33

This is a bit of an unusual year for Josh and I.

We have now both celebrated our birthdays (32nd for him in February, 33rd for me on August 4th) in Japan.

What did we do to ring in my big 3-3? Family time. Three glorious days of it. I don't think there could be a better gift, I really don't. We are in Japan for Josh to work, and work he does. I'm blessed to be married to someone who is a very hard worker, particularly when it comes to working hard for his family. That said, birthday's don't get much better this. The three of us together enjoying each other's company. Complete with ice coffee runs, wonderful Japanese meals, and a trip to the oldest zoo in Japan.

Ueno Zoo opened on March 20, 1882.

When we were here in February we heard giant Panda's had come to this zoo from China. Unfortunately that trip got cut a bit short, and we didn't get to see them. So we were thrilled that this trip we got to go enjoy them!

It was only about a 5 minute wait to see the Panda's, clearly the big attraction right now. It was however, a bit difficult for me to capture pictures of them as we walked by their homes.

I can only say all three of us had the look of complete awe and total joy at getting to see these beautiful animals!

Seriously, how could you not want to hug a panda?!

Besides the awesome animals there is some great structural sights to behold at the Ueno Zoo too. Like this five-storied pagoda built in 1639.

Look closely, that might be the only pregnant picture to include my belly this go around. That is right, I am 7 months pregnant. A side note, part of my 33rd birthday was spent on the phone arranging my medically necessary c-section in the USA. Baby boy Miller two will be here November 2, 2011 at 12:15pm (unless he decides to arrive sooner...)

Liam has been to the Seattle Zoo twice. This was quite a different experience. You are able to get much closer to the animals at the Ueno Zoo - and all the animals were out and active. Apparently they like 88 degrees with 80% humidity. It definitely made Liam HAPPY`!

Thank goodness for the occasional misting to walk under to cool off! Ahhh!

This sign just cracked me up:

They just seemed like your every day penguin to me!

This was one of the most beautiful sites to me at the zoo:

I told Josh it just might have been the most beautiful sight I have ever seen in my life.

We ended up spreading my birthday celebration out over several days. I mostly have mental snap shots for most of it, but this blog wouldn't be complete without commenting on the Jazz in Seijo concert we went to today.

For those who might not know, I love jazz music. Particularly big band. I studied piano from age six until I was 18. I played in the high school jazz band. I spent more hours than I can count unwinding in college by playing the piano. This concert was the first time since I was in high school that I got to go listen to local musicians play - and I mean PLAY! We have Shinzawa-san to thank for this experience. (Drummer below) He works with Josh at MVIS, but he lives in Japan and is the Japan Country Manager. He and his wife have gone out of their way to make us welcome here. Today they invited us to this concert where we listened to his group (and several others) play, and then enjoyed a sushi dinner with their friends and family. It was an AWESOME way to round out my birthday weekend.

33 is definitely off and running to a good start!