The rest of our Hakone trip. Black eggs and egg custard ice cream and a visit to the museum in Owakudani. A drive near Mt. Fuji to see the Lava and Ice Cave! And a walk through Suicide Forest in Aokigahara...

Okay, so where was I? Regarding our Hakone trip. It was still winter break. And we had just finished our breakfast at the hotel and checked out. And we went up the mountain and went to the "Famous Black Egg Place." We have not been there in....1 year? Two years at the most. However when we went there, it had changed a lot! Totally tons of new changes. All positive and all very nice. There are 2 black egg statues that many folks were standing near and taking pictures with. We did the same. Here's this view with the mountains behind the kids. I like this view a lot. 

Same statue exactly... it is just of the other side of the statue... but says the same exact thing but...it's just a different background view. And there was another black egg statue on the other side of the building too... but folks were standing in line for about 5 minutes to take a pic with that statue. When this statue was the exact same. : )

There is a really nice museum here now. We visited the museum. And it was free for kids this day and like 100 yen for us adults on the day we went... so it was super cheap and all the museum things to look at...where in both Japanese and in English. So super nice! : )

Cool hair boys! And nice steamy hot mountain for sure. 

So cool to see this!

Black egg seats! These are new too! And super cute! :) The remodeling and updates of this place are so nice. 

People used to walk all the way up high and buy the famous black eggs that were cooked in the earth and hot spring water. However because of the fear a few years back... if the volcano would erupt or not. You can no longer walk up to the top of the mountain where people used to go and buy the eggs. They now have a place to buy the eggs in this area. And that's actually pretty nice. I actually like the ease of buying our eggs here, versus hiking up the mountain like before. : )

This is the best soft serve ice cream!!! Tastes like an egg custard. If you have ever eaten a taiyaki (fishy shaped custard) it tastes *exactly* like that rich heavenly custard.

Branden and Noah and why helloooo there Mt Fuji!!!

Hello Kitty in a black egg outfit! LOL! Behind Hello Kitty is the place to buy the eggs. Very convenient.

We bought a pack. The pack has 5 eggs, we gave 2 to Bran. And it comes with 1 pack of salt. So conserve that salt or bring your own. : ) It's like one small pack of McD's salt or Wendy's salt. Just 1 for the 5 eggs. So just a helpful FYI. : )

Yumm! And what do they taste like? Honestly... they taste just like... regular hard boiled eggs. They have zero weird or unusual flavor. 

Noah sitting on a black egg seat! Hahaha. : )

The famous black egg place is called Owakudani. And again...the name of this egg ice-cream could put off tourists. But it does not taste like eggs or like scrambled eggs or egg yolk. It taste like a rich decadent egg custard but in ice cream form. You will not be disappointed if you try this. We love it! : )

We 4 all enjoyed a rich decadent egg custard flavored ice cream. And we people watched and talked while eating our ice cream.

I snapped this pic while inside the museum. This photo says 1962! Seeing the tour buses and folks sight seeing from way back then. It has changed quite a bit since back then. 

We left the black egg place. And we usually head home! However...back in the end of December Noboru suggested and mentioned...he would really like to go and visit a place that he called the "ice cave." He said...I hope we can take the next day and go and drive up to the ice caves and he said he has always wanted to go and see one of them. There are a couple there. And I said...okay! Because you know...I'm agreeable like that! : ) So that's what we did. Heading directly toward Mt Fuji. Mt. Fuji you are gorgeous!

When we finally got to the city at the base of Mt. Fuji. Considering an hour had elapsed since we left the black egg place and about 3 hours since breakfast... we smartly decided to have lunch. I didn't feel like a burger or a sandwich and I can't eat a large fry. So, I picked an apple pie and a medium fry. I had no drink. I had brought my jasmine tea from the car inside McD's for me. : ) Everyone else got a combo with soda. 

Branden had a Big Mac combo and so did Noboru. As you can tell by this Mario happy meal....Noah had a chicken nuggets happy meal. Everyone was full. It was around noon. And perfect time for lunch. We left MickeyD's around 12;30pm.

Definitely in the city nearest Mt. Fuji. This is right at the base. This city. Where we had lunch.

This bus reads...."Preserve the Nature of Mt. Fuji." I agree, we should! : )

We had arrived at the Fugaku Lava Cave. The caves are all bumpy and textured because of the lava indeed. But Noboru is right calling them...ice caves. Because... there is ice in them. So they say lava cave. Noboru says ice cave. Ehhh....either way is right. : ) There were 2 ice/lava caves. But we went to this one.

Everyone must wear a safety helmet. Yes, Noboru and I did too. : ) 

Going down and it's super cold down there. 

