4th of July - Shimoda Beach

Our friend's, the Woolstenhulmes, invited us on their 4th of July vacation. I don't know if they were expecting us to say yes :), but we did--who would pass up a 5 day vacation to the beach??? We went to Shimoda which is just south of us on the Izu Peninsula. It's about a 5 hour drive (only 100 miles) with beautiful cliffs, mountains, & ocean--it was breath taking. We had an ABSOLUTE BLAST! We want to do it again each summer. Prepare yourself for LOTS of pictures.

The Beach House

The STEEP road leading to the beach house (at the very top). It was so scary going up and down the hill that we ended up parking at the bottom and walking up each time.

The steps at the top of the steep hill leading up to the beach house.

Lunch on the balcony.

The beautiful view from the balcony.

The beach was about a 10-minute walk from the house.

The Beach

Isn't this beach gorgeous??? All the beaches in the area were just as beautiful. We will be returning each year!!! My friend from Hawaii said that she loves going to Shimoda because it reminds her of home.

Harley & Jayden enjoying the beach.

Shane & Tia

"Take me back dad"

Shane & Jayden

"Take me back dad" :)

I guess they both didn't like dad's idea of "fun".

The beach (Ohama Beach) was the perfect beach to play on...and we had it all to ourselves.

Jayden & Niyah.

Dad & Tia Boogie Boarding...

Mom TRYING to get Jayden to Boogie Board...

It didn't work...I couldn't get him to let go.

After watching Niyah and Harley, he eventually loosened up and had a blast by himself.

Poor Gena face-planted onto the beach.

Shane's mom sent us this awesome rocket that takes a simple bike pump to shoot off. We couldn't believe how high the rockets would go. Thanks Suzy...what a hit!

The Cable Car

Shimo, the Woolstenhulmes, and the Andrews. Our friend Shimo from church came and joined us for 2 days. It was really fun having him there.

We took a cable car up a mountain which overlooked the city Shimoda and the ocean.

Shimo, Jeb, Shane, and Tia.

The kids.

The city of Shimoda. I love how the city wraps around the mountains.

Exploring

We found this cool mountain out in the ocean with a walkway leading to it.

The Beach House

Here are the kids playing one evening during dinner. There were 10 of us staying at the beach house.

Upstairs had 2 rooms (1 for the Woolsteinhulmes & 1 for us) with tatami mats and futons. Shimo had the downstairs with the couch (and critters...keep reading).

With only 1 shower and 10 people, the boys had to get creative with other showering options. The rain was coming down so hard they just stood outside and had a shower.

Sandhill Cove & Fireworks

We found sleds and slid down this hill. Way fun and way dirty.

Jayden climbing up.

Jayden sliding down.

Shimo getting drenched by the waves.

Jeb parting the sea.

Fireworks

I didn't get any good pictures of fireworks that night, but it was probably one of the most memorable & funny 4th of July's we've ever had. Shane, Jeb, & Shimo put on one of the best firework shows ever. Thanks Jeb & Salinda for all of the fireworks. It lasted at least 45 minutes. We were laughing & screaming the whole time. What a perfect night.

Black Ship boat ride

We went on a quick boat ride through the bay.

Fed the seagulls.

Look closely...the seagull just took the food from my hand.

Izu Peninsula Drive

On Sunday we took a beautiful drive down and around the bottom of the Izu Peninsula. We went to a city called Dogashima in hopes to take a cruise out to the ocean and through some caves. Unfortunately the waves were too strong, so all the cruises were canceled. We ended up taking a beautiful (and HOT) hike around some cliffs instead.

And, last but certainly NOT least...

...THE SPIDERS

The trip was near perfect until the very last night....luckily it was the last night and not the first.

We knew there was a possibility of spiders in the beach house (because the Woolstenhulmes went the year before and encountered some), but we thought we were clear when Jeb did a thorough search of the house the first night. Somehow those little (actually BIG) boogers snuck in the last night we were there.

I went to use the bathroom (last year they found the spiders in the bathroom) and as usual I opened the door, scanned the whole bathroom, and found that it was clear so I entered and proceeded to use the restroom. Moments after I sat on the toilet I turned to look at the door and there, about 6 inches from my face, was a VERY LARGE, FURRY spider (about the size of a man's palm of his hand). Of course I screamed, jumped up, & screamed again. The spider jumped across the door, then back where it was close to the door opening. All I could think about was "get that thing out of here". So, half dressed I threw the door open (sorry Salinda for the show) in hopes that it would jump out.... and it did. Below is a picture of what happened to the spider once it left the bathroom.

Thanks Jeb for being prepared with the flame thrower :)

This is the "fried" spider. It was WAY bigger than this when it was alive. It's butt is about the size of a quarter.

