, I waited patiently. Lucky for me, it didn't take too long and he was sorta at the front of the line. Phew! : )

They all got these little paper signs, certificates around their necks. That said, "you did really well on your overnight trip" I will be saving this sign in my yochien artwork box. We can look at this and laugh years from now. "The night mommy nearly didn't survive without him." Meanwhile he was just fine! Ha ha ha! Oh yeah, what a laugh, we'll get out of this in a few years!

I had asked Branden if any of the kids were sad or if anyone cried. He said he thought many of the kids were sad at certain points, but nobody cried at all. I asked Branden. Did you miss me or were you okay? He said, "yes he was most sad when he was on the bus and then again when the teacher all read them their book before bed time." That's when he missed me most, but he also told me, he mostly had fun, fun, fun. And I was really glad! So all in all. What do I think about this? : ) I think the kids absolutely missed their parents for sure, no doubt. I know Branden missed me twice, like he said. But I think it was actually worse for us as parents. It was especially hardest on us moms. It's certainly not a walk in the park, that's for sure. There's a love there. A bond there of course, so no doubt, it's tough. So, one of these days I might have one of my foreign gal pals who goes through this very same thing and I'm just going to say (if she asks of course, though I am no expert but I'll share and say something like this), "just do the best you can, that's all anyone could ever ask, you know : ). Try to have a good night without your kid. Key word being *try* of course. But it's tough. It's tougher then I certainly had hoped. But you will get through it, yes, even if just barely and by the skins of your teeth, you will make it (I was really worried if I was going to make it, myself last night in fact, but I did)". And I'd give her a hug for support. Sigh. It really was hard, you guys! I'm so glad Branden's is over with. Oh man....I am so glad! Ha ha ha! : )

Branden was fourth from the beginning of the line. He ran to me right away and gave me a hug. The relief on all us parents, faces. Man, it looked like we all just got "botox" or something! His teacher told us, Branden did really well. And since we told her we were worried about the food and if he would be able to sleep well. She told us, he ate very good! All the foods, he didn't like, he just didn't eat and all the food he liked, they gave him more of those. Ha ha ha. And she said, he said "the food was delicious/oishii" (sp?) and she said he slept well and basically had a great time. There were no men allowed on the trip. And we only have women teachers at our school anyway except the gym teacher. And he wasn't invited. I asked Branden which teacher washed the kids. B said the lady teachers washed all the boys in the sento, but the lady teachers were all fully dressed! Ha ha ha! We all got into the car, and on the way home we stopped off at Coco's restaurant around 11:00 am for brunch. I had the french toast and some hot coffee. Noboru told me I looked about a million times more relaxed and happy. I said, absolutely. Now things are back to normal, and the way things should be. I can finally exhale. Phew! All is right in the world, once again at our house.

Anyway, I just wanted to post this real quick before I go and thoroughly enjoy my day and weekend with my 2 wonderful sons! Have a great weekend everyone! : )