Day 3,436

The Museum For Kidlets

Children’s Museum time!

Thanks Groupon—my kids would STILL be right here if it were up to them!

We enjoyed every last nook and cranny of our town’s children’s museum and actually so much so, that all of the kids had already asked to go back before we even left. Their favorite part? The grocery store. Duh. I’m thinking of buying a kid’s shopping cart and storing it in the back of our Suburban for an enhanced Publix experience each time I go with one of my gremlins. I might just win a prize for that endeavor...hmmm tempting. I think I might just have to. 



To cap off an already-fun day, I took Amelia and Ella Mae to the “big girls” gymnastics meet at our gym. Amelia’s level 2 team is currently in Tampa for their State meet, but due to our once-scheduled trip to Japan, we decided not to sign her up for her State meet, as we weren’t going to be here. We couldn’t have anticipated Japan locking their borders, and though she missed out on her last competition of the season, her time with Ella Mae and me watching the level 8, 9, and 10 girls was close to just as fun. I’m so thankful for how understanding and flexible my babes are—what a sweet blessing. 

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Japan update:

I post these blogs so late at night that I literally can’t remember what I write half the time. I’m pretty sure there hasn’t been a recent update to what’s going on with us and Japan so, here goes. Japan was scheduled to reopen their borders on February 1, but instead—on February 2—they did not lift the ban and continued their state of emergency until March 7. What does that mean? So basically, if you’re not a resident of Japan, you’re not allowed to enter until the state of emergency is lifted. Coinciding with that law, they also will not issue any visas until the ban is lifted. We currently do not have our visas. SO, on Wednesday I called the Japanese Consulate in Miami to find out any information I could regarding our expected departure. We were under the impression that it would take at least 3 weeks to receive our visas once the ban was lifted. That however is apparently not the case, as I was informed that their visa processing takes 3-5 days. That being said, IF they in fact remove the state of emergency on March 7, we could potentially be flying out mid-March once our visas are processed. That would get us to Japan likely just in time to quarantine for 2 weeks and possibly be in Sendai for the opening game on March 25. Is that likely? Probably not. But as of now, those are the loose “plans.” Adam will for sure miss all of Spring Training, as the team is already in Okinawa, having been practicing together for a week. As far as we know, all foreign players in their first professional year in the NPB are in our current situation as well. But we’re totally at peace with it and are truly, enjoying every “extra” day the Lord has given us here in our home and church.