Our first International trip since moving to Japan was back to Cali to visit my family for Christmas. It was a wild, crazy, fabulous trip! It was our first time traveling internationally in economy class with our kids and we definitely learned some things.

We traveled December 21- 30. Our trip was originally supposed to start on the 22nd but we forgot to book parking at the airport ahead of time (lesson #1). A few days before when we were looking into where to park at the Nagoya Airport, we discovered that all reserved parking was full at the airport and nearby parking lots. Our options were to chance it and drive down the day of hoping to find a spot in non reserved, take the train (but we don’t live close to the station which adds complications) or stay at a nearby hotel that offered long term parking. We decided to go for the safe bet and booked a night at Toyoko Hotel. The room was inexpensive, walking distance to the airport, and we were able to get parking for up to 10 days for only 1000 yen. So we booked a room and headed down Sunday night. One struggle for our family of 5 is finding hotel rooms to accommodate us. The largest room we were able to get this night was a room with two doubles. We had planned to make a bed for Blake on the floor, but the beds were bigger then expected and he was able to sleep in bed with Riley and I. Keep in mind hotels in Japan can be hard to predict, so prepare to be flexible.

After checking in on the 21st, we dropped our bags in our room, walked a couple minutes to the train station in the airport, and took the train to a nearby mall. Malls are my favorite place to feed my picky kids in Japan. The kids can usually find something familiar and easy like KFC or McDonald’s and John and I can eat something more adventurous that we actually want to eat. And these are not your typical chain mall places, some of the best food I have tasted has come from a Japanese mall. We ate and then walked around. There was plenty to see and do to keep us entertained for a few hours. We found an arcade and enjoyed playing claw machine games for a while. Then we decided it was time to head back. We walked back to the train station to find we missed the train by a few minutes and the next one was in 30 minutes.Remember to always look at the train schedule ahead of time (lesson #2). After a wait in the cold we were able to catch the next train and get back to the hotel for the night.

The next morning we slept in since our flight was later in the day. We headed downstairs for breakfast about 9:00, only to discover it had just ended. Always remember to check meal times (lesson #3). So we decided to check out and walk over to the airport early. We left our bags in our car so we wouldn’t have to lug them around all day and we could easily come back for them. At the airport, there is an area in Terminal 2 called “The Flight of Dreams”. It has a real test plane that you can go into and look at as well as climbing equipment and activities for kids. This is a great place to hang out with young kids. There was a small crawling area for under 3, play area for 3-6, and a big area for 6-12. Our big kids were so excited to play too. However we quickly discovered as tall American children, they were a bit too big and weren’t able to do much. There was a big climbing area they probably could have done but it was the one area you had to pay for and we didn’t have enough time to make it worth it. They ran around helping Blake and we ended up paying for John and Grant to do a flight simulator, which they really enjoyed. About 12:30 we headed to the airport, checked our bags and then did a little airport shopping before going through security.

The airport was quite busy so I’m glad we gave ourselves plenty of time. One note for next time, buy plenty of snacks in the airport because our kids did not like the airplane meals. I stocked up before the flight back and it made things much easier. Our first flight was from Nagoya to Tokyo which was short. As residents there is a special process at this point to declare you are leaving the county but will be returning, and they staple a paper into your passport. If you are living in a country with a residence card, make sure you do this! Then we flew from Tokyo to San Diego which was about 10 hours. This one was rough. We flew overnight because we thought it would be easier for everyone to fall asleep on the plane. However we all struggled to sleep and everyone was so grumpy. Our flight home was during the day and was actually easier. If we were in business class again like our move, this would have been fine. But in economy it was hard. Also we upgraded to bulkhead seats to have more legroom. The legroom was nice and we could easily get up to use the restroom. But I wouldn’t do this again with kids (lesson #4). Because there were no seats in front of us, all of our backpacks had to go overhead. There were no pockets or anywhere to put stuff so I was constantly holding all of my kids’ things and anything we set on the ground ended up rolling around. Plus the tray and TV screen had to be folded out to be used and just weren’t very sturdy. I actually preferred just being in a normal row on the way back. Let’s talk about food now. We preordered a kids meal for Blake. It was the first meal delivered which was very nice and the food was very kid friendly. It came with bread and fruit and ice cream. Blake didn’t eat much though, he mostly just filled up on snacks. Riley and Grant got the standard meals and wouldn’t even touch them. Honestly next time I may just see if there is a way to opt out of meals for them and just bring our own food. John and I upgraded our meal on this flight and honestly it wasn’t any better then the standard meal. I don’t think I’d do that again. Overall the flight was just ok. Then we got off in San Diego and had to get our bags and go through customs and immigration. Make sure to have plenty of time here if you are getting on another flight because this took a little bit. We grabbed a bite to eat and then had a 1 hour flight to Fresno.

