Adventure Park, Trips and Visitors!

Maya on rope swing over MUD puddle

Adventure Park
This is Maya at the “adventure park.” I know I have said this in the past, but there are many parks here in Japan that would be shut down immediately if they were in the U.S. This park is one of them! There is a rickety wooden structure that the kids can play on, there are saws and hammers (where they can actually saw wood, fairly unsupervised), fire pits that they have going in essentially the middle of the play area, a painting area, and this rope swing that is over a mud pond that the kids go in and on. It is a bit odd and somewhat unnerving, but the kids LOVE it. They get dirty and gritty and gross… Maya started out not really sure what to do or if she wanted to do it, but this is what she looked like by the end!


After playing..and we had to train home after this!

Trips
This year is our year of trips. We have decided that if we are only here until next December, June at the latest, we don’t have a lot of time to see everything we want to see while we are here. We are going to Hong Kong for Thanksgiving, staying at the Disney Hollywood Hotel, meeting up with Mr. Larry, a tailor that is going to make Scott some new suits and shirts, and hopefully doing some really cheap shopping for clothes for the kids. We just booked a trip to Bali, Indonesia for Christmas…we will be heading there Dec 17-23rd, staying at the Padma Bali Resort in Kuta. And in March, we will be heading to Phuket, Thailand for 7 nights of fun in the sun. We are all really excited and exceptionally grateful for all the opportunities this move has given us!

Visitors
This is also the year of the visitor! We are so happy that we have family coming to see us this year! My cousin Suzie and a friend are coming over in February to run the Tokyo Marathon. Scott and I signed up for the 10K, but did not get in (lottery for both the 10K and the Marathon). My Aunt Nancy might join them for the visit, which I would be SO happy about! Possibly some family coming in March, Scott’s mom, Jan, is coming in April, and my parents are coming in May! If any of you are reading this..beware, that I might be sending you requests of things to bring with you (spaghettios, mac and cheese, cereal…maybe some shampoo…who knows what I can come up with!!)

This year is going incredibly fast- it seems we book up the calendar like crazy and before you know it, we have NO time to relax. My new resolution is to take one day a week to get things done around home, catch up with work, and just chill out and not be running around the city! Wish me luck!