Space-A from Singapore to Yokota, Japan

If you've been following along, you know that our first experience with utilizing Space-A (space-available flights in the military) from Japan to Singapore went as smoothly as possible. We had no problems getting a flight, the kids did great, and it was overall a very pleasant experience. [If you don't count lugging around kids and luggage when you're tired... that's never much fun.]

Now that our trip to Bali was over, we hopped on a plane and used our purchased, commercial tickets to get us from Indonesiia, back to Singapore. We arrived in Singapore around 6:30pm, had dinner at the McDonald's in Changi International Airport, and took a taxi home. We had already emailed Paya Lebar's passenger terminal in Singapore earlier in the week to check on flight schedules to Japan and were thrilled to see a flight the very next morning after our arrival in Singapore. The roll call was at 8:40am (sooo much better than 4:15am for our first Space-A flight), and our plan was to have breakfast around 6:45-7:00am, leave in a taxi at 7:30am, and get to the terminal around 8:00-8:15am to mark ourselves present for the flight.

On our way to the Navy Gateway Inn & Suites the evening of our arrival in Singapore, all the kids fell asleep in the taxi. We had been doing some online research and it appeared as though we might have the option to buy some boxed lunches for the plane the next morning. The plane was going to be a C-17 (a large cargo plane), so we knew it would probably be best to buy snacks to take with us since it wasn't a regular commercial flight. We headed to bed that night, adding a stop at a convenience store to our morning taxi drive to the terminal.

When we woke up the next morning, we got showers, and while still in a towel, I called McDonald's to get some breakfast delievered (we had NO food since we had just arrived to the hotel around 8:30pm the night before). I was on hold for a while and was told it would be about 30 minutes... meaning the food would arrive around 7:00am.... later than we had hoped for, but still manageable. The kids were just finishing up breakfast when I glanced at the clock to see that it was already 7:24am. Just two minutes later, the front desk called to tell us that our taxi was there! We scrambled to pack all the luggage quickly, get the shoes on the kids and start rolling the luggage down to the street. I went to grab the taxi from the front desk and show him where our building was. It took two trips to get our luggage, and the only reason it didn't take a third was because some wonderfully nice man staying the room across from us offered to help carry something. We got everything packed in the taxi and I went back inside to call the front desk and see if we could just leave the keys in the room (the main building where the front desk is located, and the buildings with guestrooms are not actually side-by-side). The girl working there was sweet, but she was new and couldn't figure how to tell if we had already paid for the room. She hung up, called the girl who had worked the night before to ask her, and then called me back. I did NOT have the time for that.

When I made it back to the taxi, the driver asked us which gate we needed to go to. As far as we knew, there was only one! So we had him circle around to the front desk so that I could go in and ask. The poor girl at the desk thought there was only one gate, but wanted to call the terminal to ask. Then, she couldn't find the number. After 5 minutes of waiting, I told her that I could not stay longer and needed to leave. It was already 8:00am! I ran back to the taxi and we told the driver to go as fast as he possibly could to get us to that terminal for the 8:40am roll call. I had a huge lump in the throat as I watched the minutes tick by on the clock.

He pulled up the Paya Lebar gate at 8:30am and threw all the luggage (and kids!) out of the taxi. The taxis aren't allowed to go up to the gate, so this meant we had to walk from the parking area, through the gate, and over to the terminal with all of our luggage. It wasn't happening. So we ditched the stroller, pack-n-play, and one carry-on (with no valuables in it) in the parking lot, hoping no one would steal them before we could get back to pick them up. We were walking as fast as we could with luggage and kids carrying their backpacks. We got up the gate, and had to show IDs, dig passports out of our backpacks, and walk through a metal detector. When we FINALLY got into the terminal, there was no on else hoping to get on the flight and it was 8:45am. I totally thought we had missed our chance.

However, the ladies working the desk, kindly asked for our documents and started processing boarding passes! We had made it!! I think we were about to cry from joy. But then....

