Christmas...Old, New, and on Call

Our Christmas holidays have always been busy. Some years would find us traveling to New York, Japan, or Oregon. Others would be spent at home, bouncing between visits to the many members of our extended family. This year was the latter, but with a new wrinkle: this was the first year with three kids when poor Sumie was on call. And, sadly, this is not a call she can take from home. She'd be schlepping to the hospital each morning as her kids - in Christmas mode - gobble cookies and complain to their father that they want to watch more Odd Squad.

Even with Mama on call, we still found a way to fit in all the festivities we could. We started off with a new experience for Mimi. She took part in her first gymnastics development meet. She's been taking classes for about two years now and finally made the cut to take part. She competed in four events, several of which were causing her quite a bit of apprehension a few days before the meet. About a week before she told us she wanted to back out, but she eventually "girled-up" and found some confidence.

The day of the meet, Kuri and Mari cheered their big sister on. When all the events were over, Mimi was holding her head high as she accepted her medal.

Kuri's Japanese preschool had a host of holiday activities. On the last day, the kids each received a special gift to share with their families.

Back at home, we opened the package Kuri received and found a beautiful New Year's wreath, complete with artwork Kuri had prepared at school.

We were also quite taken with the Advent calendar Kuri created. For each day he would glue on a cotton ball to complete Santa's beard.

Mimi's last day of school was a blast. Not only was it pajama day, immediately after school she got to make Christmas cookies with all of her friends. 

A few days later, it was Christmas Eve and the kids were all wondering what Santa was going to bring them. But they'd have to wait. We had a party to attend in Napa, where amidst the wonderful time with family, there was a constant battle to keep Mari off the stairs. 

And finally, after the kids had amazingly slept a full night, Christmas morning came. Mimi and Kuri ran out of their room to find a few new presents under the tree and an empty plate of cookies. The kids were raring to go, which was good for us because we needed to get through our Christmas morning quickly before Sumie headed down to the hospital.

In terms of gifts, this year was a bit of an anomaly. The kids really didn't have any recommendations to share with Santa. Well, they had a few (Mimi wanted a phone and Kuri wanted "more cars!"), but these were vetoed. As such, Santa had some serious thinking to do. Thankfully, the jolly old guy came through.

Mimi was greeted with a Kano computer. This is a raspberry pi based machine, complete with keyboard and screen, that helps introduce kids to coding concepts.

One of the best things about this little computer is that it comes as a kit. Mimi and I spent about an hour Christmas morning building it.

And, as I expected, as soon as I had connected it to wi-fi Mimi had jumped past the coding challenges and pulled up Odd Squad on YouTube. The girl is obsessed.

Ever since Netflix released their new Voltron cartoon, Kuri has been obsessed with the famous five lions. So much so that he was starting to wear out his father's original set of lions from the mid 1980s. It was time for the boy to have his own set of lions. Somehow Santa knew this.

When combined, the robot is pretty impressive.

He can even stand up on his own...

occasionally.

At 22 months, Mari is fascinated by babies, so Santa brought her a little stroller so she can play mama.

She's generally quite gentle with her little baby, but occasionally she reverts. After pushing her baby around the house contentedly she'll get a bit tired, decide it's her turn, grab the baby by the head, chuck it out of the chair, and plop herself down in the stroller. 

Later that day, presents opened and played with, and Mama off to work, we set out for another family Christmas party, this time in the East Bay. All the kids had a blast actually sharing their toys (for once).

While Mimi's gift this year was pretty high-tech, we were pleasantly surprised by a more traditional holiday present. Grandma and Grandpa delivered a Lionel train set for the kids on Christmas Eve. As you may have guessed, Kuri demanded it be set up Christmas morning (he'd been asking to set it up on Christmas Eve, but was told Santa wouldn't be able to come if he didn't get to bed). Once the oval had been prepared, we found there was enough room to include Kuri's Tomica train set as well. Kuri was a bit mystified as to why the steam train was faster than the shinkansen.

This was a pretty special gift for the family because it opens up a lot of family history, despite being new. We broke out a few of our other engines.

This green one is from 1928 and was my maternal grandfather's. Amazingly, it runs fairly well and can even still pull its three coaches. 

We also ran this beast, from the 1950s, which had been given to my dad for Christmas over 60 years ago. This was also the engine that pulled my train cars when I was a kid. It rather amazes me that my kids are playing with toys that span four generations our family.

It's now two days since Christmas and we've, somewhat, cleared the house of wrapping paper and gift debris. Kuri is learning how to form Voltron on his own and operate the electric train safely (we had quite a few derailments in the first hour or two). Mari is becoming a better dolly mama and learning not to sit in her baby stroller (slowly). And Mimi, with a little encouragement from her papa she jumped into some of the coding challenges on her Kano. Turns out she really enjoys them. After a few hours, and a bit of beta testing with Papa, she had finished her first game - a version of Pong - to share with Mama. It was pretty cool. She figured out how to start with a huge ball and then make it shrink just a little bit each time you hit it. She also added sound, adjusted the speed, and set it so that the first player to six points would win. Lots of "if-then" logic statements. We were pretty proud of her.

Our Christmas was a lot of fun this year, but what we're really excited for is for the afternoon of December 29th. That's when Mama finishes call, has a few days off, and we can really begin to celebrate the holidays. I hope she knows just how much this family appreciates all she does for us and the sacrifices she makes. Despite all the fun presents this year, having her home full-time will be the best gift of all.

