The Batcave

E. is very excited to have Batcave construction
going on in his room.

Is this a handsome guy or what!?

Working with dad to get it all put together.

I thought I had a picture of the completed project
hopefully I do and I just have not ran across it yet.
However, this was a Lego Batcave complete with
connecting bridges to 3 different sections of the cave,
stairs leading down to the Batmobile (shown in the first pic)
"turntable", and with a hugh Batplane and stand, the Penguin,
the Penguin's sub, Penguin bad guys, the Joker, and the Joker's
helicopter. That was 3 months ago, and believe it or not a good
portion of all those parts are still put together!

It's a start

Before and afters...

Ok, well the "before" was just a couple posts
ago and this is the after. While this was not
initially what Dakota wanted (he and the barber
did not quite have the same definition for "military cut"),
he very quickly appreciated the benefits (this happened 6/23/08)
so this past week when it was time for the "school"
haircut he did not go quite as short (#1) but he
did request a #2!!!

Our van

We were thinking of selling the van so I had
these pics of it...there are two sun/moon roofs, the
seat that is folded up against the middle seat can be
turned down for another, the middle seat can be
rotated into any position forming a square (so facing
back or front or side to side)

This is the rear seat. Both seats can fold down
flat - they can also be hooked up to the side so
the back is completely opened up.
It is not the most comfortable ride we've ever had
but it is definitely serving us well.

Building blocks...

D. being creative

How is that thing standing????

Interesting.

Just woke up...

He had just woke up from his nap...

..and had a surprise waiting for him on the balcony!

and though he was not too happy to hear he
would have to wait until they were dry to
get them down...

he was happy to hear that would be able to wear
them as soon as they were dry.

E. explaining to our neighbor (very seriously)
about how those were his new costumes and they
had to dry so he could wear them.

Nihon Mitsauri (Japanese Festival)

We attended this at the elementary school on base.
I did not do a good job of taking pics for this -
there were so many activities and I was busy
participating...however, I did catch this one of
D. making a "dumpling" and then below is
how they cook them (basically boiling them in a
very, very hot broth for a minute or so). They were
good but LOTS of garlic so we all had funky breath
the rest of the day!

This was the Karate demo. D. is over to
the left and E. is being held by one of the kids
who did the demo.

E.'s Lessons

E. paying close attention to wait is going on
in the class, just like his mother!

He is not shy about telling his teachers his
opinions.

This was in April - when he would still hold on
for dear life when they would go in the "deep"
(about 4'2"). Now, he will let you keep him at
arms reach!

The last two pics were on our home. The above
is just so you can see how pretty some of the bushes
get when their flowers bloom. Below, well, it is
a bit difficult to tell in the pic but the size of their
"heavy equipment" could be compared to a bobcat
in the states. In addition to the size, we thought
the colors also added a nice touch - just so different
than anything you'd ever see in the states.

Nok Tu bin da tuk (Korean Green Bean Pancake)

These are the ingredients of the Green Bean
Pancake...mung beans, spinach, green onions
(as you can see the Japanese green onions are huge),
bean sprouts, and the brown stuff is fern root. There
is also mushrooms in it but they are not shown. No
eggs or flours used. This is a special dish only
made for special occasions and rarely more than
once or twice a year.

In Korean, you can buy the mung bean
already shelled - in Japan you cannot. So,
the mung bean must be soaked for a couple
of days (seen below) then you put them in a
blender or processor and run it very quickly.
Dump the beans into a bowl and very carefully rinse
off the shells (above).
The woman above is Jeoug Ki (pronounced junkie/chunkie),
our neighbor. Her husband is actually from Byran!!!

Once most the shells are off, you process the
beans until the make a paste (above) and then
add the other ingredients (below).

Fry them like pancakes, it is not uncommon in
Korean for them to squat on the floor and fry the
pancakes because when they do make them they
make a lot and squatting is more comfortable
for them than standing.

Then serve them with a Yang Nam Jang
(Hot Pepper Dip) and pickles.

And we were all very pleasantly surprised at how good they tasted!
The color of the fern root had us a bit worried.

Where we live....

This is the view from our patio in our room

This and the following pics are from the view
from our dining room patio.

The netting is on all the patios to keep the birds
(primarily the pigeons) off the patios. But they
are like curtains and you can pull them to the side.

Just beyond the evergreens is the playground.

We use to "moan" about trying to squeeze everything into
the apartment, coming from the house, BUT T's new co-worker,
an American who has been teaching at an International School
here in Japan for 4 years put us in our place....His apartment on the
Japan economy was 400 sq. ft.!!!!! He and his wife say they do not
know what they are going to do with all the space and closets. So, now,
we are feeling blessed that we were told we had to live on base and not off!!!
Anyway, onto the apartment, well, at least part of it.....

E. is ready to show off his room!

There have been some minor changes since
these pics were taken but for the most part -
it is the same (there is actually stuff on his wall now!).
We love the table - the legs fold up
and you can slide it away for more floor space.
Tables like these are all over the place in Asia, because
of their lack of space they use these types of tables
as their dining, coffee, work, and study tables.