We asked them if there was food we could buy for the flight... The answer was NO. A seven-hour flight and we had nothing but some chips, prunes, and yogurt-covered raisins for 4 kids and a pregnant momma (not me - my friend!). We then wanted to cry from pure heartbreak. The ladies assured us that we had time to order from McDonald's before the flight would leave. So they handed us a menu and we started listing all the things we could get that wouldn't be terrible to eat if they were cold - apple slices, chicken nuggets, apple turnovers - but the ladies gently reminded us that only breakfast was being served now. Great. So we ordered lots of pancakes and hashbrowns. We would be able to take sealed beverages on the flight, so we asked McDonald's if they had any bottled waters. No luck there. So all we ended up with were some milks..

Then the desk ladies reminded us that there was a vending machine with drinks right outside. Great! ....Except for the fact that it took Singapore dollars. And how many Singapore dollars did we now have? About $2.20.... Still, we could at least get a couple of waters. Jessica went out to grab them and came back in carrying a chocolate energy drink (she thought it was chocolate milk) and some sort of orange juice. The machine was out of water. I'm sure we looked like crying for a third time, so the ladies went to the back room and came back out carrying a HUGE water that they had confiscated from another flight. Then they found another small water, and THEN, they offered us some of their own change to get a couple more drinks out of the machine. They refused to accept any US dollars from us to compensate.

I swear to you, no matter where you go, there are good people in this world.

We finally got our bags checked, our McDonald's delivered, our carry-ons checked through security, our immigration papers and passports stamped, and loaded up in a van to carry us out to the plane. After a minor setback from a maintenence issue (took about 45 minutes to get the plane parked again and fixed), we FINALLY got up in the air.

What a way to travel!

The crew was fantastic. One member in particular was great with the kids, giving them some candy, Oreos, and juice boxes, and they were incredibly accommodating. They gave us extra blankets and pillows, and because there was much room in the plane, we spent most of the flight spread out on the floor, sleeping, snacking and watching movies. I spent the last hour typing up this post and a couple more.

Honestly, though I've written a book above about the "ordeal" we had that morning, Space-A itself was a breeze. It wasn't difficult to get all our documents in order and processed. It wasn't difficult to get our luggage checked and even to get a spot on BOTH flights we've wanted. The only problem that morning is that we ran late - making us already stressed out - and we didn't know ahead of time to prepare a lot of food. If you remember, we had originally planned to stop at a convenience store on the way, but that went out the window so that we'd make it to the terminal in time.

I would totally fly Space-A again. And now that I know what to expect on both a commercially chartered and cargo plane, and I know what is available (or NOT available, I should say) at the Sinapore terminal, doing Space-A again wouldn't be difficult at all. I'm sure everyone has trouble along the way, either from missing a flight, not getting a spot, or even from having a flight cancelled all-together. But when I look at the money I've saved flying from Japan to Singapore, and back again...? It's totally been worth it.

Space-A to Singapore

Right now, I'm blogging from above the clouds on my way to Singapore! I know I haven't posted in a while, and it's because I was busy preparing for a trip down to the Southern Hemisphere. My friend and I are either really crazy, or really confident.... We decided that since our husbands couldn't take time off to travel, we'd just travel down to Bali, Indonesia without them - and with our (combined) four children, ages 5, 5, 3, and 18 months. And just how are we doing it? We're taking a free flight, courtesy of the military, from Japan to Singapore before flying from Singapore to Bali. It's called traveling, "space-A," and if two moms and four kids can do it, you can too!

So here's how we did it:

1) The first thing you'll need to do is scout out the flights offered from your closest Air Force Base. Many bases now have Facebook pages for their passenger terminals and it's easy to search for them online. And if you can find a Facebook page, you'll often find a listing of the most common flights.

2) When you know where you want to go, and when, you'll need to get a Space-A letter from your command. You'll need the names of everyone in your family wanting to fly, and their passport numbers. Usually, you can't get the letter the same day that you apply for it, so you'll need to come back the next day to pick it up. That letter is one of your most important documents when you're ready to head to the airport. And, it's only good for 60 days from the date you applied for it. So you need to make sure that both your travel to AND from your destination fall within that 60 days (or you'll have to find a way to get another letter while away from your base).