Yes, they're not kidding....please watch your head!

Everything ice! Ahhh how gorgeous! And yes...now you can understand why Noboru in December kept saying..."let's visit the ice caves" : )  He definitely wasn't wrong! : )

Natural Refrigerator. No kidding! Bring a coat and some gloves. : ) What was stored down here? Silk worm eggs and tree seeds.

Hi BrannyMcB! and hi Noah! What a fun, 24 hours it has been! Long scenic drive. Hotel. Onsen soaking. A fabulous dinner and breakfast. Black eggs. A delicious egg-custard ice-cream. And now an ice cave! 

You can see the walls and ceiling created from the lava and all the ice. I'm glad Noboru suggested us visiting there... because it was educational. It was fun and interesting.

Coincidentally. Noboru's "ice cave" that he wanted us to visit. Just happened to be located in Aokigahara also known as the "Suicide Forest" @_@  See this super "mini" white van? Well you could tell that it has been parked here for a long while. And after we got back to our town...Noboru checked online and according to online this van has been left here and has been sitting here... for at LEAST the past year. @_@ And so it's obvious whoever left the car here... went into suicide forest to commit suicide. Super sad. : (  Also the license plate says...OSAKA. : (  Very sad. Truly.

Poor van that will most likely sit here for eternity now. : ( And poor person who owned this van.  Noboru asked me...if we'd like to walk through Suicide Forest. Why? Because well it's pretty well known. In America there was even a movie about this Suicide Forest last year. So a lot of westerners worldwide and Japanese do come to the suicide forest to be "looky lous"...to be nosy and look around. And yes...on the day we went.... there were quite a bunch of folks walking down the trails of the Suicide Forest. I was hesitant because of the kids. But the kids...being boys were eager to have a look. And Noboru was too. So, I said...okay we can go and have a look. But let's stay together and stay on the trail. 

This is such a sad sign! It says. And remember I am not a professional translator but it says basically this. "Your life is given from your parents. Think about your parents, siblings and children. Consult someone/talk with someone. Don't think about this by yourself." This is basically here for the people about to commit suicide. : ( Truly heartbreaking.

We found these pills on the ground of suicide forest and Noboru using his cell... prescription checked/med checked what these were... and turns out... these particular pills are given to people with psychological problems. @_@ Again wow very sad...to see these pills here. 

Walking with the fam-bam. 

You can see other folks in here. This was a man, wife and 2 kids in front of us and the dad had a conbini bag of drinks for his family to drink while they took an exciting walk. We could hear that family in front of us. They were asking the kids..."do you see anything" The kids were excited and saying ..."not yet" ...Granted I don't think they truly *wanted* to see something gruesome... just a fun day for that family. And honestly most normal folks who were obviously... not suicidal like that family and our family...were just having a walk around. And there were other folks in here too. 3 uni aged nerdy guys. One older lady and her husband and she had a cat on a leash and the cat was laying over her shoulders...again I am kidding you not. There were a whole bunch of nosy folks. Just looking around sight seeing. I think it's the same as in America when youth go to the cemetery at night...for the excitement and thrill. But again hoping not to run into any ghosts. Does that make sense? Also...side note. Folks say in here...your cell will not work and your compass won't work in here. I'm here to tell you... that's complete crap! And completely not true. Our cell phones worked just fine in here. And Noboru even checked after wards online...that a man who goes here all the time said... as long as you hold your compass above your waist it will 100% work. So...yes those things will work. 

See the lava trail. You do have to watch where you walk. Definitely watch your step. You can easily trip since it is not even ground. 

Yes there were bunches of people. And it was a Saturday. Less scary on a weekend, which was nice. 

Snake shaped tree roots.

Noboru found a spade.

And a cooking pot. Off the trail. 

He pointed at the pot with his foot. I was like...ahhhh don't touch anything...it could have some bad mojo on it or something! Hahaha. But seriously...better to be safe than sorry. : )

It is extremely dense. But honestly I saw the family in front of us go off trail for about 10 minutes and they came back to the trail just fine. And Noboru and the kids went off trail about 500 feet away and they came back just fine too. I'm a chicken and I stayed on the trail the entire time. : )

There are many caves. Many cracks and crevices for people to go and die in. If they wanted to. But please don't! 

