family and friends

it took me forever to post all the pictures...

but anyhow, while we were in japan,

i was able to get together with many of my friends

and families.

on the last saturday of our trip,

my friends planned a little get together for us!

we had great food and played badminton and basketball

and hung out and was so much fun!

日本の旅の最後の土曜日に

友達と集まってパーティーをしてくれました。

ご飯もいっぱい作ってきてくれてとってもおいしかったです。

本当にありがとう。

バトミントンもバスケも楽しかったです！

いろんな所からきてくれたみんな、

ありがとうねぇ。

this is kellen in "kintaro" outfit!

kintaro is a little boy from a story that wrestled with a bear and won.

怜君の金太郎姿。

it was so fun to see my friend's kids!

友達の子供たちもいっぱい来てて、

怜君もうれしそうでした。

this is a little trick kellen learned (?) or happened to do in japan...

playing dead...

そして、これが、怜君の死んだ振り。

it was so good to see my family!

my younger brothers have grown so much and

my youngest brother was so little when i saw him last

(i think it was at my wedding...)

but now he is much taller than me!

he is still lighter than me though...

家族と一緒に時間をすごせて

とっても良かったです。

時間を合わせてくれてありがとうねぇ。

翔の成長ぶりにはびっくり！

背はもうすっかり抜かされてました・・・。

体重はまだ私の方が勝ってるみたい?

（でも、あまりうれしくない・・・）

my dad's sister and her sons came to visit too.

we were all pretty close and played a lot growing up,

so it was so good to catch up and see what they've been up to.

おばちゃんや、いとこたちにも会えてうれしかったです。

よく一緒に遊んで育ってきたので、

また会えて良かった!

my cousin with her baby.

she is expecting her second one soon!

いとこと娘さん。

また２人目がもうすぐ？生まれます。

kellen loved playing with drink cartons!

most of the drinks come in paper cartons.

we needed to wash them and open them up to throw them away.

in japan, there is a system (it depends on area) where you have to

devide your garbage into different groups

like glass, plastic, paper, metal, aluminum,

and regular garbage that can not be recycled.

it was such a pain, but it's probably good for the environment.

this is my hard working grandpa working on his little trees

or i guess they are bushes...

and this is what he wears when he is working on his garden or farm.

stylish boots!

this is my dad's dog, "ron"

he wanted kellen for dinner...

in japan, there is no space for pets to run around at home...

so we have to walk them everyday.

so when my dad could not go,

we took him on a walk.

that was hard.

we had to scoop up his poop...

there are some japanese people that train their dogs to poop in a bag.

but i guess my dad didn't have the time to do that...

my grandpa took us to eat SUSHI!

you can kind of see a plate of sushi kind of next to my peace sign.

there is a belt that goes around the counter and

sushi goes around by our table.

if you see something you want, you can just pick it up and eat it.

or you can order whatever you want.

i tried tuna head meat and that was awesome!

i loved it!

zac didn't try it, but he loved the shrimp.

four generation photo!

i think kellen's eye brows looks just like grandpa's!

四代目写真。

怜君の眉毛はおじいちゃんのにそっくり？

i also got to go and put flowers, inscents, and beer on grandma's grave.

it was good to go with grandpa and spend some time with him too.

おばあちゃんのお墓参りもいけてうれしかった。

kellen loved grandpa.

he laughed every time he saw grandpa.

怜君はおじいちゃんに会うたびによく笑ってました。

大好きなおじいちゃんとツーショット。

and these are my favorite pictures of all!

kellen with aika...

Kellen: "hey, Aika, that's my snack...

give it back..."

怜：あいかちゃん、それ、僕のおかし・・・。

Aika: "I didn't want them anyway, well, I'm gonna go play..."

Kellen: "Can I play with you?"

あいか：べつに、いらないもん。私、あっちであそぼ。

怜：あ、僕も一緒に遊んでいい？

Aika: "No! You go over there!"

Kellen: "...But... I want to spend some time with you..."

あいか：だめ、あなたはあっちに行って！

怜：・・・えっ・・・もっと一緒にあそびたいよ・・・。

Aika: "I can't do this any more."

Kellen: "Wait, I'll behave, let me come with you."

あいか：もうやってらんない。

怜：待って!　一緒に行かせて!

at the air port...

my sisters and my parents came to see us off...

we had subway for lunch there and they were yummy!

they had shrimp with avocado!

飛行場で・・・。

妹たちと両親が見送りに来てくれました。

アメリカに無いサブウェイのメニューで美味しかった。

this is a toy that kellen got from the flight attendant.

the toy wet his pants... lol...

飛行機の中でもらったおもちゃがお漏らし・・・?

kellen rockin' to music!

なんか、あっという間のたびでした。　

でも、すごく楽しかったです！