Adventures in Kyoto

The day after Halloween we got on a plane and flew a couple hours to Osaka. Then we took a train to the city Kyoto. It is a famous city for their ancient temples and shrines. During WWII the city was preserved because of its historical value.

Going on trips with kids is always an adventure and this one didn't disappoint. They sure make it hard, but hopefully we made some good memories.

We stayed in an Airbnb which worked out pretty well. I wish I would have taken some pictures of it. Here is the pic from the website...

The shower/bath room was cool. It kinda looked like this pic

Step out of the tub and the whole room is a shower (ours even had a mirror just like the picture- not a fan of the mirror in the shower).

The toilet was a "magic potty" as my children call them. Brooklyn went to use it and wanted to know what all the buttons were for so she pushed one. All of a sudden there was some screaming coming from the bathroom- and water spraying all over. She had pushed the button for the bidet and it shot right through her legs and onto the floor.

It kinda looked like this except the buttons were on the wall. Who needs a separate line for the sink when you can just put it right on top of the toilet. 

On the train to Kyoto: You have to treasure these tender moments when all the kids are happy and getting along!

While on the train Spencer said "Does this train have wings?" No. "Then are we flying?"

After our last trip there was no way we were going without a stroller. This one makes it so all the kids can ride necessary.

Day 1 was Nijo Castle, Kinkakuji temple (Golden Pavilion) and the Philosophers path. We took mostly buses and did a lot of walking. 

I wish I would have taken more pictures of this place. It was amazing. Apparently we were there about 3 weeks too early for the full Fall colors, but we still saw a few. 

I love this man so much!

Day 2 was on bikes- what a great way to see a city. Especially since the bikes were electric assisted. That made pulling a 50 pound kid (plus one strapped to you-for Curtis) possible for 6 hours. The kids said this was their favorite part of the whole trip.  

Kiyomizu Dera temple

This is the Fushimi Inari Shrine and the 1000 Torii Gates ( I think)- People come from all over the world to see this sight!

We are in a city that is known for their great food.....

And we eat at McDonalds. That's just how we role. While there I asked them to fill my water bottle with cold water. There was obviously some confusion in the translation because when they gave me my water bottle back it felt a little warm (it is an insulated water bottle). I was super thirsty so I took a drink anyway. It was scalding hot water!!!!! I sucked on ice for the next 3 or 4 hours and my tongue is still sore a week later. 

Day 3 was Arashiyama which is a short train ride from the city center. Here we explored the bamboo forest, although I'm not sure we found the actual one I was planning on seeing. By this point I was so tired, my feet hurt and both Curtis and I had a head cold so we didn't really care. 

Of course we had to play at the park because the kids don't care about anything else. It was funny watching our two kids on one end of the teeter totter with a 3 or 4 Japanese kids on the other end.

The kids did enjoy Monkey Mountain

You climb for about 20 minutes and at the top are "wild" monkeys that just roam around. You can feed them if you go stand inside the cage. The kids were too afraid to hold the food out, but Brooke would toss it close to the monkeys. I was pleasantly surprised she didn't freak out when she saw the monkeys were not in cages. We have come a long way!

The view from the top of Monkey Mountain

This place reminded me a little of Europe

Spencer's 4th Birthday and Halloween

Happy Birthday to this handsome dude!

     This was a big year for Spence. He got potty trained and stopped sucking his thumb. It was all a matter of him deciding he was ready. Nothing we could do would convince him to either stop putting his thumb in his mouth or poop in the potty. As soon as he was ready, it took about 2 days and that was it. 

  Spencer loves superheros, cars, wild kratts and playing pretend. He can entertain himself quite well for a long period of time (which is good since Brooke is in school every day). 

       
    He loves Preschool and is one of the smartest kids in his class (as well as the biggest). He knows almost all his letters and can count to 29 without any help. 

  I got to go to school and eat lunch with him on his birthday. Since I didn't get a party thrown together, we gave the party favors to his classmates at school. 

