there's a festival every day in japan!

We drove into Tokyo today to check out the Setagaya Ume festival.  Ume is plum and plum blossoms bloom at the very beginning of spring- just a few weeks before cherry blossoms.  I actually like the coloring of Ume blossoms better- but they aren't as grand as the Sakura blossoms. Luckily- the festival today was kid heaven.  

Japanese mascots never get old!  but metta's coat is old.  and hideous.  but she loves it and wants to wear it EVERYwhere.

The food wasn't as exciting as most Japanese festival food- but the park made up for it. It was very dangerous :)

 I was so worried about splinters on the giant wooden slide!

and this slide was just insane.  Zeb hit a bump at the bottom and caught some air.  the landing was not soft!  we saw some poor japanese baby hit a bump- flip over- and bang his head all the way down!!  that's why Kent opted to ride with mack!! over and over and over again. Mack was obsessed.  also- see that little boy in the hat in the center?  Kent nearly plowed him over.  It was so funny.

mack's favorite spot was this maze of metal bars.  He thought the whole set up was perfect!!  

 
He tried desperately to shimmy his way under the shortest bars- but as soon as he layed flat- he couldn't figure out what to do.  and he thought that was SO FUNNY.


I think Zeb is the only kid who didn't cry at some point today.  Metta stood up in this jumble and hit her head pretty hard.

mack tried to crawl through a tunnel and half way through decided he wanted to stand up.  Only the tunnel wasn't tall enough.  Kent had to go in after him as he repeatedly tried to stand up.  He hit his head every time.

Ike took a major spill on the rope swing.  He skinned his knees pretty bad and has been limping ever since.  There's nothing worse than skinned knees!

but, seriously, these toys look like death traps, right?  it reminded me of some of the old soviet playgrounds I saw still standing in Russia while I was there!!



I snapped this pic just before I yelled at ike to GET OFF the roof of that building!!  Zeb was on his way up but got nervous and was stuck.  There were a bunch of kids up on the roof of a weird old building at the park!!  that's ike in the red.

my favorite part of the day (I'm only sorry I didn't get a quality pic with my camera!!) was this guy and his cat.  I saw them arrive on his bike.  The cat just hung out on his shoulders all day.  I love cats.

we did get one tasty snack at the festival!  they sold balls of dough that you rolled out yourself and wrapped around bamboo poles and roasted over the fire!  It was pretty fun.

I think I did a pretty good job with ours!!

if you look closely in this pic- you can see Kent's mustache for the military's 'mustache march' .  I think it's atrocious.  and I don't think the base pediatricians should be able to see kids with them.  It's super creepy if you ask me (or any other mother out there!!!).

 can you see Zeb standing in the center of the pic?  this place was pretty adventurous.

 also-for lunch- we had McDonald's spring time specials!  the teritama chicken and egg sandwich (its the one in the back) and cherry blossom fries with a cherry drink!!  can you see the pink sprinkles all over the fries?!  everything was delicious.   I am going to miss Japan McDonalds SO much.

It's been awhile since we had a good weather saturday AND Kent off call so we could go exploring!  It was a really fun day.

These are some pics from the Daruma festival we went to awhile back!  The Japanese get these giant daruma heads and fill in their eyeballs with black ink as they accomplish the goals they want during the year.

I just loved this booth with masks.  the love of animation and masks and cosplay is so crazy here!!!!

I also really love the insane colors of Japan.  I am really going to miss the craziness when we have to move!!

we rang the giant bell as a family.  I'm sure there's some purpose to it!  but we have no idea what that purpose is.

we also washed our hands and mouths with temple water.

and we found the slide :)  the old japanese ladies LOVED watching our kiddos.

this guy spoke great English and really wanted to sell us some Daruma heads!  but on these days- they mark up the price nearly 200%!!

the line to get up to the temple and do the japanese bow and double clap was UNREAL!  we got there just as the temples opened so we beat the huge rush- but this is what it looked like as we were leaving!!!

how many face masks can you count here?  the Japanese take flu season (and every season!!) VERY seriously.

the lighting on these next 2 pics is super crazy because of the bright sun and the reflection off the festival awnings- but I love them both.

and it looks like mack has little devil horns :)  Which is fitting right now,  since we are in the midst of the toddler tornado phase.  He's a little tasmanian devil all of the time.  Messes, chaos, falling, bruises, screaming, etc.  Kids are such a joy :)

luckily the people here still can't get enough of his blue eyes, blonde hair, and chubby cheeks.

race day...

This post is dedicated solely to race day!  I really like traveling for races.  It makes picking dates  definitive- and usually the dates are predicted good weather day.  Plus- it gives you something to really look forward to and something on which to base your itinerary.

