Our family trip to Japan was a whirlwind adventure. It is easy to fall in love with Japan as a tourist with the chance to peek in on a culture that intertwines nature, history, and modern technology so beautifully. The food is delicious and the Japanese have created this clean and impressively safe society.
Overall, I'll remember the following from Japan
- Seeing our dear friends Aya, Ichiro, and Ren from Okinawa. We had one of our best days ever spending time with them.
- Goosebumps moment: seeing a sticker that says "Eric Around the World" on a railing while taking a picture of Tokyo Skytree during an early morning walk. No other sticker in sight - my brother Eric and family were very much on my mind due to Eric's 1 year heavenly anniversary.
- Observing my kids fall in love with new food and new sights. They were troopers moving around every couple of days to someplace new.
- Missing being able to chat with the locals freely; I really do love the light chitchat with strangers. Grateful for Google Translate which is as necessary as taking your passport to navigate Japan.
The good easily outweighed the bad. Japan was really good to us.
Oahu stop on the way back to Portland. Turtle Bay Condos on the North Shore.
Nate took Paul and Elise to Traverse City shortly after our Japan trip to see his family while enjoying life on the lake for a week.
Lolo came to visit during the first week of school. We always LOVE having Lolo here. Lily started her sophomore year at Lincoln and is busy in some new classes like Journalism and Computer Science and playing her 2nd year of varsity volleyball. Paul and Elise started 7th grade and they have mixed feelings. They have math, language arts, and art together which was a nice surprise. Paul is going to do a mountain biking team, cross country, and tennis this fall. Elise will start up karate again.
Paul was able to take his boot off shortly after returning and slowly get back to enjoying his sports. He joined a mountain biking team and completed his first race. He and Nate also love watching Timbers games together. Our 9th Annual neighborhood Block Party also happened with special remembrance of our dear neighbors and Block Party regulars Johanna and David who passed away this summer.
We are quickly all coming back down to Earth as we think past Labor Day Weekend. Nate's 2 month sabbatical is ending. He is returning to work on Tuesday in a new managerial position for a company that is going through a lot of layoffs right now. The day-to-day routine and fewer family dinners together is about to start. We knew it was coming. It's okay. We had a heckuva summer.