3) As soon as you have your letter in hand, you can fax it, or scan and email it to the passenger terminal that you'll be (hopefully!) using. Sending them your Space-A letter simply tells them to add you to the Space-A passenger list for the next 60 days. It doesn't sign you up for a particular flight. The date that the passenger terminal recieves your Space-A letter by fax or email is the "date and time of sign-up." When you are competing for a set number of seats on a flight, the earlier your date and time of sign-up, the higher up on the list you'll be. I would also advise you to call the terminal after you've faxed or emailed your letter, to make sure that they got it and you're on the list.

• It's a lot to go into here, (and since I'm in the air, I can't double check my information) but your reasons for travel will give you a ranking, specified on your Space-A letter. Because we were flying for liesure travel, we were the lowest category, categery V. If there are only 5 seats offered on a popular flight, or at a busy time of year (summer, major holidays), then you'll want to have a higher category and an early sign-up date. However, our flight had 32 seats, we're flying during low season, and there was hardly anyone competing for those seats.

4) When you want to travel, you'll need to head to the terminal and "mark yourself present" within 24 hours of the flight you hope to take. You'll need to bring the following:

• Your Space-A letter
• Your passports
• Your military ID
• Your orders to your current duty station (recommended)
• Your Family Entry Approval (recommended if stationed overseas)
• Copies of your children'ss birth certifications and immunizations (recommended for international travel)

We arrived at our passenger terminal at Yokota Air Force Base in Japan the afternoon before the flight we hoped to take. We walked in, said we'd like to mark ourselves present, told them what flight we wanted to be listed for, and showed them all of our paperwork. I highly recommend doing this ahead of time if you are traveling with children and/or will be competing for an early-morning flight!

Ask the attendent, or check online, to find out the time of "roll call" for your flight. Roll call is when they expect to start calling names from the Space-A list for your desired flight. IF YOU ARE NOT THERE AT ROLL CALL, YOU WILL NOT GET A SEAT. Have all of your luggage with you, or right outside in your car, at the time of roll call. If you are selected, they'll ask again for your paperwork, and they'll direct you to the check-in where you'll check and weigh ALL of your luggage (they want to weigh your carry-ons as well). Once your luggage is checked in, you'll be boarding the plane in 1-2 hours. :)

Our Experience with Space-A

Considering we were attempting to Space-A with four children ages 5 and under, I don't think our Space-A experience this morning could have gone better. Our roll call time was 4:15am, so we opted to stay in the Air Base's lodge overnight. We woke up at 3:00am, woke up the kids around 3:25am, and were leaving in our van by 4:00am. We had wanted to get to the terminal by 4:00, so we were running just a bit behind schedule. I don't want to think about it, but we BARELY made it to roll call. We opted to leave the luggage in the car and we dashed inside the terminal with the kids. We had walked in, set down our backpacks, and were walking towards to the counter when they came over the intercom and announced that they would begin the Space-A roll call! Whew! There were 32 tentative seats to Singapore, and maybe 15 people total competing for those seats. We were the second and third people called on the list! (By the way, we had signed-up for Space-A about 10-12 days in advance of the date we were hoping to fly.) The plane was a commercial plane, so we have already been served some snacks and breakfast.

And best of all, the flight is FREE! It's just mind-boggling, really.

So now we're on our way to Singapore and it's roughly a 6-hour flight. We were hoping to stay at a Navy Gateway Inn in Singapore, but we called last night (Space-A travelers can only book rooms 5 days in advance) and they are completely booked up. So our next adventure will be landing in Singapore and trying to find a hotel. Thankfully, Singapore is an English-speaking country! And hopefully, our return Space-A flight from Singapore back to Yokota will be just as easy. Fingers crossed!

 

Family and Friends Cruise Day 2013

One of the perks of being married to a US Naval Officer is that every now and then, we spouses have opportunities to ride on the ships! A few ships recently hosted a Family and Friends Cruise, allowing sailors to accompany their family and friends onto the ship for a cruise around the Tokyo bay. It was great! I had been on a couple of ship tours before, but I had never left the dock on one. We had to be up and out the door by 5:15am (BIG thanks to my babysitter, Danni!) so that we could catch some breakfast on the ship before leaving at 7:00am.

