Grandparent Tour 2007 Draws to a Close

Well, my parents / Rhianna's grandparents left for Colorado yesterday and arrived safely this morning after a long trip home. We all had a great time while they were here, and we miss them!

Here's a run-down of their last few days here in Tokyo.

We took a boat tour on the Sumida River from the famous temple area of Asakusa all the way across Tokyo bay to a man-made island called Odaiba, and took a tour of the Fuji Television Station there (http://www.fujitv.co.jp/en/). It was a beautiful day and we had fantastic weather the whole way. The Fuji television station features a 25-story high, gleaming silver ball which can be seen from far across the bay. We took a tour of the station and saw some fantastic fews of the bay. Im including a video of the trip across the bay.

We also took the Chuo Train line all the way across Tokyo to visit an area called Kichijoji. It's a neat area with lots of little shops, and features a nice park called Inogashira Park. It's always neat to visit Tokyo's major parks and escape from the urban jungle for a while. We had a little rain during our visit, but it was still a welcome break from the heat we had experienced earlier in their stay.

My parents left for Colorado from Hakozaki Bus Station yesterday morning. We were sorry to see them go, but right after we dropped them off at the station, we went straight over to the United States Embassy to begin the application process for Rhianna's United States Passport. The preparation for our trip home to Colorado in December has just begun!!!!

Waiting for the boat to depart

Animated Japanese characters from the series

upon which the boat was designed

St. Lukes Tower from the Sumida River

The Bay Bridge

Just off the boat

Just off the boat 2

The view of Tokyo Bay and the Statue of Liberty!

Tokyo Bay from Fuji Television Tower

Rhianna and Shinachan

John and Rhianna

Grandma, Grandpa, and Rhianna

Touring Fuji Television

Having a snack at the restaurant next door to our apartment

Grandma and Rhianna

Grandma and Rhianna

Grandma, Grandpa, Rhianna at our last dinner on Thursday

Video of Boat Ride

Grandparent Visit Update

We're having a great time having the grandparents out here in Tokyo. Yesterday, we took the paternal grandparents from Colorado to Shinako's family home, where we had a wonderful day with Rhianna's maternal grandparents, her Uncle Yasuhiro, Aunt Ayumi, and cousin Yuga. Shinako's mother fixed a wonderful meal, and we all had a very nice time together. Today was Rhianna's four-month checkup, which included a vaccination and height/weight check. Both Rhianna and mom are doing just fine. This evening, we walked around Ginza and had a really nice time sitting at an outdoor cafe. Rhianna spent most of the evening in full relaxation mode, but woke up every once in a while to practice speaking with us. More updates soon!!
Klumpp-Suzuki Group Picture

Aunt Ayumi and Rhianna

Rhianna and Grandpa Hiroshi

Rhianna and Grandma Michiko

Cousin Yuga

First drum practice--not too bad, but needs practice

Checkup

Getting a shot

Relaxing at Aux Bacchanales in Ginza

Wearing Dad's hat

Falling asleep in Grandpa Norman's arms

Suzuki-Klumpp lunch

Grandparents Arrive (and other firsts)

It has been an incredibly busy week for Rhianna, Shinako and John. It all started with a sudden business trip for me to Hong Kong. The last time I went to Hong Kong, in 1997, it was still part of England, so I was interested to see how it had become part of China. Unfortunately, I was in the country for less than 24 hours and returned to Tokyo before I had much chance to check it out, but it was still pretty amazing. The new airport is beautiful, and the city is as crazy and exciting as ever (although very polluted--the pictures you see of the harbor from my hotel window show how hazy the city is from air pollution)

A couple days after I returned, my parents (Rhianna's grandparents) arrived from the U.S. It was the first time for them to meet Rhianna, and we were all really excited. The first pictures with my parents are at the Tokyo City Air Terminal Bus Station near our home.

Unfortunately, Great-Grandma Betty was unable to come this time, but we will look forward to seeing her over Christmas when Rhianna makes her first trip to Colorado.

Since the grandparents arrived, we've kept very busy, eating delicious meals prepared by Shinako, and even had lunch at the Park Hyatt's New York Grill, in Shinjuku (make sure to see the video with the gorgeous view of the city. Most of the time we go there it happens to be rainy or hazy, so we dont have that great of a view, but this time the view was spectacular).

We also had a pleasant surprise (though not so much so for Rhianna today) when we discovered her first tooth coming up. We gave her a teething toy, so we hope that helps her irritation.

This evening, we all made Chinese Dumplings (gyoza) together. Shinachan put together the contents, and we all wrapped them up in the wraps, and then Shinachan cooked them (Okay, Shinachan actually did most of the work, and we did most of the eating--it was delicious!).

Im including lots of pictures (both of Hong Kong and of the time since my parents have been here) and a few videos. Enjoy!