Porcupine

Here is a Japanese Tree Porcupine at the Ueno zoo. He was a very large rodent with stiff sharp bristles mingled with hsi brown hair. 

Candid Oirase photo

I like this one of the 2 Mansbergers and 2 Vaughns by the gorge. I wonder what each one of them was thinking. 

Xmas lights in Oct

Here is Misawa's first Christmas lights. At first we thought it might be Halloween lights but there are candy canes and Xmas colors on display. Seems a little early for the season to start but it is cold out so that helps. 

Dog sitting with Archie

We are sitting for a very nice guest this week named Archie. He is a very well traveled dog as his family is military and he is multilingual. He is a Turkish native and can also understand some English and Japanese too. He is getting plenty of TLC from the kids and has been on many walks and play dates outside today. He is scared to go upstairs but is content to hang out with us on the first floor. He is known to eat ice cream and hamburgers just like Uncle Gary's Homer did when he would go to the D.Q. 

An artist along the way....

Here was a nice surprise along the Gorge hike....

We stopped and watched an artist paint along the river. Even the kids were interested...at least for a few minutes.

On our way back, the artist was on break, but we were able to see his progress....

Love,

4Vs 

3rd Graders at the Gorge

Last week the third grade class made a field trip to Oirase Gorge... yes the same Gorge we just went to with the family. I was a chaperone for Brock's class. This time, instead of driving along the Gorge, the buses dropped us off and we hiked along the river with the kids.






Here was an interesting site on the trail....


Here is the stone hut where the lady lived....


The river was beautiful to stroll along!

Of course, no trip is complete without a little excitement. Despite our best efforts, Brock fell into the river. The trail was very narrow and there were several Japanese tour groups along the river with us. These groups were made of mostly older Japanese people and we did our best to use good manners and stay out of their way. At one point, Brock stood on the edge of the trail with his back to the river so a group could pass. Before I knew it, he lost his balance and toppled backwards and head first into the river. One of the spry Japanese men reached down and jerked him back up. He was only wet from the waist up!

Have a great week,

Love,

4Vs 

The Heat is On!

We are very excited that they turned on the heat to base housing late yesterday afternoon. I know our friends and family in Texas will not be as impressed, but we were cold! At Brock's football game it was all the parents could talk about as we huddled for warmth together.

Actually, we have had perfect October weather lately. Around 60 during the day and in the 40s at night. But when the wind blows and the rain falls, it can get pretty chilly. We have been huddling around the oven in the mornings and evenings lately!

Here's hoping you have a great fall weekend,

Love,

4Vs

R.C. the Rubber Chicken

Brock's class got the R.C. in the lunchroom because they behaved well. They received every dragon and the class with the most dragons at the end of the month get to keep the R.C. for 1 month. Then each kid in class gets to bring it home for a day and they have to write about what they did with it. Brock played a video game against the dead rubber chicken (Brock won) and then took him for a fast bike ride around the base. Then they did homework and went to his friend Jonathan's house. The End.
BV 

Lake Towada

After enjoying the waterfalls along the Oirase Gorge, we took a picnic lunch up to the town of Yasumiya on Lake Towada. The fall colors had even more red in this area and again, it was a very popular area for the local Japanese tourists as well. Lots of picnicing and strolling along the lake!

This is for Grandma Cone- the official man hole cover of Yasumiya! Hai!

Along the lake you can rent paddle boats- either swans or dinosaurs. Mike and three kids picked a swan while Angel and her youngest picked a dinosaur. Apparently the dinosauers are built for speed more so than the swans, but in the end everyone had a great time.

 

We also had the chance to view the Maidens of the Lake.




Happy Fall!

Love,

4Vs

Oirase Gorge trip

Sunday we went over to Oirase Gorge near Lake Towada. This area is west and slightly south of Misawa and is known for beautiful fall color. The Gorge is a 14k trail that you can drive that has many waterfalls and great trees. Tourists in the area can either hike along the narrow road or just drive and stop near the waterfalls. We took Mom and Dad as well as our friends the Mansbergers on a driving tour.

The weather was perfect and the whole area was crowded with tourists. We did our best to squeeze in to the waterfall areas and get some great pictures.

In the winter, these waterfalls freeze over and folks will trek out there to ice climb. I don't think you will find any of the Cones or Vaughns making this kind of winter trip!

Happy Fall!

Love,

4Vs, 3Ms and 2C's 

Rice Harvest

It is rice harvest time in Misawa. The rice fields have turned from a pretty green to a bright yellow. Once the farmers start harvesting, they will stack the rice.

There seems to be two common stacking methods:

The multiple small "tee-pee" method-

Then there is the large "samurai" looking stack-

I am sure that there are more correct terms to describe this process, but to this un-rice eductated American, they are tee-pees and samurais!

Love,

4Vs 

Great Day at Shipwreck Beach

Friday, Mom and Dad and I went to shipwreck beach on Mutsu Bay. It was a rainy day and I had my doubts about going to the beach in bad weather.

We have had lots of tropical storm weather around the island. When we got to Mutsu Bay, the waves were white-capping and the wind was blowing into the beach. We were the only ones on the beach that morning.

I was thrilled when Dad and I saw a big, Japanese fishing float on the beach. I have wanted to find one of these things for a long time. The one we found is a dark green glass ball with it's netting still around it. There was a small, orange plastic float tied to it as well. It is about the size of a beach ball.

Farther down the beach we found a mysterious wooden box with Japanese characters on it. It was nailed shut, but kind of interesting looking, so we held on to it as well.

We looked a little farther down the beach and saw another big glass float. This one was also the size of a beach ball but it is clear glass and has no netting. Additionally, it is covered in clams and barnacles. This ball must have been stuck down at the bottom for a while and was jarred loose in the storm.

In addition to the glass floats, we also found several really interesting sea shells.

What a great day at the beach! The floats are currently in the front yard. We are trying to decide if we should clear off the barnacles or not... Right now I am afraid they have a pretty healthy stink! I am hoping some fresh air and sunshine will improve them so we can bring them inside.

Love,

4Vs 

Aomori Apples

Apple season is here in Aomori Prefecture. We took Mom and Dad to the local apple orchard this week. We were able to ride the kiddie tractor ride and pick a few apples. I think the folks at the orchard thought it was strange that we would come out there without any kids. Once they got over the shock of it, they were good sports.

Gracie's kinder class has a field trip to the orchard this week. I will get better pictures of the tractor ride and the ladies who work there. They had little paper apples taped to their cheeks and the tractor trailer has a Thomas the Tank engine on it. Needless to say, we all felt a little weird to be there without the kids.

Mom made friends with one of the ladies and they tried to talk about the things they were growing on the farm: apples, Japanese sweet potatoes (yuck), tobacco, diakon radishes and so on...

We made a great pie with our apples that night at home.

Love,

4Vs 

Gracie meets an artist

In the commons area of the Hachinohe Fish Market was a potter (potter-er?). He had many of his sculptures displayed and invited Grace to sit down and get a present.

As she watched, he made this little clay figure of Grace.

He gave it to her and said "Present!"

Pretty cute, isn't it?

Love,

4Vs 

Hunting for Kaki!

Monday we went to the Hachinohe Fish Market to find kaki- Japanese oysters! We had a great time and tried to keep Dad from all the shellfish!

Here you can see the kaki on the far left!

There were all sorts of things for sale- including a shark!

Lots and lots of crab. Some were still wiggling....

When we got home, Mike and Mom whipped up some oyster's rockafeller. They were the only kaki eaters in the house and they said they were delicious!

Love,

4Vs