The USS FITZGERALD on the left, and the USS CURTIS WILBUR, on the right. The lovely city of Yokosuka in the background.

The Hubs casually pointed to these and said, "See those boxes there? That's 61 missles." ?!

This is the CIWS (Close-In Weapons System). This baby shoots 4500 20mm rounds per minute.

Ships belonging to the Japanese Navy are moored across the way. That big ship is the newly unveiled destroyer in the fleet.

Leaving the bay!

Days before the cruise, The Hubs asked me if I ever got sea-sick. Of course I don't get sea-sick! Riding on a ship is no big deal! Holy crap, was I wrong.

Thankfully, as soon as we stepped onto the ship, The Hubs insisted that I take some meclizine just in case I started feeling a bit sick. I cannot imagine what I would have felt like if he hadn't made me do this. Once the ship got out on the water, it was so strange to feel yourself swaying back and forth. And lucky for all of us, the sea was especially choppy that day - more so than the crews had anticipated. I was really doing okay... until we went down into the engine rooms. I was already feeling a tad bit sick, but the heat from those engines did not help one bit. And the further down in the ship you went, the more it seemed to sway.

I now have the utmost respect for the guys working in places like that engine room. There is no way I could handle being in that hot room for 12 hours a day, swaying from side to side, with no view of... anything. I bolted out of that engine room as quickly as I could and told The Hubs that I was going to have to sit down for a while and not move a muscle.

I guess I lucked out that my husband was the doctor on the ship... he took me down to the medical department and I laid down on a rack and took myself a nice little nap. I felt a lot better when I woke back up, so we headed up to the weather decks (any deck on the outside of the ship) for lunch.

Riding in the Captain's chair! It's a great view!

Look at that beautiful blue water! That's the USS GEORGE WASHINGTON across from us.

The USS GEORGE WASHINGTON put on a lovely airshow while we were parked across from them. And yes, those are people sitting in stands on the flight deck. :)

Medical. Where I spent a good part of the day because either a) I felt too sick, or b) everyone was ordered to go inside because the sea was too rough.

The galley.

We pulled back up to the dock at 4:00pm on the dot, and I'm not going to lie - I was glad to be back on land. I don't know how sailors live for months on end on those ships. I can see exactly how challenging it would be. I'm told, however, that you eventually get used to the swaying of the ships. And The Hubs congratulated me for getting a pair of "sea legs." Every time I closed my eyes that night, I felt like we were still swaying on the ship. :)

I'm so thankful that I had to the opportunity to get a glimpse of life aboard a ship. I have so much respect for those sailors. A big thank-you to the US Navy for hosting us!

They miss their Daddy.

I know that many families have it worse than we do. I know that some kids are born without their daddies there and others spend years of their life with their parent deployed to another part of the world. So I want to make it clear that I'm not throwing a pity party for myself. My husband is usually gone no longer than 30 days at a time and I know many military spouses would probably trade places for a schedule like that. 

However, my children don't know the difference. To them, a deployment is a deployment - no matter the length. All they know is that Daddy was home for a little more than week, and now he's gone again. I'm not sure why, but this time - the third time - has been the hardest on them. Bad behavior, acting out... yes, that's tough to deal with as a single parent. But the most difficult thing to deal with, for me personally, is watching my children feel a sense of loss without their Daddy around. 

Several times tonight, my 3.5-year-old was staring off into space, and then her lip would tremble and tears would fill her eyes. I asked her what was wrong, and she could barely hold herself together to tell me, "I miss my Daddy." Last night, I found my 5-year-old sobbing in my bed because she wanted her Dad to come home. You should have seen the pure joy on her face when I told her that Daddy was going to be taking some time off when he comes home - that he won't have to work for over a week and he can spend it all with her. She threw her arms around my neck and said, "Oh, thanks Mom!" 

So no matter how long a parent has to be gone - whether it's a week, a month, or a year - the kids hurt either way. If you know a family with a parent serving, please tell them you appreciate it. Check in on mom or dad to see if they could use some help or a few hours of babysitting. Take the kids to do something special. And send some prayers, good energy, and positive thoughts their way. 

