Yokohama is a really neat city. It feels like a big city and business center, but there were so many beautiful areas to walk and see things that it felt really peaceful too. We went there specifically to see the Hikawamaru, a ship that brought my mom, my aunt and my grandmother to Canada years […]
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I know yesterday was Monday but today feels like one too and I’m totally scared that tomorrow will and maybe the whole week will fill up with Mondays but I guess some weeks (and months) are like that. The weather here in Seattle has turned into a soupy mess and I’m chilly and craving hot […]
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We’re lucky enough to have family in Kochi Japan or I might never have heard of this beautiful place which is why if you want something off the well-traveled path in Japan, Kochi is definitely a place for you and your family. Kochi is a small city in Southern Japan, and it is absolutely stunning […]
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I had big plans for Okayama. I really wanted to visit the Kurashiki area, and see little boats floating downstream, but when we finally arrived in Okayama, I realized we were pretty exhausted and decided I’d save those for another time. (Okayama is the 2nd stop in our Japan itinerary. It’s a perfect stop in […]
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If you talk and walk with me, I could go miles and not have any idea where I’m heading or where we’ve been so use this loosely as a guide and plot your own route on a map. We had a plan for a day in Tokyo and it consisted of these 4 places: 1) […]
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I’ve read everywhere that once you land in another time zone you just have to embrace it. We arrived in Tokyo around 6 pm and we were all exhausted so we grabbed a light dinner and put the kids to bed around their regular time. And then they woke up around 3 am. We were […]
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I am not a good flyer. We travel a lot and I’m always reminding the hubby that the journey might be just as fun as the destination, but the only place I can’t do this is on an airplane. And since having withstood about 70 days of hospital bedrest ( I wonder if NASA could […]
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I signed my guys up for the Seattle Sounders’ Junior Alliance club back when they did the Sounders Camp and kind of forgot about it until a couple of boxes showed up at our door. Inside each box was a scarf, a membership card and a ‘letter’ from Sigi Schmid, the Seattle Sounders’ head coach […]
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If you read my previous post, you know we’re headed to Japan very soon. We’re also heading to Singapore and it’s great that Tokyo is an easy stop over on a 17 hour airplane trip from Seattle. We’re really lucky that the hubby has family there and we’re just going there to hang out with them. So […]
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In what seems like just a handful of sleeps we’ll be heading off to Japan and hopefully by the time we leave, we’ll be totally prepared. We’ve made it a habit now on trips to make sure we all read about where we’re going ahead of time. Of course we get the basics like Lonely […]
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Sometimes making dinner in itself is totally harried but it becomes utterly frantic when two little guys decide it’s time for mom to play while the spaghetti tries to burn itself to the stove. I came up with a little game called “draw your dinner” and make the guys guess what they are having for […]
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When the hubby wants to be the BEST HUSBAND IN THE WORLD on a weekend, he notices my ragged toes or my frazzled hair and tells me to book a morning appointment and he’ll take care of the guys. After I pinch myself a few times to make sure I’m not dreaming (sometimes in an […]
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Of course I doused my guys with Purell immediately after playing at this play structure, but the Exploratorium collaboration at the San Francisco Airport is the coolest airport installation I’ve seen. The Exploratorium was one of the highlights of our recent San Francisco trip and it was quite a surprise when we found some of the museum’s […]
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I’m beginning to think that West Seattle needs to get added more frequently to our “where should we go today” list. We used to go there quite often when the boys were little but we haven’t been much lately. And then we accidentally ended up there a little while ago and saw a baby seal! Our […]
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We are totally settling into the school routine. The boys are only half-day and I love how we still get to make and eat lunch together. I know I’m really going to miss this time when they start going to school ALL day long, even though sometimes I want to tear my hair out […]
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There is nothing like a big wave of guilt that washes over you when you realize you should have done something ages ago. “I don’t think I’ve been here in 10 years, Grandma” I say as I pull into the cabin driveway. “10 years??!!! Shame on you!” My sweet grandma slaps me in the arm […]
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After the fiasco I had with the kids trying to take fake first day of school photos last week , I thought I might just snap a picture in front of their school and call it a day. Then I found some awesome chalkboard printables on this sweet sight: Yellow Bliss Road that I thought […]
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Okay Monday, let’s do this. It’s like the universe knows I need a little oomph. I came across a journal a sweet friend bought me a little while ago and I’ve actually been writing in it. (Did you hear that S? I totally LOVE this journal.) And even my weekend beverage game me a little […]
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This year was my year to throw the hubby’s work party and I was a little worried that it would be tough to hold it at our house if it was rainy and I had my heart set on a food truck party. I decided to host it at the Seattle Children’s Museum because it’s […]
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The kids have strong opinions about which summer camps they liked and didn’t this year. One of their favorite camps in Seattle was put on by the Seattle sounders and a big reason they loved it was because of the free camp appreciation day. I really think it was well-organized this year, so I appreciated it too. […]
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