Japan in Pictures

My kids are back from JAPAN!

Last night I was treated to a huge slideshow of their pictures. My daughter took over 1000 pictures and my son took over 700!! Here are a few of my favorites...

Well, we'll never forget this! The good news is that her hand is healing nicely and minimal scarring is expected. Her host family actually took her to a burn specialist who took marvelous care of her!


Here is my daughter and her host student in their grandparents beautiful Japanese garden.


Here they are again at a look-out to see the main mountain (volcano!) on the island.


Here is my daughter dressed in a traditional kimono.


Here is my son in a kimono (they all were treated to a demonstration at school and then got to dress up themselves.)


Here is my son playing "bamboo ninja" at the beach.


And at a beautiful temple on a hill in Nagasaki.


Both of my children came back deeply changed by what they saw in Nagasaki. They had the opportunity to go to Peace Park and the Peace Museum. Here is one of the very few remains of the city before the war.


They were amazed that this stood at all. They said it was hard to believe that Nagasaki was completely destroyed just over 60 years ago. It's a beautiful city now. This is a fountain that memorializes the people who had no uncontaminated water at that awful time.


What touched my children the most was how friendly the people were there. It was so hard to believe that their great-grandparents had to be at war with each other. It instilled in them a strong desire to reach out in peace to all people.

This trip was a bridge... from one country to another. From one culture to another. From one child to another. It has had a marvelous impact on our whole family.


My kids are already asking, when can they go back!

What Happens In Vegas...

... is getting written about in my blog!

Since my kids were having an adventure in Japan... I decided I didn't want to just stay home and work. My mom agreed and gladly accompanied me on my own adventure to Las Vegas!

We stayed at the Paris Hotel... tres chic! Here we are in front of the fountain out front. (I made a wish... but no telling!)

We also went up the Eiffel Tower (it's half the size of the real one... but still plenty tall!)

Here's the view from the ground looking back up!


We spent much of our time wandering through the amazing resorts. Occasionally we'd stop for some equally amazing food. This was my favorite! It's a pastry from the Bellagio... almond flavored wafers filled with raspberries and rose-flavored Bavarian cream. Ahhhh... That's a sugar coated rose petal on top. And yes, I ate it.


We saw Blue Man Group one night... what fun! The best part was rolling white crepe paper from the top of the audience clear to the stage. It's hard to explain... just trust me... it was loads of giggles.


We also saw Cirque du Soleil - Mystere. Our seats were in the front row on the end right at a bend in the stage! The performers would come within inches of my face! It totally cracked me up!

My kids may be in Japan, but I felt like quite the "world traveler." Aside from visiting Paris, we also visited Rome:

New York, Egypt, England, Treasure Island, Venice:


And more!

Two of my favorite things...

The Conservatory at the Bellagio:


And the fountains at the Bellagio:


I was happy to see so many beautiful things in this city in the desert. (I closed my eyes to the not-so-pretty things!)

So... what happened in Vegas... was a great vacation!

Sigh

Those of you who know my daughter will not be overly surprised.

However, my first bit of news from my kids' Japan adventure is that my daughter has burned her hand. Apparently they were at a speedway riding go-cart cars and she burned half of her palm and three fingers. Her host family took her to a medical clinic and I'm sure they are taking good care of her. But don't think that when I got this call at 2 am I didn't seriously think about getting on the first plane to Japan!

For now, please add all of your prayers to mine in hoping she recovers quickly.

(When I told them to have adventures I didn't mean this kind!)

Off They Go!

We sent the kids off to Japan yesterday!

Now they're off on a 10-day Grand Adventure!


I can't wait to hear all about it and see the pictures of all the new things they see!

Just Dance

You all know me... and I've blogged about it before... there is something in me that just has to dance. It's happifying. It's soul-filling. It's impossible to put into words. Here let me dance it instead... :-)

My kids and I have found our new favorite aerobic activity. We go to YouTube, find a bouncy song, and totally jam to it in my room, making up funny hand motions to go with the words. I guess you'd have to see it to understand. Then again, if you saw it you might run from the room in hysterical laughter. Laughter is aerobic to, by the way.

Anyhow, I've been trying to find other ways to get some dancing back into my life (I'm just happier that way). Two weeks ago, some of my friends from yoga took me to a little place in Los Gatos with a local band and a dance floor. What a kick! That was some pretty good fun.

But more up my alley was the Starlite Ballroom that a friend and I went to last night. We went to the "Beginner's Class" and learned Salsa, Rumba, and West Coast Swing. WAAYY FUN! I haven't done ballroom dance since college (long time ago!) and it was so much fun to do it again. After the classes, we peeked in at the Saturday night "Dance Party" where they play music for all kinds of styles and people just go out and dance. Before I knew it I had been conviced by one of the instructors to get out on the floor and try the Merengue with him! I tried a little Quick Step and a Rumba with another guy before I was through!

My friend and I are now signed up for a free class in a couple of weeks and then we're going to take a 4-night class that teaches the basics of 8 difference dance styles.

My feet are tapping just thinking about it!

March Books

Well, you can tell how busy I was in March! Only 3 books read!

Starcrossed - Linda Collison - This was another great English-Girl-Hides-On-Ship-Goes-To-Sea book. I enjoyed the historical aspect, the adventure, and the sweetly woven romance. Lots of fun.

Brooklyn Bridge - Karen Hesse - This is by the same author who wrote Out of the Dust (a must read!) This was also filled with historical references. The boy's family are the Russian immigrants who invented the Teddy Bear. It's got a bit of the magical in it, which caught me by surprise, and at the end I sort of wondered what it was about, but it was pretty good.

In the Shadow of the Pali - Lisa Cindrich - This one caught my eye because it's about a girl who is sent to the leper colony on Molokai in the 1800s. Having been there just this last summer, it was fun to read about places I have been, or saw from the tops of the cliffs.

Well, I've got a bit of vacation time coming up this month, so maybe I'll get some more good reading in!

Feast for Fools

I did it again. True to my usual April Fool's Day tradition, I made funny food.

This year it was "fish sticks" for dinner.

Here's what I presented to my kids:


Guess what they were? Wafer cookies covered in peanut butter and rolled in crushed corn flakes. Good times!