Vaillant Family Blog: Adventures in Japan

February was another low key month mostly doing things on or around base. We were able to venture out to Tokyo twice...once to celebrate Eric's birthday and then again for a date day while the boys were in school. Its been nice that Eric can take a day off every so often so we can have some time together.

For culture group this month the Japanese ladies hosted us for a lesson on Ikebana (Japanese art of flower arranging). A little old Japanese lady taught us the history of Ikebana and showed us how to make our own flower arrangement that we were able to take home. The flowers were beautiful.

My finished flower arrangement

Group photo

Eric turned the big 36 on February 4th. I planned a date night to a craft beer and Chicago style pizza place in Tokyo called Devil Craft. We enjoyed the beer and pizza!

Cheers!

The Super Bowl aired live on AFN on Monday morning at 8:30am. We invited some people over to watch, have breakfast, and enjoy a bloody mary bar or mimosa. The kids were at school. Hayden was very upset he could not watch it with us!

The bartender

Bacon and an Old Bay rim!

Most were cheering for the Falcons. We had fun despite their loss. Look how many people we fit into our house.

We attended a Drama Day performance at Lincoln's school on a Saturday. They did a little skit where he was a light blue crayon. They also sang songs. Lincoln mostly looked sad but did participate in the music portion a bit.

Cutest sad little light blue crayon. I only know he was light blue crayon because our English speaking contact sent me an e-mail explaining the story and his role. :)

Not singing but I will play an instrument!

Happy boy with daddy after the performance

Cheese!

On Valentine's Day we attended family lunch at Lincoln's school. He has a hard time when we visit him at school but we are trying to continue going to the family events with him. It was a long wait for lunch and he mostly sat in my lap but he was happy once he realized he liked some of the items being served. He even got brave and went up for seconds on his own. This was our second family lunch and overall it was a much better experience.

Yummy pasta and chicken

Seconds!

One with mommy!

I do like this grapefruit that looks like a lemon!

We hosted the Japanese ladies on base for an everybody birthday party. In Japan they celebrate certain birth years for girls and boys. They do not celebrate every year like we do in America. We taught them how to make cake pops and we exchanged gifts with eachother.

The group with our finished cake pops

For date day, Eric and I went to a Tokyo shopping area called Ameyoko. I had been with friends but didn't have much time to look around so I had been wanting to go back. 400 shops line the streets and you can find a lot of interesting food. It was fun to walk around, eat, and shop.

These fruits on a stick were delicious!

Shopping! My favorite kind of date day.

Very expensive Japanese crabs. I wonder how they compare to MD crabs.

Thumbs up!

Hayden started basketball season and has games every Saturday. He has really improved from last year and is enjoying playing on a team with a friend from his class.

Ready to ball

He is a great hustler

His dribbling has gotten so much better. I love watching him play!

Eric took Hayden to an indoor ski/snowboard place not far from base. This was Eric's and Hayden's first time trying to snowboard. We were able to rent all the gear from outdoor rec. They stayed for about 6 hours. Eric said the first half was rough and Hayden struggled but he stuck with it. By the end he was making it down the hill without falling. They have already been back again and he picked it up right where he left off. The season is about to be over but they will definitely do this again next year and hopefully snowboard on a real mountain.