Kurihama Flower World and Valentines

We have been VERY busy so I am planning on doing 3 or 4 posts, but of course if you are reading this then you have already seen the previous posts and figured that out!  First a few photos of every day life...

Cora saw me put my mascara on, which let's be honest hardly ever happens, and she wanted to try it!  She has also been wanting to wear my t-shirts and saying they are princess dresses.  Pretty much she is going to be way more girly than I am!  The best part is that when she asks me now to put makeup on her she says her face is cold, hahaha, smart girl.

You have to love this pose!  She thinks she is all dolled up!

She actually got her eyelashes pretty well!

Last Monday we went to Kurihama Flower World, which is just a free park a few miles away.  We kept hearing that there is a beast of a hill to get there and that there used to be a train that took you up to it, but must not be running anymore.  Well Monday happened to be a Japanese holiday so even though it was pretty busy, the train was running!  They had a ton of vendors and had brought in snow from a mountain for kids to sled down!  It was the smallest pile.  In fact I think it was the same amount that Chase shoveled off his driveway in an hour last week.  It was the sunniest, warmest day yet and we had so much fun here.  It was a huge HUGE climbing, sliding, grassy area.  Cora was in heaven!

The upper portion.

This is the famous Godzilla slide!! 

Maureen and our two girls going down the slide.

The lower section

The view, you could actually see our apartments from here!

Cora kept running off whenever I focused on George and I found here on this rope section that I said she couldn't do.  She showed me what she can and cannot do.  She climbed the whole thing!  And then I put her in time out.

GODZILLA RETURNS!

Us on the worm teeter-totter.

Even George loved the slide!!

Did I mention how great Maureen is?  She and her husband helped me keep an eye on my kids since they only have one and that way everyone got some attention!

I lost my favorite jacket!  I was so sad....and cold.  So I decided to brave the ultra skinny/short body types of the Japanese stores.  In the process not only did I find a great jacket (size 3L and the sleeves are still too short), but a lot of Engrish shirts!  Here are a few favorites:

THEN!  While out for the day our friend, Sherilyn, lost her Pasmo card (it looks like a credit card and you add money to it and that is how you pay for the trains and buses by swiping your card when you enter a station and you get off.) and she was super upset because she had a bunch of money on it and then the card itself costs 500 yen.  Well that night we were taking the same bus home and noticed that it was the same bus driver as earlier.  Maureen had her phrasebook and we looked up the phrase, "I lost my..." and I'm sure he only sees so many Americans and we made kind of a scene holding up the bus looking for it so he must of recognized us and pulled her pasmo out of his pocket!  We felt like rockstars so we took this picture below after!

Cora dressed up as Mulan.  I bought her those things at the consignment store close for really cheap and she loves wearing them!

Here is one of many parks by our apartments, in fact our apartments are the white buildings in the background.

We bought these trumpets at the 100 yen store and the girls just LOVE them. 

And so does George!  It sounds kind of like a kazoo when you blow in them and George cracks himself up when he makes a sound.

 For Valentines Day all the families here on TDY (temporary duty) that are staying in our same apartments got together for a party.  There is a big common room we can reserve and the kids just loved it.

Abigail, Cora, Lucy, and another friend.

All the Valentine's boxes. 

I made Cora's a whale, pretty cute if you ask me!

All the kiddos, that is George sitting backwards in front.  Just trying to be different!

Kevin and I thought an Italian restaurant would be more appropriate and romantic for Valentines day!

A TGI FRIDAYS!!  It was in the alley of some street we found.

Dad...thinking of you!  Hahhahaha!

This was an old vintage Coca-Cola machine that still had glass bottles and a can opener and stuff.  Cora was mad we wouldn't let her pick the flavor!

Georgie-Porge after a nap, I guess that blanket has a lot more texture than I noticed before.  Did you see his nose?