We hadn't visited a Buddhist temple while they were here, so we stopped by the one on the hill by the train station. We went inside and it was dark and quiet and I felt like we shouldn't be there. It was peaceful and very pretty.

They had to take a train to Hachinohe, then get on the shinkansen (bullet train) to Tokyo, then take the Narita express to the airport. Then a 14 hour flight back. It's a lot, but they made it there just fine!

I love the Matt & Dad hug. And Heron's squishy cheeks!

It was so great to have them visit! I'm really thankful that they could make it all the way out here to spend some time with us.

Rhino had a hard time with their leaving. He sat on Matt's shoulders yelling "Grandpa, waaiitt!" (Both Mom & Dad are named "Grandpa" apparently. He just didn't get "Grandma.") Then in the car he cried for Grandpa to "si-down" and kept trying to hand the seat belt up to nobody. It makes my heart ache to see him so upset to see his grandparents leave! We'll miss them, too.

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We ate at Noodle House Marumiya (a.k.a. Cheese Roll). We had ramen, yakisoba, beef dunburi, and (of course) cheese rolls! Yummy! Matt and Rhino (coincidentally, dressed alike) waited for their cheese rolls.

We tried a lot of different restaurants. We had Pepper Lunch at the mall, Cheese Roll, yakiniku at Viking, this place (I can't remember the name!) for delicious yakitori … Rhino loved this place because he could crawl under the floor between the table.

I seem to get sick every time we visit with Matt's parents. I think it's them!! This time wasn't so bad, but I did get some bug for a few days.

We were planning on going to the Tanabata festival right out the main gate, but I really, really wasn't up for it. So Matt took Rhino and Mom and they had a good time! Rhino ran through the streamers, rode Thomas the Tank Engine and a mini-carousel, and they took in the sights and got some cute pictures. I've never been, but hope to go next year!

This is an illegal picture. You can't take pictures in the Universe (Japanese grocery store!) That's okay, though. Matt's parents are rebels! Rhino likes to drive the Hello Kitty car all over the Universe.

We went to the awesome cake house, Shiroi Mori. Delicious! Here we are hanging out on the couch at the table. I had a delicious chocolately, nutty, crunchy cake slice. Rhino had some awesome chocolate cake. Heron wolfed down some custard … and I don't remember everyone else's. It was all delicious, though! One of our new favorite places in Misawa!

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Heron had a good time, especially playing with sound waves. So cool! I can't believe with as much as we've gone here, we never went upstairs with all the awesome electricity and weather displays.

Everyone loves to watch the slow-motion multi-camera videos of themselves jumping. I think Rhino mostly likes the countdown to the jumping!

The playground there (Sky Park, I think they call it) is really cute, too. Rhino almost liked riding these rails, but just for a second. I'm glad that Mom & Dad could join us on a trip to one of our favorite local spots. It's just too much fun (and educational!)

Looking for driving directions to the Aviation and Science Museum in Misawa, Japan? Check them out here!

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Of course we got a ride on the giant roller slide in! I rode with Heron on my lap and he loved it. Rhino got his foot stuck at the top of the slide so he wasn't too happy a lot of the way down!

We fed the horses some carrots (100 yen for a cup)!

And Rhino had his first horse ride! I thought 2 was too young to ride a horse, but look at him go! He loved it and didn't complain at all! The men who walked him around talked to him and pointed things out. When the loop was finished, they told Rhino to touch the horse's nose, its mouth, it's ear, talked to him about the horse (I'm guessing — it was all in Japanese!) and had him give the horse a kiss (yuck?) It was sweet! And look at my big boy on a real horse!!

Rhino climbed the big horse slide and rode some play horses. Heron liked riding on the wooden horses, too! And We had some delicious ice cream to beat the heat before we left.

It was such a fun day! All the excitement and heat really wore Rhino out, though!

Looking for driving directions to the Horse Park (Komakko Land) from Misawa? Click here!

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We showed up and there were a ton of cars and people everywhere! We got out of the van and someone tried to hand us trashbags and gloves. Apparently there was a big beach cleanup! Usually I'm all for volunteering for these sorts of things and felt bad turning down the bags, but we just came to run and play with the boys and look for sea glass (technically, that's trash and we were picking it up!)

Rhino would wade in the surf and run from the waves. Heron took his first little dip in the ocean (well, I guess this wasn't actually the ocean — Mutsu Bay is on the Japan Sea.)

We found quite a bit of sea glass — even Rhino helped! He would walk along the water with me and then point — "pretty!" — and pick up a little piece for me.

We were worried about the weather because shortly after we left it started sprinkling. Then when we got to Nojehi it was really coming down. As soon as we stepped foot on the beach, it cleared up and became a beautiful day! I loved our day at the beach!

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I was hoping that he would like the hands-on tank where you can pick up little crabs, starfish, and sea urchins. He held a starfish on his palm for about half a second and squealed "oww!" and threw the poor thing! He didn't want to have anything to do with the tank and just wanted to draw on the giant dry-erase board. We watched the feedings for the otters, seals, and dolphins. Heron really loved the dolphins!! Unfortunately, Matt's favorite attractions seemed to be removed. He loved the tiny fish that eat the dead skin off your fingers when you dip them in the tank (you're supposed to!) He also really liked the bat fish but we couldn't find it.

