Ebina and Sagamihara Park

This week has been a difficult one for my family. I have felt even further away than 5,000 miles as my every thought and desire was to be with Natalie. So many of my siblings stepped up, though, and my mom was with her instantly. All I could do was just call and cry during those first few days, but it seemed like that was all any of us wanted to do. Natalie and Kevin are incredible. That is all.

Luke has been traveling most weekdays for the past two weeks, which has made it hard to go places or do things. He makes it so much easier, both with his Japanese-ing and with the extra set of hands. One amazing discovery I made was in regards to a playgroup held on SHA where we live. It is indoors in a building attached to the elementary school and all three of my kids played happily for two solid hours.

Ivy making friends, like always.

William walking around like he owns the place.

And June shuttering herself up in that house and denying entrance to anyone else.

Ivy starts preschool in a few weeks, which should make my life a little more structured. She is really excited, but I am nervous. It's every day for three hours, which seems like a long time. I reserve the right to quit at any time. 

A typical cross walk. Note: umbrellas for shade, bikes, women wearing classy skirts.

A pizza date that included honey pizza (right) and squid pizza with nori shreds (left). The squid pizza was actually really tasty. 

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A fun place that is only a couple of train stations away is Lalaport. I've mentioned it before - it was one of our first outings. 

They have a few American stores, but I don't really shop for clothes here. I haven't needed anything.

You are going to think I'm crazy, but let me indulge for a minute in my love affair with the bathrooms here. This "stall" is a little room with a full sized door, baby holder, warm seat, bidet, and ambient noise. It's like a spa! For poor people.

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This bathroom also featured a tiny urinal in the ladies room, presumably for the tiny gentlemen that often accompany their mothers.

Also a tiny sink.

Also a legit MAP of all the services offered JUST in this bathroom. Amazing. It lets you know which stalls have baby holders and which are big enough for strollers. 

Also this really nice changing area and a baby scale (?) in case you need that information on the fly. 

This was all separate from the large handicapped bathroom, the men's room, and the family bathroom. It really is quite the experience. You will notice on the map, however, that this bathroom doesn't feature any "Japanese style" toilets, which are glorified holes in the floor. I don't think I would care too much about using one (I haven't come across one yet) but Luke took Ivy to a men's restroom and she refused to squat. So I'm hoping we don't have to do that until she is a little less rigid about her bathroom standards. 

"'relume' is the brand proposing casual fashion for all adult ages to feel 'just right.' Our productions are not just Casual and Basic but also high quarity manufacturing with best fabrics. We are also incorporating a little 'latest' as what we are feeling in recent fashion market. Totally we must make you feel 'just right.' We are for your enjoyable fashion life."

Yes, I transcribed all of that for you. Was it worth it? Of course. 

One of the other things I love about Japan - many of the restaurants we go to bring out big baskets of toys for kids. It really is wonderful. June chose these stickers.

Ivy got this microphone kazoo.

I got this little guy...

who turns into a pen! (They didn't SPECIFY that the toys were just for the kids)

And William got this wee xylophone. Arguably the best selection of all. 

Ivy and June's meals arrived via bullet train. It's always an adventure eating out. The stars, which we assumed were chicken or fish, were some kind of potato fritter. June slurped up the peach jello/jelly hybrid and ate her fries. Like a true American.

I got some chicken katsu that was also stuffed with cheese and ham and some crunch shrimp. Also a bowl of cold, plain tofu. I'm sorry, Japan. You are going to have to try a little harder than that to get me converted to tofu. 

Then we went down a few floors and walked around and I was loving all the cutely packaged treats. 

Apparently gifts are kind of a thing here. There is this tradition of giving what is called an omiyage, a gift given when returning from a trip or if you are visiting a new place, something from your hometown. I love that. 

I bought a bunch of these mini bundt cakes. Yesss.

I saw everyone - EVERYONE - walking around with bags from this place called 'Bake' so I sought it out. It was a shop that sold only one product. 

The best cheese tart in your life ever. Which, yeah, was true. Granted, I can't say I've had many cheese tarts in my 28 years, but these were so good. 

Luke wanted to go to Mister Donut, which is a staple here in Japan. He ate here so much on his mission, he earned a prize - a plastic donut that glowed every color of the rainbow. 

Ivy's tasted like chewy bread combined with a strawberry pocky stick.

Mine was a croissant filled with creme and topped with chocolate. I was pretty into it. 

This was an $8 bowl of ramen that was amazing. That's all. 

This post is too long already, but if you are already here and you've come this far, you obviously have some time to kill. So here's a park that is about 10 minutes from our house that is incredible. It's so green and naturey and beautiful. 

This is an awesome little tunnel with strange vegetables hanging all hither and thither. 

This awesome little playhouse that was more like a lighthouse. So fun and whimsical. 

It felt nice finding a place that was close and had parking. I feel like I could come back there alone and let my kids explore all the little trails and glens. Ivy loves nature so much, not even the sting of a million mosquito bites could tempt her to leave. Sorry, kid. Them's the brakes.