Summer Days

The days are hot, humid, and rainy here. Before Chris left, we decided to brave the heat and go for a walk for milkshakes from the base gas station. It was a great idea until the kids ran out of milkshake in 30 seconds after leaving the store and complained the remaining 15 minute walk back home. 

Since he's been gone, Quinn has spent her days at summer camp and Rylan has been finishing the last days of school before his break. The kids all started a summer reading program through the base library and so we've spent some time there picking out books once or twice a week. It sounds really sweet and whimsical to spend mornings in the library but I dread going to the library with them because, like most kids, they're so stinkin' loud! Finley loves taking books off the shelves faster than I can put them back in the right location; the poor librarians have their work cut out for them when the Schaubs come to visit! They have a kids computer in there with kid games on it and it's the source of many quarrels between my three barbarians regardless if other wildlings have their own sights on a turn too. Library visits last all of 10 minutes and feel like an hour of herding cats and books to the check-out counter where the librarians politely smile at my chaos and frizzy unkept hair. Okay, I added the frizzy hair part, but seriously, it's out of control! 

Speaking of out of control, the spiders and bugs are disgusting. I actually don't want to be outdoors because I know they're lurking out there. The bigger spiders gravitate towards the playground swings and unfortunately so do my kids. I also just recently had to relocate a different kind of spider who took up residence in the kids' empty plastic pool and beach toys on the patio. I feel like I conquered the world and was still humane enough to move it instead of squishing it. I was talking to that nasty thing, threatening it, "not to move or else!" I feel like after that episode of Caitlin's crazy spider whispering, I ought to revisit the book, Charlotte's Web, and tear a page from it to improve my communication skills. Just kill the mosquitoes and stay out of sight, okay? 

I've met up with friends for dinner play dates and the squadron has held a few functions already with more to come. We went to Kuga Park last weekend which would have been a great time, except the kids all decided to gravitate towards the zip line and then spent way too much time and my patience arguing over turns. It's so much work to take them anywhere, it's almost not worth it to keep doing it. That is, unless I get some blood pressure medication to help simmer down the blood-boiling when they get out of control. 

Ok seriously, end rant! That was very long winded and I promised when I started this new blog I would shorten up the commentary. 

Car Fragrance

A few days before Chris left, he got a flat tire. I took it to have it changed and spent over 4 hours there at the car repair shop. 3 transactions later for the back tires, new windshield wipers, and new headlights, I was able to get out of there. During my half-day wait, I perused the store section of the shop which is two stories and loaded with every kind of car accessory you can imagine and then some! They had retractable umbrella holders and bag umbrella holders, several different accessories options for the purpose of holding kleenex, curtains, mirrors, phone gadgets, dashboard accessories, and finally, the largest selection of car fragrance I have ever seen with some of the most random scents! Please enjoy my tour of car fragrance!

 

Happiness Shampoo

 Squash

Samurai Man

 Relax Shampoo

 Sexy Rich

 Sparkling Squash

 Sexy Soap

 Platinum Shower

Independence Day 2016

Being that the 4th landed on the day before Chris had to leave for Fuji, we spent most of the day getting last minute housework done and Chris blew up the dining room with gear while he packed. There were a few base-wide mini celebrations but we decided not to brave the crowds to get a free scoop of ice cream or other minor incentives to participate. We had our good friends over for burgers and hot dogs and water-gun play and that was enough fun for us. I am ashamed to say, I never did take any pictures because I was busy making dinner or chasing children, but they had adorable coordinating outfits that I will get a belated group picture of sometime. I will post the picture of the amazing care package that my best friend, April, sent though! 

IKEA Getaway!

I can't believe I've been to IKEA twice now and not taken any pictures. Really, if you've seen one you've seen them all. This IKEA trip was much more exciting, however, because I got to go with a friend without grumbling husbands and whiney kids. We talked with ease the entire 3 hour trip there and perused every nook and cranny without the sounds of sighs and shadow of raised eyebrows. I was able to get the final items on my wish list to get the kids' toys organized in their rooms and some decorative items to finish off some of the plain spaces at last in the house. Just in time to give me something to do the first week Chris was gone.