We left Japan on the 22nd but also landed on the 22nd because of the time difference. My dad picked us up at the airport along with a surprise visitor. My brother Sam! Sam has been serving a mission for our church for the last 18 months and wasn’t due to come home until June. However he has had some health issues and had to come home temporarily to address them. He will hopefully be able to return to his mission in February. The decision to send him home temporarily happened at the very last minute, but it was such a treat to have him home with us!! We got to my parents house where everyone was waiting. It was so good to see everyone. All of my siblings, the spouses and kids were there. This doesn’t happen very often. It was a bit crazy but also so fun to just do our crazy all together. We got to eat homemade tamales that night and crashed early.

The next day was the 23rd and was a pretty chill day. My sister’s watched all the kids so John and I could finish up our Christmas shopping and do a Costco run for the family. We expected Costco to be insane but it was nothing like how busy it is at Costco in Japan. We spent the day wrapping presents and then had a low key birthday party for Grant and Lila (my sister’s youngest who just turned one). My Uncle Mark, Aunt Dena, and cousin Jordan came over to see everyone. We had pizza and cake and played video games together. After the kids were in bed we played some games and I stayed up until 2am talking to my sisters.

Then it was Christmas Eve! It was a whirlwind day cooking and cleaning. We hosted my mom’s side for dinner so I got to see all of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and their kids. It was fun to catch up and see everyone. We dressed all the kids up and tried to have them act out the nativity like we did when we were kids. It was a hot mess but something I will remember fondly for a long time. After opening our traditional Christmas jammies, all the kids headed to bed and the parents worked our butts off wrapping and organizing everything for Christmas morning.

Christmas morning the kids were up at 6:30 ready to go. We managed to occupy them until 7:00 and then sent them to wake everyone up. As you can imagine with 21 people, Christmas morning was a wild crazy blur. It was so fun getting to watch my nieces and nephews open their presents. My favorite gifts were the ties we gave to my dad and Sam. My friend Amy made them from kimonos and they are gorgeous! She is truly talented. The day was chaotic and exhausting but overall a good day. We ended the day with more Mexican food. Homemade enchiladas (Sam), birra tacos (Nate & Charlie), pozole (Dad), and nachos (requested by Grant since it was his birthday). Such a delicious feast of things we have been missing.

Friday we attempted to go to Robbie’s ranch in Bakersfield but as we drove down it was pouring rain the whole way so we had to pivot. We got to visit the Giving Machine and donate to help families in need. Then we went through the Chick-fil-A drive thru for our kids on the way to John’s Incredible Pizza. They had a pizza buffet but this was our one chance to get Riley some Chick-fil-A so we did both. We spent the afternoon eating and letting the kids run and play games. Each kid ran off with their cousin buddy and it was so fun to see them enjoying their time together. As crazy as it is to have had babies at the same time as my sister every time, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It is so special for each of the kids to have a built-in best friend when we are together. We stayed up way too late playing games again. Herd Mentality is one of my new favorites! Nate, Charly and Evie left for Idaho that night and we were all so sad to see them go!

Saturday morning Janelle and Robbie had some errands to run so we took our turn watching all the kids. Then we took our kids to Texas Roadhouse for lunch. It was definitely something we have missed. The big 4 had to sit at a separate table and I was so proud that they ordered all of their own food without help and ate without any arguments (this almost never happens). After lunch we sent the boys home and Janelle and I took our girls to Target. We got Riley some new clothes and stocked up on snacks we miss to take home. That evening my sweet parents kept all of our kids so we could go on a double date to the Vintage Press. Mallory & McKay didn’t join because they were supposed to be leaving that day. McKay ended up not needing to get back to work and they were able to stay longer at the last minute. Dinner was lovely. This is a fancy restaurant I heard about all the time as a kid and never went to. It was fun to get to experience it. Not the most amazing place I’ve been to but that bar is set very high. The food was delicious and we enjoyed the adult time. 

Sunday we all went to church and it was so nice to see familiar faces. We spent the day relaxing, packing and playing games. Sunday night I got a call from my high school friends. They were all together and I got to go catch up with them for a bit. It was really fun to reminisce about the past and see where their lives have taken them. Sam’s best friend also came over that evening and we worked on planning their trip to Japan this summer. After staying up way too late one last time, I was finally ready to head home.

We woke up at 5am Monday morning to make our way to the airport. The trip home went smoother overall. We ended up bringing an extra suitcase home with us. We packed light and came with our suitcases half full as well as bringing an extra suitcase with presents to give away. We were packed tight on the way back and decided to bring back one of my mom’s extra carry-on suitcases so we could bring back some foods that we missed. Next time I will pack even lighter and just do more laundry! Also less presents! As I mentioned before, the daytime flights felt easier. We all napped but we weren’t crazy tired so it went well. We arrived in Nagoya Tuesday night at about 9pm. We drove the hour home from the airport and all immediately crawled into bed. This worked so well and none of us were very jet lagged the next day.

Overall we had a very successful first international trip and loved seeing our family. We are hoping to do a few day trips this month, so stay tuned to see where we head next!