Perfect view for a "first day" back at the books

School's Back in Session!

Us too, I suppose, since we just got back into things after our trip to Japan, but our actual excitement is that all the school kids are back in school! We have all our favorite places back! Since we're year-round learners in a variety of grades (depending on the subject and the kid), the "back to school" season doesn't mean much, but I informed the girls that they can officially tell people who inevitably ask this time of year that, yes, they are "back in school" and that they're in 4th (Lion) and 6th grades (Monkey and Bug).

Here's what our last few weeks have looked like:

For our first "official" day back into lessons, we decided to do it Hawaii style: We packed up a few books, picked up a box of Dunkin' Donuts, and headed for our favorite nearby beach! After enjoying breakfast, we spread out a blanket in the sand to do some of our read aloud lessons. Conveniently enough we were learning about the Polynesian explorers, so we filmed their history presentation on location! They also copied out their spelling words in the sand and had the rest of the morning to play and explore. (Meanwhile, I had the morning to sit on the beach, read, pray, and journal.)

We started up our standing Wednesday morning pool dates with another homeschool family! Our combined six kids are LOVING having the pool basically all to themselves. (My apologies to the sunbathers.)

We also made it back to the zoo for the first time in months--just us and a handful of preschoolers and Japanese tourists. We had a lovely, leisurely stroll through the zoo, making sure to spot some of our favorites: elephants, monkeys, and the tiger (he was up and about this time!). We even got to chat with a couple of zookeepers. One was set up for discussion with a table display of replica monkey skulls and hands, and the other was cleaning out a turtle pond and clearly enjoyed the company and conversation of a trio of inquisitive girls.

My kids are in that climbing structure somewhere!
(The zoo playground might be one of their favorite things.)

At Monkey's request we visited the bouldering gym--our first time since she broke her arm! Now that she's free of the cast and back to full strength, she had a blast and climbed hard the whole time--she came home with the blisters to prove it, but wants to go back regularly. Poor Lion was having fun until she pulled a groin muscle--fortunately, toward the end of our planned stay. Bug meanwhile decided that she's just not that into climbing and will likely stay home to work on projects next time.

The week after we returned from Japan, they had their taekwando belt test. They are officially yellow belts now! This is especially exciting because technically they were supposed to go from no belts to white belts, but they worked hard and proved they knew enough to skip a belt and go straight to yellow! Here they are being applauded by the school after Master C presented them with their belts:

Posing at the 6th Station torii gate

Konichi wa (Japan Trip Part II)
The adventures continue!

Day 9: We climbed Mt. Fuji! Well, most of it. Bus schedules proved a limiting factor, but Daddy, Bug, Lion, and I made it to Station 8 on the Subashiri Trail (3,100 m. elevation) when we realized we needed to head back down or risk getting left on the mountain overnight. Aunt E started the hike with us intending to go only to the first stop (6th station). She's climbed it before and made plans instead to head to a nearby onsen (hot spring baths) while we kept going. Partway to the 6th station Monkey wasn't holding up well, so we sent her to the onsen with Aunt E rather than drag her along and risk altitude sickness. The altitude is no joke! Lion, of course, remained bouncy the whole time, and she probably could have made it to the summit in plenty of time. However, Bug and I were definitely starting to slow our pace, and Daddy started getting headaches. It was a good hike though! Besides experiencing the world famous mountain, the girls also handled getting the station keepers to brand our hiking stick, mastered using squatty potties, and had a glorious time sliding down the black gravel slopes!

The Mt. Fuji hike starts in a lovely forest.

The higher you go the more desolate and foggy it gets.

We didn't make it to the summit, but that's it behind Bug and Lion!

This photo doesn't nearly do justice to the steep slope we had to slide down! 

The girls tried out futons in one of our hotel rooms.

We met Aunt E and Monkey back at our hotel, which was a fantastic cultural experience in itself! Our room's entryway, where everyone left their shoes, led up to a tatami mat room with futons laid out. Also off the entryway was a private bathroom (a Western luxury, not traditional to Japanese hotels) that had a big onsen-style tub. While eating the dinner Aunt E and Monkey picked up, we swapped stories of the day. Monkey had a great time at the onsen: a traditional lunch, a lovely hot soak, and ice cream in the relaxation room. Lion and Bug decided they deserved a long hot soak as well after that hike and set up their own private experience in their hotel room before bed.

In case you didn't know things are smaller in Japan.
That's Daddy in front of our hotel room door.

Lion and Bug are ready for their onsen!

The girls joined the temple guardian in scaring
evil things away.