I really debated sharing this particular picture with you. And there is one below that I am sharing too. That again...I wondered...should I share it with you guys or not. I have decided to share it. And please do me a favor. Look at the picture...enjoy the picture... but please don't steal my picture. Because it's mine. And it's my story to share. Not anyone else's. The entire time we were in Suicide Forest. We didn't feel anything weird. Not anything scary. We didn't feel anything heavy or evil or anything. We were just a happy family there... spending a nosy hour there. And then back in the car. When I got home and checked thoroughly of all the pics the next day. I honestly swear to G*d...you guys I was shocked... by how many spirits or beings....orbs.. were captured in my pictures and photographs in Suicide Forest. See here. That brilliant blue on the left of Noah. It looks like a little bright glowing blue Tinkerbell orb. At the time I snapped this picture there was nothing we could see with our naked eyes. But on about 15 of my photos. And I snapped about 120 at Suicide Forest but about 15 of those had these brilliant glowing bright blue...beings...spirits...Tinkerbell flying things. And they were actually caught zipping around my family... in particular they were flying around my kids. Granted our family is very happy...we talk and laugh a lot. We were probably the chattiest family in the entire place. I think these spirits were definitely attracted to us...our family. This pic of Noah you see here. I took consecutive shots of Noah here and I think I snapped about 6 shots of him and I can see this brilliant glowing blue fairy (they have wings or something) glowing orbs zipping around Noah. On the left of him..on the right of him. One even got very close to Noah's face...trying to check Noah out...this orb... granted we could not see it when we were there... it was only noticeable after we got home and I checked the pictures. And I have another set of pics that another brilliant glowing blue orb or spirit was bouncing around Branden and Noah. So yes these glowing bright brilliant blue orbs were seen zipping around my kids and our family.  Was it...1 spirit in particular that attached to us that hour we were there? Or were there a few different ones attracted to our family? I am not sure. I have no answers. But...I did blow this picture up on my computer. And Noboru has looked at it. And Noboru says...whatever it is...is NOT evil. He said...it looked nice. And he did say flat out..."that's a spirit alright." A bright blue orb caught zipping around our family. This picture is actually amazing and so clear. 

See here it was zipping around still. The next shot is of it zipping near the top of Noah's head. 

The man off the trail with his bag of drinks for his family.

Bran going a little off trail looking inside a cave. Burning lava created all these caves. Same for the ice lava cave we went into earlier.

Curious Bran!

Noboru just getting back from his exploring! My 3 guys were having a blast in here. Me...I kept saying..."please be careful" and "don't get lost." : )

Curious kids!

Noboru checking his cell phone reception and compass/GPS on his phone. He said...whoever said we don't get reception in here is full of crap! @_@ Hahaha. I did not check. But...Noboru tested it and they both worked just fine. It has been Noboru verified. LOL. : )

What was in here nailed to a tree stump? We didn't check!

When I blew this picture up to full size there is a blue see through-ish yet glowing...orb...thing, this one was bigger in size then the one near Noah earlier... but it's there towards the bottom of this pic but you can't see it at this size. Again something was just crazy attracted to our family in there. And no..we didn't bring anything home with us. Haha. : )

We were starting to head back... out of suicide forest by now. 

I snapped a few pics on the way out just showing...how thick and dense the place looked. However...when I went home to look at my final pic...I saw a bright blue orb again in my final pic from suicide forest. I would like to think the spirit walked us out. See in the pic? I would like to think the orb/spirit walked us out and said..."Good luck and good-bye...nice family!" But yeah...I had zero idea the entire time we were there... that there was any bright blue *anything* following us the entire time. Not until we were home. And after the fact. Anyways.....

We got back to our town around 11:30pm! We left Suicide Forest around 4pm. And we started driving. Around 6pm. We stopped for dinner. At what else...Italian obviously. : ) We went to Jolly Pasta in Sagamihara. Their jalapeno pizza is divine. It's so flavorful and good. They have a drink bar... so endless drinks if you'd like. Coffee, teas sodas. Juices. Nice drink bar. Nice restaurant.

Their pasta here is so divine. The spicy garlic cheese pasta. Major yum! We all went to the restroom at Jolly Pasta and then we drove for hours and then we stopped at 7-11 I picked a hot coffee. The kids each picked a mugicha and a snack for the very long car ride we had still. And like I said, we arrived at home around 11:30pm. The kids usually will shower. But they were so dog tired that they brushed their teeth and went straight to sleep. I put my hair into a messy top knot. Jumped in the shower, washed my face (makeup off) and washed and soaped and scrubbed my body. I dried off. Put my sleep shirt on and went to sleep. Noboru jumped in the shower but I must have zonked because... I don't even remember hearing him get out of the shower. We were all just *that* tired. It was a fun 32 hours. A full 31-32 hours. Longer than 24 hours actually...closer to 32 hours but ykwim. : ) I am so glad we kicked off a whole near year.....with a fun family get away. We kicked off 2017 with a happy family trip. Some much needed rest and relaxation. And we were glad to be back home. : ) So anyway...that was our Hakone trip. The long and short of it. : ) 

OMG, he's in! Branden got accepted into the high school he tested for this week!