Japanese Luxury - Life at the Onsen (Japanese Hot Spring)

When you think of Japanese luxury, your mind might wander to Lexus, Japanese whiskey, cutting-edge electronics, or omakase at a high-end sushi bar. And while all these are wonderful, luxurious things in their own right, nothing encapsulates Japanese luxury for me more than a getaway at a traditional Japanese onsen (hot springs) hotel. A mix of beautiful scenery, amazing food, lazy afternoons, and endless soaks in hot baths - there's else like it.

Japan is famous for its onsens, so we had plenty of choice. We decided on the older hot springs town of Atami, which was on our way back to Tokyo from Nagoya. Walking out of Atami station, the kids were shocked to see scores of barefoot people soaking their tired feet in a pool of steaming water. It was a Japanese foot bath, filled from the naturally occurring hot springs that make the seaside resort town famous.

Water levels were perfect for adults, but with little kids, it was difficult to avoid wet pant legs. Kuri did the best he could.

After drying our feet, we hopped into a taxi and headed for our hotel, where Sumie's parents would meet us for two relaxing, food-filled days. Our onsen was a ryokan, which is a Japanese-style inn. That means it has shoji (sliding paper doors), tatami mats for floors, and no beds (futons are brought out for you when it comes time to sleep).

Here's a view of the main room. We'd be having our meals in here and then, when we finally finished, the tables would be set aside.

The room also included an enclosed terrace, perfect for taking in the ocean and city view.

When staying at an onsen, you need to dress the part. We all donned "yukata" (an informal Japanese robe) and tied them with long belts called "obi." These robes really do help put you in the right mindset for relaxing.

Even Mari had a special outfit (though she wasn't always a fan of wearing it).

At many onsen hotels, you can choose to eat in your room. If this is available, it's the choice I always make. There's nothing like lying back, reading a book, and then rolling over to begin one of the best meals of your life. And then, once your done, lying right back down!

Though Sumie's parents had their own room, they joined us in ours for breakfast and dinner each day. This led to a lot of fun family time, but still enabled Sumie's parents to escape the bedtime challenge of three kids (at least until we got back to Tokyo).

If you're used to room service in American hotels, you are in for a wonderful shock when you first see the spread set before you at a Japanese onsen. Most of it is more traditional Japanese food, with tons of raw and cooked fish, veggies, fruit, you name it.

One of my favorites was the red snapper they brought out for our third, or maybe it was fourth, course. Many of the dishes were heated by sterno, right there on the table. Some of these included soup, nabe (Japanese hot pot), and steak. Yeah, it was a feast.

It wasn't all just eating and relaxing, though. We were near the end of our trip and realized we were way behind on our homework. The terrace room made a perfect study center.

On our second day in Atami, we set out to explore the small city. We took a ropeway up to the top of the mountain behind our onsen to visit a castle.

While there, we left a "good luck" message for Sumie's youngest brother, Genta.

The kids had fun taking in the sights...

...and running around the castle (they're off somewhere, and hence not in the picture below).

Sumie's parents posed for a picture on the cliff jutting out into the ocean. It was a beautiful afternoon, but soon we were hungry.

We headed back down and sought out an udon restaurant (Sumie had been craving it since we'd arrived in Japan). After that, we went our separate ways, with Sumie's parents exploring their way to the station, and us heading for a park to run off a little more kid energy.

Now, at this point you might be thinking, "We seen your room, seen your food, and seen your day trips...What about the hot springs?" Well, here they are. An onsen has rather different rules than the hot spring resorts you find in the states. While those usually offer larger, swimming-sized pools, onsens focus on baths - smaller pools for soaking only. Modest westerners will also have to brace themselves for the dress code: bathing suits are not allowed. Of course, the baths are strictly separated into men and women only.

I sneaked into the onsen just before it was to close at dinner time for cleaning and, with no one there, was able to get a few pictures. Here's the first, enclosed bath.

Here are the shower stalls in the interior bath. Before getting into the pool, you need to wash off. These aren't standing showers, though. You sit on the small stool and wash. Once you're clean, you're ready to get in.

The best pool, by far, was upstairs and outside. It offered an amazing view of the city lights from the long soaking pool...

...and from the teacup bath. Jumping into this, the water, which is constantly being refilled, would happily spill over the top. I've a feeling I displaced far more water than the average bather.

We'd sneak up to the baths as often as we could, usually before dinner, after dinner, and then again in the morning. Kuri really loved the experience and, despite his energy, learned to relax in the hot water with his papa.

Mari and Mimi, of course, enjoyed the baths with their Mama. For Mari, though, I think her favorite part of the onsen visit was cuddling with Obachan and Ojichan (Grandma and Grandpa).

On the morning of our last day, we got up early to enjoy the baths and to take in the view from our room one final time. The sky was getting a little cloudy and rain was on the way. It was time to head out.

We visited a few shops around the station, picking up souvenirs for family and friends, and took some touristy pictures with the kids.

 Of course, we had to stop by the foot bath one last time.

Mimi and Kuri were still going strong, but Mari and her papa were looking forward to an afternoon nap. 

We then boarded yet another shinkansen and headed back to Tokyo.

On our last night, we met with Shu's family for dinner at the Prince Hotel, which was already decorated for Christmas.

It was very apparent that the cousins would miss each other. Poor Asuka, who is the same age as Mimi, was in tears when it was time to go. She insisted Mimi was part of the family and should stay.

It had been an amazing trip, but as with all vacations, we were happy to be back home as well. Being back, I thought we'd finished our Japanese adventures for a while, but the Japanese blood runs deep in my family. After taking the Porsche out for a much needed drive, I came home to find everyone asleep under the kotatsu, our Japanese heated table.

It will probably be at least another year until we're able to head back to Japan, but already the kids are asking when we'll make the trip. As they get older, we'll be able to explore more and more. Can't wait for our next visit (and perhaps a flight in which all the children, for once, can entertain themselves).