Day 10: For convenience we decided to take advantage of the hotel's breakfast, which advertised a mix of Japanese and Western foods. We had to laugh at their Western offerings though--teriyaki meatballs and potato salad! After checking out we headed to a local playground that the girls loved--a couple of massive slides and a variety of climbing things made everybody happy. From their we went to the Peace Garden, a Buddhist temple dedicated to world peace that contained some of the Buddha's remains. We wandered through the lovely traditional gardens and down a long path of compassion Buddha statues before getting back in the car and heading back to Tokyo.

Day 11: We had low key day back in the apartment while Ellie ran some errands. I got the girls to a playground in the afternoon before we headed out to explore a bit more of the city in the evening (shopping & dinner).

It's an early morning on the Shinkansen.

Day 12: We got an early start the next morning to get to the Shinkansen (the bullet train, in fact, the third fastest train in the world), and what would have been an all day road trip got us to Kyoto by mid-morning! Our first stop was a tour of the Kyoto Imperial Palace. While tourists cannot enter the buildings themselves, most of the rooms open to the outside for easy viewing and the grounds are beautiful. I found a fun little park with a stepping stone river crossing for our next stop before heading to Pontocho Alley (famous dining district) for lunch. Many of the restaurant were closed until the evening, but we found a very tasty gyo katsu (fried beef strips) place. In the afternoon we visited the Golden Pavilion and did some souvenir shopping before dinner. On our way the little two-bedroom apartment we were staying in, we located an international donut shop and picked up some very tasty treats for the next morning.

The emperor's entrance to the palace.

Crossing the river on the backs of stone turtles.

A look down Pontocho Alley

Traditional Japanese dining--so tasty!

That's the Golden Pavilion in the background.

Classic image: Beautiful yukatas, a massive torii
gate, and a Shinto shrine

Day 13:  The five-story pagoda within minutes of our apartment was, sadly, covered in scaffolding, but we glimpsed a bit on our way to Fushimi Inari Shrine, famous for its hundreds of red torii gates leading up the mountain (we didn't go all the way to the top--with the felt temperature reaching 109 degrees it was just too hot for that kind of exertion). We also got to watch a shinto worship service with tradition music and dance at the main shrine and peek into a number of different little shrines on the way up the mountain. After lunch at an air conditioned restaurant near the shrine, we headed to the Raku Museum, were we learned about the history and creation process of a local pottery tradition and viewed samples from its beginnings hundreds of years ago to one created only last year. Finally we wandered through the Nishiki Market (food & souvenirs) before catching a Shinkansen back to Tokyo.

So many torii gates!

The girls learn about how to work a raku kiln.

Even the Kyoto train station had entertainment:
above, a light show on a massive stair case
below, an interactive robot
For the record, a robot that makes eye contact
and requests my participation is a little disconcerting!

Day 14: We attended a bilingual church service where Aunt E had friends, found tasty sandwiches and a playground for lunch, then headed to Miraikan (the national museum for emerging science and innovation), where we explored exhibits about robots and climate change.

Aren't they cute? Also that massive globe behind them
tracks actual satellite images of earth's weather patterns.

Souvenir shopping came with a fun photo op!

Day 15: We'd checked off our cultural and historical bucket list, so for our last day in Tokyo we headed to Disneyland! (also, it's significant cheaper in Tokyo than in California) Lion in particular was excited because she is finally tall enough for all the rides. Obviously, Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain were priority rides, and she loved them! (We almost ran into a snag, however, when a cast member spotted Daddy in line and was afraid he'd be too tall for Space Mountain. They pulled him out of line and took him "behind the scenes" to sit in an unused car to make sure he'd fit. He did!) The Star Wars simulation ride was also a favorite. In addition to the exciting rides we also rode It's a Small World--so the girls now get the reference next time Grandma sings it!

Daddy says this photo pretty much sums up his
Japan experience.

Day 16: We spent most of our last morning in Tokyo packing and cleaning, but the girls and I did find the time to visit a nearby playground and catch the last bit of a concert at the neighborhood shrine before heading for the airport and home.

We had such an amazing trip! And we were so thankful to have Aunt E as a tour guide!

Hanging out on the apartment balcony

Konnichi wa! (Japan Trip Part I)
We recently returned from spending two fantastic weeks in Japan with Aunt E. Some friends of hers were out of town for the month, so we were able to use their 3-bedroom apartment in a Tokyo high-rise as home base while taking side trips to Yokosuka, Odawara en route to Gotemba, and Kyoto. In terms of the overall experience, I think the girls' favorite things were the food (so many tasty new things) and the playgrounds (so much more than your standard shoots and ladders here in the States). Here's our itinerary and some photos to enjoy!

Day 1/2: We crossed the international date line and did a bit of time travelling in the midst of our physical travelling. Over the course of 36 hours we started at our front door here in Hawaii, took an Uber, an airplane, a bus, and a taxi to arrive at the apartment in Tokyo. We had just enough time to acquire dinner, get settled, then crash at a reasonable bedtime.

