Shodo

Is Japanese calligraphy.
Olivia is enjoying a one week class this week.
The class is being offered through her school, and being taught by her Japanese Teacher.
She is Loving it! :)
We may have to look into lessons!
This is a photo one of her pages from today.
Today she wrote with a Marker Style Brush, Starting tomorrow she will use the real brushes and ink.
For a 1st time, she Did Great!
Good Job Olivia!!!

Did you feel that?

I did!!!
I was in bed and sat right up!
Earthquake!
But, it was not bad or anything, but something for sure!
:)
Check out the link for more info on our little quake.
4.2 Mag in the Center, not little... not big.

http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/20090629061854391-290613.html

Summerland Tokyo!

When we went to Yokota a few weeks ago, Tiffany (a fellow blogger friend) who lives, in Yokota was sooooo nice and kind and offered to take us to Summerland Water park! She is such a Sweeeeetie!!!
I hope we can do something like that for her, when she visits this area.
We had SUCH a Fun time @ the water park! We went on a Monday and it was not that packed. Perfect day IMO.
I want to add a word of caution. If you have a Tattoo you will see a ton of these sign's (see below) on the way to the park and at the park.
As most of you know, i have a rather large Tattoo on my back.
Well, I chose a shirt that was dark enough, i thought. Well, nope! When it got wet... you could see my Tattoo through the shirt! :-O!
Well, lucky me, no one said anything ... but we 'could have' been kicked out!
Next time? Black shirt!!!
And, yes! There will be a Next time! It was super fun, and we sure do want to bring Ethan, as he had to work that day. :(
Enjoy the photos!
I have not developed the 'water camera' yet.... but i have other great pic's from a special water camera. I will be sure to share those pic's when i get them on the computer. :)
This park had a big wave pool, water slides, 2 'hot tubs' for families, a 'swimming pool', a Little Kids area and a Medium Kids Area Plus all the outdoor water activities. (The outdoor area was not open when we went, still 2 cold!)

This is what i saw when we walked in for the 1st time.

The kids, relaxing after lunch...





The boys waiting for Their Mommy & Sister.... and Olivia!!!!!

There's Olivia!! (on the right)...

After a full day of playing, we enjoyed a "Dip'n Dot's" Ice Cream. It sure hit the spot!!!
This water park had a lot to offer!! check it out ... if your in the area!

Thanks again Tiffany!!!! We enjoyed ourselves so much!
It would not have been possible with out you!

Just an update of sorts

So, we have been a little bit busy, not much though.

As you know, Olivia is on Summer Vacation :) YaY!!!

She has started her culture classes though, which are everyday from 10~10:45 am.

Last week she learned Origami and this week it's Japanese Games. We have one more week of this, and i forget what they will be learning. (I'll be sure to let you know.)

Anyways, here is a picture of Olivia & Evan and Another Cute Olivia.

We had a nice play date the other day...

The weather has turned Rainy ... but that day it was pretty and dry.

Stay tuned for some other posts about our Yokota Trip and a few New Restaurants we have visited. :)

*Our trip to Showa Park*

Warning:This Blog has a lot of photos, but ... it shows you all the cool things to do in this wonderful park.
We did not even do a fraction of what we 'could' have done. :)

So, on Sunday the 7th while in the Yokota area we visited Showa Park.
Showa is a short/easy train ride from Yokota base. I encourage anyone in this are, GO!!
It was super fun, for the whole family. We stayed @ the Kanto Lodge, perfect!

The park is only 400Y to get in, and i think 150Y for the train ride/one way.
Kids get in for 150Y and i think Evan was free!
We spent the whole day having a super fun time.
For all of those who live in Yokosuka, it's easy & such a fun thing to do... dont miss out!

Check out the photos for all the Area's they offer.......
This is the family -me, before we left for the park, on Sunday Morning.

----> Nishi Tachikawa Station is the stop you get off to reach the park.
Once you exit the station, you will basically be at the front door of the park!
Very convenient

After we entered the park, we headed Directly for the Kids Area.
We passed some fun things, that we revisited, before we left the park.
Below we are entering what felt like an Enchanted Forest!


This area even had Stone Snakes.... and other things to climb on. FUN!



Honestly, we headed Directly for the 'Cloud Park' area.
Big Trampoline type clouds.... Adults and Kids alike have such a fun time!
We did!!!!





