We are going to kick things off this month with ALLLLL the Homecoming Festivities! The week started out with lots of the same spirit week events as we remember from our high school days. Of course they have a more modern/pc names. We had "Nerd" day, they had "Mathlete vs Athlete" day - you get the picture. I think their favorite day was "anything but a backpack day". Lilly took my folding wagon. I told her not to break it by having someone ride in it. She PROMISED that wouldn't happen, but we both knew it would.
Up first is the Powder Puff football games. Sadly I was not told when these games were being played or you know I would have been there. Which may be why I wasn't told, come to think of it. Nevertheless, I was able to get a few pictures from the girls and even a video! The Juniors played the Freshmen first. I remember back when I was a freshman having to play my sister's Junior team. Lilly got some good carries, but ultimately the Freshmen prevailed.
The Sophmores were up next, taking on the Seniors. Lucy hasn't forgotten how to snatch a flag since her flag football days and she was all over the Senior receivers!
Apparently this game was decided by a field goal! Lucy, being one of the only soccer players on the team, was up for it! If you would like to watch the video I won't spoil it for you.
The Sophomores went on to battle the Freshmen and somehow the Freshmen ended up victorious! I am so happy that this school year is somewhat more of a normal year in terms of what the students are able to do compared to the last two years. With the high school being such a small school, the girls really are able to participate in pretty much any and all activities!
The Homecoming game sadly was on the same night as our Marine Corps Ball, so we didn't get to go to the game or see Lilly debuting as the Mascot! I am still fuzzy on how she was able to pull that off but what a fun surprise!
Jim and I had a blast at the Ball! We were out numbered probably 5 to 1 by other services since there are only a handful of Marines stationed at Yokota, but it was a great showing.
The following night was the Homecoming dance. We were able to get a bunch of the girls' friends together for some photos. It was a lot like herding cats, but the kids had fun and they all looked great!
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| We even got them to take a picture with us! |
Off to the next thing! Ben has transitioned to football. He plays wide receiver and defensive back. Thankfully, there are three teams in his age group, so it is a better situation than soccer where they were the only team. The teams are pretty evenly matched so that makes the games fun to watch as well.
The fall colors are really popping over here. My favorite has to be the ginko trees. The leaves turn such a pretty yellow. Wesley and I run down this road almost daily and we always make sure to appreciate them.
Another weekend, another ball. A far cry from what is considered "normal" for Jim but still we are happy that we are able to even attend. This time Jim was the guest speaker for the Camp Fuji Marines. They had it down at the New Sanno downtown so we persuaded the kids to come with us and we could take some time exploring more of downtown Tokyo. The girls only really got behind the idea when we said they could bring their friend Sam. Luckily, everyone gets along and Ben didn't feel like too much of an outsider.
So we dropped the kids off at Team Lab Borderless (an interactive museum/art installation) for a few hours the next morning. While they were busy doing that, Jim and I went shopping in the fun gift store downstairs. We met up with the kids and decided to do some more running around the areas surrounding the hotel. We checked out a cat cafe where we were pretty much ignored by all the cats until we broke out the treats.
Of course you can't go ten feet in Japan without seeing a shrine/temple so we explored Meiji Jingu which is a Shinto shrine with a 170+ acre land of gardens and forest in the middle of Tokyo - think Central Park in NY. It was established in 1920 to commemorate Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken who are widely believed to be the founders of modern Japan. The forest is manmade from 100,000 trees from all over Japan and was designed to be a self-regenerating natural forest. Of course most of the shrine complex was burnt down during WWII but the forest survived and the shrine rebuilt.
It wasn't all culture, we also walked among the fancy shops, the thrift store district and had many opportunities to ride the subway until it was time to head back to Yokota. We even dragged the kids down to the Tokyo Tower even though they went the night before while we were at the ball. We also discovered the place where they make those Lindor chocolate truffles, and they had over 30 different flavors like saltwater taffy!
As soon as we arrived home, we had to switch gears to celebrate Lilly's 17th Birthday!! This year she wanted to make her own cake with her friends and have everyone over to watch a movie and to spend the night. So that is exactly what we did!
The next day, Jim and I decided to let the kids clean up from the party and we rounded up some friends and headed up river to a sake brewery! It was a much better way to spend the afternoon than cleaning, let me tell you.
November was just slammed up for events. Last year Ben and I ran the Big O which is a 10 mile run that has historically been around the base. Since we have been here, it is more like a C, but it is still 10 miles. The participants get a sweatshirt upon completing the race. This year Jim and Lilly joined us. Lucy said she wanted to do it too, but instead she had basketball practice - not sure if I believe her or not.
We are finally up to Thanksgiving week. The girls had a "Friendsgiving" meal where the only requirement was to bring a dish that has nothing to do with Thanksgiving. By the end of the night, all the kids were crammed into Lilly's bedroom playing a game. I am not sure why they chose to pack into that tiny room but who understands kids these days?
A few days later it was time for the real thing! We, thankfully, asked to join our neighbors for their Thanksgiving celebration. Which was a good thing since we had originally planned to go to Hiroshima and therefore had not bought any of the Thanksgiving meal ingredients. Their spread was far better than anything we could have thrown together even if we had a month to prepare!
Right after Thanksgiving dinner, we headed to the station to catch the train because we somehow got a room reservation at a Disney hotel and therefore tickets to either Tokyo Disney or Disney Sea. We opted for Disney Sea after doing a quick google search. As usual, Disney did a great job and the park was fantastic. We saw some rides that were familiar and some that were takes on other rides - I'm looking at you Sinbad's Storybook Voyage. Many rides were totally new to us. We have been out of the Disney game since we left Florida in 2015, so we were interested to see how Disney Sea would hold up. It did not disappoint. Although I will say as messed up as the Fast Passes had gotten, the newest system in place won't even let you wait for the ride even if you don't mind waiting.
One of the best things we enjoyed was trying all the popcorn flavors. The Japanese like to play around with flavor combinations and we tried to taste them all. The line was too long for the Shrimp flavor, and we decided to pass on the salt and pepper, but the Curry flavor was DELICIOUS! Jim and I had a memorable snack and a drink at the Teddy Roosevelt Lounge on board the SS Columbia. We also took a gondola ride at sunset to round out the day, then the train home with Mickey Mouse handholds. All in all, it was a good X for our Japan bucket list.
Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, we are turning our attention to Christmas and with that comes colder weather. Wesley has requested a heating pad for his bed. He sometimes get to snuggle with Ben on the couch and he really loves to burrow under the covers to get toasty warm.
I have been asked in the past if the Japanese sell live Christmas trees, the answer is both yes and no. Yes, they sell them, but they are super expensive given the size. This one below is about 3 feet tall and is going for about $52.00. Most Japanese houses are also super small and there is no room for what we would consider a normal size tree.
