Thursday, December 1, 2011
Ya for Pre-School!
Tessa started her first full week of pre-school this week. She has done a great job adjusting to the early mornings and staying at school all by herself without any of us. Being over in Japan and having a stay at home Mommy has spoiled her. Daddy, Mommy or Brady are with her all the time so this was a HUGE step for her and she did it like a champ. We are so proud of her and so happy to see the big smile on her face at the end of the day!
Thanksgiving 2011
We had a busy but very fun Thanksgiving this year... but the best part was that DJ made it home just in time to celebrate with us. He arrived on Tuesday!!! We couldn't have been more thankful to celebrate as a family t home this year :)
We started our day off with the Houlton family at Nana and Papa's house and ended the day with the Zwissler crew (minus a few important people). It was so great to see everyone and spend some time with our family. I only have pictures of the Houlton gathering... i guess I was too tired to take pictures as the day went on LOL!
We started our day off with the Houlton family at Nana and Papa's house and ended the day with the Zwissler crew (minus a few important people). It was so great to see everyone and spend some time with our family. I only have pictures of the Houlton gathering... i guess I was too tired to take pictures as the day went on LOL!
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Halloween 2011: Fukuoka, Japan
So this was the first year we have ever been in Japan for Halloween. As much as we wished we were home we actually made the best of it and made some good memories considering Japan doesn't actually celebrate the holiday. Japan loves holidays! They try their best to take on the customs of foreign countries but it really is not the same... or actually even close :) But luckily with a little searching around and a couple of creative moms I think we pulled it off!
We started our celebration with costume shopping. The one and only place to buy them was Toys R Us. There were only a few choices but we finally settled on Cinderella (after picking Snow White and then returning it)and Buzz Lightyear. They weren't the best costumes but after a little altering they did the trick.
The day before Halloween, the downtown Hakata area, held a costume parade. It was to start at one location and end at the local mall. The kids were going to Trick-or-Treat along the way. Sounded perfect, until we found out that we didn't register in time and could not participate :( But we thought it might be fun for the kids to see everyone dressed up at the finish line and decided to head down there anyways. The only bummer thing was that when we woke up that morning it was pouring rain. So we loaded in a taxi and drove downtown... to see no one dressed up but our own kids :) Oh you gotta love Japan! So we hung out there for a little while, at least it was decorated and we could get a few pictures, and then decided to head over to Hard Rock Cafe where they were having a Halloween Party. Now that was a lot better. The place was full of people in costumes and we saw a costume contest while we ate lunch. But yet again, we didn't register in time and couldn't participate in the trick-or-treating :( Maybe next year... actually I take that back because I hope to be home next year!
All dressed up and ready to go!
Our CRAZY wet taxi drive :)
Cruising around the mall
Hard Rock!
On Halloween, DJ got home from a week road trip, and we had a little Halloween party at our house for the kids. The Falkenborgs came over and we had a yummy dinner and tons of treats and surprises. After dinner, we went "trick-or-treating"! Since they don't trick-or-treat in Japan we had to figure some way for them to trick-or-treat. What is Halloween without it? So we decided to have the dads and grandma go in each bedroom in the apartment and the moms took the kids trick-or-treating down the hallway... twice!!! The kids would knock on the door and Brian, Cathy, and DJ were awesome playing the part of the neighbors Ha Ha! The kids were so excited and had such a great time. Tessa even told DJ after we had finished "Thank you for trick-or-treating. I had so much fun!" Now that is what made all of the planning and scrambling around worth it!
Our Halloween Decor. Tessa really wanted a jack-o-lantern tablecloth. Since there was not one to be found anywhere, I got a little creative with construction paper, tape, crayons and stickers :) She was pleased!
Spider Cookies
Blood Punch with a floating ice cube hand... a little freaky!
Ready to PARTY!!!
Trick-or-Treating and all the smiles that came with it :)
Happy Halloween Japan!
We started our celebration with costume shopping. The one and only place to buy them was Toys R Us. There were only a few choices but we finally settled on Cinderella (after picking Snow White and then returning it)and Buzz Lightyear. They weren't the best costumes but after a little altering they did the trick.
