Thanksgiving in Hakone

On Thanksgiving morning, our jam packed van joined the packed van of the Cooper family and we headed down to Hakone. The weather was clear and beautiful. The whole ride and day we had amazing views of Mountain Fuji ( Quinn's name for MT. Fuji). It truly is an awesome sight to see. Not being able to see it will be one of the major things I miss when I finally leave Japan.

We arrived early at the Ashinoko Camping Village and couldn't check into our cabin. Lucky for us the cabins are a 10-15 minute walk through a nice wooded area to the cable car ride and pirate ship station. (I only wish I knew this the first time I stayed at this camping village with Tracey and the boys and we drove everywhere). We took the cable car up Mt. Kami and got off at Owakudani to eat the black eggs. They cook the white eggs in the sulphur springs and it turns the shells black. The Japanese believe each egg you eat adds 7 years to your life. The black shell had no effect on the taste. They were oshii! A bag of 5 eggs cost Y500 and our families ate 2 bags.

The next day we rode the Pirate sightseeing ships to Moto-Hakone and took pictures at the Hakone Shrine with the Tori Gate in the water. We explored around town and decided to take a bus to "The Stone Buddhas". The description of them on the map sounded quite interesting. We jammed into a local bus and waited to hear our stop announced. The time came for us to get off and all the Japanese were looking at us kinda funny. We got dropped off along a major roadway at a rest stop. But it was a nice rest stop with nice bathrooms and a small museum with replicas of the Buddhas. The real stone Buddha was carved on the side of the mountain across the street from the rest stop. We had to go through an underground tunnel to get there. But the worst part was to catch the bus back to the town we had to stand on the major road with no protection to stop the bus. Mike bravely volunteered to stand and stop the bus and then the rest of us ran to get on. Thanks Mike for risking your life. This was definitely an adventure that we could have probably done without but you win some and you lose some. Especially as a foreigner in a foreign land. One of our wins that day was the surprising discovery of a small sausage shop by the lake and we ate oshii brats. (Some photos courtesy of Michael Cooper).

Thanksgiving in Hakone from the Kiddos' Perspective

On our second and last day in Hakone, the Martyniaks and Coopers headed to the Hakone Open Air Museum. We had brisk weather but just right to keep us moving through the grounds of sculptures. For those unfamiliar with the Open Air Museum concept, essentially everything is outside. You walk along paths and look at large sculptures displayed on hillsides or in gardens, etc. But being in Japan, which is one of the most kid-friendly/family friendly places on Earth, they also offer unbelievable climbing structures for the kiddos to play on and climb. There was one structure made out of overlapping giant hammocks with worm holes for the kids to climb into and start their climb to the top (It was inside a giant lincoln log building). Another was a maze of plastic tunnels that the kids could climb in and slide down. Finally as we headed to the exit, they had a large Miffy the Bunny exhibit. I can't praise this museum enough.

The day ended with a bang, literally! We had a flat tire on the way home. The van had been vibrating badly the whole trip but 15 minutes on the expressway home, it blew. We don't know how they do it but the Japanese emergency car/crew arrived 5 minutes after we had pulled over. They set up cones and flashing lights and offered help. Neal changed the tire in no time and we were back on the road. The one good thing was that we were allowed to ride down the shoulder and avoided a lot of traffic. I was so mad that I forgot to take a picture of Neal and the crew to add to this blog.

Oktoberfest 2010

Last Saturday we went to Oktoberfest on Yokota AB. Every year we eat free food, jump in the jumpy castles and play games for cheap prizes for the kids. Quinn, Scarlett, and I joined our friends Tiffany, Emily and Charlie Cooper and walked over to the Sakura Shell for the festivities. The highlights included cookie decorating, pumpkin painting, fishing, and Q's favorite: getting blue coloring sprayed in his hair. He didn't want to wash his hair for days. I'll have to remember that for a bargaining chip in the future. My favorite part was a few steins of Lager for a bargain price ... just wish I could have had a few more but had to pick Neal up that night. That's Ok because I'll make up for it at the Bon Jovi concert in December.

A Day in the Life of Our Kids

November 2nd was a day off for the yochien kids. Quinn has been really missing his friends Jack and Sam and often reminisces about them. On that day, Quinn asked if we could go to the bakery and bring the food to the yellow slide park and play, just like we used to do with Jack & Sam. So we (including Charlie) invited some new friends, Jackson and his mom, Pamela to join us at the bakery and park. It was a gorgeous day to be outside. We spent about 3 -4 hours outside in the sunshine.

Can you guess...

... who is wearing their sibling's pants? So on one crazy Wednesday that I was working and Neal was gone, I quickly grabbed pants for Quinn to wear after school. He was going home with a friend because yochien got out early and I was working. When he put the pants on I had to do a double take. Amazingly he wore Scarlett's 24 month jeans. Luckily we were headed to a Japanese park and no-body even cared.

Snake, Anyone?

When Neal is gone (which is too often for us), I try to do some fun things at home to make the time go by faster. Two weeks ago the kids and I made a snake sandwich out of cresent roll dough, filled it with ham and cheese, and painted it with colored egg yolk. Quinn & Scarlett had a blast making it and eating it. Well Scarlett ate the ham. Super easy and fun.