Okay, so I was working on the last/final Hakone post this morning. But most importantly, I was waiting for an acceptance letter to the high school Branden tested for this week! And it just got here. Like literally 5 minutes ago! Branden does not even know yet you guys, because he's in school right now! OMG, I am so happy, I can barely type or contain myself!!!

For Chiba prefecture JHS kids are testing all this week. Different schools throughout Chiba all this week. Branden and the professor (nickname, because he is such a smart polite kiddo) were the 2 first kids from our local JHS that went to take entrance exams. Same day, but they tested for different schools.

Branden applied for the English program. There are like I said earlier... many hafu, many returnees. And a few foreign exchange from America going here too. So this school is a melting pot. There are about 5 western teachers that will be Branden's teachers. And he worked and studied his brains out for his entrance exam.. you guys know how hard he studied and he was so nervous you guys. But he did it!

There are study books for each school. That give and list the past questions and answers for the past 5 years prior. There is always an interview. And yes...there are books available to help your child be prepared for what sort of questions they might be asked.

They usually ask 3 questions per kid... according to the interview books and yes Branden was asked 3 questions. #1 "why did you pick this school?" Branden was prepared and ready for that one. #2, Where do you see yourself after high school? You know like will you attend university? Etc. The final question was, she said the interviewer asked and said...I know you are half American, but where is your mom from in America? Branden said my mom is from Denver, Colorado. Side note most folks don't have a clue. However...as weird as it sounds...the interviewer got very happy and said she has a friend who lives in Colorado. And that she has been many times and loves the Colorado Rocky Mountains very much and how they are beautiful and since Branden was just there this summer...they bonded over....odd to say.... but they bonded over...my being from Denver, Colorado! @_@ Unusual? Yes...but you seriously just can't make this stuff up! Hahaha. Finally...someone who appreciates...my Denver-ness! LOL. Anyway...so I am physically shaking right now you guys. Umm, clearly I will not be doing a TBT or my final Hakone post today. Such as real life...sometimes something just comes up. Like this. Amazing fantastic best news ever!

I feel like...running through my neighborhood screaming...."yes yes yes Branden got into high school" And then dancing the cabbage patch! However...my neighbors would probably think I have gone bonkers. So, I better not. I will just say it here...and tell ya'll.

We are going out to dinner tonight to celebrate! Meanwhile...30 of Branden's classmates are testing today for a few different schools. Ganbatte other kids testing today!!! So Bran's 9th grade class only has like 20 kids in it and that's both classes today. Branden and all 9th graders get out at 1pm this week. Because of the testing! OMG you guys. I can't even think straight right now... I am so happy.

I have a huge piece of flat cardboard and I think I better end this post now. And I will instead make Branden a huge sign... simply saying....YES!!!! And he will know exactly what it means! He gets out of school at 1pm, like I said. And we knew the results would come today good or bad. Noah today gets out at 3pm. Okay...I am officially not even making sense anymore. Sorry. Sometimes a person just gets *such* good news they go temporarily cuckoo kachoo! Gomen gomen/sorry! : )

But yes Branden did get accepted into the high school of his dreams. OMG, you guys he will be having such a blast at this school when April comes and he starts high school! I am so happy for him! Anyway. Bye for now. : )

Hakone family getaway...

January 6th, still during our winter break, our family went to Hakone for an overnight trip there. To relax and to enjoy the natural hot springs/onsen. Our family always stays at the same hotel every time we go there because we love this hotel. It's so clean. The people who work there are so nice and friendly. The meals are delicious and very foreign friendly. I enjoy the western breakfasts there very much. :) 

I tried to take a pic of the front of the hotel but a truck was there making a delivery. 

The New Years bamboo decorations at the front of the hotel. We entered the hotel and they warmly greeted us... took my suitcase and we checked in and picked from the 3 choices of breakfast at the check-in for the next days breakfast, yes you pick the day beforehand and I like that. You have a choice of a ham and cheese sandwich or a fresh bread plate or risotto. And then the bell boy took us to our room, he wheeled my suitcase to the room. And we just had an amazing check in as always. : )

Our 2 bedroom room, 1 half is western with 2 single beds. Noboru and Noah enjoying looking outside at all the mountains and nature.

And the other half is tatami and there will be futons laid out by the staff later in the evening.

You can see my really large plaid tote in the background. My Jansport backpack as well. And my hibiscus suitcase. 