I signed up for the Cambodia race without realizing just HOW hot it was going to be :)  Sure, it was cambodia's driest and coolest time of year- but apparently that doesn't mean much.

we arrived at the starting line at 5am.  Start time 6.  Only- it didn't start on time at all!  This a pretty big event here- so they had some very distinguished guests and speakers.  and they all blabbered ON and ON and ON!  at 6:20- we finally did a countdown to begin!  we all chanted 10-9-8-7... and so on.  Only to get to 1- and nothing.  They had ANOTHER speaker.  I was going bonkers.  I don't think it started until AFTER 6:30.  I was getting VERY antsy.  Every minute we sat at the start meant another HOTTER minute at the end of the race!!  ahhhhh. it really did make me crazy.

There were 6 adults total in our group. 4 of us ran the half, 1 ran the 10K, and 1 dad stayed home with ALL ten kids!   those of us running the race definitely had the easier morning!!!

The race began and finished right at Angkor Wat.  Sunrise at Angkor Wat is a once in a lifetime experience.  And my cell phone camera does no justice to the amazingness. 

The race was to benefit victims of the Cambodian landmines- and there were a lot of amputees running/riding the race. it was inspiring.

I think I want to run all of my half marathons through villages of happy children!  It makes the run SO MUCH FUN. and so much easier!!

Look at these little girls!!  they were so excited to give high fives and have their pictures taken.  It definitely helped pass the 13 miles!!

  we ran through the temples of Siem Reap and it was just stunning.  Every time I turned a corner to see another temple- I wanted to pinch myself! There could not be a more scenic route.

I loved running under the giant heads!!

Kent and I ran the first half of the race together! Almost the entire course was shaded and that was a lifesaver.  I get SO hot SO fast. I think  by mile 3 I was beet red and probably above 100degrees for my body temp!





this is me saying something to kent like: "are you finished taking the picture!?!"

Around mile 6- I started to feel tired - and so did kent.  He opted to turn on his music- while I opted to meet some new people :)  I'm a talking runner. It's the only thing that energizes me.
This is probably my favorite picture of the day!!  I love the lady with her arms folded! and all of these happy kids.

I lost Kent once I started talking to people!  I ran with this lady from china for about 3 miles!  she's the president of a running club somewhere in the middle of china!!  I also found a group of US consulate workers from China who let me talk to them for a couple of miles!  One lady I found was from Hong Kong- but she was half ethiopian and half dutch.  She was running to earn money for the Siem Reap children's hospital and their landmine victims.

Somehow around mile 10- I felt the best I'd felt all morning.  The last three miles were wonderful.  This picture is ridiculous!!!!  this is a good example of what the 'runner's high' is.  I look like such a crazed person!!!  but I was SO excited about the elephants.

I finished feeling superb- and that's all I could have asked for.  Kent and I shared a giant coconut for our recovery.

I retired my shoes after this race.  Can you seem my orange toe poking out of the bottom??  

I love to run.  and running here was a dream come true.  

LOVE.

Time to get my Valentine's Day blogging tradition back and running.  Remember my new year's resolution? to blog things besides our travels?!  

So: My LOVES.  This year it's my TOP TEN.

1. I love this ridiculous cat craze that has swept the world.  It's always been in Japan,  I have the 'Neko atsume' app. I love it. If you don't know what it is- go to the app store NOW.  get it.  it's free.  I'm still working on getting the lady gaga cat to show up. P.S. I loved lady gaga's national anthem.

2. I love Japan.  This place is amazing. I love living here. There's nowhere like it on Earth.   I love the ubiquitous vending machines, the nervous Japanese giggle, the robotic toilets, and their strange vegetables (bamboo shoot and daikon?!).

3.  I love my kids. Sure- I really don't like kids all that much. but- mine are cool. I love Zeb's jokes.  I love Ike's embarrassed smile.  I love metta's excited face. and I love Mack's big head.

4. I love gyoza and Curryrice (it's one word).  There are a lot of Japanese foods that I do NOT love- but I can always find gyoza or curryrice. and I love them both. I especially love apple-honey curry. who wants me to send them some?!

5. I love to talk.  I don't think I'll ever get sick of talking.  Can talking be considered a hobby? because it's mine.

6. I love to run.  It's my go-to destressor.  I love how tired it makes me.  I love how many calories it burns.  I love how it makes me stronger.

7. I love the Dixie Chicks.  Don't tell my mom. She's still mad at them for the Bush debacle of 2004.  I REALLY wish I could see them on their new tour.  I REALLY REALLY hope they release a new album. I love every song they've ever sung.

8. I love the world.   There is nothing you can do to gain a greater gratitude and love for what and who you have than seeing the world.  I've said it many times- but meeting new people and seeing new places has got to be one of my favorite things EVER. I really love that I live in a corner of the world I never imagined I could.

9. I love Kent.  He's the best texter, my favorite story teller, the best listener, the most fun foodie friend, the perfect partner, and my best friend.  I love him. so so much.

10. I LOVE the true love.  Charity.  I love that I am a recipient of God's love. I love that He trusts me enough to love others.  Be kind. Show love.