Imperial Palace Field Trip

Our friends, Carol & Brad (parent's of Dougie's Best FrEnemy, Kent), just PCS'd (Permanent Change of Station - i.e.: moving...) out of Yokosuka.  My heart has been very heavy with their leaving.  Our lives have truly been enriched by having their friendship and I look forward to being deliberate about maintaining that friendship.  God truly knew what he was doing when our paths crossed!


We have had the fortunate experience of getting to spend time with Kent so that Carol and Brad could do any/all number of things to complete their PCS.  Dougie has been thrilled beyond belief to get to have a friend over for the night and get to stay ALL DAY!!!


Now that all the boys are in Japanese schools, their holidays and Eric's do not match up.  Memorial Day was an exception.  Seika had a comp holiday due to Sumo Day, so we just pulled Stefan from school.  Carol & Brad needed to clean and check out of their house, so we took Kent for the day.  How much cleaning actually gets done with a five-year old in the mix?  Answer: a LOT!  But with little to show for it...  Having Kent along for the day was a win-win for all!

I was heading up to Tokyo for my second round with the Chinese Embassy, trying to secure a travel visa. Kent and Dougie, our ever-early risers, were up and ready to go first thing in the morning.  Stefan woke up about 20 minutes before I was leaving - he decided to come with as well.  Eric and Ian followed behind about an hour later.

The boys with their innocence still intact.  I love that they voluntarily "couple up" as we walk down the street!

Abbey Road: Stefan crosses Japanese-style...  they raise their hand (especially children and child-sized adults) to make them more readily visible.  

After leaving the Chinese Embassy, we headed to Hibiya Park (Hibiya Park) - easy to get to!  The boys played and got out a lot of their sillies.  We ate at a restaurant that seemed to be advertising German/Italian/European food.  The outdoor seating was lovely, food was great, definitely NOT european!  The boys all split the rice, omelet & tomato sauce (gussied up ketchup) dish.

Eric and I got the Spicy Thai Chicken.  It was really great!

We thought we would mosey through the Imperial Palace grounds (Japan Guide: Imperial Palace, Imperial Palace, Wikipedia) on our way to the Japan Science Foundation's Science Museum (JSF).

Can you spot the differences?  The first picture is posed.  The second, a bit more realistic - and really more endearing!

 

On our way through the Palace park, we ran into Mr. Nix.  He is the NRRO rep I have been seemingly following all over the globe.  When I was working at the shipyard, he was the active NRRO rep on many of my projects.  He was the NRRO rep on many of my San Diego projects.  He had moved to be "permanent" in San Diego - Eric did a TDY project down there.  Mr. Nix moved to Japan to be the NRRO guy here.  Lo-and-behold...  Eric (and I) come to Japan...  Just can not get enough of Mr. Nix :)  This will only mean anything to those of you that understand NRROs job and my old job.  To the rest of you, I apologize for the vagaries and would love to tell you more over coffee :)  Suffice to say, I have a strange soft spot and definitely a LOT of memories of Mr. Nix.  So, it was very random and yet, so very fun, to have run into him in Tokyo.  We told him I was on a frustrating mission to get my Chinese Visa.  He asked Eric later that week if I got my visa.  He then followed up with, "I would hate to argue with her!" Ironic that he should say that... (BTW - I finally did secure my visa - another story for coffee...)


The Older Class at Seika will do a field trip in the fall (I believe) to the Imperial Palace.  Kent will have moved by then, so we dubbed this his Field Trip to the Imperial Palace.  Once there, the boys played leap frog on these giant stone barriers.  I did not get any pictures because I was too caught up enjoying their moment!

The Three Stooges?  The Three Amigos! 

We went to take a closer look at the palace (you only see part of the gate, really) while Eric took Ian to the bathroom.  A group of younger people from the Laos Embassy came through.  They thought the boys were a fabulous novelty and they ALL took pictures with them.  These kids were dirty, tired and sweaty.  For the most part, they were really good sports.  No kidding, you would have thought they were rock stars. They will definitely be in a large number of photo albums across SE Asia!

Just one of the MANY pictures the boys were featured in with the group from Laos

I did not even have to ask if they were still interested in the museum.  One of them piped up with, "can we go home now?" and the others chimed in with a unanimous chorus of "we're tired".  So home we went!

We saw a resident swan in one of the moats.  You would have thought we saw Bigfoot!  They boys excitedly asked - no, BEGGED, me to take it's picture.  OKIE-DOKIE!!!




We were packed like sardines in oil on our way up to Tokyo, but the boys enjoyed the front window, getting to look in on the driver and his control panel, all the way up.

All of us ultimately got seats on the ride home.  Ian was sleeping soundly in the stroller.  Stefan drew mazes.  Kent and Dougie could hardly stay awake... and this was in the first 6 minute ride to the main station!

You are getting very sleepy...

And then, they fell soundly asleep on the way back to Yokosuka.

These kids were tired.  And it showed.  The dark circles under Stefan's eyes; the drool stains on Kent's shoulders, the bright red side of Dougie's face from being face down in Eric's legs...

These kids earned their baths and bed that night!