Yay Us!

 Jared is home for Christmas! 

Since it is the 24 th here,  I want to say to everyone have a happy Christmas.  Treasure your family time.  Remember those alone and away from their families.

Sheng Dan Kuai Le! 

Finally

 Winter break is here! No more teaching! No more books! No more student's empty looks! Well, they are not all that bad but there are a couple I often wonder.

Christmas approaches and Jared remains at home. I hope saying that does not curse it. We have not enjoyed a holiday together this year so we are timidly looking forward to this one. Monday may see a short trip out until Wednesday but short trips have often morphed into long trips. We are holding our breath.

Our tree for the year is beautiful. This is why having someone else do the tree for me is an appealing idea. Storing the ornaments to use only once per year is a bit much. We have certain ornaments that we keep but it is not near what is on the tree. We do save some space though. Mizu is like any cat and plays with anything low on the tree so we keep the bottom sparse with only a few baubles for her to bat around. It preserves the rest of the tree. June is fascinated by the tree. Especially when the house lights are off and only the tree is lit. She will watch the lights sparkle until she falls asleep. It seems the tree is a good baby sitter for when I need do some task about the house.

Shopping is done but we still await arrival of packages. We are guaranteed delivery before Christmas but I believe everyone knows the anxiety of arrivals being so close. We (I) should have ordered them sooner. It is only that I did not see them sooner. One of the packages is a diaper bag for Jared. He does not care for the "girlie" bag I carry so I have gotten him a "tactical diaper bag" from Tactical Baby Gear so he does not somehow feel emasculated carrying mine. I have warned him though; it will be his responsibility to maintain the supplies in his bag. 

Here is crossing fingers hoping Jared's trip out will return as scheduled and he remains home until after Christmas, though after the new year would be better.

Another Good Day

 We enjoyed another good day yesterday. We spent the afternoon at Mikasa Park. The park is named for an the old Japanese battleship name Mikasa. It is a large ship but not as large as modern ships. Still, it is interesting to see.

Chao lei was most fascinated by it. He asked MANY questions of the tour guide. She was very patient with his lack of command of Japanese. Fortunately, she spoke English as well. Chao lei remained insistent of using what Japanese he knows, using English only as a last resort. I applaud him in his reasoning; our guide was in her country. Why should she speak English? He amazes me sometimes.

The mural was my favorite thing of the entire park. The pictures seemed almost photos. The artists were very talented. Of course, I prefer to walk outside when I may so that may have been an influence on my preference. The inside of the ship is nice, I suppose. But a naval ship remains a naval ship. It certainly could not have accurately reflected the ship when it was in use. It was too clean. Jared's ship has a laundry for a reason.

After spending the morning there, we enjoyed some walking. We spent most of our time on the Blue Road wandering from shop to shop. We did this until June tired of riding in her father's carrier. It is his because it is "tactical." Its appearance is that of a military ruck sack. I refuse to use it preferring my Moby.

June is becoming better at being in a carrier. She did not much care for it in the beginning. Alas for her, if she is to be in this family, she will need to become accustomed to going places even if only for a walk.

We have a nice trail hike for tomorrow. The weather is expected to cooperate but it is much like the Navy; expected is not necessarily guaranteed.

First Outing

 We have enjoyed our first outing as a family. We chose the Yokosuka City Museum of Nature and Human Culture. It is not far from our house so we were able to walk to it. It was a pleasant walk.

The Japanese are very fond of their museums which made it surprising that they were so empty. I suppose it can be blamed on CoVid but it still strikes me as odd since masks are a matter of normal practice for many people in Japan if only for the sometimes heavy pollution or perceived threat of illness.

The museum is free, which is a good price. lol  Most important was Chao lei enjoyed it. Mostly. Some parts were very boring for him. We could knew this because he was not shy in telling us so. Seeing the daily living items of people past did not much interest him.

Bugs and bones were his favorite areas to see. How he saw anything surprises me. He excitedly ran from display to display only to do it again and again. He did apparently absorb what he saw as he recounted everything as we walked home. He remembered details I did not even see.

Our walk home took us through a park that we stopped at to let Chao lei run some energy off. I believe Mikasa Park is our goal for today. There are a few things to see there. The largest, and I believe the most interesting (to Chao lei at the least), will be the battleship, Mikasa.

Since Jared could get only a week leave, we are doing our best to make good the promise of family time. We will need to research for other parks within our liberty area but it is Japan. It should not be difficult. If all else fails, we can have an interesting day at the docks watching the activities of the port.

Leave Time

 Now that the major exercises are complete, Jared is applying for leave. It is not that there are many places we could travel to but that is not his plan. We are going to spend time together to make up for the time he was away.

The officially observed Thanksgiving was enjoyable for us at home. We had our solo sailor. She proved to be very likeable and someone whom I would enjoy knowing better. Chao lei apparently likes her company. Where she was he was the entire day. For someone with no children, she was very adept in her understanding of what Chao lei was doing. The only thing our day was missing was Jared.

To have memories of family holidays, we enjoyed a second Thanksgiving when Jared returned. It is tiring to prepare two holiday meals so close together. lol We had the traditional dinner that most would recognize but again we had some of my favorite foods included. Jared and I both enjoy blending our heritage where we can. We had the turkey of course but with a twist. It was prepared Cantonese style with hoisin sauce, sweet bean sauce, garlic, shallot, ginger, and stuffed with tangerine peels. There were also guotie (pot stickers) and honey-hoisin sweet potatoes. No one may acuse us of being normal I suppose.

If Jared gets his leave, we will remain home and be together. We will hike where we may, together. Together is the operating word in all we will do. Winter is not the best time to make our memories but we will make them when we can. Spring will arrive soon enough and hopefully we will be past all the restrictions, or at least, past many of them. We will depend heavily on the MWR office to discover activities we can do.

We had a short scare with June and this shows importance of communication. It seems Chao lei was lazy to get a cup and got a bottle instead and filled it with milk. Cow milk. Since he did not finish it, he placed it in the fridge. Jared, thinking it was June's bottle, heated it and put a nipple on it instead of waking me to feed her. Junes little belly swelled and she was in obvious discomfort so I took her to the pediatrician where, upon her vomiting, we discovered she was full of milk. We also discovered she is lactose intolerant to the extreme. The following diapers were not fun.

Now Jared knows, I do not express milk to a bottle unless I am going out. I certainly do not leave the bottle open in the fridge when I do. Chao lei knows he is not to use a bottle again unless I or his father send him for one. June has returned to her normally happy self. All is well now. Jared has sworn he will ask questions whenever he is going to do anything with June. He feels guilt for having been the one who gave the cow milk. For such a strong man, he can be such a softie.