With Grandma Murphy at the Vision Clinic
After leaving Maui, we began our "2 months" of summer vacation in the States. The first week and a half, Scott was with us in Portage, working and catching up with friends and neighbors. The second day we were back in Portage, we found out that the Condo we had rented for the last 5 weeks we were in Michigan fell through...leaving us with no where to stay. Luckily, we were able to get a 2 bedroom room at the Residence Inn- not perfect, but it ended up working out just fine.
With all their Daycare friends from Melissa's!
The first week, we stayed at the Residence Inn, not too far from our neighborhood, and the second week we had the chance to stay with our friends and neighbors Mike, Amy and Emma Filary. Every night we spent hanging out with friends, running around, and enjoying being back in our comfort zone. We had the opportunity to attend our friend Jeff's 40th birthday party, go to Silver Beach for the 4th of July with friends, and I got to play tennis a bit.We even had the opportunity to meet and make friends with the Great family living in our house. It was not nearly as odd/awkward as most people would think- they are a great family, have really sweet kids and are taking great care of our home, which makes me incredibly happy! Maya attended a 2 week tennis camp, and both girls got the opportunity to play with their friends every day. We had a wonderful week being back in the hood- the girls loved being able to walk out the door and hang out with their neighborhood friends!
All the Neighborhood Friends!
Scott left on Thursday, July 8th, and on the 9th, I took the girls and headed over to my brother David's in East Troy, WI, and my sister Jennifer's, who lives in Kenosha, WI. We spent 5 days there- visiting, shopping, going to the Milwaukee Zoo, and playing with my niece Carli. We also got a chance to catch up and visit with my friend Laurie, who lives with her family about 40 minutes from my brother's home. Last year she had twin daughters, and also has a 4 year old daughter-my kids LOVE visiting them, and it was so nice to catch up. At this point, we were so happy to be back, that the 6 hour drive here, the 5 hour drive there didn't seem to bother any of us.
From there, we went up to visit my parents and my sister Lori (and family) in Hancock, Michigan. Hancock is the town I grew up in, and is located in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. We spent 10 wonderful days there- the weather was good, and visiting for that amount of time let myself and the girls spend some real quality time with my family, as well as several very good, lifelong friends. It was probably the longest visit we have ever done and was wonderful. That being said, I have to say my family is the "sugar" family. When we go there, my mom (who only gets to see the girls one to two times a year) SPOILS them rotten with junk food and late bedtimes. There are no rules (I even caught her giving them a chocolate bar each RIGHT before dinner!). This year, she offered to watch the girls while I went out with some friends. Knowing my kids and how tired they were, I asked her to make sure they were in bed by 9pm...however, as I arrived home at 10:30, I walk in to scampering feet and two girls "fake" sleeping in their room (with the light on- I was too fast and they didn't have a chance to turn it off!). Not that I agree with it all the time, but I do think that my parents are so much more relaxed that Scott and I are, and I think it is good for my kids to be around that personality type so they see it is OK not to be straight up rule followers all the time. :) My sister Lori, her boyfriend Todd and her kids, Tyler, Katie and Megan spent a lot of time with us- Lori and I went for walks, and Megan was down every morning bright and early to hang with me and the girls- it was so nice! Todd and I even got to play in a local tennis tournament- we got killed, but had a really fun time, and received some completely awful tshirts as a result!!
After 10 days, 3 of my siblings, their spouses/significant others, kids and my parents headed to Wisconsin Dells for two nights at the Kalahari Resort. We shared a 3 bedroom suite and enjoyed each others company for the last time (for us at least) this year. While this vacation was fun in most respects, it was at this time, that my kids started to lose their little minds. They had been together 24/7, had slept in 6 different environments/beds, had traveled 22 hours in a car, took two 8 hour flights and had to adjust to a 13 hour time difference. I am not sure what I was thinking when I planned this trip- I have a 7 and 4 year old...that type of thing is difficult for an adult and I can't even imagine how they were feeling by this point... however, I do know how they were acting, and that was NOT good. Add that to the fact that I was completely exhausted, and it was not a pretty picture.
With their best friends, Madeline and Natalie
After the Dells, we headed back to Portage, where we spent 5 full weeks running around like chickens with our heads cut off. Maya attended Sherman Lake outdoor camp for a week, and Hanna went to a Kids Gym camp. This was definitely the separation that they needed- that, and being in one place (Residence Inn) with their own room for 5 weeks! Things, in regards to their behavior, drastically improved at this point.
Our first weekend back, we had the opportunity to go meet up with our friends, Kim, Marley and Will Graham. The Graham's are friends we have made in Tokyo, and were visiting family in St. Joe, which is about 45 minutes from Portage. We had the nicest day- Maya and Marley were friends in the same class from ASIJ, and Will and Hanna are both 4 and now in the same preschool class as Yoyogi International. We spent the day at the beach, playing in the water, chatting, kids running amok (Kim's sister has 3 boys, and her parents were also in town from Kansas), and just having an overall great day. We were also very excited to see and spend some time with friends from Tokyo!
