More TLF Living

Thaddeus just can't stay awake. We are enjoying our TLF. It is nice to have a place to stay for a couple weeks. Teddy has been meeting with the housing office to find us a place. We have been trying to entertain the kids in a hotel room. I am excited to move into a house. 

 This little balcony has gotten a lot of playtime. It is so hot outside that they can go out there for a little bit and then come in to cool off. We have been walking around the base, checking out all the different parks. It is a very nice base and all the people seem very helpful and kind.

Yoshinoya

 We made a trip to Yoshinoya! We told the kids that we were going to a restaurant and they got excited. When they saw the food, they were not quite as excited. Our kids have adjusted and found some Japanese food that they like now, but it was a struggle in the beginning.

 Our family took up half the restaurant. It was pretty delicious food, but the wheat tea is something that I could do without.

 Marie loved her meal. She was the only child that liked their food. Claire would only eat white rice. Theodore saw his food and head butted the wall.Thaddeus was a fan of white rice.

TLF

 In the middle of the night, we found Thaddeus reading some books by the lamp. What a cute boy.

Christine knows how to use the big girl water bottles now!

First Morning in Japan

The kids were awake at 2 a.m. wanting to go to the park. Theodore didn't believe me that it was the middle of the night until he went on the balcony and saw that it was still dark out. Jet lag was rough on the children, therefore it was rough on us! The older kids adjusted better, but the younger ones just couldn't stay up till bed time. They kept napping during the day and then being up at night. It was really hard to stay up with them in the middle of the night (they are not trust worthy) and then be able to stay awake during the day to get myself adjusted. It was at least a solid week before we started getting on the right schedule. Our first morning, we walked a family for a few miles to the housing office on base. We didn't really know where it was at, but we figured we walk around and get to know the base. 

We had an amazing encounter with a member of our church! She saw a family of seven walking on a really hot day at an early hour around the base. She was pretty sure that we were a new family to the base and was curious if we were members of the church. She stopped and chatted with us and we gave her all our details about how we were members of the church and it was our first morning here! She was a HUGE help. She told us how to get the orientation done and how to get our licenses to drive in Japan. She even watched our kids so I could take the driving class too! She definitely was a blessing to us.

 Our kids got to play at a tiny playground outside of the housing office. It was crazy hot!

We made it to Japan!

 We made it to Japan! Takuya and Keiko were waiting for us at the airport. We didn't know they were coming, so it was a nice surprise. Our kids were losing their fascination with travel, so it was a rough transition to the bus. Thankfully, our friends helped us carry some bags. Theodore had lost all interest in our travels. When we landed we only had a couple minutes to find our bags and get to the shuttle bus. It was stressful because we didn't even know where the shuttle buses were and Theodore was starting to lose it. We made a mad dash for the bus. Theodore was walking with Pa until he couldn't keep up anymore and then joined me. He slowly fell back some more until he was getting passed up by everyone. He started screaming for Pa to wait for him, but Pa wanted to run up ahead and get the bus to wait. I couldn't ask for directions to get to the bus, so I had to keep up with Pa. 

We got to the shuttle just in time. We threw our bags on and boarded the bus. We took a quick picture with Takuya and Keiko, then said goodbye. We thought it was only a 30 min. bus ride, so we put almost all the bags under the bus. It turned out to be a 3 hr. ride. Thankfully all the kids were so tired that most of them just sat there quietly. Takuya and Keiko had given us some candy and toys, so the kids were a little rejuvenated.

 We made it to Japan!

We're off!

We are off to Japan!! I wanted to bring the max amount of luggage allowed, but Teddy reminded me that we would have to carry the 15 full sized suitcases somehow. Thankfully, I only bought 2 sets of nesting suitcases (total of 6 bags). We already had one big one to use, so we had seven rollers, two carseats, pack and play, diaper bag, stroller, and 5 carry on bags. I was a little nervous about hauling all of our stuff while trying to keep an eye on the children.

 I got a luggage combiner thing that would connect three roller bags together. Marie could even push a bundle of three! I pulled the other bundle of three, along with the other big roller and the pack and play. We made the boys walk, but let Christine ride in the stroller. We packed most of our carry ons in the stroller. Claire, Theo,  and Thad all carried their carry on bags. Claire also carried the small booster seat. Teddy pushed the stroller with a bunch of bags on it, the large carseat, diaper bag, and Christine. All of the children were champs! They were excited about riding on the airplane and very happy and helpful.

Thaddeus quickly gave up his carry on bag and added it to the stroller. He was very concerned about keeping his favorite rock.

 After we checked in our rollers, it was much easier to navigate. We got to the airport at the perfect time. We had taken the hotel shuttle to the airport and we filled the entire 12 pack van since we had so much luggage and 7 people. We only had a short wait before we started to board the plane. Thankfully, Teddy had worked at getting our seats all together and in the back of the plane next to the bathrooms and some standing space.

 Christine flew like a champ. It was helpful that she is getting more and more interested in toys.

The girls and boys were mostly zombies with all the movies. They were so excited to watch one after another. The boys watched a little bit, but they were a little harder to keep happy. They did very well though! Theodore loved looking out the window. They flew great and we all made it without any craziness, although we were pretty tired after the 13 hour flight.

Staybridge

We have moved out of our house and into the Staybridge. It was a fantastic hotel. We loved that it had a pool and offered breakfast and dinner every day. It worked perfect for us! Teddy stayed at our house while the movers came to monitor them while I kept the kids out of the way. It was a pretty stressful event, but it all worked out. The Swanson's movers had tried to throw away half their stuff and I was worried about all my crafty stuff getting bent and ruined. Teddy made it all go smoothly. We got packed up and our house signed off!

 We spent a lot of time at the pool. We were at the hotel for five days without much to do, except swim!

 Scotty and Abby came over for a last minute goodbye! They were able to do a D.C. temple run while we got to watch Nora. We sure wish they would be closer to us in Japan!