Sachi and Boo do Washington, DC!

Sachi Imai is my friend from Japan whom I met at a body building competition through mutual friends. Yes, we have a friend named Fiona who is a competitive female body builder. Anyways, that was two years ago and we're still great friends. I haven't been back to Japan in a year, so I was SO happy that she would come back to visit and bring my beloved little Kotono aka "BooBoo" with her. Little BooBoo is bilingual in English and Japanese. She also just happens to be cute as a button.

Well, anyways, Sachi and BooBoo came here on September 5th and stayed for week. They flew back to Japan on September 11th. Chotto Kowai! They made it back safely. Sachi's friend, Rui, also came on September 5th, but she left a few days earlier to visit some other cities.

I had a BBQ in their honor on Sunday, September 10th and quite a few people showed up with their own special dishes. Unfortunately, I didn't take very many pictures, because I was busy trying to start the fire on the grill.

The weekend before they left, my friend, Michelle Oney, from high school came up to visit me and also to meet Sachi. It was great. They all got along so well.

Enjoy the pictures!

Sachi and BooBoo on the train to DC from Pittsburg. 

Sachi and Mel on the subway. 

Lisa, BooBoo and I on the subway. 

Sachi, Rui and BooBoo. 

Michelle, BooBoo, me, and Lisa in Chinatown. Don't we look like one big happy family? 

Sachi and I on the Mall in DC. There was the Black Family Reunion going on down there, so we enjoyed the music. 

Sachi, BooBoo, Michelle and I at the IMAX theater going to see "Ant Bully." Kiddie movies in 3D are so cool! 

Here is a pot of "nikujaga." I was so happy that Sachi came AND that she made one of my favorite Japanese dishes for the BBQ! 

BooBoo and her new friend after getting out of the pool. Cultural Connections at work! 

Tennessee

Yet again, my family took a caravan of 6 cars (including mine) to the Knoxville area of Tennessee for a family vacation. I have always been in school or out of the country when they've gone there. It's quite beautiful and there seems to be SO much to do! I can't believe how much stuff there is to see and do there. The shopping was a amazing!

Below are some pictures of my sister-in-law and my nephews as we took a roadtrip from southern Virginia (where I picked her and my nephews up). We went through these mountains and stopped at this overlook called "Lover's Leap" along the way. I can't remember if we were in North Carolina, Virginia or Tennessee, but it certainly was beautiful. There was this nice couple that were so nice to take pictures of us. We also drove through this Country Fair in this town in southern Virginia. We totally sat in traffic along the rows and rows of stands selling anything from teriyaki chicken to funnel cake. It was kinda cool because the traffic was going so slow that I got out of the car and bought some food along the way. The journey took 10 hours for me total, because I was coming from Washington, DC. NEVER AGAIN! All for my nephews though.

Me, my sis-in-law, Dellena, and my nephews Ty and Devin. Devin looks like a clone of my brother. 

My sis-in-law and my nephews Ty (left) and Devin (right) at Lover's Leap on the way to TN.