E. is telling me how I should take the pic.. BTW..
the "bars" on the window do not go all the way up,
they are more like a patio railing so if the window
were to get opened all the way it would not be so easy
for a child to get out and jump (from any floor!)

CHEEZZZ

Acky spiderman flies through the air

"See him"

D's room is next....

He has since become too cool for Spiderman....
and posters have been added to the walls.

This and the next couple of pics to follow are
of a mother attempting to get a tweenager to
cooperate in having his pic taken!

FINALLY!!!

I uploaded this in the wrong order, but this
the bathroom in our room
(we use the shower for storage - not showering!)

Our Room - quilt by Aunt P.

The bookcase is no longer there and we have
tomato plants growing on the balcony.

The chalkboard is an attempt to keep E.
busy when we're on the computer. So far,
he only wants to write on it if we do it with him!

This is the main bathroom.

the mats were cushions for mommy and daddy's
knees when giving Mr. Man a bath but we've since
moved them cause he has moved onto showers

The fish decorations are constantly
being moved so it is always interesting
to see what new idea has come from the
boys in this family!

Popolamama!

This is the menu from our favorite pasta place.
Don't ask us HOW to pronounce the name!

The menu has a lot of seafood and pasta
(and the calories are listed too)

When you order here - you order your
entree' and then if you want anything else
with you it you have to order a "Drink Set".
Now, everything can be ordered on its own,
the desert, the salad, and there's also one with
garlic bread BUT the difference is in portion size.
So, the cake is about the size of the cake squares
at the Chinese Buffet in Van Wert and the salad
comes in a bowl the size of...a soup bowl from Subway.
The drinks - you can get sodas, iced tea, hot tea, coffee,
iced coffee, cappuccino (made fresh not like the gas station
machines) and water.

Tony and Dakota are the two who will try something
different. Eli always has pizza and my piece of cake. I
always have the pasta dish in the first column, top row,
first one and the drink set w/ the cake and salad.

Someone's front lawn that we pass on our way home.

The Pet Store...or should we say 5-Star Hotel

This is the pet store at the mall!!!!

Our First Field Trip w/ the Homeschooling Group

This is the radar room at the air field (w/ no flash)

This is the radar room using the flash!

Dakota is listening to the guide explain the areas
of the airfield, what the air tower controls and what
the radar room controls - it was very interesting!

This and the following pictures are all taken
from inside the air traffic control tower - lots of
fun! Those are c-130's (Cargo planes) sitting on
air strip.

This is the group! (We're in the back on the left!)

Korean Sushi - KimBop

This is Gobo Root (it literally comes in a package with dirt still on it!)
Our neighbor is Korean and she has taught some friends and I how to make a couple of dishes. One is called KimBop and Miso Soup and the other, translated into English, is Green Bean (Mung Bean) Pancake with Hot Pepper dipping sauce. The KimBop is made all the time using whatever ingredients you choose, but the Green Bean Pancake is normally made only on very special occasions.

Japanese Spinach

The egg yolk and egg white are separated, cooked,
and then cut into strips - giving the KimBop more
color.

All the ingredients lined up ready to start making.
The yellow strips to the left are diacon, it is a white
radish that has been pickled and the brown strips
to the right of the diacon is the Gobo root, which has
been cooked and saute' with hot pepper paste, sesame oil,
garlic, and soy sauce, Japanese spinach (more stem than
leaf), ground beef, and not shown are the egg yolk and egg
whites, and carrots. Note - no raw fish here!

Here's everything on the seaweed and now
it is time to roll...

The bamboo mat is used to make the roll
tight and even....

The finished product!
I almost did not share w/ Dakota and Tony because
they were so good!

Our "backyard"

These are in the "field" in between the apartment
towers where we live.

This is where the boys go and play.

These are another type of tree - I don't
know what they are called but they are
beautiful! After a rain is when they are the
prettiest because then the really bloom. Here
pollen is worse when it rains!

Cherry Blossoms

Going to Tokyo (not the clearest of days)

Police Van

It is kind of hard to tell, but along with trying
to show you how massive Tokyo is, we are also
trying to let you see how close the buildings are
to the "freeway"

These signs are all around the interstate/freeway.
Driving here is very quiet because of the close quarters,
people try to be very respectful of those sleeping! You
can see the buildings just beyond the sign - those are
apartments.

This is Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Bay

Headed up to the mountains

Vending machines are everywhere - instead of
fast food restaurants, they have vending machines

This European telephone booth seemed a bit
out of place so we took a pic.

This is how the park cars and bikes...you have a
key that you when used will literally rotate the cars
or bikes down and around so you can either get your or find
an empty space to park!!!

Miscellaneous Shots

He can longer do this without bending his knees!

Our Rebel

Getting ready to show M. around

The stickers lets people know we've been
driving for less than year! (We get in less
trouble if there's an accident.)

Quilt by Aunt P.

Obviously, they are thrilled having their pic
taken, but I wanted to show the how wide
drive was (or should I say, was not)

Their idea of a car port

I guess this would be convenient for bringing in
the kids and the groceries!