Packing Out

Our island time is quickly coming to a close. Our big household goods shipment has been packed up and moved out. All we have left is a lot of government furniture and a few personal items. It's so strange to not have a clock in the family room to note the time the twins are eating or the recliners to sit in. We've borrowed a tv so we have a little entertainment. The stress of packing came and went in only 3 days. Since we've taken so many trips in recent weeks the looming pack out date always seemed so far away. Then Monday the reality hit that in 2 days the movers would be here and everything needed to be ready. It was a herculean effort to get everything done, but we did it. If things were forgotten they will be mailed back or sold at the flee market. If things were sent accidentally, we'll see them in a few months. The movers arrived bright and early at 7:30 am. Gabriella was up and getting dressed when they got here. I was just telling Greg something when I heard the beeping of the moving truck. The Japanese movers managed to pack up everything we had left in just over 2 and a half hours. As always they took great care to wrap each item to ensure it will arrive at the destination in one piece. Neither Julia nor Genevieve were a fan of all the sounds and movement. They found the whole move distressing, whether it was the squeak of the tape being ripped or the movers rushing around it was hard on them. They were unsettled the rest of the day. Gabriella returned from school to an empty house, all and all she's adjusted fairly well. She's a big fan of all the open space and I saved a lot of art supplies for her to play with. We'll be in this shell of a house until Sunday when we move into the hotel. We have a lot of cleaning and sticker removal to do before we turn in the keys to our little castle. I hope the next owners enjoy it as much as we have.

2 Months Old

Julia and Genevieve have been on this earth for 9 weeks already. They've each grown to over 11 pounds and they can proudly show a few stamps on their vaccination cards. Yesterday was the girls 2 month appointment and they are growing wonderfully. They are now within 9 ozs of each other, Genevieve is still longer, but Julia is catching up. Here are their stats Julia is 11 pounds 4 oz, and Genevieve 11 pounds 13 oz. The are now socially smiling, meaning when you smile at them they smile back. Julia is desperately trying to sit up and when she's put in her boppy pillow she can almost do it. She can also pull herself up when holding onto Greg's fingers without any head lag. Genevieve has been diagnosed with reflux and is starting medicine to help get it under control. She also loves to watch Gabriella and will smile and turn to look for her every time she enters the room. The girls are eating a lot during the day and beginning to sleep a little longer at night. They still stay downstairs with either Greg or I staying with them. We've both managed to learn to feed both simultaneously. They aren't very fond of sleeping together, although they will do it in a pinch. Gabriella is now able to pick up the little girls and carry them around. She's able to pick them up and set them down while supporting their necks. This is a huge accomplishment and we are very proud. It's come in very handy when one of them needs to be picked up and I'm holding the other one. Our next step is to teach her to change diapers. Everyone is adjusting nicely to our new additions.

One Last Trip

We've had a whirlwind last few weeks trying to squeeze every last drop of adventure from this island. This past weekend we went to Okuma. We drove up after school on Friday through torrential rain. Friday night we ate a tasty dinner at the restaurant before watching a dramatic lightning storm rage while we lay in bed. Julia and Genevieve have actually started sleeping for pretty long stretches at night which everyone is thankful for. The next day dawned bright and sunny. We ate a quick breakfast in the room before heading out to the beach. Gabriella braved the cold water to swim in the Okinawa ocean one last time before we move. The little girls got their first beach trip under their belts. They had their swim shirts and diapers on as they napped under a beach umbrella. I must say in the picture above they look pretty identical. Greg grilled brats for lunch as well as a delicious london broil for dinner. We even managed to squeeze a game of miniature golf in before we turned in for the night. Sunday morning we woke up and leisurely got everything together for the trip back home. With the car loaded up we headed for one last trip to the Churaumi Aquarium. I think we've done everything we wanted to do on this island. Now it's time to change our mindset and start California dreamin'.

IE island

Just off the coast of Nago is IE island. It's famous for being shaped like a hat and as the place Ernie Pyle died during WWII. We took a quick one night trip to the island a few weekends ago. The island is tiny, it made Okinawa seem huge. We took the ferry across to the island and paid extra to take our car. Our first stop was a cool park we happened to pass. Gabriella made a few new friends and we spent almost an hour letting her play while we fed the twins. Our next stop was the hat shaped mountain. Mount Gusuku is not big close up and Greg and Gabriella were able to scale it, via the stairs, very quickly. While they were climbing to the summit the girls and I perused the gift shop and found some delicious peanuts. IE is famous for it's brown sugared and miso flavored peanuts. After mountain climbing we headed to the Children's Hibiscus garden for a picnic lunch. The flowers were beautiful and before long it was time to check into the hotel. The YYY resort is a well maintained and cozy resort on the coast of IE. We rented a cottage for a night and loved the relaxed pace of this trip after the frazzling trip to mainland we'd taken a few days before. Gabriella loved the heated spa, the pool was a little chilly for her taste. We spent the afternoon and evening relaxing in the room or at the pool. For dinner we grilled our own food Yakiniku style at the hotel's restaurant. The little girls actually slept a fair amount that night and Greg and I were able to catch up on some sleep. The next morning we enjoyed the hotel's breakfast buffet before heading back out to the spa. We wheeled the sleeping twins right next to the spa and all three of us got in to relax. After checking out of the hotel we drove around the island, looking at the lighthouse and the lily fields. We took the ferry back to Okinawa and arrived home more relaxed than when we left.

