June 21 2010

June 10 2010 At long last....a posting! Good Heavens! Where has the time been going? But as most of you know, we have had visitors from the states! My mother is here for a month, and Tova and her family toured Southern Japan, and came to Misawa for a few days as well. The result has been a lot of activity...lots and lots of pictures, and well....no postings.
But since the day is starting out slowly (meaning Andi is still sleeping, as is my niece) I shall take advantage of the time and share some pictures.
Above is some wisteria from what we call Swan Lake park (yes there are two swans there at the moment).
We took a walk around the lake/pond (I don't know, to big to be a pond, seems to small to be a lake) More trail grooming has been going on. Little construction projects as well. Home made sawhorses tell where the work is being done.


Below: A view from the top of the tower. Last year I took mom and the tower was closed. It was open this time, all 100 and some steps, I think Andi said 156....can't remember. Anyway, mom went up.....

even managed to walk out off the solid surface floor to the heavy metal mesh floor that gives you an extreme downward look at your potential landing zone, then back down we went.

Below: a view of the tower from...well below.

Andi got to play at the park for a bit. She'll play with the local children, though there's not a lot of conversation that goes on there.

Just a pretty flower.


Ah, now comes the adventure.....Mom, Andi and went to the beach. Turns out it was a bit on the foggy side. But that didn't stop Andi from wanting to build a sandcastle. So, we crossed the tidal pool, and went to the sand bar between the ocean and tidal pool. Note, it was a pretty big stretch between the two. Looked like the tide was going out.....

Mom put her bags and shoes on the sandbar and went to retrieve water for Andi. (there are those giant jacks all around to create a sheltered cove, the the ocean itself was rather rough) Anyway, there's mom innocently collecting water when....

Well, I couldn't get a picture of it....but there she is (you can see the wave coming in the left background....it kept coming, coming, coming) And, a little wave started breaking over her feet, well the water kept coming! We looked back and saw that her bags and shoes were in process of floating on the water....so of course, who comes to visit us. That's right... "Aunt Inga Syndrome" (you remember, the uncontrollable laughter at totally inappropriate times) at the beach! Screams of "My BAGS! MY CAMERA!" followed by a spate of giggles. With me running ahead "I can reach them!" and laughter/giggles coming from me as well. Andi, just trying to save herself....giggling the whole way.

The end result....Mom has a new pair of shoes...while we were able to save the others, they were SO packed with sand that when dried, they just weren't the same. Her camera was fine, though the bag soaked, and her backpack collected a bit of sand, but dried and cleaned just fine. I, having RAN through the water to get to the camera was soaked from the waist down....no, I don't have that picture....it is on Mom's camera.

We did continue to walk out to the ocean where there are no barriers, and the waves were VERY big (alas, the batteries in my camera died and I have not yet unloaded mom's pics)

June 16 2010: Went with the Arnold's and Mom and Andi to the Air and Space Museum. Andi and I have been there many times. So it was fun to watch others play around. Though as always, Andi had a great time with the hands on activities.

This young lad had a great time watching the crazy Americans make facial imprints in the whatever-you call it machine.

Below: There's the Arnold's

And Andi, Mom and myself.

June 17 2010: Off to Oirase Gorge! One of my favorite hikes/walk. Not really a hike, as it is all groomed trails, and not to much incline.

A local artist at work.

Made it up to the falls.!

Bill and Andi walking back to the car. Andi has missed her cousins. Whenever we are out with them she has to hold the hand of one or another.

Bill trying to find the fish that we had spotted from the bank.

We didn't hike all the way up to Lake Towada....Andi and Katie had Koto class to go to, so instead drove up. The weather there was a bit stormy, though it hadn't started to really rain yet. A fine mist doesn't count in these parts.

Below: On the way back to Misawa, stopped at a little roadside stand/restaurant that had various statues out and about.

Wandered about the gardens for a little bit. Will have to come back and eat at this place. Something to add to the list of things to do.

And no worries, the camera is always busy clicking away. Hopefully will get in another update at the end of this week. Provided I can get computer time....I'm sharing with Mom and Katie. Though I can use Shane's, all my pictures are stored over here.

And finally, we were on our way back to Misawa. Lots of sleepy bodies in the van (I got to drive a looonngg van, lots of Inga giggles when it came to parking at times) Bill took the picture from the front seat (since I was engaged in driving), though not til after his nap was over. He didn't get room to stretch out like the other 3, I was a little worried at times that his head might crash into the dashboard. He would usually jerk back upright at the last minute. Then I worried he would end up with whip lash.

That's Joe's fingers in the way back, he was awake as well.