We're Big in Japan

We made a successful trip to and from the airport in Fukuoka, so I feel really proud Casey and I navigated the Japanese highway system without any major incidents! Not surprisingly, the boys were really easy to pick out of the crowd coming out of the terminal. They were tired from their travels, but in good spirits! Mostly the drive back was uneventful, but the boys kept us laughing with their commentary. "Casey, keep your eyes on the road!", Casey was in the passengers' seat, which is where the drivers seat is in the states, so there was no danger. Luckily, we found out that by renting a government vehicle we would get the tolls (about $80 round trip to the airport) paid for. So we saved a little money by renting a vehicle for $50, plus we had nice trunk and leg room for the longer trip for the boys.

Once we made it home and had them settled in we headed out in town to the main shopping district to see the local wares and get some dinner. We perused the shops for a little while, and finally settled in to eat at a nice little noodle place on the ginza. We got ramen and fried rice with some little won ton like things called goyza. So tasty! Jessie made it clear he was not ready for raw food, so the noodles were a safe bet. After our bellies were full we thought a good welcoming activity would be to take the boys to karaoke. After singing all the Hank Williams and Johhny Cash the bar had to offer, the jet-lagged song birds were ready to hit the hay.

We lucked out that the next day (today), there was an oyster festival going on just down the road from our house. We took the boys on a quick tour of the ship yard where Casey's ship is getting fixed, and then headed over to the park for some oysters. It was a new experience for all of us! We bought a bag of freshly harvested oysters with all the necessary extras (soy sauce and a shucking knife) and found a spot at one of the many pre-set up mini grills with even mini-er seats! So while we all tried to not-sketchily stare at everyone else to figure out what the heck we were doing, a very nice older man came over with a wok full of burning coals and filled up our grill. OK! In business. We spend the next few minutes cooking and eating the 15 or soy oysters we bought, and as more people started to shuffle in as lunch time approached, we started noticing that lots of people had other goodies on their grills. Corn and hot dogs seemed to be the most popular non-oyster items on the grills, so we got a little more adventurous and went to the other booths to get some tasty treats and some drinks. It turned out to be a pretty good lunch! I haven't put any of the pictures up on facebook yet, but as soon as I do, I will put the link up here as well.

We're planning on throwing a little welcoming party for them this evening, so we're looking forward to that too! I think it's going to be an awesome time with them here, they're a lot of fun, and always willing to go out and explore whatever we've got. More adventures to come!