Kyoto

We took a day trip to Kyoto, Japan's former capital. We got up really early and headed out on the train to Osaka station where we met our guide who took us by train to Kyoto. Once in the city we met up with the rest of our tour. We got a few looks as we arrived with the babies in a sling and a bjorn and Gabriella in tow. However, everyone was absolutely perfectly behaved during the trip. We had three stops during the morning portion of the tour. Our first stop was the Kyoto palace, it was beautiful with many hand carved rooms. The floor was called the Nightingale floor because of the sound it made when you walked on it. According to legend the emperor had it made so he could hear his enemies coming. Other theories is that it's old and squeaky. The second stop was the golden pavilion. It was a lovely walk through some beautiful gardens, the pavilion was shiny gold and in the middle of a green water lagoon. The last stop was the royal residence, we weren't allowed to go inside, just walk around the outside of the building. It was still very impressive. Our stop for lunch was the Kyoto Handi-craft center. We had to hurry and eat before our afternoon tour to Nara left.

Nara is the ancient capital of Japan, it's home to many sacred deer. The one pictured above was very interested in the deer crackers we purchased, however most of the deer would happily snack on paper or anything else you happen to have hanging out of your pockets. I saw one eat pages out of a magazine that was hanging out of a ladies purse. The first stop in Nara was a Buddhist temple, the Buddha inside was giant and awe inspiring. There was a hole in a pillar which is the same size as Buddha's nostril, if you can fit through the hole you can be admitted into heaven. I have a little work to do to fit through the hole, but Gabriella could easily fit. The next stop was a shinto shrine, it was located in a wooded area and Gabriella and Greg took Julia with them while I sat on a quiet bench with Genevieve. We watched the deer wandering around the area, eating people's magazines. When Gabriella returned we took turns feeding the deer crackers before it was time to get on the bus. Our trip home on the train was fairly uneventful. The twins and Gabi had a few new friends on the train and we learned the Japanese word for cute.

Universal Studios Japan

The theme park in Osaka is a Universal Studios. We took a day to explore it, because we can't pass up an opportunity to ride some rides. The park is pretty small but it had a lot of cool areas to explore. My favorites were the Peanuts land and the Wizard of Oz land. Gabriella was able to ride all but one roller coaster. The food choices were really impressive and we had lunch at Cinderella's cafe, which was delicious. Just like at Disneyland Japan the popcorn stands were very popular with lines that far outstretched the lines for some of the attractions. They had a new rock and roll roller coaster that unfortunately Gabriella was too short for, but Greg and I enjoyed riding it. You got to select the song you listened to while you rode. All in all it was a very fun day. Gabriella showed us her sense of adventure by happily trying all the rides she could, even Jurassic Park the ride. The babies and I left early and because of Universal's no reentry policy we were unable to return. We relaxed in our room and watched the action in the park from the hotel window. Gabriella and Greg returned a little after 6 and we watched the light parade from the window together. All in all it was a very nice theme park experience. The day at the theme park was probably the day we did the least amount of walking.

Osaka

We checked into our hotel at Universal Studios late Saturday night. The whole place was decorated for Halloween and Gabriella even got to trick or treat while we checked in. Our room was really spacious with separate rooms for the toilet and shower. There was only one channel on the television that was in english, so we watched Monsters vs. Aliens at least 20 times during our stay. Gabriella is still quoting from the movie a week later. We settled in and ordered room service and then went to bed, or tried to anyway. The next day we toured Osaka on our own, checking out Osaka Castle and the Hard Rock cafe. Osaka castle was surprisingly not located high on a hill, but it was surrounded by a moat. We walked up the 8 flights of stairs to the top of it. I'm very proud of making it to the top while carrying Genevieve in the sling. Greg carried Julia in the baby bjorn and Gabriella carried herself. The little girls love being toted around and slept most of the day. The castle was located in a beautiful park which we walked through enjoying the sounds of someone singing Bruce Springsteen at a post sports day concert and an impromptu Stevie Wonder song played on the harmonica. The subway in Osaka is just as timely as the Tokyo trains which made it easy to navigate our way around the city. With our shot glasses and pins in hand we headed back to the hotel for an early evening. We needed to rest up for our big day at Universal Studios on Monday.