Maya's summer of Teeth,Tonsils and Adenoids
Maya after Surgery
During the first two weeks back in Portage, we tried to hit up all our yearly Dr. appts- Pediatrician, OBGYN (I know, probably too much info, but it is what it is!), Dermatologist, Dentist...not really the "fun" summer stuff you want to do, but all the necessary stuff. We found out that Maya had to have two teeth pulled, which ended up being a piece of cake for her- no issues, fairly quick and painless. It was the week before Maya's camp that we found out that she had to have her tonsils and adenoids out ASAP. Maya has always been a poor sleeper- up at night a lot, completely restless...when we did her yearly checkup, the doctor informed me that her tonsils were HUGE and insisted we visit the ENT. We did this, and in the process, found out that she also was breathing out of only one nostril...they said she had the three top "symptoms" of a kid with sleep apnea, and pretty much told us if we didn't get it done, he recommended we find someone here in Japan to do it (basically, he did not recommend that we wait an entire year to get the procedure done...decisions, decisions, right?). Well, I sure was not going to try to get it done in Japan (language barrier and all), so we scheduled it for 14 days before we left (on the day Scott flew back to the States), figuring that with the recovery time, we would have a few days still at home before coming back to Japan. I found out a few things- having your 7 year old have surgery and then expecting them to recover in a hotel is not optimal, and second, my 7 year old is a pretty tough cookie. The procedure went fantastic. She was up and at 'em, eating Subway by mid afternoon. However, she did have a bad reaction to the medicine- either the stuff used during the surgery, or the Tylenol with Codeine, which made her throw up consistently for two days. We ended up having to bring her into the hospital to get her an anti-nausea drug, which helped tremendously. She ate pretty normally the entire time of recovery, but did have about 6 or 7 nights of SEVERE ear pain...and I mean, wake up in the middle of the night, screaming her head off ear pain! Overall though, the surgery didn't really inhibit her from playing with her friends or doing anything she normally would have wanted to do, so it didn't put too much of a damper on the end of summer!
We spent the last few weeks shopping like MAD MEN. We have to pretty much shop for an entire year for all of us- clothes, shoes, underwear....turns out, it is a HUGE undertaking. I have never shopped so much in my entire life (those of you who know me, you know I HATE shopping- every minute of it). We also spent as much time seeing and saying goodbye to as many friends as we could. Our summer ended with a big get together of some of our closest friends on Scott's birthday- what a great, happy, yet sad, way to end our time back in the States!!
My girls and I
Scott and the Fellas
My tennis girls and I!
Lessons Learned
This summer, I learned a lot of different lessons, about a lot of different things.
Lesson #1: Scott is a HUGE contributor to our family- in many, many more ways than just monetarily. Having him be away from the kids and I for 6 weeks, we all realized how much we love him, and how happy we are when he is with us. I especially realized how much he contributes and loves me and our kids, and how he keeps me sane, even in the most stressful situations. I love and am VERY grateful for him!
Lesson #2: This summer was not ONE bit relaxing. I had this image of coming back to the States and slowing down....however, it seemed we were crazier and busier than ever.
Lesson #3: I will NOT be traveling all over the Midwest next summer. I will be looking for a 2-3 bedroom home/condo to rent for 2 months back in the Portage area. I am hoping that my family will agree to come visit me, so that the kids and I aren't traveling all over tarnation. My one trip will be up to the U.P. to visit- my sister's 40th, mom's 60th, brother's 30th, my 20 year highschool reunion and a potential family wedding are all taking place next summer...I am hoping we can wrap it all up into two weekends of celebrating..wish me luck!!
Lesson #4: I love my family, my friends and our home town. We are blessed with unbelievable people in our lives- we are very fortunate, and I hope that they feel about us the way we feel about each and every one of them. Good people are everywhere, and we have had the opportunity to have so many of them in our lives!!
Lesson #5: Single Parenthood is NOT for me. I commend and applaud all you military spouses and single parents out there - it is not easy in any way shape or form. If you are not a single parent, and have the good fortune to have a spouse/significant other to help you, BE GRATEFUL. I know I am.
Lesson #6: Japan is alllllriight. We were very much looking forward to coming back here, getting back to a normal schedule, and spending time with the good friends we have made here. Life's an adventure, and we are going to try to enjoy ours as much as we can!
Thank you to all who helped us out, hosted us for a meal, let us hang/stay at your house, let us do laundry at your house, borrowed us items to make our summer easier, and who spent time with us this summer. We appreciate it!!
Happy Fall!!
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