Still not in the house.....

Hey Everyone,

We had a great, busy weekend! We went to see Wayne and Debbie on Saturday. They are both incredibly sweet, and adored by the girls. We also went to pick out our TV and vacumn. Then we went to the Korean BBQ (Chilis and Garlic).

Sunday, we went to FuKui (foo-koo-ee). It is on the west side of the island, which all the Japanese told us is much nicer than the east side. It was really pretty! We got to drive through some beautiful mountains on the way, and the beach is actually surrounded by lush, green mountains. The majority of the mountains are covered in beautiful pine trees. It was a fun day, and the girls got to swim in the ocean. They got in too deep a couple of times because they have no fear - LOL. Sam and I had to stay right beside them, which just thrilled Gracie who is 4-going-on-14. The highlight was the girls getting to catch some beautiful minnows. They were about the size of a fishing minnow, and they would swim into the shallow water to escape the "larger" things chasing them. They would just look at the girls and kill over :) They were not very resilient, but very pretty, with a blue-green stripe on their back. Sam wanted me to add the kamikaze motorcyclists. We were on the expressway, so we, and the other cars were going about 110 km/hr. These guys would pass everyone on the shoulder or just go between us and the car beside us. We're used to them doing it in the city, but everyone is going pretty slow. There were a few that went between us and a bus - way too trusting of us crazy, American drivers.

We topped off the day at a Brazilian Churrascaria. They had a scrumptious buffet, and the meat was wonderful! They also had a live band, and the girls danced with Gi-Gi, who is an older Brazilian man. I'm not sure if he is the owner, or just the churrascaria cook :) Another girl came by and danced with them for a few minutes, as well. Sam classified it as the "Perfect Day!"

Monday, the girls and I went to the Robot Museum. The girls had been dying to go. The girls were a little young for most of the activities, but enjoyed looking around.

Monday's dining experience was not quite so "smokin'." We went to Uno's, which is a Mexican restaurant. The girls ordered Cheddar Chicken, which was like a chicken flauta, EXCEPT they put COLD nacho cheese sauce and ketchup on it. Even my tacos had mayonnaise and ketchup on them. Now, the chips and salsa were actually pretty good, but the girls ate them all :(

Tuesday, Diana came and picked up the girls and me. She showed me the Daiei (die-ay) by our house. It has an awesome 100 yen store! Sophie LOVES Marie from the Aristocats, and we have found everything you could possibly imagine, MARIE! She took us to a park, and we took a small nature hike. She also cooked fajitas, spanish rice, refried beans, and guacamole for us - Yummmmm! It was a wonderful evening spent with new friends.

Today, the girls and I walked the area. Eri-san showed us where a 100 yen store was by us(on the 7th floor), and I also went to the book store which has one floor with "foreign books." The girls got a couple of new books. They are able to really stick with a story now, and enjoy reading time. Diana also showed me some Japanese "ABC" books, which will be good for me and the girls. Diana actually can read some Japanese, so I'm looking even more forward to having the tutor teach me to speak AND read the language.

We met Sam back at the hotel at 2:00 today, so we could go get our alien registration cards. Fortunately, we have a wonderful lady who fills out all our registration stuff. The funny part is: Sophie has been obsessing about E.T. lately(we don't own the movie - she's just obsessing). The past few nights, we've had to remind Sophie that E.T. was a nice "Alien." And, E.T. is just pretend, and Jesus lives in our heart, so we don't need to be afraid. It works, Thank You, God! Anyway, today, I was telling the girls that we are going to get our alien registration cards...Doh!....

Gracie: "What you say 'bout aliens?!"

Me: "Uhhhh, we are considered aliens in Japan because we're not from here."

Can you picture what they are picturing???

Gracie: "I DON'T WANT TO BE AN ALIEN!!!" (enter tears and hysterics).

Sam and I begin back-peddling at this point, and finally tell Gracie she doesn't have to be an "alien" if she doesn't want to be one. After the not-so-painful procedure of becoming "Official Aliens," I try to explain it to the girls again. This time I explained that they didn't have to be from outer space to be an alien (I gave them the definition). They were fine with THAT. So, now, we are proud "Aliens" of Japan! The only questions they had registering us were the girls' birthdate being the same, and me being born in Japan. They totally got when we told them "Tachikawa" (where I was born).

I'll proof-read this tomorrow, and try to make corrections, but this alien is tired :)

Love, Hugs, and Prayers for all of you, our family and friends.

HOPEFULLY, the next time I "blog" it will be to tell you we're getting in the house :)

~Michelle