Check out my new wheels!

 After 2 whole weeks of having to two-foot-shift to go places, we finally got a car!  Who-hoo!  We probably could have gotten one a little sooner, but we needed a van.  And we decided we wanted 8 seats.  That is hard to come by on the base.  So we found one off base.  It takes a week or so to get a car purchased off base.  The upside is that it should be in better condition.  Americans are only here for 3 years, so many don't care well for their cars, especially when you are only paying between $2000 and $4000 for it.  A car owned by Japanese should have a better history of being taken care of. We shall see if tis true!

Our new van is a Mitsubishi Delica.  It does seat 8 but has very little trunk space. We're hoping we won't need the trunk much and that it won't matter.  Dan and I did have a rousing game of "find the gas cap" which one cannot see until one opens the flap.  And it is located between the front and back passenger doors.

Here is my new van!

Notice the coolest part? 

Yep, the back of my van says "Space Gear"!! 

 And my steering wheel is on the other side, which means I have to be very careful to hit the blinkers and not the windshield wipers when I want to turn.

And 8 seats!  Hooray. 

Birthday Boy

 Someone had a birthday this week!  This kid is such a silly boy.  He won't let me take a serious picture, and he has to ham it up for everything.  He is growing into a delightful young man- when he isn't being a surly, grumpalump.  He requested a lemon cake for his birthday and it was yummy.  His sisters spoiled him.  Callie was bound and determined to get him a cool umbrella with the handle like a ninja sword.  So she used up all her allowance from most of the summer to buy it for him.  Marian was obsessed with getting him a waving kitty, and was busy looking for chores so she could earn money to buy it.

Joshua was well loved and I think he had an enjoyable birthday.

Life is good!

 I know, it has been a week, (a week!) since I last posted.  I am ashamed.  But I have been busy you know.  It isn't easy to unpack your entire household goods and get settled into a foreign country.  It has been going very well.  I did come to the conclusion that Dan is a jumper-inner, and I am a toe-dipper.  Dan wants to go out and do everything now-now-now.  I want to take it slow and get settled in, and then get comfortable before venturing out.  I want to start with small ventures and gradually work my way out.  Dan wants to get out and go now-now-now.  However, he has work to adjust to, and I have a home to make my own.

This is the good sized hall closet upstairs.  The movers stuffed a bunch of things in here. It was frustrating because I could not unpack things into this closet until I had taken out the stuff inside it and organized it.  See how full and crazy it is?!

Much better, after I spent an afternoon working on it.   

Last Saturday Dan took the older kids out and went here!  7-11!  They came back with fun goodies. 

Callie is wearing some of her treats, and showing her chips and"melon soda".   They found it to be quite the thrilling outing. 

The kids get out at 12:30 every other Wednesday.  So this Wednesday I took them back to 7-11 after school, because I hadn't been there yet!  The traffic is a little disorienting when it is on the opposite side of the road. 

This is the sign to the base.   

I let the kids all pick a treat from 7-11 and Callie chose this large ice cream cup. They only had these tiny little spoons and she certainly got a lot on her face. 

 The kids did bring home some more melon soda.  I thought it was a little weird.

Delaney wanted a picture of her drinking melon soda too.

Things I get to see.

 I went on a little stroll this evening.  Well, probably a 2 mile stroll.  We live less than half a mile from the seawall, which extends a mile down the base.  It goes further, but currently there is construction a mile down, so that's as far as you can go.

 This is the sea wall.  It is lovely for running, especially since there is no track and not sufficient sidewalks to safely run.

Check it out!!  I know all you can see is a grayish blob, but it was a Manta Ray!  Really!  Marian and i were so excited!  It was swimming right below us!  How cool is that?!

The view downriver from the bridge.

The view upriver from the bridge. 

The glorious sunset!

Hmmmm.... I should have zoomed or cropped.  I thought this was neat- kind of a little Zen Garden behind this building.  The little rock garden and cool trees there.

Random

 Guess who started school?!  I had to fill our tons of paperwork- which I went in and did on Tuesday.  They have a 24 hour wait period before the kids can go to school, so they didn't start till Thursday.  Which was fine with me, but the kids were lobbying for one more day at home.  Since school started last week, I didn't want them to miss more than necessary.  This year Marian is in 6th grade, Callie is in 4th, Delaney is in 2nd, and Joshua is in 8th.  There are only 2 schools here right now: Elementary is K-6 and the High School covers 7-12.  So Joshua is in High School now!

They were good sports.... except that kid on the right.  

Check out this nifty feature!  We have an awning that can be rolled out or  pulled in.  Awesome with the rain! You can also see our metal storage unit back there.

Look who is thrilled to be sprung from the kennel!  He still has 3 weeks left for his Quarantine, but that can be done here at the house.  He was SO happy to be back with us.  He seems pleased with his larger, luxuriously green yard.

Rylee came with Dan and I to the Friday class to get our driver's licenses.  Isn't she adorable?! 

She was also quite amazing. I gave her the kindle, with Minecraft to play, and there was nary a peep for the 2 hours it took to go over the material and take the test. 

Heh heh heh.  Dan is taking his test.  Good news, we both passed and as of 1600 Friday we are both licensed to drive in Japan!