Tokyo Disney and Disney Sea

For Labor Day Weekend we had big plans all calculated out to climb Mt. Fuji, Japan's highest mountain. One little problem we were constantly monitoring the week prior was weather. As July and August are the only official climbing months, even early September can get quite cold, wet and windy. In the days leading up to the weekend, the weather on Mt. fuji looked worse and worse. Very wet, barely above freezing temps, increasing wind speeds and no visibility. So, at the last minute we made a change of plans... to Tokyo Disney...

We got in line before opening on Monday morning hoping most people would be at work or school in Japan though Monday and Tuesday were holidays for my husband. Apparently it didn't matter much...

This was past the ticket gate. My husband was trying to not have a panic attack. I was glad I had our daughter strapped to me, yet still wishing I had the double stroller to keep both kids close.

Here we are in the center of the park in front of "Cinderella's Castle." Though I had downloaded a map prior to arriving, when we got inside the plan immediately changed to "run away from the crowd!". As you can see the crowd had already greatly dispersed. So we kept walking through the castle towards the back of the park...

We headed straight for "It's a Small World." The kids LOVED it, and we didn't even have to wait.

Then the kids wanted to ride the carousel. I had to stand next to our daughter...

Thinking lines might not be too bad since it was still early, we headed to "Splash Mountain." Nope, over an hour wait, so we passed. Good thing our son wasn't too upset about that. We headed off on the paddleboat instead.

A fun little ride around "Tom Sawyer's Island" and the back corner of the park. Of course then we had to take "Tom Sawyer's Raft" to his Island and treehouse...

The island also had a cool rock cave maze we enjoyed. Very dark tunnels inside which the kids weren't quite sure about.

Then the boys got to head out on a canoe ride...

What a fun grown-up activity for our son!










Then back towards the rides for a second trip through "It's a Small World" by popular demand, then to see "Lightning McQueen."

And our son's first "racecar" driving...

On to "Toontown" to see the character's houses. We were all starting to fade, so a quick trip through including a roller coaster ride for the boys...

Prior to arriving to the park it was our kids' mission to "See Princesses!". We had been looking for them all day and so thankful to find them near the castle on our way out. Our son had a lengthy chat with the "Sleeping Beauty.". Hopefully her prince wasn't jealous. ;)

And here's "Alice in Wonderland" who also got to hear a lot about boats. ;)

WHEW! If that was't tiring enough to look at, we only rested for a few minutes at our hotel before getting food, then our son was begging to go back. So, I took him back to see the lights while "Daddy" put our daughter to bed. We lucked out and got to see a lights parade.  (We also went back to the racecars, and on a scary ride through "Space Mountain.")  Special night for us both.

DAY 2: DisneySea

Day 1 was definitely enough Disney for a while (especially considering the limited food choices available.) Though what we did not know until looking into this trip at the last minute, there is a complete second park with equal pricing adjacent to DisneyLand called DisneySea. With our little sealife enthusiasts traveling this far, it was something we couldn't pass up. We has been told that DisneySea is for adults, but we may have ALL liked it better. Here is what you see when you first walk in...

And here's us...

Our son wanted to see all the ships, so we started with the "Columbia"...

Some great views of the park and the ocean from onboard. They also sell meals, but with snacks in our bag, we moved on. Next was a "Northeast" theme...

They even crushed shells to make the sand look authentic. And our kids enjoyed the lighthouse.

We walked around some cool looking bumper boats, but they were closed for the day. They said "Come back another day." (I'd love to ask if they'll pay our way that other day.)

It was SO hot out, we were already all dripping with sweat...

It was clear we wouldn't last long this way, so we quickly headed in the direction of the "Mermaid Lagoon," the area that had fascinated us most looking online. On the way we passed a pyramid...

Then we took a riverboat ride under the volcano towards "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was the kids' favorite. It was a slow moving ride in enclosed submarine-like "pods.". Here's a view of the volcano from the line where we waited...

Finally we made it to the Mermaid Lagoon. We watched a great performance "Under the Sea" in a theater there, rode a jellyfish ride, and enjoyed some cool inside air with beautiful underwater scenery...

That was our tour of Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea.

Pool Movie Night

Last night was the final "Dive-in Movie" here on base for the summer.  There were 3 total spread out over the warm months in the outdoor pool.  Also the last day of summer swimming classes for our kids.  What a great way to celebrate.

Our son is the one looking back with the glowing eyes :)

 This time our daughter got to come too, since it starts at dark, and now it is getting dark earlier.  The movie was over just after 8 PM, we left the pool in pajamas, and kids happily went to bed.

Good thing we have the movie because nobody seemed to be paying attention.  Great family night activity.

Kintai Fireworks Festival

The beautiful view just before dark and the start of fireworks

Every August there is a huge fireworks display at the Kintai Bridge as part of the Nishiki River Water Festival. Along with the fireworks there are tents and tents of vendors, boats offering dinner cruises, and more boats demonstrating "Cormorant fishing." Here are some views from our arrival at the event. I do apologize, not our best photography, much from video camera and no tripod...