Recently a Tony Roma's rib restaurant opened up in Aomori. There isn't really any "American food" out our way except for the occasional fast food joint (I am so sick of fast food!!) I do miss eating in a familiar restaurant. Even though I got my steak at TGI Friday's in Tokyo, stopping by the Tony Roma's was a must. Plus, Matt's parents have never had ribs! Never!! So we had to experience that.

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The zoo is wonderful! It's large with a great variety of interesting animals. They do a wonderful job with most of the habitats and overall it's very pretty. I love this relaxing bear!

It was pretty hot and muggy and the boys don't last as long as we do. So we saw about half of the zoo before getting some ice cream and shaved ice and decided to head back. We got cute, obligatory face-in-hole pictures of the boys!

We saw a five-storied pagoda!

Heron was amused by the animals, but he didn't start imitating noises like Rhino did at his first visit to the zoo! I think it's just because we didn't stop by the polar bears this time.

Mom & Dad let Rhino take photos with their camera (sorry sweetie! You're not touching my camera just yet. Maybe soon you'll get your own!) He is really excited for "picture! picture!" He does horizontal and vertical (the cutest!) photos and checks to see how they look after. He too a ton! Here's a picture of a pigeon he was photographing above (well, a minute before. I'm not sure what he was photographing above!)

We don't have a lot of familiar American restaurants up here in Misawa. There's fast food on base, a McDonald's in town, and a KFC in the Shimoda Mall and Hachinohe. I'm not crazy about fast food! In Tokyo they have a handful of other restaurants that you would see in the States. When we went last year with Liz and Nicole, we went to the Outback Steakhouse. With Mom & Dad, we had dinner at TGI Fridays. Yay! I feel silly eating "American food" in Japan, but we really do get our fill of Japanese food! And I wanted a steak!

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We drove all night Sunday / Monday morning and arrived at the New Sanno Hotel in Tokyo around 9 am. I got settled in with the boys while Matt took the metro over to Narita Airport to meet Mom & Dad. That first day, everyone was exhausted from traveling (and the strange time change!) so we just went to bed early!

On Tuesday we got up and had breakfast at the hotel restaurant before heading out to the Imperial Palace grounds. We took the metro, got off at the wrong stop and got a little lost, and walked around the garden grounds. It was a beautiful day with just a light sprinkle of rain.

Rhino liked running down all the paths and Heron was happy to just be carried. We saw koi, horses, palace guards, swans, and plenty of other tourists!

The boys warmed up almost instantly to Mom & Dad. Heron is okay with being held and Rhino is a show-off for them!

Matt discovered a Games Workshop in Tokyo and wanted to check it out for his Warhammer 40,000 hobby. They weren't open by the time we got there, so we looked around for a place to eat. (The men are happy to suggest McDonald's for every meal, but we were looking for something a little more Japanese!) We found a cramped little ramen house and had a pretty tasty lunch! The boys weren't too happy, but Heron ate some ramen and fried rice. A lot of Japanese restaurants aren't very "kid friendly" and, once away from Misawa, it's hard for us to find high chairs, kids' menus, etc. When we finished we headed back to the Games Workshop where Matt's parents got him a belated Father's Day gift — a big Tyranid guy (a hive tyrant, maybe?) He was thrilled.

We headed back to the hotel to recuperate and let the boys nap. Dad was on the lookout for a digital camera, so we went to Akihabara in the evening. He was in electronics heaven and enjoyed looking at all the gadgets and components! We didn't find the camera he was looking for with a more reasonable price tag than he could find online, but he did find an awesome RC helicopter!

We went out for a yummy dinner at an Okinawan restaurant by the hotel. Matt ordered yakisoba, which came with bonito. The thin fish shavings absorb the moisture and wiggle around, making it look like the dish is breathing or that there are insects all over it! It was really cool and tasty! Heron and I enjoyed some taco rice with an egg cooked on top. Rhino just complained most of the time for french fries!

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Sugar in the stove and on the kitchen floor; The chair Rhino used to get the sugar;
Sugar footprints; Not the laptop!!

Every Thursday I have ladies over to knit and hang out. I had been vacuuming and mopping and wiping all morning to make sure the place looked presentable, especially after the morning's disasters. Heron was napping in his room and Rhino fell asleep on the sofa downstairs, so I decided to get a quick shower. When I came downstairs not 15 minutes later, I caught Rhino with a now-empty 2-lb bag of powdered sugar, prancing around the living room. The bathroom and kitchen floors I had just mopped were covered in white. He threw sugar on the windows, up onto the TV, onto the stove, dumped it on the laptop, sprinkled it in my knitting basket, coated both the couches, and rolled half his toys in it. I'm mostly mad that it was my fault. We have a gate to separate the kitchen and the living room and I had left it open when I went upstairs. It all could have been easily avoided!

Sugar all over the couch; Sugar trails through the living room;
Sugar tossed on the window; All over the entertainment center and TV

I don't really lose my temper, but I decided he immediately had to go upstairs. I couldn't deal with him right then! I got photos of the mess but none of the guilty party. I cleaned frantically for my company through Matt's lunch break and the living room at least looked decent by the afternoon. I've been trying so hard to keep the place clean lately and days like this just really demotivate me!

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Rhino was a little confused at times and used the blower as a straw and wasn't too happy about that. Heron enjoyed crawling around, pushing around balls, and pulling up on the slide. He wasn't too enthusiastic about the bubbles, but Rhino really liked running over to him and blowing them at him!

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