My Science Project

......look at the little stinker trying to take credit.

This is the year I've heard so much about. The warning that "Kids just get harder as they get older".... now has applicable meaning. I HATE HOMEWORK! (that, and all the sass & backtalk) Anywhoooo, Max has a teacher that loves research projects this year, and in general advises "just look online..;0)..." which is a big no go at our house. This is the third grade! Weekly we're a project team and let me tell you.........it's not easy...... Max is very chatty and particular, have you met him?

He was excited about this Science Project and knew just what he wanted to do..... Make Crystals! All kinds of Crystals, sugar, salt, alum, any other chemicals mom? After heaping on the laundry list of supplies needed......he was done. His contribution was made. It was a painful next six hours with the follow through.



I have to say, when it was all pulled together is turned out pretty neat.

And I think secretly this was the part he was really after.

New Tokyo Excites Me...

I'm not much for Buddhist temples and shrines. Sure..... we'll check out a palace or two while we're here....but generally the old stuff can be kind of snoozy.

Architecture has always excited me, and in Europe I was in heaven..... but for some reason I haven't had the same emotional connection here.
However.... I love new Tokyo! Some of the buildings are mind blowing. I have a list of must sees..... First stop

The Tokyo International Forum(designed by Rafael Vinoly in 1996)
This was built as a convention center of sorts but it full of shops, cafes and restaurants. We stumbled upon the Children's Rice Museum on the bottom floor which is worth checking out. The kids learned about all the different varieties of rice, how they are planted and grown. Then there is the harvest and how rice is processed and shipped all over the world. (I don't know what happened to all my pictures of this...?) They even had a chopstick classroom, explaining all the different shapes and sizes and exercises to fine tune your chopstick skills. (the kids loved this part)
What I found most interesting was the Japanese food pyramid. It was flipped upside down with rice making up at least 75% of their daily diet.....then soup, an egg or two and maybe a piece of fish. Actually very little vegetables, and fruit is treated as a sweat treat to have occasionally. Crazy. But they must be doing something right....everyone is tiny.

What I thought would be just a quick 'go see' ended up filling half our day.



The kids were worn out by the end..... and ready for the pool.

Tokyo 360

My blogging dry spell might seem like we haven't been up to much, but the opposite is true. We've been getting out on little adventures more than ever.... I just haven't been great about bringing the camera along. (We need a smaller one, the big Rebel is great for important things, but to bulky for buzzing around town)
Sidenote: Isn't it ironic that I don't want to snap pictures when I'm in Japan... like it would be weird to bring my camera everywhere?

Did you know Combi is a Japanese brand? I didn't..... I guess I never gave it much thought..... I always thought of it as Scandinavian (like Ikea), I'm not sure where I got that impression......
Anywho... my point is that it is a Japanese company and their expanding into baby clothes. Tobias was called to audition for the catalog shoot, but it would be in Tokyo (about an hour by train). I figured if we were going to travel for it.......we should take advantage and make a day trip....maybe two. So we did!
The actual audition was a zoo! There must have been over a hundred little babies coming and going in a little tiny office building. At least 59% were screaming the whole time and I started to feel a little sleazy for being part of something that seemed a little stage-mom-ish. Tobias was a great........... but he didn't get it.
Oh well, I'm sooooooo glad we had planned a trip around it, otherwise I would have been really disappointed. As it was... this was just the beginning of our Tokyo adventure.
First we checked out the Kabuki-za Theater. This is one of the oldest surviving buildings in Japan it originally opened in 1889. (It's style is old, but it was actually rebuilt in 1951 after it was destroyed in bombings during World War II).


Kabuki Theater seems like a fun little novelty experience.......so later when Mark and I were in Tokyo alone, we tried to give it a go. We showed up at the ticket window on a Wednesday at about 10:30am for a one act show........SOLD OUT! I was amazed...who goes to this?.......I thought it was a touristy thing....... apparently not. This is still a very popular form of entertainment in Japan.


After checking out the Sony Showroom
and exploring Ginza (shopping, shopping, shopping) the kids were over it and desperate for something that was actually fun.
Most of the major department stores have a kids zone, and we found this one on a rooftop. It was chilly, but the kids had a blast...they had it all to themselves.





We spent the night at the The New Sanno (Loved it! And it has a pool, hot tub and American food so the kids were in heaven).

The next day Kids choice was the Tokyo Tower......

Here is the 360 view of Tokyo








I was happily surprised at how much there was to do there. We discovered a kidszone on the bottom floor.... so we ended up spending another couple of hours.



Here is Max moping because he is now officially too big for 'Bouncy Land'.


The trick in Japan is being able to anticipate how much Yen you'll need. In Tokyo most of the major stores will take a debit/credit card......but otherwise it's cash only, which is tricky because you can't always find an ATM that works with American cards either. After all the unexpected spendy fun at the Tokyo Tower we were almost out of Yen....and lunch was looking a little meager.... we found a really inexpensive place that served rice and a simple curry. It was delicious!

Mark doesn't like to feel restricted when it comes to meals so after lunch we set out to find an ATM (and more food). While Mark went inside a bank the kids and I waited outside. While waiting, this little gem pulled up and set up shop. Genius!

Talk about creative spaces!

Part Two later.........

We're Still Alive......

I've taken such a long break from blogging, it feels a little awkward to start. I'm not really sure if I should try to play catch up...... or just hit the ground running.
When I look over the last year posted I feel sooooo sad that I didn't keep up the effort. (If for no one else, I love to read about our memories).... but for some reason I just haven't been feelin' it.... and kind of dropped of the face of the virtual universe.
But it has been brought to my attention (that's a shout out to Grandma D) that people still care and are interested in what we're doing and want to know if we're still alive..... so here we go.

I finally pulled the house together! Sort of....
It's a work in progress, check back in a few weeks and I'll probably have rearranged the furniture, again.
I'm sooooooo super happy for all of you with your super cute, beautiful, brand new square footage.....etc... (truthfully, I'm jealous......maybe even frustrated)
I was over base housing years ago! But considering this is as good as it gets in Japan, we're making do. Let me take you on a little walking tour of our fabulous new digs....

Step inside and Oh! Here is the Living/Family/Game/Rec Room

Take a glance to your left and now you've entered our Dining/Study/Music/Craft Room

And now if you'll follow me three steps to your left.... This is our fabulous Kitchen!

I think we're talking about 950 square feet? Sometimes I like to pretend we live in Manhattan and feel satisfied knowing that this little place would be worth at least a million.....but then I wake up.
This has been an excellent lesson in learning how little space you need and how to edit your belongings.
Lesson learned........now I'll doubly appreciate a normal size house!

The kids are great! Max and Lillian are still a good age for small spaces. They prefer to be together most of the time rather than alone, so it works out....

Tobias is a handful!...
He is part of the reason that sitting in front of the computer hasn't been tempting this year. He is very busy and doesn't have any patience for me tuning him out. We have a great time though and he pushes me out the door every morning.... he loves to get out and Do Stuff!