The fridge got bigger since last time. Nice! : )

Our hotel looks like a French chalet. Hahaha. : ) It's so beautiful up here in the mountains.Not sure if you can see...maybe not. But down below on the first floor outside is the rotenburo/outside hot spring. There is a very good and tall bamboo wall for privacy so it is impossible to see inside which is peace of mind when you are soaking outside. I soaked in the girls side for a full 70 minutes.... later that night. Cooling off by getting out and then getting back in of course. But wow...super relaxing.  

So many amenities in the restroom inside our hotel room. Like toothbrush. Razor. Shower cap. Pony tail holder, because for women you need to keep your hair out of the hot springs. 

Toilet in our room... super clean and this was on it. They just...take such great care of this hotel!

Inside the hotel and where we will be eating our breakfast the next morning.: )

After relaxing at the hotel. We went to dinner. Oh and...we usually go to the Yunnesan hot springs place but we were very disappointed the last time we went, so we did not go this time and we didn't miss it at all. On our way to dinner. 

Our favorite restaurant in Hakone is called Auntie Pasta. And what a fun name, love the play on words. We always forget the name though. Perhaps we just go to.... too many Italian restaurants to remember the name to this particular place. Or perhaps we only go here once a year ...so it's not on the priority of...names of places we need to remember. But anyhow...we love this place.

The staff here is always so nice. So friendly. The pizza here is excellent.

The spicy tomato and garlic pasta. We all ordered this one. Absolutely amazing pasta!

The kids enjoying their dinner. Both Branden and Noah had cokes with dinner. There are free coupons for drinks... it said this in Japanese at the restaurant the blurb about free drink coupon available if you have your cell phone. Noboru used the coupon for the drinks. Which is smart considering the sodas would have been 300 yen each. So super smart husband! :) 

Noboru had a ginger ale and I had a coke. Dinner was amazing and we all left very full. : )

We snapped this picture after dinner. And then we went to the conbini (convenience store) to get snacks and drinks for the hotel room for later that night.

The futons were all nicely laid out. The kids were unwinding. Noboru and I were also in the tatami room watching Japanese TV. 

Nobody had any snacks until... after we got back from the onsen downstairs. I did however drink a hot coffee. The weather in Hakone super cold. 

About to go and enjoy the onsen/natural hot springs downstairs in our hotel. We all agreed to meet outside of the onsen area in 90 minutes. 1 hour and a half. We 4 all walked downstairs in yukata. All the shampoos/conditioners and face washes are all downstairs to use as guests of the hotel. I shampooed my hair super well. I washed my face and body. And I then put my hair up in a twist and a claw clip. And I soaked in the rotenburo/outside hot spring for about 70 minutes. I did shower for a good 7 minutes first before my soak. And then I went back inside and conditioned my hair. Then I clipped my hair up again. And then I soaked in the hot spring inside for the remainder of time. And then I went and got dressed and met my family outside. They were all nicely showered and soaked. And we 4 got into an elevator. There was a Japanese man and woman in the elevator in their mid 50's, married couple. We at first told them they could take the elevator and we'd wait for the next one, not a problem... but he insisted and said in English...please please. So we entered. He started speaking English to me in the elevator as soon as we got in. He said, "where are you from?" I said "I'm from America" And I smiled. Yes I am wearing yukata and since I just got out of a very long bath...I have not a stitch of makeup on and have rosy cheeks. He loved that I was from America. He then said, "where in America?"...I said..."Denver, Colorado" You could tell by his face he had absolutely no idea where that was, but that was okay. I like genki curious talkative people. : ) The door rang and we were on the 4th floor, the highest floor and we all exited. He and his wife said good night to us and we said the same. What nice people! : )

We all stood awake passed 11pm. Just relaxing in our room. The kids and Noboru ate and enjoyed snacks. I had my jasmine tea. And enjoyed the TV and the chatter in the room. Good night kids. 

Good night everyone. I'm off to dreamland now... At 6:30am my alarm went off. I woke up and peed. Washed my hands. Brushed my teeth. Then washed my face with my face wash and a hot steaming wash cloth. Then I put my Olay face moisturizer on. Went and got dressed. Then everyone woke up. And everyone went to the bathroom, then brushed their teeth and the 3 guys, Noboru, Branden and Noah went to soak in the onsen from 7am to 8am. They were gone a full hour. I on the other hand had a full hour to get ready for the day. Nice! : ) I didn't need that long. When they left I put my makeup on. It took me like 15 minutes. I can put it on faster, but since I knew I had time, I took my time. I then flat ironed my hair. And after that. I folded the kids futons in half. And I waited for the fam-bam to get back to the room. They came into the room wearing yukata and they dressed quickly for breakfast. 

