Fuji Adventures

Last weekend we traveled to one of our favorite areas, Mt.Fuji. The area right now is at its peak with fall colors!! The area has so much to offer for the outdoor lovers we are! This time our neighbors traveled with us, we had an amazing time!!

This park was full of multiple waterfalls and trails that zigzagged throughout.

Fish appetizer on a stick😳

We then traveled to a torn fall festival. It felt like the Christnas markets we use to go to in Europe. Full of crafts, food, and beverages. The Midwest in the kiddos went for corn on a stick!

We had heard of the Fuji Safari park and decided to try it out on our way home. Going into it we thought it would be much like a zoo. NO... It was completely different!! The animals were LOOSE!!! You drive through the park and the animals would roam about. There were signs placed not to roll down your window and keep your doors locked. That's it... This park would NEVER work in the states!!

Oh, hello lion sitting above our car..

Did I mention the animals can cross the street..

We then parked our car and went into the "active" part of the park. I mean how much more active can it get?

As active as petting a kangaroo chilling!!

Hello..

Christmas 2016

There are many advantages to being stationed in Japan. One of them is the awesome launching pad it is to explore all of Asia! 

This past holiday we hit the sea and cruised to Cambodia, Taiwan (two stops), Vietnam (two stops), and Bruni. All together the cruise was eleven days out if Singapore.

There wasn't one stop we didn't like!! The ship was constant entertainment and we even won first place in the gingerbread decorating contest out of 400+ participants!!

It was a holiday we'll always remember (and hopefully the kiddos will too😉).

Claire getting ready for Christmas dinner😊

Sorry, we took a ton of photos and I took them off of my phone for space before updating the blog😳😁

Tokyo

Tokyo is just a little over an hour away from us. Where we live we're on the water and put of the hustle and bustle thank goodness! However, it's fun to cruise around there for a day and come back to our peaceful waterfront village! 

The busiest intersection in the WORLD!! The Shibuya crossing!

We stumbled upon these fun cheerleaders!

Tokyo is one busy city! We decided to take a break from the hustle and bustle and headed to a huge park. We couldn't even cover the entire park!! The leaves were beautiful.

The park had little vendors throughout so a purchase of a frisbee was a must!

And the purchase of bubbles...

And this is what a subway looks like traveling home at 6:30p.m.

First Day of School

We haven't heard the sound of an alarm clock for a long time in our house. On August 31st we woke up to the sound of an alarm and excited for the first day of school!!

Drew is entering 3rd grade and has Mrs. Darby. Claire will be in 1st grade with 

Mrs. Barker. Both kiddos were really excited and I had to hide it... But I was the nervous one!!

And they were off! 

Claire told me I had to babysit her babies while she was at "work" so o put them in the balcony facing the walking path into our building!! She was excited to see her babies looking for her after her workday!!

Every year on the first day of school I bake a cake!! And here's this years!!! I had a big vision though... It was going to be in the shape of an apple, lots of frosting, decorated cute... And instead it crumbled to pieces when I tried to get it out!!!

I scooped it up though and put it into bowls for the kids and they LOVED it!! Drew keeps asking me to make the delicious blue cake again!! 

Itzu Peninsula Trip

Two weeks ago we headed to the coast! The drive was a little over three hours, however worth it! We were able to do a hike with seven waterfalls and end the day relaxing in Onsens (natural baths).

Andy is very excited to come back to this area and bring his fishing pole! There were a few Japanese men fishing in this river catching tons of fish!!

Amazing bridges connecting hiking paths!

We then ended the day soaking in the onsens!

Enoshima

The other week we jumped on the train a little over an hour away and went to Enoshima. Off of Enoshima is a beautiful island with cute shops, shrines, and restaurants! 

Entering the small island village!

Octopus as our appetizer!! The kiddos love it!

It's a small hike up to the top to see the shrine. Along the walk though they have beautiful stops.

View from the top!

A really nice guy was feeding the turtles in the water. The kiddos we're thrilled when he asked them to help!

On the street they cell cucumbers on a stick!! I don't know what they do to it, but it tastes very different then American cucumbers. We LOVE them!!

Asia Bound!

Late July we then flew to Seattle to catch a flight to JAPAN!! We had a few days in Seattle and so close to Andy's brother and awesome sister in law in Eugene... So we headed to Oregon!! 

It was so great to see our cute niece and nephew!! Drew and Claire loved playing with their cousins!!

We had a great visit!!

After two quick days in Oregon we traveled back to Seattle and boarded our flight for Japan!

All bags checked!

And then we found out our flight was delayed for five hours!! Thank goodness for the lounges!

And we were off!!