To my husband and wonderful father of my children, I love you. And so do your girls.

The Hubs

While I've been busy managing house and home, my husband has been doing this....

I'm supposedly getting him back this Friday evening. (!!) He left at the end of September for what was supposed to be a 9-day trip... and then that turned into 35. I have missed him so much and can't wait to see him!

We Got Our Furniture!

Our furniture was scheduled to arrive sometime on Monday morning. We expected them to come around 8:00am because the Japanese have shown themselves to be incredibly punctual. We also had scheduled our loaner-furniture to be picked up that morning as well - hopefully, as early as humanly possible so that we could get it out of the way before all of our furniture arrived. 

So when the doorbell rang at 6:58am, I was impressed that the loaner furniture was getting picked up so quickly. A nice Japanese man greeted me and said, "Good morning! I have your furniture to be delivered." WHAT?! The movers were there and ready to begin before 7:00am?? Maybe some American moving companies (or any company, for that matter) should take some notes from the Japanese.... ha!

With only TWO men, they had all of our household goods unloaded and into our 9th-floor apartment by 9:00am. It was amazing. And to help with any confusion, I had numbered the rooms (a sign on the doors) so that instead of wondering if they could understand my English or not being clear about which room was what, I could just say the number and they knew where to take the boxes. A friend had offered to come by around 9:00am to pick up the girls and keep them out of the way, so she was surprised to find the movers finishing up when she arrived. She was still wonderful enough to offer to take the kids over to her place for a while so we could try to get some things unpacked.

Because the Japanese do trash and recycling a little differently than we do in the US, the movers asked if we also wanted them to unpack the boxes so that they could take all the boxes and trash with them. No surprise that it only took them 30 minutes to unpack EVERYTHING. It was great to have all that trash taken away, but when they left, it looked like my house had thrown up on itself. It was overwhelming.

We started putting things away one room at a time, and I was having a horrible time because I had to unpack a lot of cabinets in order to put things in them the way I wanted. In my kitchen, for example, they just unpacked everything and stuck it in cabinets to get it out of the way. So I had to unpack the cabinets again to put things in them. With my house looking like this, you can only guess how stressed I was....

However, by the end of the day, it was starting to feel more like home.

I still have to put things on the walls and organize a few things here and there. But, overall, we don't have too much left to do. When I feel like things are 95% done, I'll post some more photos so everyone can see how I've attempted to make this industrial building feel more like a home. I'm just so happy to have our things back! My mattress has never felt so good!

PCS Redo: What I would have packed in the Express Shipment

We have been in Japan for over a month now, have gotten placed in military housing, and are receiving our Household Goods (HHG) in 3 days (THANK GOD!). So, that means we've been living with just the items from our Express Shipment - also known as Unaccompanied Baggage (UA) - for the last two weeks that we've been in military housing. Next time we PCS, I am going to be packing a few more things. And, I hope my updated list helps you if you are getting ready to PCS too - especially overseas.

Here, you will find my former list. Items that you see in bold are items that I didn't pack, but would definitely pack if I had it to do over again.

