my roots

Well the other day I double-whammied and took the bus AND the train to my grandparents town to visit with them. Watch out!

My grandparents were also very impressed and thought I would change my mind from the time I called her saying I was getting on the train to when I would have arrived. Silly, G-ma...getting on the train and listening for my stop was the easy part. 

The Grandparents

It had been 8 years since I last saw my grandparents so it was so nice seeing them again and being at their house. So many memories! The smell, the sounds, the Japanese garden, the tatami mats. Love it. They live in a smaller more rural town than the city where I live which is the main city in that area. My grandmother makes the best miso soup so that was of course a part of the yummy lunch she prepared for me. 

Their backyard

Absolutely love these pictures of my mom and her sister that's hung up in their house.

I decided to take a stroll of the neighborhood that I grew up playing in. The rice fields where me and my cousin would collect tadpoles, bring them back to the house, pour them all in a tub filled with water in the backyard, and watch them turn into frogs. The homes where I would play with the kids or grandkids that lived there. It's also so cool for me to be where my mom grew up and think she was walking all around these streets as a youngin'.

Below is me and my grandmother. I'm sure now it's obvious where my height comes from.

Behind us is a doorway to another room. Having to duck through door frames so often has done wonders for my height complex.

I love my grandparents! And even though my Japanese is not great, I sure hope they know how much I love spending time with them and cherish them so much in my life.