Grammy and Grampy Come to Town!

My parents just came out to visit us in Japan! It was so nice to see them and spend time with them. Tessa was SUPER excited that gramama and grapy were coming to see her. She could not wait to go pick them up at the airport. Every time she saw an airplane she would point it out in the sky because I told her they were coming to see us on an airplane :) She is so dang smart! When we went to pick them up at the airport we had to wait a little while. This seemed like forever for Tessa, but as soon as I told her I saw Grammy walking our way she got the biggest smile on her face. It was priceless! In Japan airports you can not enter the baggage claim. (It actually has glass doors and a guard guarding it so no one enters. You even have to show them your baggage claim tickets when you are walking out so they can check and make sure you only have your luggage!) Once Tessa saw Grammy getting closer (Poor Grampy was left to get all of the bags so she could come see us right away :) she went to go run to her. She got so sad when the doors closed on her and Grammy was not out yet, but as soon as Grammy walked through the doors she gave her the biggest hug and I don't think she let my mom put her down the rest of the trip :) Tessa was so excited to show Grammy and Grampy everything once we got home.

So the rest of the week we spent doing a few things.

We went to Ohari Park and played at the big playground. Tessa had a blast going down all of the different slides she had to choose from. Her favorites were the big twisty slide and the tunnel slide.








We rode the swan paddle boats on the pond and looked at the fish and the turtles.






Went out for sushi!










We went to the Atago Shrine. It is located on top of a hill. You have to walk up like 100 stairs but once you get up there you have a 360 degree view of Fukuoka. It is really beautiful!






The view of the Fukuoka Tower and our apartment.



You can also see the big ferris wheel that Tessa loves to see.



We got to go to baseball games. My parents actually were in town to see DJ's first game back since he was hurt. He did awesome and was Hero of the Game :) Way to go Daddy!!!















We spent the day at the beach. We played in the sand and water. Grammy taught Tessa how to skip rocks while Grampy took a nice nap :)










We went to visit the Asahi Brewery but it ended up that the day we went they closed early for the day :( So we ate lunch at the brewery restaurant instead.






My parents were also here for All Star Break so DJ had a few days off to spend with them too! One day we drove a little over an hour to visit a castle in Kumamoto. It was a really hot day... I think we were all soaked by the time we were done :)



















After we left the castle we walked about 15 minutes to go see a historic Japanese mansion. Our walk over there was interesting. We were followed by a group of teenage girls who would not stop taking pictures of Tessa. They were all around her. Then DJ was spotted by some fans. And we were in a hurry so we would make our dinner reservations, so I have no pictures of any of it. The mansion was very different. It was not a very big place and the entire place didn't have any furniture. Considering the rush we were in and the heat, we all wish we skipped that part :)
We continued on to our dinner plans that were arranged for us by one of DJ's teammates at his favorite tempura restaurant. This place was highly recommended and we were very excited to go. The people who worked there opened early for us and spoke some English. They had our entire menu picked out for us. Let's just say it was definitely a Japanese experience. We started with a tofu salad and a fish soup. Then continued with raw horse meat, yes HORSE meat, a specialty of Kumamoto. (For the record everyone tried it but me. I just couldn't do it!) Then we were served tempura shrimp heads. They even insisted that we eat the tails from the shrimp tempura. We all looked at them like they were nuts. We were fed fish meatballs, a small whole fish head and all. And the worse part was that they stood there watching you eat and waited for you to eat it. It was crazy!!! So needless to say the only normal food that we were served were vegetables. We ended the night with a Japanese tea ceremony. We went into a little Japanese style room, where you must take your shoes off, and sat on the ground. The room was dark with candles lit. An older lady hand mixed a really bright green tea for each of us. As she made each glass she served us by age and gender. Grandpa, then Grandma, Daddy, and then Mommy. It was very interesting. But, the tea was true green tea! It tasted like grass and was hard to drink. I laughed while I watched DJ take a deep breathe and pound the tea so he would be done with it. We are all glad we got to do it. And it was nice that we were able to give my parents a true Japanese experience :)

The next night our dinner was awesome though. We went to a yakiniku place on the beach where you get all of your food uncooked and we got to cook it ourselves on a BBQ. It was all you can eat and drink for 2 hours... and we had our fair share! The night was awesome and the weather was perfect. It was a great way to end my parents trip out here :)


















THAT WAS SUCH A FUN NIGHT!!!

