Tea House

Today we went to the tea house. It was lovely. Unlike last summer, it has stayed in the 70s so far. I honestly don’t think it will get much warmer....I saw a weather thing about it. It makes all our sight-seeing very pleasant. And having Aunt Tory here makes everything exciting, so we haven’t missed the sun as much. Tomorrow we are planning to go to Disney, and Steven got the day off! We leave bright an early!

Apparently Chelsea has been missing Emma while we have been going out, so she came with us today. 😊

Emma and Chelsea 

They gave her a little girl tea cup this time. She got “Pure Heart” tea.

Our view.



The ‘Wee Tea set” They are always changing their offerings, she was sad they didn’t have the egg salad sandwich.

Aunt Tory got “Manhattan” tea

Tea buddies.

Joyful Honda, Denny’s, Aquarium, Beach

Our plans are having to be very flexible. Between changing forecasts, and Steven’s work being extra crazy right now, we are trying to plan and be flexible. We really want Steven to be able to go to Disney and Odaiba, but they keep giving him more work. Yesterday he woke up at 1AM and just went in, and worked a 12-hour day. Not sure he didn’t do the same today. Please pray he can get enough done to be able to come and get some sleep! 

Yesterday the rest of us ended up going to the ocean! It was cloudy with a high of 72, but for people who are from Kansas, it was still the ocean! We were the only swimmers that we could see. We started by going to Denny’s, but unfortunately they didn’t have the fluffy pancakes, so we will have to go somewhere else. Emma only had a pancake, so she was very hungry before lunchtime...hungry meany cranky...apparently she knows a lot about my driving. 😂 But we made it to the aquarium, and it was great fun watching Aunt Tory see dolphins for th first time. Emma was less impressed with everything, as she was so hungry she wouldn’t eat anything and she seemed tired, too. Next time I take her somewhere I will make sure she has a full tummy first. After we survived the aquarium we walked to McDonalds and we all felt better. Then we headed for the beach! It was what everyone had been waiting for. Emma and Tory both enjoyed being hit with the waves with gigggles of delight. Emma loved holding on to me while being pushed by waves that would have knocked her over if she hadn’t been holding on to me. She was not a fan of salt water getting in her mouth. But we found seashells, and made sandcastle. Then we came home and washed all the sand off of us. Today we are planning a shorter day, since we are trying  for Disney tomorrow. 

Monday we went to Joysticks Honda...a giant mall/store thing. They have foldable bikes.



Emma’s breakfast 

Tory’s breakfast. Pancake with açaí yogurt.

My breakfast. Salad with breakfast is a thing here. And I actually love their salads.

“Lemonica” 🤣🤣

Dolphins!



Sea Otters

Emma took her “phone” and took pictures just like us.





The beach! Imagine her giggling and running toward it but not getting in without me. She was all smiles. 



Dirty feet.



This is Tory’s picture of the curry we ate the other night. 

Papa Mike we found you a car! 

Batting practice with Daddy at Round1. This is from Tory, too.

Sunday at home

Today and tomorrow we are staying close to home. We need some breaks in between theme parks. We just laid around the house today and had Chili’s for dinner. We were all tired, so we enjoyed resting. Emma and Tory did their nails. I had a headache, so I just watched. (Also it rains so much I rarely wear sandals, so I didn’t feel the need to update my nails.) 

Aunt Tory had cooler colors than Mom. 

She pained them herself.

Hello Kitty Land

So it was supposed to rain yesterday, big surprise. But it didn’t. But anyway, we decided to not go to the ocean and go to Hello Kitty Land instead. Aunt Tory was a big HK fan when she was little, and Emma, well, is 6. They were both very excited. 😁 

We got there in the middle of this show, it was good...would have been better if I understood Japanese. We stayed for another show...but it was smaller and weirder. 











Aunt Tory’s lunch. It’s what you do in Japan when you and unsure of the food. Although she is more adventurous than me...this has matcha and red bean stuff in it. 

Emma’s lunch. It was spaghetti more or less. Also notice she has now lost both of her two front teeth. 

Ringing a hello kitty bell. 🤷‍♀️

We did it, too.

Daddy came, too. Not sure it was his favorite. 😏 Although he understood more than the rest of us. 

Round 1

On the 4th of July we just went to a friends house for dinner and I took Tory to the Daiso...like a giant dollar store. On Friday we went to Round 1...the giant activity center thing. Afterwards we had Japanese curry.

Roller skating with Daddy

Tory Roller blading

Trying on her own.

Shooting aliens or something 

Her first bubble milk tea in Japan

Corn dog that loosened her tooth

Riding the bull with daddy

Daddy got a marble thing down in the basement.

Aunt Tory Comes to Japan

She made it! 

Look at Emma’s smile! 

They have these photo booth things at the airport.

We caught the end of the fireworks show on our way home. We would have gotten to see all of it, but there was a long line of Japanese people trying to get visitor passes just to watch the show, and it took us 40 minutes to get Tory a pass. The show started just as we were getting her pass. We are all exhausted and going to bed now. 

Monday Morning Breakfast

On the first Monday of every month, the club has a free breakfast for members. Today Emma and I got to go. Technically we could always go, since she wakes up so early, but I usually forget. But yesterday I told Emma about it...and she remembered. I didn’t forget, but I did want to stay in my jammies. But we went. It was good to eat something besides cereal. Steven, unfortunately, did not get to eat breakfast. He had a busy day at work. 

She was acting like a 13 year old going on about having nothing to wear...nothing fit that she wanted to wear at least. (That’s what happens when you try to get dressed out of your too big box of clothes.) 🙄 And she wanted her hair a certain way. 

Prepared for rain! It is always cloudy and rainy-ish here now. But it is green.

She didn’t want to eat much, just her bread. The club food isn’t amazing, but it is American, and free... and I didn’t have to make it. I made her eat her eggs and fruit.