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.
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!
Thanksgiving with Friends
We are so fortunate to have such a nice community to celebrate Thanksgiving with here in Japan.
Forrest’s First Tooth
He got a 2 for 1 special!
Adam and Leanne Celebrate 4 Years Married
It’s so hard to believe it’s already been 4 years! This is our first anniversary with a kid! Leanne prepared a wonderful steak dinner 😋
Forrest’s First Haircut
Forrest is 7 months old with a full head of hair. Our neighbor is a hairdresser who cut his hair for free! In fact, she cuts all the neighborhood kids’ hair for free! We had to distract him most of the time, but he did great!
Misawa Aviation Museum
We live in Misawa near the Misawa Aviation Museum, which houses Miss Veedol. Miss Veedol was the first plane to ever fly across the entire Pacific Ocean non-stop. The plane took off from Misawa, Japan and landed in East Wenatchee, Washington in 1931! We went to the museum and had a great time!
Forrest’s First Halloween
The next night, we got a babysitter for the first time and had a date night. Painting with a twist!
