Japan

 This year for ski week we took a trip to a place I have always wanted to visit: Japan!  We bought our tickets months ago when a new discount airline called Zipair started service between San Jose and Tokyo. We were worried that the airline would not be good, but actually had a pleasant experience and both our flights were on-time.

In Japan, we first spent 4 nights in Tokyo.   Tokyo is such a massive city, and we barely scratched the surface in our short visit.  First we headed to the Sensoji temple, where Ethan enjoyed picking a fortune, and we saw some early blooming plum trees.

 

That day, we also visited a "rabbit cafe"--in Japan, there are all these animal cafes where you can pay a small cover fee and hang out with different animals.   Obviously because of Alaina we chose a Rabbit one--but they also have owls, pigs, hedgehogs, otters--the choices are endlesss!   This was a highlight of the trip for Alaina for sure.

On our second day, we visited the Meiji-jingu temple, which was in a massive park, and enjoyed shopping the rest of the day.   Shopping was another favorite activity of Alaina's-they have all these cute shops with cartoon characters, like Hello Kitty and Miffy the Bunny.   She was in heaven.

  

Our final day in Tokyo, we checked out the fish market, as well as the World War II museum, which was a fascinating perspective on the war.   We also headed to the top of the Tokyo government metropolitan building for sunset--and really got to appreciate the endless Tokyo skyline.

The following day, we got to take the Shinkansen, or Japanese bullet train to Kyoto.   Ethan has been interested in taking this train since he read about it in an "All About Trains" book he had as a toddler.   And it did not disappoint.  So fast!   

Upon arriving in Kyoto we headed to Fushimi Inari Shrine.    This shrine has tori gates that go up a mountain--it is really beautiful and a nice hike too!   The top had lovely views of Kyoto, which is a valley that kind of reminded me of Silicon Valley.

  

We stayed in a really cool airbnb in Kyoto--a very old, but redone traditional Japanese home.   The table and chairs were leg-less and we slept on mats on the floor.   One of the neatest airbnbs ever!

The following day was unfortunately rainy.   We spent the morning shopping and then took the kids to haircuts.   In the afternoon, I took the kids to an "all you can eat snack cafe", which was Ethan's highlight of the trip.  With a small cover charge, we had access to all sorts of Japanese snacks and Candy--all we could eat--and video games for one hour.   We definitely got our money's worth, ha ha--this place is not designed for Americans!

Our last full day in Kyoto, we headed to a reserve where we got to see some snow monkeys.   They even let you feed them, from a special caged area (the humans are in the cage, ha ha).   We then took a short walk through a bamboo forest, which was beautiful.   In the afternoon it started to snow, but we headed out to see Kinkaku-ji, a golden Shrine, which was very beautiful.   We ended the day with Jason heading to a traditional Japanese bath, and the kids and I did some shopping before heading to dinner.

 

 

The next morning we took the train to Hakone, a geothermal area 2/3 of the way back to Tokyo.   We purchased Tickets for the Hakone circle--a tour of the area including a train, tram, gondola, boat and bus.   We got super lucky with the weather and had amazing views of Mt. Fuji.   Unfortunately, it seemed like everyone in Japan had the idea to visit with us--it was very crowded.   

 

Our hotel that night was a traditional Japanese Ryokan.   We had some issues with the kids, as apparently I had not put their ages on the reservation and so their dinner and beds were not included.   We did get it all sorted out, but I was a little soured on the place.   After dinner, we divided up and headed to the onsen (hot springs tubs)--which were separated by gender and required bathing in the nude.   The kids were not big fans.

Our final day, we headed back to Tokyo and Narita Airport--we took off at 4pm Monday, but landed at 8am Monday--backwards time travel!

Overall an amazing trip!  I was struck by the cleanliness of everywhere in Japan-yet there were not trash cans on the streets at all!   Also the fact that the culture seemed very lonely/isolated--many people dined alone, and meals always seemed rushed.  And rules were a big deal--everyone just follows them.   Fascinicating.   For sure, one week was not nearly enough, and I would love to head back again in the future to check out other parts of Japan.

We have a 14 year old!

 Back on Feb 1 Ethan turned 14 (yes, I am a little behind on my posting!).  That means in 2 years he will be driving!   Yikes!

On his actual birthday, he had a high school music orientation, so not a lot of time to celebrate, but we did our best with cake and presents when we got home.   All he asked for this year was money--he wanted to buy an iPhone, which we have refused to buy for him (he has been using a Motorola).  

On the weekend, we took his best friend Ethan skiing, and his family joined us as well.   It dumped snow on Saturday night, so the boys had a lot of fun in the fresh powder on Sunday.

Yesterday, we finally had enough time to get to the apple store to get him his phone--and he is super excited.  Now his text messages come through in blue, ha!

Orlando

Last weekend, Jason has the ASA practice management conference in Orlando.   Because he has been traveling a lot for work recently, and because it was Orlando, the kids and I decided to join him for a long weekend.I pulled the kids out of school on Thursday and Friday, and met Jason in Florida (he had left on Wednesday morning).   

Because he was super busy with the conference all day off Friday, the kids and I went to the magic kingdom.   Luckily, the weather was much cooler than it was when we were here in 2019.   The kids and I spent the ENTIRE day at the park--tiring for sure, but we wanted to get our money's worth!  

Alaina's favorite was space mountain, and Ethan's was big thunder mountain railroad.   I had asked the kids to plan out our day beforehand, and Alaina put together a very cute list of "must-do's" --I think we hit everything on it!

