SPRING!

Currently as I look out the window it is gray, windy, cold, uninviting.  Thank God Kai finally decided to go to sleep.. there really isn't much else to do!
Other than the past few days of miserable weather, we've been enjoying really amazing warm, sunny weather this spring.  Almost every day we've been getting out of the house and usually head to the park.  Despite my efforts to keep Kai protected from the UV rays, he's still managed to get a tan on his face and hands.  A friend at church yesterday said she thought Kai looked filipino!
Here are few shots of our life this spring..

Kai & Keila reunion: Singing a duet of "Musunde Hiraite" at the piano

Kai with his long-distance girlfriend, Keila

I found an easter egg!

at Easter service with Valerie & Jacob

I wish I took more pictures on Easter. Kai had on the most adorable, old-man-style Easter outfit...

My first chocolate chip cookie

a little picnic with the Dang girls

Our fashion model

A couple of our friends have put their kids through modeling and a few people have told us that Kai should model or is such a handsome boy.  I can't really complain or disagree, so I finally decided to try it out.  We are going in tomorrow to JE Models to check it out.  I'm not so sure about whether it is worth the time, but it would be really cool if Kai got his picture on a big ad!  The extra money would be nice, too, to put aside for Kai's college fund.
Here are some more shots that my dad took on his fancy camera:

Hilarious Video and Auntie Miho

Kai finally warmed up to his Auntie Miho by the end of our trip. She brought him some toys.  We made him say thank you and he refused.  So, we told him that we were going to give them back.  He finally said thank you and I think made that connection that she brought them for HIM. She also had a really, really cool digital camera that he liked to play with..

Beautiful Japan in the Spring

So beautiful like the cherry blossoms :)

SAKURA
It was the most ideal time to be there. Warm, pleasant low 70s.  There is a 2-3 week window of time in Japan that is very magical and romantic.  The cherry blossoms bloom, are enjoyed, and fall down.  We were there for all of it!  The best was the park near Ryuta's house.  There is a small lake, surrounded by paths lined with sakura.  We went there once for a picnic with Toru's family at the very awesome playground.  The next day we went back with Otoosan for a walk around the lake.



With Toru's wife, Chikako, and their ADORABLE baby, Sousuke-kun



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Walking with Grandpa & Daddy

   OTHER SCENES FROM OUR TRIP:


Can I play soccer with you guys??



Kai discovered all the little rocks. He LOVED throwing them!



Japan ROCKS!



This way to Dazaifu Temple!



Kai's 1st shinkansen ride



Koi no bori for Boy's Day. Ryuta helped out the neighbors put up the Children's Day flags.



Good food and good people

Sure, there are some things in America that are bigger and better and physically more comfortable.  But, in Japan, it is all made up for with good food and good people. 
Good Food
We ate soooooo much good food every day.  Crab, sushi, yakitori x2, ramen x3, yakiniku x2, tempura, Mos Burger, McDonald's, Hokka Hokka bento, tako yaki x2, somen, lots of fish and rice and miso...In celebration of Okaasan's 60th birthday, we went to this really swanky, beautiful restaurant in this cathedral-like building which caters to weddings.  It was something out of a japanese tv drama about fictional rich people who sit around drinking tea.  Also, Miho's husband, Seigou, really gave his heart to a feast he prepared for her birthday-- tempura, chirashi, suimono, karaage, tamago yaki.  I think Kai gained a pound in 2 weeks. 



First stop. Nagahama Shogun ramen. Kai pounced on the onigir on the table.



Slurrrrrppppp... ahhhhh.... that's good stuff.



A little lunch with high school friend, Ban-ban, and his family



At kai-ten sushi.  This place was GOOD! It was cool, too. You buzz in your order at the table.  Above the sushi boats, a little shinkansen train drives up to your table and stops with your order on top!



Seigou's feast for Okaasan's 60th.. amazing!



Japan: Settling in..

So, I have equated traveling internationally for so long and so far with a toddler who doesn't want to sleep like child labor and giving birth again.  It is just something you have to do to get to your end result.  It is long and torturous, but once it is over, it is all good.
Once we got there, it really was all good. It was so good that the first week, I considered staying and not going back home. Ryuta would go home to his job and live with my parents.  Kai and I would stay in Japan with his parents.  It was so comfortable and we were spoiled rotten.  His family really took care of us in every way.


So sweet. Okaasan's flag says, Kai-kun's first time in Japan

 Ryuta's mom is such an amazing woman.  She is very nurturing and sweet.  Every single meal she prepares with love.  If we go out, she makes sure to pack Kai a little bento box with all his favorites, onigiri, veggies, and hasaku oranges.  I felt so taken care of. 



