While the cat's away...

Here's what my boys did while I was in Japan. It was so good to be back with them. I can't describe how much I had missed them. Jack and Tommy are really enjoying the snacks and toys I brought back for them. Tommy took off work for the week and headed to middle TN to visit friends and family. Here are some favorite pictures of the time I missed.

First stop, Dinosaur World! I love the scale of this. Jack is so little!

Like "where's Waldo" but "where's Jack." You can click on it to be larger image.

I imagine Jack wanted to make sure Tommy didn't miss seeing the dinosaur.

So apparently Jack liked the little kitten that was smaller than him. He thought he needed to carry it all the time.

Which lead to this...

Here Jack is playing with a tractor Tommy played with as a boy.

Visiting the Nashville Zoo.

And here at the petting zoo. If you know anything about me and germs, I guess it's good Tommy took him to the petting zoo!

Jack got to play with Grant and Dick. (Hope it's okay I put your pictures on here!)

I guess the kitchen lights were just too bright! Atleast he looks good.

That poor cat. He just can't seem to get a break!

Enjoying harrassing the cat. Atleast he's having fun.

Sorry so many pictures. Just too many good ones not to share. And big news, Jack is now sleeping in a toddler bed. I came home and Tommy had taken the crib apart and changed it so that it is a toddler bed. Jack seems to really like it. We just have to watch him b/c he likes to try to jump on his bed with shoes on! He's done really well except last night was a bit rough. He's learned that he can get out and come in our room. Needless to say, we're all a little tired today! I'm sure it is just a phase....

Japan: Part 3

Whew...lots of posting this morning. Still Friday morning for me and Thursday evening for you. So, I'm up to day 3 for my pictures. This was from Wednesday. We started the day at 5:15 am to head to the Tsukiji Fish Market. It is the world's largest fish market. I have to say, it was pretty nasty. You have to watch out for crazy cart drivers and random fish heads (which are as big as a human head) on the ground. Water is being thrown all over the place and the smells are intense. It was definitely worth the early morning though. We also got to shop at all kinds of local produce and random little markets. It was also a good morning of fresh, Japanese pastries.

Look at the size of the fish bodies!

Again, big fish.

Just a small glimpse of the inside of this massive market.

Not really sure what kind of fish we have here. Maybe octopus?

Outside the market. The drivers would really run you over!

Kabuki Theater. Japanese traditional theater.

View of downtown Tokyo from the waterbus tour we took to Asakusa. The pointy building there is Tokyo Tower. We were too tired at night to do that one.

Crazy looking boat on the waterway.

Interesting buildings.

Not too sure here...

Here is the main shrine at the town of Asakusa. The size is really massive.

Inside the shopping area at Asakusa. Rows and rows of vendors.

Elaine and I at Asakusa.

Very elaborate shrine.

Shrines.

Here is the electronic district-we visited for Tommy.

That's it so far. Yesterday we took a down day since we had been so busy. Today we are going to do the last few things and I'll head out tomorrow.

Japan: Part 2

On Tuesday, which was my 2nd full day in Japan, Elaine and I took a train to Tokyo. Most of the travel we did was by train and subway. Much cheaper. Seems that most people in Japan also use public transportation. Anyways, by train, we were only about an hour from Tokyo. We stayed at a very nice military hotel there.

Once we got settled into the hotel, we headed out to start our touring. First on the list, Hibya park. This is a beautiful park where many people go for lunch, resting or artwork. There are lots of these public parks in the downtown areas. Elaine referred to it as Tokyo's Central Park.

One of those tourist that gets their picture with the sign.

A view of the water. If you look at the larger view, you can see the turtle on the rock. Lots of turtles!

Pretty fountain in Hibya Park. I really wanted to get in b/c it was so hot, but Elaine didn't want me to visit Japanese jail.

There was some kind of modeling photo shoot going on. Of course, I had to take a picture.

Near Hibya Park was the Imperial Palace. There is an emperor and emperess of Japan. It was kind of disappointing though b/c all you could really see were the gates leading up to the palace. No view of the palace. Very heavily guarded.

A couple of stops away was an area called Hirajuku. This is the shopping district for high school age girls. Lots of crazy jewlry, socks and more. Very busy! I actually did get some crazy looking socks here. They definitely have some different styles.

Nicer shopping area around Hirajuku.

Yes, the store is called Condomania. Think we went in?

Andof course, we did have to check out Tokyo Gap. I thought it was a bit fancier than American Gap. It had more of a Banana Republic feel and definitely more expensive. But Tokyo altogether is more expensive as well.

That ended our long day of touring. We cleaned up and visited a nice Japanese restaurant for dinner. I actually managed to eat with chopsticks! I was alittle surprised. I ate alittle sushi, but only the cooked kind (imagine that!). Then it was off to bed to get ready for an early start the next day.

Japan: Part 1

Hello from Japan! As I write this, it is almost 7am Friday morning. Most of you are probably getting ready for your Thursday night dinner since it is about 5pm. Huge time difference! I have now been here since Monday. Elaine, my sister, has had me hitting the ground and running each day! I have seen some incredible parts of Japan. The only bad thing has been the miserable weather. The heat and humidity has really taken a toll on us and has limited what all we can do. Me being jet-lagged still and combined with the heat, it is very easy to get run down. We are making the best of it though!