The day before Halloween, the downtown Hakata area, held a costume parade. It was to start at one location and end at the local mall. The kids were going to Trick-or-Treat along the way. Sounded perfect, until we found out that we didn't register in time and could not participate :( But we thought it might be fun for the kids to see everyone dressed up at the finish line and decided to head down there anyways. The only bummer thing was that when we woke up that morning it was pouring rain. So we loaded in a taxi and drove downtown... to see no one dressed up but our own kids :) Oh you gotta love Japan! So we hung out there for a little while, at least it was decorated and we could get a few pictures, and then decided to head over to Hard Rock Cafe where they were having a Halloween Party. Now that was a lot better. The place was full of people in costumes and we saw a costume contest while we ate lunch. But yet again, we didn't register in time and couldn't participate in the trick-or-treating :( Maybe next year... actually I take that back because I hope to be home next year!
All dressed up and ready to go!
Our CRAZY wet taxi drive :)
Cruising around the mall
Hard Rock!
On Halloween, DJ got home from a week road trip, and we had a little Halloween party at our house for the kids. The Falkenborgs came over and we had a yummy dinner and tons of treats and surprises. After dinner, we went "trick-or-treating"! Since they don't trick-or-treat in Japan we had to figure some way for them to trick-or-treat. What is Halloween without it? So we decided to have the dads and grandma go in each bedroom in the apartment and the moms took the kids trick-or-treating down the hallway... twice!!! The kids would knock on the door and Brian, Cathy, and DJ were awesome playing the part of the neighbors Ha Ha! The kids were so excited and had such a great time. Tessa even told DJ after we had finished "Thank you for trick-or-treating. I had so much fun!" Now that is what made all of the planning and scrambling around worth it!
Our Halloween Decor. Tessa really wanted a jack-o-lantern tablecloth. Since there was not one to be found anywhere, I got a little creative with construction paper, tape, crayons and stickers :) She was pleased!
Spider Cookies
Blood Punch with a floating ice cube hand... a little freaky!
Ready to PARTY!!!
Trick-or-Treating and all the smiles that came with it :)
Happy Halloween Japan!
Animals Galore
We visited the aquarium in Fukuoka right around the time we arrived to Japan. We actually bought an annual pass but never made it back over there. We are a little bummed :( We headed over there with the Falkenborgs. We took the ferry across to the other side of the island to get there. It is way easier than driving and much quicker. The kids had such a fun time doing this. The aquarium is quite small and does not come anywhere close to Sea World but it entertained the kids for the morning. Their favorite part was feeding the sea lions fish with tongs. We must have bought 4 containers!
Our Ride on the Ferry. You can see the city of Fukuoka, the Fukuoka Tower, and the Yahoo!Dome (DJ's stadium).
Feeding the Sea Lions!!!
Watching the dolphin and sea lion show. At one point the sea lion balanced a baby doll on his nose. This really upset Tessa...I think she thought it was going to eat it Ha Ha!!! She started crying and got really sad :(
Then right before we left Fukuoka to come home we made a trip to the local zoo with the Falkenborg family. The kids had a really fun time. It took awhile for Brady to not be scared that the animals were going to eat him. He actually wanted to stay in the stroller... but he soon figured out that it was going to be OK :)
Visiting the Elephants... Tessa decided to shovel some poop while she was there!
Checking out the animals
They had fun feeding the animals at the Petting Zoo!
The Train Ride was a HUGE hit!
Our Ride on the Ferry. You can see the city of Fukuoka, the Fukuoka Tower, and the Yahoo!Dome (DJ's stadium).
Feeding the Sea Lions!!!
Watching the dolphin and sea lion show. At one point the sea lion balanced a baby doll on his nose. This really upset Tessa...I think she thought it was going to eat it Ha Ha!!! She started crying and got really sad :(
Then right before we left Fukuoka to come home we made a trip to the local zoo with the Falkenborg family. The kids had a really fun time. It took awhile for Brady to not be scared that the animals were going to eat him. He actually wanted to stay in the stroller... but he soon figured out that it was going to be OK :)
Visiting the Elephants... Tessa decided to shovel some poop while she was there!
Checking out the animals
They had fun feeding the animals at the Petting Zoo!
The Train Ride was a HUGE hit!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)