With Ai-chan, the dog.  The first few days, Kai was in heaven! Outside the sliding glass door is a little grass and patio and cute Ai-chan!

 VISITS TO THE CARE CENTER
Almost every day we'd go visit the care center which was a few minutes walk from the house.  Ryuta's dad's dad and the mom's mom were there and we'd take Kai to go visit them.  Part of the reason we went was to make sure that Kai got to meet his great-grandparents while they were still alive.  All of the old people there were so happy to see Kai and to see young faces there.


With the oldest Sanui man.  Ojiichan was so independant.  Some days we would go knock on his door and he'd tell us he was busy because he was watching TV! Most of the time, he'd be out for a walk or a Daie supermarket smoking on the front bench talking to people.



4 generations of Sanui men.



Obaachan.  The first few days she'd cry every time we'd visit her.  Every time we'd walk in, she look at us for a second and think about who we were. "Ryuta? Kai-chan! Sama!" By the end of our trip, she'd ask us when we were going home and she'd count the days.  We learned later that she was counting the days she could go home and get her 1st class care from Kinko (okaasan/my mother-in-law.)

 

One day, Kai played "high-5" with obaachan.  It was the only time he interacted with her and smiled.  Every visit after, she kept trying to play "high-5" with him, but he was not interested at all.  He just wanted to run up and down the hallways, open and close doors, push elevator buttons.



Every day, Ryuta would ask his grandma, "Who do you like better, Kinko or Toru?" Kinko! "Kinko or Kai?" Kinko! "Me or Kai?" That answer would change...



International Wings, part one

Oh goodness. Where to begin? We had been planning this trip for months and almost cancelled it the week before. But we did it. 
Kai got to finally, at the ripe old age of 18 months, visit his other motherland, Japan, where he has citizenship and a passport to. 
The week or two before our trip, a huge earthquake hit Japan, followed by a disastrous tsunami, followed by a nuclear explosion and meltdown.  We got advice, did online research, watched Japanese news.  I prayed.  Four days before our trip, Ryuta, managed to get our flight changed into a different connecting airport.  Instead of connecting at Narita in Tokyo which was closest to all the damage and radiation, etc., we got to fly into Kansai/Osaka. (Although Ryuta failed to mention the FIVE HOUR LAYOVER BOTH WAYS!) I was nervous about radiation levels possibly affecting Kai, plus my mom put a small fear in me of becoming sterile (what?!)
So, let me just start off by saying that after this little adventure/traveling exercise, any future air travel that is just a handful of hours will be CAKE.  Overall, we had amazing time getting spoiled rotten in Japan, but traveling with a toddler who doesn't want to sleep AT ALL while in the airplane or at the airport is absolutely INSANE. Kai had a blast, but, we were run ragged.  If this situation ever, ever occurs again, I vouch for:
(1) grandparents as travel buddies
(2) the "leash" (I never thought I'd consider it, but when your kid is a runner in a crowded airport or up and down and up and down an airplane..)
(3) a car seat (which once Kai turns 2, I think we'll have to purchase him a seat anyways..)
(4) DRUGS!


hours and hours of entertainment on the people movers..

I counted about 20 hours of travel one way. 1 hour to the airport. 2 hours at the airport. 13 hours to Osaka. 5 hour layover. 1 hour trip to Fukuoka. 1 more hour with bags and driving home. Okay, actually, 23 hours! whoa. Kai slept 3 hours on the first plane. Then the one hour flight to Fukuoka. So 4 hours of sleep for a kid who usually sleeps at least 12-15 hours a day...ummm...INSANE!
He had a total blast though. He spent our first flight running up and down the aisles.  Ryuta was hunched over holding onto the back of his little t-shirt.  The plane had a slight incline, so when Kai ran to the back of the plane, it was like running downhill. There was a young japanese family in the back of the plane with a 2 year old boy. They were really nice and shared some of his toys with us.  There were only so many times we could read Kai's 3 books to him and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the i-touch. So, it was really nice of them to give him some little foamy puzzles of letters and numbers.
At Kansai airport, there were lots of shops and restaurants and people.  We hit up Lawsons for onigiri and then Uniqlo to look up the sales.  I don't know if Kai completely understood that he was in a new country, but the second one of us put him down, he'd slyly turn his head into his shoulder, walk away slowly, and then.. RUN!!! Ryuta and I would look at each other and decide who'd chase after him.. We were so surprised that Kai still had SO. MUCH. ENERGY. It was the middle of the night back home and he was ON.