Can you believe 8 months has already gone by?
No longer a babe
Cuter every single day
Please, stop growing now.
Forrest Turns 8 Months Old
Sendai, Matsushima, and Costco
Leanne had 4 days off between shifts, so we decided to make the most of it and go down to Sendai, the closest big city to us at about a 4 hr drive.
Every year during Christmas time, the city lights up all the trees on one of their main roads. This event is known as the Sendai Illumination.
Enough about trees with lights! A trip in Japan wouldn’t be complete without a lot of delicious Regional foods! Sendai is known for their beef tongue, edamame “zunda” shakes, and fresh oysters.
Though Sendai is not known for this, Japan is one of the few places on Earth where you can eat puffer fish. If you eat the wrong part, or it is incorrectly prepared, there is toxin in the puffer fish that can be actually deadly. We happened upon a Japanese restaurant where they served puffer fish as well as turtle soup, so we ordered both.
While we were eating, the Japanese older woman who ran the restaurant was happy to take and hold for us, show him the fish in the tanks, and give him love and attention.
One of the most scenic sites in Japan is Matsushima, a collection of about 260 islands off of Matsushima Bay. We drove up to the bay and took a sightseeing cruise all around the islands.
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On the way back home, we got Costco memberships and shopped til we dropped. Costco has a lot of the same stuff ($5 rotisserie chicken anyone?), but also a lot of cool Japanese items including my favorite drink “Chill Out”. No need to keep going to konbinis to get that now! With the car full of essentials, but mostly non-essential Costco impulse buys (like a Ripstik!), we headed home back to the snowy North, Misawa.
Forrest Meets Santa
Today was our first proper snow day for the hear. Forrest seemed somewhat indifferent, but that didn’t stop us from having fun playing with him and Miles in the snow.
The base has a tree lighting event where the huge Christmas tree on base was lit, and there was food, music, hot cocoa, mulled wine, and Santa! Forrest met Santa for the first time. I hope he asked for something good!
Forrest is Crawling
Literally 2 days ago, I could leave Forrest on the play mat with toys, make coffee, come back in a minute, and Forrest would be right where I left him. No longer! In the last two days, he figured out how to crawl! Sure, it’s not the most efficient way, but he sure moves quickly!
Of course he wants to crawl only to things he’s not supposed to! The Peloton wheel, the Christmas tree, and his favorite, the Christmas presents under the tree. He’s even tried to open them multiple times!
Nebuta 2024
Japan is known for its incredible festivals, filled with tradition and history. These festivals are also incredibly fun, with really good food and fascinating things to see. One of the largest festivals in Japan is in our prefecture, which is like a state in the United States.
This is called Nebuta festival, and we were fortunate to be able to come this year together. Last year only Leanne came since I got COVID but this year I could finally come!
From Wikipedia: “Nebuta” refers to the float of a brave warrior-figure which is carried through the center of the city, while dancers wearing a unique type of costume called haneto (ハネト) dance around in time with the chant Rasserā (ラッセラー) (shortened dialectal version of “irasshai”, calling visitors and customers to watch or join).
We got front row seats to see the float parade!
The floats are intricate and hand-made, each telling a story from old Japanese folktale. They are lit from the inside and hand carried through the streets of Aomori City.
Forrest’s First Visit to Florida
Time to visit family in Florida. Forrest got to discover the magic of the gorrio, a rocking swing like thing shown below that calms babies down super fast and helps them go to sleep. This one came all the way from Africa and is the same one both Zahra and I used.
While in Florida, Forrest had a playdate with Cici. He was truly on his best behavior, and all he wanted to do was play with Cici. Unfortunately, Cici was only interested in playing with the puppy. Sorry, kid!
Now for the long flight back to Japan!
Forrest’s First Visit to New York
The flight to NY with a fresh baby was loooooong. Thankfully, we had a bassinet, which really helped!
Welcome to America, little buddy!
Adjusting to the 12 hour time difference was a bit of a struggle, but I think Forrest did better than us at it. His Yeye took good care of him when we got home!
We went for a hike at the beautiful state park nearby. Forrest loves being in nature, just like his parents.
Family Japan Trip
Forrest celebrated his 100th day of life, which is a big celebration in Japanese culture. During this celebration, he had his first solid food: a grain of rice.
Of course, when you’re in Japan, you have to go to an animal cafe.
Hakone
Trains
Arashiyama Monkey Park
Osaka
Nara
Okinawa
Forrest Takes Flight
Forrest had his first flight. Lucky kid! We are on our way to explore Japan with the family.
American Day
Every year in Misawa, there is a big celebration of the US of A! This year, all of the downtown area of Misawa was used for the festival. Of course there was Japanese festival food, but this time there was American festival food too (as well as some.. let’s say unique interpretations of American food)! I’m talking churros, funnel cakes, fries oreos, Philly cheesesteaks, and, of course, hotdogs and hamburgers. Bands played classic American hits ranging from Tom Petty to Disney (quite the range!).