I will say the clouds were quite hot. Evan's feet were on fire, as he said... pretty much the whole time. I thought it was worth it for the fun!
We worked up Quiet a Thirst/Appetite.

After I stood in line for 20+ minutes, we got Icecream!
Mango, Strawberry, Cookie's & Melon!
Yummie!

Are we having fun yet?

Next time, we will bring our Camel Packs!!!!
We spent at least 20$ or 2,000Y on drinks. This (below) was our fav of the day....



This "Misty Forest" area @ the park was pretty lame, IMO.
The website made it sound REALLY cool.
It was pretty small, and blew 'mist' for like 2 minutes. haha

I think Adults and Kids alike ... our FAV area the Stone Dragon area.
Basically a few Stone Dragons for the kids to climb / slide on ....
The dragons were so beautiful!










After the Dragon area, we went to Rainbow Hammock area.
Just a bunch of climbing nets, just for kids....
Hard, yet fun for the kids. :)



Here is where we had lunch.
It was an indoor cafeteria style place, on the water... by the paddle boats.
We really soaked in the A/C (on the 1st really hot day of the yr)... and the good food.
Our meals were only about 3500Y and that included drinks!







Ok, Whats Next??
Paddle Boats!
Ok, NOT my cup of tea... haha
We did it anyway... 700Y for 30 minutes, per boat.


Um, Ethan... ur boats sinking............ hahah!!!!!!!!! (Not really.........)

Mommy & Evan had a fun time too... although we got a 'weird' boat... with Very Little Leg Room... so i could hardly 'paddle'....... lol
We did make it around the lake, and Evan had fun 'racing' Daddy and looking for fish.



So, After lunch and Paddling... we decided to head back to the Cloud Park for one last jump...
The kids voted, and that's what they wanted...
On the way i said to Ej... Lets let them play in the 'pool' area.
Although we did not bring suits, they still had a blast!!





After clean up and on our way to The Clouds... we did these 2 neat slides...
I Love Parks/Slides and kids 'things' in Japan!
That's what i remember most about Okinawa,... the parks were Amazing!



Jump us Daddy!!!!!

If your kids can ride a 2 wheeler, you can rent bikes for cheap and ride around the entire park.
It looked Fun, but Both Olivia & Evan still need trainers! :(

We had a Great Fun Filled Day, and cant wait to return!
Maybe the Fall would be a Great time... as it was H-O-T that day!
:)

Zushi Horumon, Tamaya & Brown Suger Latte!

So, tonight after Ethan came home from work, I snuck out to Zushi for a little shopping/hanging out with Kath.
We have not just hung out for 'no reason' in a while.
So, we did some looking around in Zushi Ginza and decided to eat a lite Dinner @ Zushi Horumon. This little restaurant has Yakitori & Hibachi Grill's @ the table.
They also serve a Delish Dicon Salad (one of my Favorite dishes, here in Japan).
We enjoyed a Salad, some tea & a good chat. Thanks for the Company Kath!!!!!
:)
This Restaurant is located in the Zushi Ginza, on the Right side, if walking from Ikego. :)

The Menu was 99% in Japanese.
We just said Key, easy words, and made it through a small/simple meal.

We did not have a Hibachi Dinner, but... The table was ready... with the Big Overhead. ;) haha

A little appetizer....

The main dish, Dicon Salad! mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
So Refreshing.
This amount is a normal American Salad bowl... but for the Japanese, they would share (as indicated by the tongs provided hahaa) and also have meat along side.

When we were done and payed, they gave us a bag of Gum, haha!!!

Ok, so after dinner we stopped at Tamaya, a VERY famous Coffee/Treat shop in Zushi.
I wanted to pick up a small gift for Olivia's Teacher.
(It's a workday tomorrow... so we will drop by with the goodies.)
This Place is also located in the Ginza, and has a place for dessert & coffee or a small meal.
Very nice. :)





So Cute!!!
A box full of Non Perishable Goodies. :)

Kath & I also shared a small Melon Cake (With REAL melon inside!)
We took it to Doutor, our Favorite Coffee Shop.............

And, enjoyed the cake with a Matcha (Kath) and Brown Sugar (mine) Latte'!

What a wonderful Evening!
I love Living in Zushi!!!!
(And cant wait to share this with Family and Friends who Visit!!!!!)