Elaine is a great tour guide. We are having a blast seeing so many things and spending so much time together. I do miss my boys so much. I call and talk to them both everyday. It sure is hard hearing little Jack say "love you" and "miss you." And of course, Tommy saying it too. Anyways, I'm going to go ahead and post some pictures from the first day, which was Monday. By the way, I did make it through the non-stop 12 hour flight and it was terrible. I was completely unable to sleep and could barely sit still. I get to do it again in another day...whohoo!

So Monday we visited a little area called Kamakura. On the way, we stopped and saw the Pacific Ocean. It was rather dirty, so I barely stuck my finger it it to say that I have been in the Pacific Ocean. Then we toured the city. Kamakura is filled with Japanese shrines. They are very, very old and beautiful to look at. Here are a few.

The flowers are just amazing here. Bold colors and interesting designs. Here's one of my favorites.

Before entering the shrines, the Japanese use these areas to wash the impurities off their hands.

Look at all the little Buddhas! That's not even all of them!

Nice view of the Pacific Ocean from the top of the Shrine.

Biggest Buddha ever!

Streets on the way to another Kamakura Shrine. I really felt like I was in Japan here. Lots of street shops and look at the two ladies in kimonos.

So on our way to another shrine, we were walking along a very busy street. But look what we saw. This cat was passed out and the sign reads, "When I asleep, do not touch it with me." Translation is alittle off. Do the picture justice and click on it to see the bigger version.

On our way to the last shrine, Elaine and I were on the train when a Japanese guy said hello. We thought at first that he was hitting on us. He offerred to be our tour guide for the shrine. It was really neat. He told us lots and explained a lot of the customs. Turns out, not hitting on us but getting a free English lesson. Alot of Japanese pay for coversational English classes. More about that latter in the week.

Another shrine temple.

Shrine.

Large guard at Shrine.

So that was day one. After finishing our touring, we took the train back to the base and had dinner with Elaine's friend and got ready for day two!

High Chairs, Booster Seats and Peanut Butter

Jack is getting to be such a big boy. In fact, he'll be 2 before we know it. So, we thought he might be ready for a booster seat at the table. Me being the bargain hunter I am was not about to go to the store and buy a new one. I used craigslist and found a booster seat for $3! Who would have thought. Anyways, it was neat all three of us sitting at the table together. Jack did pretty well with it until yesterday. Breakfast- about 2 bites of yogurt. Lunch- a bit or two of sandwich and a few mandarin oranges. Snack- a few graham cracker bees. Dinner- mashed potatoes and applesauce. Since Jack is still in the 3rd percentile on weight, we have a hard time just thinking that he will eat when he gets hungry. We have to remember he has an even stronger stubborn streak than his momma (yes, I'm admitting it). So, today, back in the high chair and his eating returned. Do they have high chairs in kindergarten?

We also introduced something new this week...peanut butter! He better like the stuff. That was the main component of my diet when I was nursing and having to stay away from all dairy and soy! We started with peanut butter crackers. Jack ended up picking most of the peanut butter off and eating the crackers. He did get some in him and he didn't stop breathing or anything. Then we tried peanut butter and jelly. Granted that was yesterday at his no-good lunch. So I guess we'll try again. I'm just ready to give him one of my favorites...peanut butter and banana...yum!

I can pretty much now say that I've finished my first semester of graduate school. Talk about some busy work. So many papers, so much reading, and so much b.s. i just wish it didn't have to be so expensive. Now I've got a break until classes start up again in late August.

Summer has been pretty busy and a big week is getting ready to hit us. Saturday morning will be a really hard day. I'm leaving to visit my sister in Japan for a week! I will not be with Tommy and Jack the entire time! They are staying here and going to visit his family in TN for a while. I'm really looking forward to the visit with my sister and the new country we are going to be exploring. We just couldn't imagine Jack on the plane for 15 hours! It's going to be hard enough for me. Atleast I've stockpiled my magazines, books, and a few new knitting patterns.

And for those of you wondering, the garden is doing great! For having a rough start, I think it will turn into a pretty good year. So far we've been able to enjoy sugar snap peas, bell peppers, squash, jalapenos, garden salsa peppers, and a handful of grape tomatoes. I'm sure that while we are gone the neighbors will be enjoying the first green beans, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, and big tomatoes of the season. It looks like everything will really be in full bloom during that time. Oh well...atleast we'll come back to some great veggie dinners. Just wish the boys looked as forward to it as I do!

Bubbles and Sand!

Jack loves bubbles. Thought we would try the camera while playing with them. I'm not a photographer by any means, but I think I got a couple of good ones!

I LOVE this one! My new computer wallpaper!

We got Jack a sand box a couple of weeks ago at a yard sale. (Did I mention we paid $10 for this one that retails for over $70!! That's why we are addicted to getting up early on Saturday mornings!) Here's a few pictures now that we finally put sand in it. We were waiting for some of our travels to be over so the sand wouldn't get too nasty while we were gone.

Something about dumping it over your head was just so much fun!

Not too sure about actually getting in the sand.

Once in the sand box, it was way more fun to dump the sand to the outside!

I just thought this one was sweet!

Swim Party

Jack had a little swim party with his friends David, Michael and Lucy last week. Too cute not to share pictures! The walkers (David and Jack) were a little more interested in everything else going on!

The whole group together for a few minutes!

David watching Jack try to figure out the stairs while still holding a ball.

What bright skin!

Jack's frequent "what's that?" expression.

Looking for trouble!