Bedrooms:
(1) Queen sheet set, 2 pillows, 2 pillow cases (**DO NOT, for the love of god, put your pillows in Space Saver bags. Ours did not fluff back up and I had to break down and buy some new ones.**)
(2) Twin sheet set, 2 pillows, 2 pillow cases
(2) Twin comforters/blankets
(1) Down comforter
(2) Quilts
(3) Sleeping bags
(2) Formal dresses (just in case)
Hangers (My clothes have been sitting in piles at the bottom of my closet for weeks now.)
Bathrooms:
(2) Adult towels
(2) Child towels
(2) Washcloths
Shower rod
Shower rings
Girls’ shower curtain
Hair Clippers
Extra Toilet Paper (The first thing my oldest child did, upon walking into our new home, was to go take a poop in the bathroom. And we had NO toilet paper.)
Toys:
Aircraft carrier
Toy Story Imaginext
Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head
Toy computer
Disney Princesses/Barbies
Large floor puzzles
Dress-up Dolls
Workbooks and crayons
Board games
Variety of children’s books
Musical instrument set
If you have children, include as many toys as you can. I thought we had a pretty good list here, but my girls have gotten horribly bored with these few toys after a few weeks.
Living Room:
Rotating fan
Small black fan
(2) Throw pillows
TV (Why in the heck did we NOT pack our one and only tv? We borrowed one from my husband's office, but weren't able to use it for long.)
Kitchen:
(1) Large skillet
(1) Small cookie sheet
(1) Spatula
(1) Wooden spoon
(1) Large mixing bowl
(1) Small mixing bowl
(1) Silicone muffin cups (to be used on cookie sheet)
(1) Toaster oven
(1) Medium pot
(1) Oven mitt
(1) Colander
(1) Large glass measuring cup
(1) Small glass measuring cup
(1) Set of measuring spoons
(5) Towels
(5) Washrags
(4) Plastic plates
(4) Plastic cups
(2) Coffee mugs
(4) Forks
(4) Spoons
(4) Knives
(4) Blue plastic bowls
(4) Green plastic bowls
(1) Medium cutting board
(2) Cutting knives
(1) Small cooler tote
(1) Pair of scissors
Glass bowls/plates (At least one or two. I didn't pack anything that I could put in the microwave!)
MY CROCK-POT (Good god! What I could have been cooking all this time!)

Office:
Small tool box (This has come in REALLY handy, believe it or not.)
(2) Extension cords
Extra household cords (chargers, A/V, etc.)
Sharpies
Pens
Envelopes
Bank deposit slips/envelopes
Printer and ink (There are so many forms you need to fill out for the military. It would have been nice to have had our printer all this time for printing things and making copies.)
Garage/Outdoor:
(2) Adult camping chairs

(2) Child camping chairs

Small Bissell vacuum
Mop
Broom
Shark Steam Cleaner
(4) Beach towels

Professional Gear:
Medical books/folders
Some professional clothing

Before we even arrived in Japan, we were visiting family for a month. And during that time, we received an email saying that our HHG had arrived in Japan on July 18th. We were so excited that our stuff had arrived before we did! But when we called the Property Office to schedule a delivery of our furniture upon our arrival at military housing, the dude LAUGHED AT ME on the phone. He said our stuff was still out at sea and probably wouldn't arrive for a month. The lesson we learned is that you never know how long you'll be surviving on your Express shipment, so pack well! I hope this list helps you decide what to bring and I hope your goods arrive quickly! Good luck!

The PCS Files: We've Arrived in Japan!

Travel Day 2 was intense. We woke the kids up at 2:00am to go get our boarding passes and as soon as we had them, checked our bags, and went through security, we headed off to find the Children's Play Area in the airport. I got the kids some food and they played in that playroom for almost 4 hours! They made several little friends, and by the time we left, they looked like they were getting crazy tired. We got to board our plane around 7:30 and we scheduled to depart around 8:30 or so. We got on the plane, got settled and then passed out - all four of us. I woke up about an hour later to find that we were still sitting at our gate. Apparently, flights papers weren't matching up right so we just had to sit there on the plane until everything got straightened out. So, the first hour of our flight to Japan was spent sitting still. When we finally got moving, we were told the flight would be around 9 hours, 45 minutes.

Want to know something shocking? My kids only slept about 2 hours during that entire time! After being awake since 2am!! They really did remarkably well, only have a couple of meltdowns when it was obvious they were tired and just couldn't fall asleep. When we began our descent into Japan, Thing 1 looked like a zombie. She was barely keeping her eyes open.

We can see Japan!!

 

A little closer

 

Flying into Japan was great. It is beautiful! So green! And with lots of mountains and forests - it reminds me a lot of East Tennessee. It also felt a lot like home when we stepped off the plane into some killer humidity. We were soaking wet by the time we got inside and picked up all of our bags. Most people getting off the plane with us had to ride a giant tour bus to base, but we were lucky in that a Chief from the Command was sent to pick us up in a nice van. As soon as got on the road, the kids passed out. And though it was only a 50-mile drive, it took about 2.5 hours because the speed limit is lower in Japan and there wasn't really an interstate to take. We were driving through the main streets of towns. I probably should have taken more pictures while we were driving, but I was just taking it all in. I couldn't believe we were in Japan!

