Akita

We drove up the day before, and got a hotel 2 blocks from where it all takes place.  With kids and stopping to run, it did take us a full day to rent the van, get caught in Tokyo traffic, and drive all the way up to Akita.  We passed a mountain that looks very much like Fuji.  Mt. Chokai was cool looking in the fading light of day.

Akita (pronounced AH-kee-tah) said that festivities started at 10.  Well, WE started partying at 10!

What it was was a couple displays and the like on the central plaza.  Local preschoolers were brought there.

Their form of transportation for the smallest kids totally cracks us up.  In the states, they'd be sitting down.  Here, they stand them up.  We think it is to train them to ride the trains, where only a few get seats, and the rest stand.  

This lady was selling ice cream, that she would shape into flower petals.  This was totally lost on the boys, who just ate it.

There is a lovely park there, which starts here, at their lotus pond.

The boys enjoyed running around more than looking at it, but we had all day!

Senshu Park has a reconstructed gate of Kubota Castle.

I am assuming this is one of the Satake clan, who were very powerful in the area for many years.

The Japanese garden part was very lovely.

Yojiro Inari Shrine.  You see me talking with the 'guide' that we picked up at the Satake Historical Museum.  We tried to communicate, and I misunderstood more than I understood, but every time he said Kubota (castle, what's famous) I would think of driving the Kubota tractors I used to drive!  :)

The wood working in Japan is so lovely.

Then we went to the Neburinagashi Kan.  The Kanto (lanterns on poles) and other festival floats museum.  We saw a show, and then WE got to try it!  Bottles for kids...

Smaller lanterns for me.  This was MUCH harder than I thought it would be!  Those kids behind me?  They make those large ones balance with ease on their back, shoulders, hips...  wow.

Tim got pretty good at it.  Amazing!

Diane and Arnold have a farm...

Our last summer home I had the last few days at Arnold and Diane's house booked for William and I.  Every time we went, William was hot to do chicken chores.  Aunt Diane let him help with milking, and slopping the pigs with Anna was fun.  He sure loves his chores!  I picked that raspberry patch several times.  I enjoy the easy chores of a farm!  :)  The eating chores, even better.  :) 

Arnold, au naturelle.  His hay business keeps him busy. 

Their farm house is always a warm, wonderful place to stay. 

This year, I got Evan's room.  William was in James' top bunk, and shared with James for a short time.    Of course, the kitties are missing Evan, so they were a bit miffed it was me in their room.  Diane has wifi, which is something we all love.

I was a little sad leaving.  It will probably be the last time I stay at Diane's place.  While we've been coming home summers, we've been able to stay with them, and be a part of the family.  Chores, leisure and getting to know the cousins.  It is all good. 

Thank you, Arnold and Diane, for being our wonderful host and hostess.  

Anna Lisa's Baby Shower

My niece, Anna Lisa, had her baby shower when I was home.  It was fun to be there for the event.  Usually I am too far away.

The baby's name Marigold, and was born September 30th.

One of the clients of where she works is a cake decorator, so she got a wonderful cake.

Muriel, Jan and Diane.  Cousin, Aunt, Aunt.

I am pretending to steal the gifts.  

Jason's great-aunt, grandmother and mother.

It was a pink lemonade cake, which was wonderful.  Nice and lemony!

Wild Waves Day

We have William in an orthodontic devise to help his overbite, and get ready for braces, once he starts the big grow at about 14.  Aidan, Thayer and Anna are all currently in braces.

His orthodontist, Dr. Naumann, does a Wild Waves Water Park free for his patients every other year.  William got a free ticket, and I bought the other 3 for a reduced price.  Anna's was free, too, as she goes there, as well.

They chose to do the water park first.

It was FREEZING!  These folks looked so cold!  But that meant most people were riding rides in the morning, and were going to do the water park in the afternoon.  So, they had shorter lines.

There was a seal show.  I caught them kissing.

There was also a 'Where's Waldo' contest.  I didn't win anything.

Diane and I kept each other company.

Riita, Dr. Naumann's wife is the only person I know who speaks Finn.

Aidan showing off his braces when I bought them dots ice cream.

They all had a blast, and I was glad we went.  Fun cousin time, and they all hung together!

Pacific Science Center and COUSINS

Pacific Science Center (under the Space Needle) has camps for kids.  The counselors had advanced degrees from impressive Universities.  We signed up William for the Amusement Park rides camp.