Mainland Vacation

Our last big trip before moving back to California is in the books. We survived a very packed schedule with two newborns. We decided not to take a stroller since we were unsure if we could get it on and off the subways and trains easily. The flight was amazingly easy, both twins slept the entire time and Gabriella was the great traveler she always is. We arrived in Fukuoka with two hours before the Hard Rock Cafe closed. After a rather long walk, we made it to the cafe and bought our shot glasses and guitar pins. Checking into the hotel we immediately changed into our PJ's and fell into bed ready to go to sleep. The little girls however, had a different idea. They were up almost all night just like they are at home. The next day we ate a quick breakfast at the hotel before getting on the Shinkasen, bullet train, to Hiroshima. The tour of an outer island was beautiful, the Torii gate pictured above is the largest in Japan. At high tide it looks like it's floating in the water, however in reality it's on the beach. The bomb site was rather sobering and the museum against nuclear war was hard to go through. Clearly the use of nuclear weapons is terrible and the people of Hiroshima stand up and say never again. The theme of the museum was to show the suffering caused by nuclear weapons and use it as a call to the visitors to petition world leaders to get rid of all the nuclear weapons. The day was long and by the time we got to our hotel in Osaka we were all exhausted.

You don't know what you've got until it's gone...

My parents left on Tuesday and I've already considered calling their hotel in Tokyo to beg them to come back. They were here for almost 8 weeks and have been holding at least one baby since their birth. I think their presence spoiled me, they were always around if I needed something big or small. They would bring me a glass of water, get Gabriella a snack, hold a baby, change a diaper and even just let me take a nap. My mom and dad probably changed about 500 diapers during their stay, fed the babies 500 bottles and held them more than either Greg or I did. Now that they've gone the babies miss them, when I pick up Julia, Genevieve looks to see who will pick her up. Now they are forced to share me or Greg because we are hardly ever both able to hold them at the same time. Nights are harder, now instead of 4 people sharing the night shift there are only two. This is clearly my reality and the past 7 weeks have been a vacation. While I may miss their help a lot I also miss the comfort their presence brought me. In my most post pregnancy hormonal moments they were there to hug me and tell me it was going to be ok. I miss that reassurance a lot more than I thought I would. I miss the hugs and the kind words of encouragement. I even miss the random items from the shoppette. I made a pot of coffee this morning and realize that no one else is here to share it with me. I know I can do all this on my own because God only gives you what you can handle, but I wish I could share it with my parents again. We have less than a month on island and in between now and then we have 3 trips planned and two shipments to organize. My days will be busy and I will have less time to think about my parents, but for right now I'm sending out my love and thanks to them for a job well done. And reminding them not to get too comfortable because we will be back in a month and I'm going to need some help.

Collecting Kit Kats

Little children love to collect things, bugs, rocks and seashells. As adults our collections change to more permanent items, tchotchkes like spoons or pins or place mats. I however have been collecting kit kats. They are consumable but it took a lot of hard work to find them all so I'm hesitant to eat them. Why kit kats you ask? Because here instead of just being chocolate, dark chocolate and white chocolate there are flavors like mango, intense soybean, carrot and apple. How did these Kit Kat's get here and why are they so different. I think the answer is that the Kit Kat's here are made by Nestle whereas the ones in the states are made by Hershey. All the flavors I've tried have been pretty yummy. I haven't ventured to try my soy sauce flavor yet, but the wasabi one was good. The collection will continue to grow until I leave and then will either travel with me or be mailed home so I can share my treasures with my friends in the states. If I had to choose a favorite, it's the caramel and salt. But who knows what the next flavor will bring.

Daddy's Girls

There is a very special bond between daddies and their daughters. Greg has really enjoyed spending time with his little girls. Julia and Genevieve have graced Greg with lots of coos and smiles. He loves feeding them and snuggling with them when he can wrestle one of them away from their doting Grandparents. Once again we've decided on shift work to make it through the night. Greg usually takes the first shift and I'm sure the girls are learning all about science and soccer as those seem to be the only things on TV Greg is inclined to watch. I come down every 2-3 hours to pump and they are always snuggled up with daddy. Since they are getting bigger real estate on his chest is getting tighter, but they are learning to share. The girls are still not aware of each other but they do recognize Gabriella and love to see her. Because their eyes are tracking and focusing better they are able to watch her dance and practice her karate. She is a constant source of entertainment for all of us. Julia has started to hold a toy rattle and loves to scoot around on her tummy during tummy time. Genevieve can pull herself over the boppy pillow when given the opportunity. Both girls are very active and are starting to stay awake between feedings to play a little while. Greg loves making funny faces at the girls and both girls can raise one eyebrow just like their daddy. Greg and Gabriella are spending a special day snorkeling at the Kerama islands. Their special time together has consisted of a lot of puzzles since it's been so hot this summer but now that the days are cooling off they can start going out together. Greg is having a wonderful time with all his girls.