On Saturday, we slept in to recover, and then followed my colleague's recommendation to go to Blue Springs State park to see the manatees, which is about an hour north of Orlando.   Blue Springs is a natural spring with just about the clearest water I have ever seen.   In winter, the mantees congregate here, because the 72 degree water is apparently warmer than the ocean.   There were over 450 animals in the springs, plus a ton of fish that we could see as well.   In the summer, once the manatees leave, you can also swing in the springs--which I suppose is one of the best freshwater places to swim in Florida, since you could easily see an approaching alligator!

On the way home we stopped for a round of mini-golf.

Sunday morning, Jason gave a talk, and I dragged the kids so they could see their dad in action. 

  Afterwards, we went to the pool until it was time for our flight.   So, overall, a good, but busy weekend with a 3 hour time zone difference.   The kids were tired last week for sure.

Ski Weekend with the Cortez Family

Last weekend, the rain finally stopped, and fortunately, we had planned to go to Tahoe.   The timing could not have been better--about 10 feet of fresh snow!  

 Even more fortunately, our friends, Sue and Ben, and their kids Cruz and Whitney were able to join us.

We had great weather-blue skies and not too cold--and great snow for skiing.  

 The kids had a lot of fun hanging out and also enjoyed walking off of our second floor deck and into the snow--it was that high!

For dinner, Ben made some delicious chicken pot pies.   It was great catching up (it had been too long since we did) and enjoy some winter fun together.

Double Digits

 Last week Alaina celebrated her first decade.   Over the weekend, she had a sleepover birthday party and had 4 school friends stay the night.   

The party stated with a taco bar.   The girls then decorated pillowcases and eye masks with fabric markers.   Afterwards was cake--I found Alaina a cute bunny cake and presents.   We then had a scavenger hunt, and finally ended the activities with a movie--the girls chose Pirates of the Caribbean.  The girls headed to bed around 11 but were still chatting when I fell asleep.  In the morning they had a pancake breakfast before heading out.

  

On her actual birthday, Alaina had school and piano.   Afterwards, we had a family dinner with Grandpa and Marilynn.  Alaina again chose Salisbury steak and mashed potatoes for her dinner, and for dessert, an ice cream cake with strawberry ice cream.

 

For his birthday present, she got a desk for her room.   Jason spent a long time yesterday putting it together, and then we rearranged the furniture to make room for it.   She is pretty excited to have her own workspace in her room!  Check out the before and after pictures:

 

Electricity Woes

 Well, 2023 is off to a bit of a rough start for us.

As we were driving home from Tahoe on New Year's Day, we got a text from our neighbor saying that they had been having power surges at their house.   Our electric company came out to investigate and declared it was fixed.

Two hours later, our other neighbor texted to say his house was on fire.   Thankfully no one was inside--they were out for a walk--but the fire, which started in a surge protector, caused significant damage, and their sprinklers did even more.

We came home to a fire crew in the cul-de-sac.   Luckily, no fire in our house, but we did also have several charred surge protectors.   Additionally, our furnace, microwave and bathroom fan no longer worked.

By then the electric company was back and assured us that this time the problem was really fixed (but was it?).  We did not sleep well, and left all the bedroom doors open and unplugged as much as possible out of fear.

The following day, we had an electrician out who got our furnace running again but could not fix the microwave or fan.   Other neighbors had similar issues--one house lost an oven, another a refrigerator/freezer, etc.   And everyone on the street had fried surge protectors.

Ugh--who knew something like this could even happen!   Thankfully, the electric company has admitted fault, and we hope to get reimbursed for our damages.   But, what a pain!

Meanwhile, fast forward a few days to Wednesday--we got a massive storm that hit California--an atmospheric river/bomb cyclone as it was called.   Winds hit up to 100 mph.   So guess what--we lost power!   It was off for over 14 hours.   

So a rough electric week!   We are feeling about ready to go off the grid!!

Christmas and New Years

 We spent Christmas and New Year's up at the cabin.   It was another strange weather holiday week, but we made the best of it.

This was the first Christmas in a very long time that just the 4 of us celebrated together--my dad and Marilynn spent the holidays in Chicago.    We enjoyed a quiet holiday together, and luckily Santa visited before we left for Tahoe!

Ethan's favorite gift was a new ski jacket, and Alaina's was her rainbow bunny squishmallow.

In Tahoe, we did a lot of downhill skiing, especially towards the beginning of the trip when the weather was better.  When we arrived we had about 6 feet of snow on the ground, but over the course of the week it warmed up, and the snow began to melt.   

  

Jason and I also enjoyed some XC skiing too.

Our friends the Rollins flew in from Minnesota to spend New Year's with us.   We enjoyed catching up.  Their son Matthew is 12 and got along quite nicely with our kids.

  

Unfortunately the bad weather continued during the Rollins' visit, and on the 30th we had an epic RAIN storm.   This actually caused some major flooding, and kept the kids from skiing.  In the evening it turned to snow--and the snow it did!   We got almost 4 feet in 12 hours!

The rain plus the snow caused a local creek to flood and prevented the kids from going out skiing again--the road was impassable:  

The adults decided to snowshoe--we ended up doing an almost 6 mile loop which was super ambitious considering the snowfall rate (as high as 7 inches per hour!), and the fact that the "trail" was ungroomed and full of heavy snow.   It was much much harder than anticipated!

We rang in the new year with oven ribs--they were delicious--but did not make the Serene lakes 9pm party as it was cancelled due to the snow.

We all left on New Year's Day--after digging the Rollins car out!

Unfortunately, our New Year at home got off on the wrong foot, as the storms in Marin caused our cul-de-sac's electricity to short circuit and surge.   We lost several appliances including our mircowave and furnace, and all of our surge protectors were blown--some visibly smoky.   Our neighbors were not so lucky, as one of these surge protectors caused their house to catch on fire!   Luckily no one was home, but they have significant damage.   So 2023 is off to a great start.