I was envisioning that they'd ride a roller coaster and make one.  But they did more with other types of rides.  I did feel sorry for them.  They had said, "Tomorrow, you get to make your own ride!"  William made plans to make a Tower of Terror type of ride, and was really disappointed when they made them do a merry-go-round type of one with a small motor.  So, the camp gets a D on creativity, a C for food,  a B on demonstrating real-life physics to children, and an A for counselors.

Every day we had to do the commute downtown.  It wasn't too bad, because we could use the commuter lane.  But coming home at night, getting out of north Seattle was a nightmare.  I finally found a route that was less-time, but not after we spent quality time in a traffic bottle-neck.  I have heard it has gotten worse, and the stations in Seattle have been reporting on it.

Uncle Noel was so cool.  He'd ask William about his day and be so interested.  We'd just gotten home in this pic, and Uncle Noel said, "Come into my office."  He was sitting in the back of the Yoder, having a beer, so up William hopped! 

William LOVES his cousins.  I think he wanted more time with them.  They are all ready to go to an Eagle Scout Court of Honor in this pic.

Aiden and Thayer got William hooked on Mine Craft.  This is the game that never ends...  

William is obsessed with playing in peaceful mode and building all the fun things he can get the basic products for.  At one point, when we just got home, he called Aidan to figure something out.  It was neat to see the cousin connection.

Hong Kong Work Trip

There certainly are worse places to travel for work.  I was pretty excited to travel to Hong Kong where we'd get to spend a few days working on the ship during the day and exploring Hong Kong in the evening.

There are some tall buildings in Hong Kong.  The building on the left is the International Commerce Centre and is the 4th tallest building in the world at 1,588 feet tall with 118 stories.

But, it doesn't stand out much since there are tall buildings everywhere.  I was told that Hong Kong is the most vertical city in the world.

Apparently, you need to do other things to make your building stand out.  Some of the architecture was incredible and the lighting at night was spectacular.  One really felt like you were in the movie Blade Runner... only cleaner and sunnier...

Along with the big and bright, there were the expected Hong Kong street signs.

Had to sample some of the local beer.  Not bad for being served in a plastic cup..

The night market.  Only open at night.  There were quite a few interesting things, but after a while, it all seems the same.

We were lucky that there was a beer and music festival going on that weekend.  Sampled a few more... plastic cups be damned...

One obviously needs to control the weeds growing on the wall.  Look what happens when you ignore them too long.

Found this cool store that sold funky modern art furniture and fixtures.  Too bad it would have been too difficult to transport this stuff home.

 I didn't get a picture of all the scaffolding erected around buildings undergoing maintenance.  For such a modern city, they use an awful lot of bamboo to build the scaffolding.  This van is full of the raw materials for a project.

I suppose I should have expected to see this on the ship.  But it was just a bit of a shock to see the Flag of China displayed next to the US Flag.  Diplomacy.

As we got underway, I toured around the ship.  It is quite different than when we work on the ship in the shipyard.  It's much more put-together and they have the planes on board.  A LOT of planes.  It was sometimes hard to get around because of all the planes.

Sadly, a sailor lost his life when he fell from the ship onto one of the barges servicing the ship.  Soon after we got underway, they transported his remains off the ship via an airplane.  They had a very nice ceremony for the transfer and rang him off with honors.  You can see more of that in the video.

I went back to watch the wake for a while.  They were doing some high power runs for evaluations, so  there was quite the churning mass of water behind the ship.  I was never out in the sun, but got a bit too much sun exposure from the reflected sunlight off the wake.  Snow and water are evil...!

Every so often, a supply ship would pull up along side to top off the carrier's jet fuel supply.  They'd shoot over cables and would then suspend hoses across to pump the fuel over.  They'd also rig ammunition and other supplies via the cables.  Most of the palleted food and supplies were carried over by helicopter.  I now know why they only serve eggs scrambled... You can see some of that in the video.

To make the room for moving all that food and other supplies around the hanger deck below, they "stacked" all the planes on the forward end of the flight deck.

It may seem that all I did was watch the cool stuff.  It's only because I can't take a picture of my work place.  Take my word for it, we worked very hard and deserved our little bit of entertainment of watching flight ops (operations).  The squadron leaders get to have their airplanes painted with decorations.  Here is the Diamondback leader...

Here, the Shadowhawks are in the foreground and I think it is the Mace's launching in the background.  Lots of action on the flight deck.

A Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD) flight coming in.  Notice how everyone is standing just outside of the red and white striped line.  That ensures that they are not injured by the arresting wire.  Most are there to ensure the wire is recoiled safely after the plane has landed.

A launch is a powerful thing.

A landing is a skillful one.

The team!