American Summer in Review

Well after 8 weeks in the United States, we are back home safe and sound. Well sound is a relative term, right? I mean really how sound can one be after traveling across the world with 3 kids alone with 8 suitcases containing 408 pounds of junk (yes those were exact weights upon boarding the airplane) and 4 carry-ons?

We had a busy, but wonderful summer. I won’t bore you with all the details, but some of the highlights include:

Two weeks in North Carolina (One week at our old house and one week at our annual beach trip with college friends.)

Four and a half weeks in Ohio swimming, shopping, family gatherings, camping, meeting with friends, a little get-a-way for Matt and I, running a 5 mile race and just spending time with our family. We have to make up for the 10 months we have been gone right?

Five days in Illinois spending time with friends, lots of shopping and helping one of my close friend’s pack for their family’s big move to Omaha, Nebraska.

And finally five days in Hawaii, just me and the kids. It was nice to have some downtime from such a crazy and wild summer before heading back to Japan. I hope the last few days were ones my kids will always remember. I know I will.

(Click on any link above to see many more pictures)

Being back with friends, family and American shopping and food was wonderful. But it was different, very different. I didn't realize how much this move has changed my perspective on things until I went back “home”. But that is a totally different blog post.

So bear with me a few days to unpack and get over my jet lag and I will be back in blogging (and reading!) action. I am sure with my rusty Japanese and lack of driving on the left side I will have some great “Yes, Alexis really did that” stories to tell.

Pearl Harbor

Sunday, December 7, 1941... this is a date that will never be forgotten in American history. Early in the morning the Japanese made a surprise attack on the US Naval base in Pearl Harbor, resulting in the sinking of four battleships and damaging four more as well as sinking or damaging three cruisers, three destroyers and one minelayer. The attack destroyed 188 aircraft. In a matter of 90 minutes, 2,402 lives were lost and 1,282 were wounded.

Our visit began near the USS Bowfin. The kids enjoyed looking at different artifacts and replicas of different military items as used during WWII.

Near the USS Bowfin there is also a memorial park paying tribute to the 52 US submarines and over 3,500 submariners who lost their lives during WWII. In this park every submarine and person's name is written on a special monument.
The kids and I then made our way to the USS Arizona Memorial. This memorial is the final resting place for 1102 of the battleship's 1177 crew members who lost their lives on December 7.
There is a museum to tour and also a movie that you will be shown prior to being taken via boat to the actual memorial. On most days outside the museum will be a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor. These two men were there the day we went.

After the movie we were loaded into a boat and taken out to the memorial. All around are markers in the water showing where each ship was hit during the attack. Every ship was recovered except the USS Arizona and the USS Utah.
The memorial itself is 184-feet long.
Once inside the memorial you can walk around the main area, which is where you can view parts of the sunken ship visible above or just below the water.
There is also a magnificent view of the Pearl Harbor area from the memorial. It is mind blowing to think of all the destruction and lives lost that took place on that very spot when looking from the memorial.
At the back of the memorial is the shrine room. This room contains the names of all those killed on the USS Arizona engraved on a marble wall.
You can feel a sense of honor and remembrance while you walk around the memorial. Everyone is quiet. People talk in hushed voices. I think we all try to stand there and imagine what the last moments were like for those 1177people.
When you look into the water you can see spots of oil that still seeps out of the USS Arizona. Some call these "Tears of a Sailor". There are 22 remaining survivors of the USS Arizona. All the survivors have been asked to be brought back to rest with the ship upon their death. The survivors believe that once the last person has been returned the the ship, the oil will stop seeping. When the memorial worker told us that story I got goosebumps.

The amount of time on the memorial is timed. When they bring the next group via boat, you have to board and head back to the museum area. As I boarded the boat, I turned around and snapped this shot. A forever reminder that no matter what the United States will prevail.
All the pictures from our visit to Pearl Harbor can be seen here.

Aloha

The kids and I left North Carolina on August 8 and had a three day layover in Waikiki Beach, Hawaii before heading back to Japan. Prior to leaving the states, we had made sure that we stocked up on clothes, shoes, certain foods and even some refrigerator and air filters since as of right now we do not have any visits back to the States planned until next summer. So we had to lug 8 suitcases, 4 backpacks, 2 purses, a car seat and a camera bag around with us.


Hawaii is absolutely amazing. My only regrets are that Matt was not with us and that there was Hurricane (wound up being Tropical Storm) Felica brewing, thus making some of our plans difficult. But all in all it was a great way for the kids and I to unwind after a fun, but long summer.
This was the beach the first night we arrived. The big "mountain" is Diamond Head, one of the most famous volcanic craters in the world.

We walked up and down the beach and decided to try a place to eat that had a huge line. We figured it had to be good, plus I had a coupon. (Shocker, huh?) It wound up being a place where you cooked your own meat. It was yummy and very cool, however not a place I would recommend with a 6-hour jet lag.


On Sunday we set out for a day in the sand. We looked at the weather reports and figured it was the safest "Felica Free" day. We spent the day soaking up the rays, swimming, snorkeling and riding Aqua Bikes.


That night we went to this really eclectic cheeseburger restaurant. The food was great and it had a fun atmosphere.


Where is Sami in this picture? Oh wait...

The poor girl fell asleep every night during dinner in Hawaii. And yes, she did fall asleep sitting up.

On Monday we went to Pearl Harbor. I will be blogging separately about our experience here. And even then, I will in no way do it justice. Seriously, Pearl Harbor is a MUST see.

Monday night we had reservations for a luau. Sadly, the traditional luau was moved indoors to a hotel ballroom (which meant no flame throwing or hog coming up from the sand) thanks to once again, Felica. I probably should have canceled, however we were so excited we decided to go anyways and figure a traditional luau will just have to be on our to-do list for next time. Plus the free tickets were a nice bonus.




A few videos from the luau:






The last morning we did some shopping, walked the beach one last time and hit the BW3s for some last "American" food before heading back to Japan.


Many more pictures from our "mini vacation" can be found here.
We loved Waikiki Beach and hope to next time hit Hanama Bay for snorkeling and North Shore to watch the big surfers and cliff divers (again, thanks Felica!).