Then it was time to say goodbye :( Tessa tried to get them to pack her in their suitcase to take her home!




Thanks for coming to visit us. It is always so nice to have family here. It is hard being away from home for so long. You helped take some of our homesickness away :) We love you and miss you already!

6 Months... Really?

Our "little" man is officially 6 months old today! I can't believe it has already been 1/2 a year! I knew he was growing out of the baby stage but I'm not ready for my little baby boy to start being a little boy to start moving around and growing up so fast.

This month alone he has accomplished so many things. He started solids. He was not a fan of rice cereal but gobbles all of his veggies up. His favorite so far is avocados and sweet potatoes. He just got his first fruit, bananas, and loved them. (I'm the mean mom who makes their kids try all of the veggies before introducing fruit!) He got a little upset when they were all gone. Our little piggy :) He even started drinking out of a sippie cup which he loves!!! He has also grown out of his little bathtub and was moved to a blowup bath chair to sit in (remember we are in Japan and there is not many options). He seems to love sitting in the chair and playing with his toys. He is rolling all over and is trying his hardest to start to crawl. He can pull his knees up but his arms aren't strong enough to hold his body up yet. So in the meantime, he just lays on his belly and kicks his legs and waves his arms as fast as he can. He looks like he is swimming on land! Too cute!!! He is still a little too top heavy for sitting still but hopefully he will conquer that task this next month. He has figured out how to push the buttons on his favorite toys to make them sing and light up. He can hold a ball and move it around. He thinks his sister is hilarious and loves to watch everything she does. I hope he doesn't learn how to be a crazy climber from her :) He is a big big talker and at times I think he can be a little louder than his sister. This worries Daddy a little bit... he was hoping to have one quiet child to hang out with :) He is starting to stay awake more during the day but continues to sleep through the night, unswaddled (finally)!!!

But even though he is growing so fast he is still the most happy, smiliest boy who gets excited when he sees his family and loves to laugh! We just love him to pieces :)

Little Miss Accessories!

The picture speaks for itself...



Doesn't she look beautiful???
Tessa has so much fun putting every accessory on that she can find :)

4th Of July

Even though we are in Japan we still will find a way to celebrate the 4th! We may not have the awesome fireworks displays or get to see American flags waving in the air, but we try our best :)

Despite all of the pouring rain throughout the day, this year we ended up getting invited to a BBQ at the Matsunaka's house (DJ's teammate)! Matsunaka was nice enough to invite all of the Gaijin (foreigners) on the team over for some celebration. All of us found a way to dress up in red, white, and blue and try our best to feel like we were at home.

We hung out in the courtyard where there were people who BBQed food for us all night long. They BBQ everything from beef to chicken, different types of sausages, tongue (yes cow tongue), and corn on the cob. They would just throw all of the food in the middle of the tables and people would just take their chopsticks and eat what they wanted. A little different, but good! Along with all of the people there who cooked us food, there were also women who were there to look after our kids. We are still uncertain whether they were there just to watch our kids or if they were friends of the Matsunaka's but whatever the case may be they definitely entertained the children. At one point during the night, after DJ finished feeding Brady his dinner, a little Japanese lady came and took him right out of his arms and whisked him away in the house. It was a nice and scary all at the same time. Nice to be able to socialize with adults, but scary having your baby upstairs with a stranger! Tessa had a blast playing with all of the kids and being entertained. The upstairs was set up as a huge play area for the kids to run wild, which they did.

Even though we would much rather celebrate at home, we sure had a great time trying our best to have a somewhat normal 4th here in Japan!

Brady's 1st 4th of July!




All decked out in Red, White & Blue






Hanging out in the courtyard eating all the yummy food.









Tessa trying to convince Daddy that it was not time to go home yet :)




Happy 4th of July!!!