Beautiful napkin, I noticed you. : )

The drinks are all in the center of the dining room. Unlimited hot fresh brewed coffee. Apple juice, mikan juice and milk. The first course. A huge fresh salad with a vinaigrette dressing. Mashed potatoes. The 2 sausages and the onsen egg in the little ramekin, I did not eat the onsen egg or sausages. But the salad was stellar! And the fresh fruit in the upper left hand corner was fantastic. 

Fresh lightly toasted bakery bread and rolls with butter and jam. And Noboru's ham sandwich in the top. Noboru asked me, do you wanna share/split our breads? I said for sure! So, I had half of his ham and cheese and he had half of the breads. The waiters speak English. Not 100% fluent English but pretty good. They spoke to me in English the entire time and the kids. There was also an older western couple vacationing from someplace English speaking. They and I good morning-ed each other while we filled up our drinks. So wonderful wait staff trying very hard to speak to their western visitors. Their efforts don't go unnoticed. I noticed and appreciated how hard they try! Love this hotel! : )

Noboru went to get some juice and the 1 Japanese woman server spoke to him in English and Noboru speaks to all Japanese persons in Japanese. So he came back to the table telling me...they don't know WHICH language to speak to me! He chuckled about it and he took it all in good fun. He knows that international couples...sometimes confuse folks...meaning which language should they speak to us etc etc. So he didn't mind.  Hahaha. : ) So the staff spoke to Noboru in Japanese. They spoke to me in English and the kids in English. I could go either way and the kids can too, but...you know....we're flexible. And hey...they were a super nice staff and they were *trying*. If I were to speak to them in Japanese that maybe could have discouraged them. So, I used easy English with them and I did tell them how wonderful they are doing when we left : ). They said they appreciated hearing that. Perhaps they're prepping for the upcoming Olympics. : )

Noah drinking his minestrone soup. The kids breakfast meal was french toast along with salad and fresh fruit and all sorts of yummy things. Branden hotel-wise is no longer a kid, so he had the delicious ham and cheese sandwich and all the amazing side dishes that came with an adult meal. See Bran's empty milk glass. My kids always gravitate towards milk. Especially Branden. He loves the taste of milk and he drinks tons of it here at home...or anywhere. Anyway...this is only part of our Hakone trip. I will be posting another post later in a day or two. It's just we did a lot and I have a lot of pictures and stories to share with you, so it's best to cut the Hakone posts in 2. 

Throwback Thursday...

Well this is a first in my TBT history! : ) Have never shared a TBT of Noboru before, but I asked him and he said it was okay. : ) Here is a toddler Noboru on his way to yochien in Osaka Japan in 1975! Age 3. Awww. What a cutie pie! And what an adorable beret, his school had the kids wear. Part of his school uniform with school logo on it. : ) 

Also 1975 and this is for the pic right below...

Noboru in his winter yochien uniform! 

This next one below is from 1974...

Noboru playing in his yard in Osaka.

What a smiley 2 year old!!! This totally looks exactly like Noboru now...well except he's an adult now. So what I mean to say is...his face hasn't changed much. So cute. Hahaha. : )

Noboru at a waterfall. During a family trip in Japan.: )

Noboru's observation day at the elementary school he went to in Osaka! His parents came to observe and snapped this picture. Aww! I see you just finished your school lunch! And are holding your empty milk! You look very genki and happy! : )

Bits and pieces...

Is everyone still enjoying the winter break? I know for a handful of my very good friends in the USA, their kids have already started back to school, so for them... their winter break is over. : ( Ours is still going strong here. Branden and Noah do not go back to school until next Tuesday, January 10th.

I know today is Thursday. But with the winter break, I sorta took a break with my weekly TBT, but rest assured... it will be back next week, I promise! What else...

We have been just quietly enjoying our winter break here at home. Watching a whole lot of TV. Reading tabloid magazines (me). : ) Noah reading yet another Diary of a Wimpy Kid book. And Bran has been still studying his brains out. Considering his high school entrance exam is this month.

