Great Summer

Well folks, summer has wrapped up and we are heading into the cool of the Fall. The kids are all back in school, Hannah had her first day of Kindergarten today. It was bittersweet putting her on the bus with her big sister; she was so excited. It always hits me way harder to send them off to Kinder than to take them to preschool...I guess it is because it is so "official." I know she will have a great year. Her teacher, Mrs. Bloom who lives across the street, is very excited for school to start and will be a great teacher. Sarah's teacher Mr. Thomas should be great for her too...he ordered owl pellets last year which are really cool to disect. I wonder if he knows how weak a stomach Sarah has...
I guess I should blog a bit about what we did this summer. One thing I didn't do was take pictures, I am terrible. I will scrounge up some from friends/family and post what I can when I can.


Kurt got home at the end of June from his deployment, but turned right around and went back to the States on a two-week assignment. It is sure nice to have him back and it looks like he will be around for a while! Also in June, Hannah had a sleepover to mark the end of her Yochien experience and they had a great time. She ate Japanese food, played games and slept on a futon. When school ended, Sarah went off to her first Girl Scout camp. She went for a week to Tama Recreation area...a military facility about 16 miles away (takes 45 minutes or more by car). She got to ride a horse, hike, learn to build a campfire and got to sing some of the same songs I did when I went to camp. She had a great time too.

In July, we went to NY to visit the family. I was able to attend my sister Laurie's baby shower which was great, and got to see my new little nephew that my brother and his wife had back in February...Reilly is the cutest kid ever! We got to spend the fourth with the Robert family at their beautiful lakehouse and got to hike and go to the park with my parents and the kids. It was a nice vacation.

When we got back, Kurt had an exercise to prepare for a big inspection coming up. He was working over 12-hour days so my girlfriend and I took our six kids and went to the Yokohama area. We stayed at Yokosuka Naval Base with our hotel overlooking the water. Tyler was ecstatic watching the "Destroyers" drive by in the morning. All navy ships to him are "destroyers." We got to tour the Battleship Mikasa, went to Haijiima Sea Paradise - aquarium/amusement park, went to Chinatown and had dim sum, shopped for school clothes at the BX, spent a day at the base pool and then took a ferry to Sarushima ("monkey island") where we picnicked and played on the beach. All in all it was a great time.

Mrs. Yokota only had one appearance this summer at the Friendship Festival, an airshow open to the Japanese public. Two days in a row, for 12 hours each I stood on the flightline in heels, dress, sash and crown waving and having pictures taken with the Japanese. I think I had a thousand pictures taken of me! We raised a ton of money for the Mrs. Yokota Organization by selling cakes and lemonade, and we are going to be able to give a decent-sized scholarship out in the next few months.

We have also made some day trips this summer. The kids and I went one day to the "train park." They have numerous old static displays of steam engines. They have some kiddie rides and they have a giant train set that has about 15 different trains running on about six different tracks. The kids had a great time, it was a fun way to spend the day. We also went as a family to "Summerland" amusement and water park. They had a lazy river, hot tub pool, gigantic gondola ferris wheel, roller coaster, free-fall and several waterslides. They have an indoor wave pool (that we skipped this time) and a large indoor kid play area. It was one of the last Saturday's this season that the outside will be open, but there weren't that many people. OK, there weren't that many people for Tokyo!

Last night, Labor Day, the next door neighbor and I put together a last minute block party. We got a bounce castle for the kids and just threw together some food. It was a great time and we talked a lot about how we should have been doing these get-togethers long ago. Maybe we will close off the block, pool our candy, and have a Halloween block party!

Not only have we been able to relax some this summer, we have also been able to get some spiritual regeneration. Kurt and I went to the temple in Tokyo again, which is always a great experience (the Korean BBQ we had for dinner on the way was great too). I got released from Young Women's as a teacher and got called to Relief Society...as a teacher. I am a little nervous since I have never even been TO Relief Society because of my extensive time in Primary. I am excited to be involved in several enrichment groups coming up for the year...I am the POC for the book club and lunch bunch and will be attending the cooking club. That along with Mrs. Yokota duties, volunteering at the elementary school, and YOSC activities should keep me gainfully employed while the kids are in school.

Kurt has been busy with work. He was working as the Assistant Director of Operations for the 36 Airlift Squadron. Now, he got moved and is now Chief of the "Command Post, " the base's central nerve center. Everything gets filtered through there to the proper chains...if something bad happens on or off base, they know about it first. It is a very high profile job and demands a lot of attention to detail and regulation. Anyone who knows Kurt, knows that is his forte, so I know he will do an excellent job. He won't be flying as much which means he will be home more often and not off on "trips." He will miss the flying, but we won't have to miss him!

So that is the great, long blog about our summer. I hope that all of your families are well and safe. We love to get your family's updates too...helps us feel close even when we are far away!