   Then we had desserts galore with all his friends at the park that night. Spencer loves desserts as well as mac and cheese and tacos. Our neighbor made the cake- it was pirate themed just like his party favors. 

For Halloween this year our family theme was 

The Scooby Doo Gang

We had multiple opportunities to dress up (Spencer's school carnival, branch trunk or treat/chili cook off, friend Halloween party and of course Halloween night) so I only made them wear this when we dressed up as a family. The kids of course take their pick out of the dress up bucket for everything else.

 I'm glad my kids take after me in loving to dress up for Halloween. Curtis is nice enough to go along with whatever I plan :-)

Another fun thing we did this year was under water pumpkin carving. Because of the bad weather, we had to do the carving in a reef which had terrible visibility. Still it was pretty fun to see the pumpkin insides float up as you scraped it out. I'm sure the fish loved it, but we couldn't actually see any. I hope this is a new tradition. 

Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall

It has been a while since our last post and I blame it all on baby Ty Ty. He was really really good the first 2 weeks of life and then the colic kicked in. He is now almost 2 months old and I have cut wheat, eggs, nuts and dairy out of my diet and I think it has helped. It is super hard, but if it makes for less crying, I might be able to do it a little longer. My diet pretty much consists of rice chex with bananas and soy milk for breakfast, protein shake/smoothie for lunch, rice cake with sun butter and jam for snack and then some meat and a veggie for dinner. Oh yeah, don't forget the bags and bags of sweetish fish I have gone through in the past month! Not a lot of variety but it makes the baby happy. If the baby is happy then he sleeps which means I can sleep.  That makes life so much better.

Anyway, here is what we have been up to lately.....

We were lucky enough to have family come visit. You may think 8 weeks of company is crazy, but we loved it- especially the kids!

Yakiniku....they bring you the food raw and you get to cook it on the little grill.

A visit to the Okinawa wouldn't be complete without seeing the aquarium.

Fukushen Gardens- this place is beautiful. 

How lucky we were to have both sets of Grandparents there to bless Tyler. 

I love having a husband who is a worthy Priesthood holder so he can bless our children

 Trying on some festive clothing at the Aeon Mall. Of course it was after a visit to the Lanai Cafe for their AMAZING pancakes. 

The kids had their 1st Day of School! Brooklyn started Kindergarten at Bob Hope Primary School and Spencer started Preschool at All Souls (2 days a week). Both of them were super excited, but then I captured this look of fear on Brooklyn's face and for a moment I was afraid for her. Luckily she did just fine and they still love school (a month and a half in, a lifetime to go- hopefully they always love to learn).

We love our little Buddha baby!

These kids love superheros!

 I am in a group called Kadena Harmony and we sing the National Anthems for different events. This time we got to get all dolled up to sing for the Air Force Ball. Curtis was kind enough to come listen. We didn't stay but I heard the food was amazing. 

Chillin at the beach in style. 

This was a day we had off for the huge storm that came through. Can't you tell? It ended up not hitting us till late that night and was not nearly as close as they predicted. We didn't complain about the beautiful calm before the storm. 

The Fire Truck Parade. The kids look forward to this every year. The fire trucks, both Air Force and Japanese, drive around the base and throw candy to you. I think there were 10 or so trucks. It lasts all of 5 minutes, but the kids loved every second.

I got these cool Kimonos at a sale on base. Normally a new kimono can range from $50-$400. These cost me $5. I love a good deal. 

General Conference weekend. We watch it a week later because of the time change. This was the last few minutes of the session. Something about a quiet house and feeling the spirit, just lures you right to sleep. 

After conference we got a babysitter (first one that is not related since Ty was born) and went diving. I got scuba certified in December. My last test was on a Tuesday and I found out I was pregnant that Friday. So after 10 months, I was pretty nervous to get into the water. Luckily I made it, didn't lose any equipment and only saw 2 sea snakes. So grateful to have Curtis by my side the entire time. Pretty sure I won't ever go without him!