We are all packed up and ready to go to Hakone for our little over night getaway. I'm telling ya....I cannot wait! I can barely wait to soak at our favorite onsen place. I can't wait to enjoy some of those amazing black eggs/onsen eggs. Eat some delicious egg custard soft serve ice cream. And just basically soak in the amazing rotenburo which is an outside hot spring. The weather will hit 0 degrees C which is...  32 degrees F for us Americans. So it is going to be quite cold and late at night it could grow even colder. And soaking in a nice outside hot spring... sounds pretty perfect to me. We will most definitely eat at our favorite restaurant there...what we loving call "fake Capricciosa" only because their menu is legit the same, big deep fried rice ball with cheese inside and the whole thing exactly, the people who own this place are legit...so nice and we can never remember the name of the restaurant so that's why we call it that. And it's nice...that they have something so delicious while way up in the mountains, the food is so good there. Considering our year last year....granted for us it wasn't a bad year, but it definitely had it's moments. So...we are greatly looking forward to going to the hot springs. Go to the mountains and hot spring area...and just unwind. Eat good food. Soak soak soak a bunch of times in the onsen/hot springs. And just enjoy some quality family time. I imagine we will be stopping at a conbini/convenience store at night and getting a good amount of snacks to take back to our hotel room and just veg out and enjoy our time there. Soon....very very soon, we will be on our way. : )  Last time we were there...we saw a huge wild boar down a road. And we were like @_@...."holy crap, hope he doesn't charge at us and ram our car" lol. So...hopefully we don't run into any angry wild boars...but other then that, we're majorly looking forward to it.  I just painted my toe nails today and trimmed my eyebrows so, I am super ready now. And we're already like I said...all of us are already packed. : ) A trip that will do us all... a world of good.: )

What else...I want to see the movie Silence. I think for us in Japan it comes out/will be released January 21st or around there. And I think this is being released in the US January 13th. This is what it says on IMDB... "In the seventeenth century, two Jesuit priests face violence and persecution when they travel to Japan to locate their mentor and propagate Catholicism."...As a Catholic, this looks good and I'm really curious to see this.

I made a great big pot of homemade chicken noodle soup yesterday for dinner last night. And we had a very nice crusty loaf of french bread from the bakery to go with it. Tonight we will finish up the soup with grilled cheese sandwiches on the side. We will be having some peanut butter ice-cream for dessert afterwards.: )

I'll be sure to post something after we get back from Hakone. : )

Happy New Year 2017. The Year of the Rooster...

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope you all had a nice New Year's. And... if you are in Japan, I hope you didn't eat too much mochi! Just the right amount, I hope! Hahaha. : )  These are the New Year 2017 cards that I made online. I always order our New Year's cards right after BrannyB's birthday. Because I have a 1 week window where it's after his birthday... yet not quite Thanksgiving, you know what I mean. : ) And so I can sit down and spend an afternoon rearranging the pictures around on the website I order from and when I think they look exactly how I hoped... then I order them! I usually use pics from our big once a year family vacation. And so these are from when we were in Denver, Colorado in the summer time. I think the New Year's cards came out so great! I especially like the faux sky diving one, it cracks me up every time I see it! : ) 

Otoshidama, is pocket money given to kids in Japan by family members. Branden and Noah received the rooster envelop from uncle Jun and auntie Satoe. The white envelop was very kindly mailed from grandma Mitsuko. And the one far left came from Noboru and I. We also made sure to give otoshidama to uncle Jun's 2 kiddos. : ) My niece and nephew. : ) 

Not bad. 15,000 yen each. About $150 US. Both Bran and Noah say they will just save it. : ) Smart kids. 

Because Noboru's family lives in Osaka. Except for uncle Jun and his fam. And my family lives in America. And Noboru moved to America from age 15. He's not really set in a....it "must" be a Japanese traditional New Year's type of mind set. And neither am I. In America Christmas is a family holiday and New Years is more so, staying home and watching the Dick Clark ball drop on TV. New Year's eve is not so serious in America. However in Japan Christmas is more so a romantic holiday and New Year's is more so... a family holiday. So it's sorta switched. So, for New Year's we sort of created our own way we celebrate New Years. We do the New Years big cleaning. We get food to last about 3-4 days. And we stay home and just chill. For New Years this year we had chicken parmesan on top of some fresh pasta. We had salads and garlic bread. It was quiet, it was low key and totally us! : ) 

A few days before... the kids and I made peanut butter ice-cream with some chopped up peanut butter cups too. We use about 1-2 tbsp of creamy Skippy peanut butter and stir and mix it completely and when it is all mixed and combined, we add the chopped up peanut butter cups. 

We just repack the...now peanut butter ice-cream into the container.It is soft, but it will firm right up!