Creating Pixar figures at the Mori Museum

Day 3: We spent a leisurely morning eating Japanese pastries (melon pan, bean paste buns, etc.) and planning some of our side trips, then met up with a friend of E's for lunch (local comfort food--I had the barbecued eel over rice. Mmmm...) From there we headed to the Mori Modern Art Museum on the fiftieth floor of a skycraper. In addition to great views of the city, it featured an interactive Pixar exhibit as well as a very cool, but untouchable exhibit of massive string art. On the way home we hit up one of the nearby playgrounds (old school swings, a jungle gym, etc.) and poked our heads into a tiny local shrine to a tree that was now growing inside and in between the surrounding houses.

Tiny shrine for a really big tree

Watching the music & water show at Mikasa Park

 Day 4: This was a day trip down memory lane for me! We rented a car and headed for Yokosuka to show the girls the house I lived in as a kid, my elementary school, church, the hospital where E was born, and spent some time in a favorite park. Back in Tokyo, we hung out in E's apartment while she helped the girls try on her yukatas (summer kimonos). For dinner we tried out a monjayaki place (meat & veggie filled pancakes that you cook yourself at the table). Yum!

Melodramatically sad girls because the kabuki show sold out
right before we tried to get in line

 Day 5: We walked through shaded woods in the middle of Tokyo to visit Meiji Shrine (built to honor one of the most well-known emperors) and arrived just in time to see several priest performing a sacred chant. For lunch we wandered Tsukiji market (open air food market), and stopped in a sushi-go-round to eat. The girls were very excited about being able to pull down whatever sushi looked good as it went by on the conveyor belt. The chefs working in the middle also seemed excited to have three such appreciative Caucasians kiddos to feed--they made some special tiny sushi just for the girls to share. After lunch we tried sesame ice cream (Lion and I are fans), and wandered through Shinjukugyoen Park.

The Meiji Shrine had massive torii gates at the entrance to the park.

Shinjukugyoen Park has beautiful traditional gardens.

Peek-a-boo! Fortunately, the park also had fun spaces for the girls
to get some wiggles out.

Monkey tries her hand at waving a
matoi (fire brigade standard). We
got to see the actual firemen waving
them at a festival the next day.

 Day 6: We spent the morning at the Edo Museum--
a history museum that covers the samurai era through WWII and featured artifacts, intricate models, and hands-on exhibits. After a tempura lunch, we walked through a souvenir market street to Sensoji Buddhist Temple. Everyone was preparing for a fireworks festival that evening, so there were lots of people in colorful yukata visiting the shops and temple too. We found another fun playground for the girls (ok, Lion) to expend some energy. This one was made of car tires and massive concrete pipes, although the girls favorite part was the zipline.

Doing chores in 17th century Edo--in this case it took
Monkey and Bug to lift the buckets of "night soil."

  

Onward! Trying out a 19th century cycle rickshaw

Looking down on Sensoji Temple from a nearby skyscraper
(Those green roofs leading to the temple are souvenir booths.)

The leader of this group was very excited about
getting the huge American to help carry their
"god in a box." He was head and shoulders
above the crowd everywhere we went!
Walking behind him and catching people's
reactions provided endless entertainment!

Day 7: In the morning we headed to a neighborhood festival and arrived in time to see the parade--traditional dancers, drummers, and several "god in a box" floats. Daddy and the girls were all pulled into participating in the parade to help with the floats. We sampled festival foods for lunch--takoyaki (octopus), yakisoba (fried noodles), yakitori (meat on a stick), and choco bananas (frozen bananas covered in chocolate). So much yumminess! After lunch we went to a church where E had friends and where they provided translation for the whole service. The girls decided to go to children's church, had a great time, and even made some new friends! (They're scheming to be email pen pals, but we'll see if that pans out.)

The girls got to help pull a float too!
(This one was actually motorized,
but lots of kids jumped in to help.)

On our way to church we walked past the grounds of the Imperial Palace.
The palace itself isn't open for tours, but you can see it in the background.

Day 8: We hopped in a rental car again, and this time headed for Gotemba but stopped along the way in Odawara to visit a couple of museums. The first, Odawara Castle, was a reconstruction of a castle from the 1500s that presented the history and lifestyle of the samurai family who ruled there until Japan was unified. We also visited the nearby Ninja Museum, which turned out to be more of a themed indoor play space than a museum. It was very well done though, and the girls had a blast!

Daimyo Lion holding court in Odawara Castle.

Can you spot three ninjas in training?

 

Before and after shots of Lion with her
mid-afternoon treat! She's decided Japan
makes much better shave ice than Hawaii!