Since the kids had been getting by with 1 or 2-hour naps all day, I figured that once we arrived on base, they would wake up and push through a few more hours before going to bed at a slightly earlier - but time-zone-appropriate hour - that evening. Boy, was I wrong. They were done. Done with travel. Done with being awake. When we woke Thing 1 and asked her to get out of the van, she said she was too dizzy. When we got inside the hotel lobby, The Hubs went to check us in while I talked with our Sponsor and the Chief. I looked over, and Thing 1 was leaning across one of the end-tables sound asleep. And drooling! Ha! We got them up to our hotel room around 4:00pm and they didn't move a muscle.

Our home for the next month

 

 

Of course, now we are sitting up at 1:42am because they got plenty of sleep and are ready to start the day. Ugh. I have a feeling the day is going to draaaaaag. I may try to make them go back to sleep for a few more hours before morning. The Hubs has to go have breakfast with some of the higher-ups in his command while the girls and I go downstairs to the Housing Briefing at 8:00am. I thought we had to go through a week of orientation before getting on any of the housing waiting lists, but we can do it as soon as possible! Yay!!

The Hubs is also getting a little anxious about all of his responsibility. He got bombarded with information last night by our Sponsor, who also happens to be who he is replacing. I'm sure he'll do fine, but I know he's a little overwhelmed at the moment. Our Sponsor also said he would try to drive us over the commissary and exchange today so that we can get some groceries and get cell phone plans. He also offered to take us somewhere for lunch and give us a tour of the base. I'm sure if the kids will hang in there for all of that, but I hope so. I'm VERY interested to find out about housing and I should probably have another blog post coming up about that shortly.

We are in JAPAN. Hard to believe. But I'm excited to finally settle in and make a home for us for the next three years.

 

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The PCS Files: Travel Day One

It's 1:45am and I'm sitting in the Family Room at the USO somewhere along the West Coast. I can't tell you where, of course, because I don't want the military getting mad at me for blogging too many details! We left Nashville around 2pm, hung out in Minneapolis for a while, and then made it here by 8:00pm. I really couldn't have asked for the day to go any better. Between eating meals and taking advantage of the airport play areas, we didn't even have to open their backpacks to keep the girls entertained until our second flight. And for most of our shorter first flight, the girls fell asleep.

Of course, now is where the real fun begins. In 15 minutes, I'm going to have to wake up my kids to go stand in line for our boarding passes. That's right - we have to get our boarding passes at 2:30am. The Hubs went and got our luggage that will be checked and he started standing in line around 1:00am. (Apparently, the line is a helluva long one.) Then, we have to just hang around until our flight leaves for Japan around 8:00am (or so...I forget the actual departure time). They've been asleep for roughly 5 hours, so I hope that will be a good enough nap for them to make it through departure time and maybe one meal on the plane before passing out. I've heard that our flight is not full and I have only seen 1 or 2 other kids as young as mine.

Our cell phones should be shutting off sometime today, and I never got a chance to call a couple of my family members back last night. Oh, also, the day before we left, my grandmother wound up in the hospital for high blood pressure and she's got an artery 90% blocked. She will have a small surgery on it later today. I know she will be in good hands, but it's exactly the type of thing I hoped wouldn't happen while we were in Japan. I guess I should get used to it though....

Well, it's time to wake up my babies. Send us some good vibes today!

 

 

 

 

Look at this awesome vending machine at the Kid's Play Area in Minneapoliis!

Mt. Rainer!

Beautiful mountains near the West Coast

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The PCS Files: Flight Logistics

We are beginning our trek to Japan tomorrow. Holy crap. Like, for real. HOLY CRAP.

We will be flying out of Tennessee early tomorrow afternoon and after a layover in the middle of the US, we will make it to the West Coast by 8:00pm. We had assumed we would get a hotel that night before catching our flight to Japan the following morning, but when we started talking about it, it didn't seem to be working out very well.