After we exhausted every aisle of IKEA, listening, ironically, to American patriotic music while there, we headed down the street for a Starbucks pick-me-up. The barista was so friendly and very interested about us being in Fukuoka. Being that there aren't any bases close by, they likely don't often see a ton of foreigners and she was so nice in welcoming me to the city and was surprised to hear we lived in Japan. I've learned that telling people we live in Iwakuni is comparable to telling them we live in some armpit town of Kansas or somewhere nobody has ever heard of (sorry Kansas!). While I didn't get any pictures of our IKEA adventure, here is a picture of my Starbucks cup that the sweet barista took the time to personalize. Also, there's a new drink that sounds anything but appealing! I don't think that's one I'll be trying- ever.

The Chicken Shack!

If you ever come to visit us in Japan, we will for sure go here for dinner. This is a definite tourist location in Iwakuni and we had such a great time. Our sponsor family asked us to come along last weekend. What a beautiful and expansive place. They have many outdoor and indoor places to sit and eat and there is one restaurant that has several kitchens on the site depending on where you plan to sit. Because it was nice out, we decided to sit outside. There is plenty for the kids to do and see from feeding Koi fish to banging on large drums. This was our first experience removing our shoes and sitting at a low table. The food we got was delicious. They're known for their teriyaki chicken on a stake so we got a few of those as well as gyoza (fried potstickers) and some glorified chicken nuggets for the kids. Rylan asked for these vegetable sushi rolls that our friend got but we didn't order them this time. The food took forever to come out and from what I understand, that's very typical in Japanese restaurants. Fortunately there was plenty for the kids to do in the meantime but next time, I'll make sure we eat something beforehand so we're not too ravenous. We also need to stock up on bug spray because the mosquitos were aplenty! We ended our evening there with some vending machine ice cream.

School Events

Quinn is officially done with school. What ever am I to do?! She came home with a Citizen of the Month award the week before school ended and the last week they handed out class awards. She got the "Happy Helper" award for her class. We are so proud of her for all of her good character awards between her two schools for Kindergarten. She may not be the best in a particular subject, but we are so pleased with her for being such a great young lady.

They have a Summer camp on base that we will be signing her up for during July while Chris is away doing an exercise. Hopefully that way, I'll get a little break and not completely lose my mind! Rylan only has August off, so I will have to find things to do for that month as well.

Rylan is loving school and learning so many words; mostly in song form. We just had Parent's Day last weekend so they could show us what they're learning and see their classroom. Unfortunately, Rylan is still shy and uncooperative when all of the parents are there so as you can see in the pictures, he did not willingly participate in anything. Quinn and Finley got antsy, so they played outside with Chris while I sat in and watched Rylan. His teacher spoke her best to us as we were leaving to explain that he's not like that in class everyday and he has a good time. I do love seeing him interact with the Japanese kids in his class more.

Lanai Cafe at YouMe Town Hatsukaichi

YouMe Town is a chain of malls, much like Westfield. They have many of them but the newest and largest one near us is in Hatsukaichi. They have tons of stores and restaurants. This time instead of dining at the golden M, we decided to try a Hawaiian pancake cafe called Lanai Cafe. They had pancakes galore as well as hamburgers. We chose to sit outside, which was nice to be able to let the kids run around while we waited for our food. Restaurants are not the most fun when trying to keep three little kids in line. The kids shared a large pancake plate with fruit and a tower of whipped cream (so heavy it fell over before I could get a picture) and Chris got a bacon cheeseburger and french fries. As pictured below, he got enough ketchup for one fry for his entire plate and when he asked for more after one fry was consumed, he got the same amount again! Ketchup is definitely not a staple condiment in Japan. I'll have to start carrying ketchup with us when we go out just in case. The pancakes were delicious and it was a nice change from our safe bet, McDonalds.