A dinner boat cruise underway

View from on top of a second bridge for motorized vehicles

Dinner cruise boat

Vendors under the bridge

Sorry I did not get any photos of Cormorant fishing, but did capture a few seconds on video which follows. Cormorants are a type of bird, which a fisherman uses to catch fish while it's master has a leash around the base of its neck to stop it from swallowing larger fish. Then the fishermen have the birds spit out the big fish for them. This type of fishing is mostly used just for demonstration purposes today. Here is my video of the event, including the fireworks. About half way through, you can see the birds in front of the boats with torches in the front...

And incase you couldn't view the video, here are some shots of the evening with fireworks...

I hope you enjoyed what we captured!

Lotus Flowers in Bloom

It has been fascinating watching local lotus fields transition from muddy winter swamps, to spring water gardens, to beautiful summer blooms.

White lotus flower

Pink lotus flower

The "lilipads" that we watched grow all spring were actually lotus, which produces "lotus root" which is used in lots of Asian cooking.  Water lilies are actually a completely different plant, easily distinguished by the seeds in the center of the plants.  (I apologize I could not get a photo above the flowers as the plants were so tall and planted in about a foot of water.)  I also did not know that these plants grew so high out of the water. They are not the surface-floating plants many of us imagine when we think of water gardens.

Here you see how big the plants actually grow...

From the water, they are around 6' tall right now. Here are a few photos of them a month ago...

Very first lotus blooms

Now the plant have taken over the isles making solid green fields of lilipads with scattered blooms. A beautiful marker of summer.

It will be sad to see them go, though we will enjoy the roots in some Japanese meals.

Summer Festival

Our son recently participated in a "Summer Festival" for his Yochien.  He got to pick out his first kimono to wear for it, and learn some Japanese style dancing.  This was quite exciting for me as he had never previously been interested in dancing.  Interesting how it becomes fun in a group atmosphere; and by adding props. ;)

Here is our son waiting with his class for the program to begin...

The program was introduced by an adorable younger coed dance.  Then each of the older classes carried one of these handmade towers around the gym...

Then their was a girls dance, followed by a boys dance.  Here is a video and some photos from our son in the boys dance...

Our son is on the end facing the opposite side

Not perfect, but I am still fascinated, especially considering he still doesn't really understand Japanese. ;)

You may notice the boys are wearing two different types of kimonos, one piece (yukata) and two piece (jinbei) which are only for kids up to 130 cm.  The yukata is more traditional.  Kimonos must always be wrapped left over right, unless for a funeral, the right over left.

The program finished with parent/child dances.  I got to learn a fun Japanese dance with my son.  Unfortunately it did not get video-taped because it was too hard for "Daddy" to watch our daughter at the same time.  He did get a photo when the dance ended...

After the program, the kids got masks, inflatable swords, and treat bags to take home.  (Our daughter got a mask too, "Hello Kitty".)

We are very thankful our son got to participate in this activity, especially as we are debating on whether to keep him in Yochien until first grade, or start him in base Kindergarten in the fall.

Happy Independence Day USA!

For those of you in the US wondering if the 4th of July is celebrated outside the country, well yes, it isn't forgotten at any of the US bases.  Unfortunately we didn't get to see any fireworks because of the summer rains, though we did join in on a fun "Bikes and Trikes Parade".  Here's the kids having fun...

And a video of them in action, for those of you who are able to view it...

And some more pictures from the event...

This was all arranged by military mothers, including a brief talk on the meaning of Independence Day, a beautiful singing of the national anthem, some muffins, drinks, and patriotic colored cupcakes.

If you are an American citizen, we wish you a wonderful 4th of July as well!

Okinawa Trip

My husband got back from working a month abroad, and a few days later got vacation time! A wonderful thing about being stationed here is that there are multiple beautiful tropical US bases which we can fly to for free on a "space available" basis on military planes traveling there. We were hoping to go to Guam, but the flight was cancelled due to the minor typhoon which came our way. Though we missed out on a few days of intended play, luckily, a few days later, we made it on a C-130 to Okinawa...

Yes, for anyone who has not travelled on something like this, it is LOUD! Hence the ear protection.





When we got to Okinawa, they were recovering from another typhoon, but except for strong winds and some rain, it was beautiful!

Hmmm, not so fond of the wind...

Luckily after that we got a couple wonderful days of weather for some irreplaceable memories...

We rented 2 stand-up-paddle boards, for our daughter's first time ever, and family's first time all together.

After the paddling...

And on to another beach for after naptime...

I swam over and explored the other islands a little. My husband swam to the reef in the middle. You can see him standing on it above.

And here's a place we checked out for surfing... Though couldn't find boards to rent.

A wonderful quick trip, and right back to work and school the next AM.