We have to report for our military flight to Japan in the wee hours of the morning on Tuesday and if we're not getting in until 8:00pm the night before, we might only have a few hours to get to our hotel room and sleep before having to get up for the next flight. So, I called the USO at the airport we'll be flying into. This is our first time on military flights, so we weren't sure what to expect. I talked with a lovely woman who told me about the facilities available to us once we arrive. There will be a family room with a crib, cots, and mats on the floor. There will be a USO Luggage area where we can drop off our checked baggage until the next morning.

She also informed me that we will need to get our boarding passes a few hours before dawn and that we can start lining up for them just after midnight (?!). All four of us have to be in line for them, so that should be interesting.... We also have to pick up our baggage from the USO Luggage area shortly after they open up the boarding passes so we probably won't be getting much sleep. After we get our passes and luggage, we will still have 3-4 hours before our flight actually leaves for Japan.

So... what the heck are we going to do? Here is my plan.

Try to get the girls to sleep on one or both of our flights to the West Coast tomorrow. If they will only sleep on one, I hope it's the later one so that maybe they will stay up most of the night. Once we get to the West Coast, we are going to try to keep the kids up all night. I HIGHLY doubt it will happen, but even if they sleep for a few hours in the middle of the night, they would probably do okay. Airports are usually much less crowded at night, so I'm hoping we'll be able to find a spot for the kids to run around and not bother anyone. The reason we'd like to keep them up all night is so that maybe, juuuuust maybe, when we leave for Japan the next morning, they will sleep for a majority of the time on our 10-hour flight. When we arrive in Japan, it will be the middle of the day. It would be great if we could push through the rest of the time and put the girls to bed at a normal time that night.

Of course, plans always SOUND great... but they are simply plans. Who knows if things will go anything like we hope they will. My main is to just go with the flow. The last thing I want to do is fight with the kids in a crowded airport or on a cramped plane. So, please send us some good vibes, positive thoughts, prayers or whatever you prefer. We will probably need it. I don't know when I'll be blogging again, but I hope to keep you updated throughout our travels if time (and internet) allows. Sayonara!

 

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The PCS Files: What's in that carry-on?

In two days, we'll be traveling for a good 24 hours with two small children. For weeks, I've been looking up information about traveling with kids to try and prepare for our first long flight with our girls. Though we're not on a super-tight budget when it comes to buying things for our trip, I'm still quite a tight-wad and I made an effort to spend as little money as possible. So, here are all the things that are going in my girls' carry-on's. I probably could have fit a few more things in their backpacks, but I wanted to be sure not to overload them so that they can actually carry their backpacks by themselves through the airport (at least that's the plan).

• Two BPA-free water bottles
• A coloring book for each of them
• A Highlights magazine for Thing 1
• Some semi-healthy snacks (fruit chews, dried apple crisps, peanut butter and crackers)
• Two sticker-books for each
• One neck pillow each (though these are actually packed in a different carry-on)
• Headphones for each
• Bubbles
• A new, small toothbrush for each
• Two small flashlights for fun
• Twistables crayons
• Knock-off Polly-Pocket set with two dolls and lots of clothes
• Puzzle
• LeapPad for each with 4 new games/videos downloaded on each

One of the BEST ways to transport anything with small pieces or cords is to buy $0.97 pencil bags. They are more durable than plastic baggies and their zippers are easy for little fingers to open and close. I put the Polly-Pockets, crayons, puzzle, headphones and LeapPads in these. 

As for me and the hubs, we are each taking a backpack and my husband is taking an additional rolling carry-on with a change of clothes for each of us and extra diapers and wipes for Thing 2. Here are some of the things we are packing in our backpacks:

• Our iPads and all iPad accessories (chargers, keyboards, etc)
• Our Japan notebook
• Navy records that my husband will need
• Cell phone chargers
• Wipes
• A few diapers
• Snacks for the kids
• Water bottle for each of us
• Camera and accessories
• Toiletries (deoderant, hand sanitizer, medicine for the kids [in case of allergies... or needed sleep....], makeup removing wipes, toothpaste Wisps, makeup, and even shampoo and conditioner for our night in the airport)

I'm sure we'll acquire some new things throughout our airport stays, but I *think* we have things pretty covered. It will be quite the adventure.... And I'll breathe a huge sigh of release once we're in Japan.