 Amazing ice-cream, so delicious, with living in Japan...we definitely get to be creative and make some things ourselves since it's not available here. : ) And everything is available at Costco in Japan. The smooth Skippy peanut butter, the Reese's peanut butter cups and so is the vanilla ice cream. : ) We have a whole one not even opened yet. And a half of one too. Anyway I hope...however you celebrated ringing in the New Year, it was fun. Here's to a brand new year for all of us! : )

Regarding 2016. I was so ready for 2016 to be over! Don't get me wrong... for our nuclear family of 4, all of us were healthy and prospered in 2016.  However though...globally though...worldwide...doesn't it seem like a whole lot of people died last year? I mean der! People die. Every year. But honestly...it seems like just way too many good people died last year in particular! David Bowie. Prince. Gene Wilder. Mrs Brady, Florence Henderson! George Michael. Carrie Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds. And sadly Noboru's dad also passed away in 2016 too. He passed away November 28th at 3:10am. : ( Yes a very quick trip to Osaka happened and back again. It was very sad and absolutely heartbreaking for Noboru. However his father was not himself since his stroke 12 years or so before and was in a nursing facility ever since. So we knew this day would come. Needless to say, it broke every one's heart when it happened. : (  So we have been just rallying around Noboru ever since. Spending a whole lot of family time together. Going to the movies. Playing Jenga. Having Christmas dinner together. Cleaning together in our big end of year osooji. Looking at lots of childhood family pics of Noboru and his dad and rest of his family. : ) And he's been talking a lot about his dad and all his good memories he has about his dad. Also, because our New Years cards were made the last week of October and in our home delivered since the first week of November. I told Noboru, 'let's just not send out our New years cards this year. And we both agreed. In Japan if a death happens you usually send... no New Year's cards and in fact you send everyone a "notice of a family death" post card to everyone beforehand. Such as we have had a family death this year, please send no cards to us this year, that type of thing. So anyways...Noboru and I were online looking at the post cards to notify all the people on our list...that we had a family death. And we had 1 chosen. However as we were about to order the card we chose. The card had a part to add...who it was who died. And Noboru just sat there...unable to type in the words...it was his father who passed. And he sat there for gee...a whole 5 minutes. And I said nothing... because you know...we all grieve differently. And he finally said..."I don't want to tell everyone on our list my dad died!!!" I just don't want to say it. And at that point my heart broke. And I started giving out ideas. trying to just...be there and support him. And I finally said. Well...all Japanese family members should not be sent any New Year's cards for sures. He totally agreed. And we need not tell them about your dad...because our extended Japanese family they know. And so he said...let's just send out all our New Years cards to our friends. But he added we won't send it to my side of the family out of respect for my dad. Because he said...I just don't want to explain to 75 of our nearest friends about my dad right now. I just can't. And I said...honey if that's what you want. Then okay. We pulled about 25 family cards out of the lump of cards we made. And we just sent the ones to our friends and my family. And you know what that's okay. If Noboru doesn't want to tell our friends right now or ever. Because he's just not there yet, with it. Then that's okay. Nobody can tell another person how to grieve the loss of a a parent. We live in a tiny town of less than 5,000 people and if Noboru doesn't want to run into Saya-chan's mom or Lily-chan's mom at the local one and only store in town and have them look at him like he said... he knows they'll be thinking..."oh poor thing his dad died" Then that's fine. He just doesn't want the entire town looking at him like that. And that's okay. I of course don't think anyone in our town would. The folks in our town are hella supportive. But you know...he just doesn't want to share it with the entire town, with people we see every day face to face. We of course sent no cards to his side of the family. Because well... they know. It was a loss for us all... that he passed. My father in law was a truly great kind gentle man. : ) Out of the 3 kids, Noboru was definitely the closest with his dad. I know Noboru was his dad's favorite. It's not nice to say but Noboru truly was his dad's fave, they truly understood each other so well. Anyway...Noboru is slowly getting back to normal now. But he was grieving super badly right after it happened. Anyways so...yeah...so glad 2016 is over. And I did ask him if it was okay if I mentioned about his dad on here and he said yes. Otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned it. Oh yeah also Genki's family moved away from our town at the end of October. G is still going to the local JHS but he's been taking a train to our town daily since then. They were our favorite family in our town. Our 2 family's just clicked and got along so well. Our kids have been best friends since Bran and G were age 4 and in yochien. So yeah they are no longer residents and living in our town. They decided since their parents are elderly they would just buy a great big house and all live together so they're living in Chiba in a big city now. Sigh. 2016 was just a crazy bumpy year is some aspects. Lots of change. Some good, some bad. So we were totally ready for 2016 to be done! I hope that 2017 is a good year. I hope all of our family members stay healthy and that nobody passes away this year. And I wish the same to all of you. : ) I hope all of your loved ones, stay healthy and you are happy and in good spirits. : ) Onwards and upwards. 2017 year of the rooster!!!