All of it's legs fell off when Jeb singed it.

Here's Shane trying to throw it away.

Shortly afterwards we found this 4 inch long centipede. This is a picture of it after Jeb torched it. We ended up finding 2 more large spiders, but they did not live long.

Jeb got a little excited and started torching everything....oops! We had to leave a little extra money to cover the screen :)

This was probably one of the greatest vacations we've had here. Even with the spiders...it was still perfect. Thanks Woolstenhulmes for letting us crash your vacation. We had a blast!

Tia's 1st Dance Class

Tia recently started a dance class and absolutely loves it! I love watching her get so excited.

Let me warn you...there are a lot of videos of her dancing. I apologize, but this is our journal and we want to have all of these memories, so I have to post them all :) Plus, I thought her girl cousins in Utah would love to see her dancing...these are for you girls (and all the aunts, uncles, cousins, & grandparents of course).

Our little dancer.

This is what we call the "SHHH" dance. Tia's legs are spread out so wide that she can't even do the dance, but it doesn't stop her.

Look at Tia's face in the mirror...she's so excited!

"Naughty Toes"

We love this one because Tia will randomly practice it in her car seat while we are driving.

She tries so hard to do what the teacher is doing.

"Walking the line"

"Galloping"

Tia's dance class and their favorite stuffed animals.

Tia and her teacher Ms. Helen.

Okutama Roller Slide

For Memorial Day a few families from our branch drove for 2 hours (about 35 miles) to go to this Roller Slide in Okutama. The roads were tight, and very curvy, but it was SO beautiful and worth it.

We thought this was a neat looking temple at the top of a hill, but it was actually the starting point for the roller slide we went on (see the white slide coming out the right side of it-that is about 1/3 of the slide). We had to hike up the hill each time we wanted to go down it. We definitely got our exercise that day!

Here are the 5 families and the missionaries that went.

The beginning of the slide.

The Elder's and their friend at the beginning. These 3 were nuts!! They probably went down 100 times. We would all wait and let them go before us because they would get the roller pins going really fast.

Shane and Tia half way down the slide.

Adyson, Tia, and I.

Our family at the end of the slide.

Jayden modeling the gloves we all had to wear.

And here's the video Shane and Jayden took. Enjoy!

We stopped at Lake Okutama afterwards. It was extremely peaceful and beautiful.

We will definitely be returning to this place.

Tokyo Trip 2 - Shibuya & Harajuku

For Mother's Day Shane reserved a few nights at our military hotel in Tokyo. We had a really good time as a family, besides the fact that the kids CRIED practically the WHOLE time. They weren't feeling well (so it wasn't really their fault this time). Our luck was just not with us on this trip...oh well...we still managed to have a good experience.

New Sanno Hotel

The kids get SO excited every time we go to this hotel.

Shibuya

We made a quick stop at the Shibuya train station. It is well known as the Times Square of Tokyo (I wasn't able to get a really good picture of how crazy it was).

While there we had to get a picture with Hachi...

If you haven't seen Hachi yet, it's a really cute, true story that took place at the Shibuya train station here in Tokyo. It's a good, clean movie.

Harajuku

Visiting Meiji Shrine.

Takeshita Street.

This is where teenagers go to see the new hip fashions and other crazy stuff. It's almost impossible to walk down with a stroller. We didn't quite fit in :)

While walking down this street we saw many girls that looked like this...

...I have no idea why (borrowed this picture from Wikipedia)!

Near the New Sanno hotel

(and Tokyo LDS Temple)

We found this fun little ice cream shop that I really like. We went there both nights we were in Tokyo just because I love it. I also love that they have a non-dairy Mango ice cream for Jayden. He was pretty excited to be able to eat the whole thing and not get a belly ache.

Yummy Yummy!

Children's Hall Museum

We went back to Shibuya on the second day because it was raining and we had to find something in doors to do. We found this great Museum that was FREE and we all absolutely LOVED it!

There is a wood working shop in the basement where each kid made 1 craft.

The kids each picked this cool "hooey stick" to make (watch video below).

The kids went fishing.

Played on lots of toys.

Made origami with a cute little Japanese man.

And my favorite part of the day was...

...the Human BODY Maze

Can you see the eyes? You climb up through the "big mouth" to get inside. I'm not sure where the nose is???

You can see the uvula up front after you climb up the mouth. And then you have this little hole near the back of the BODY which is called the "poo poo hole" :)

And...here is my favorite part....

...you exit the whole maze, between the two feet, through the "BUTT TUNNEL" which even has little flaps on it! I just love the Japanese!

The kids had a blast playing in the music room.

And when we left we had to pay an arm and a leg (about $18 for 2 hours) to get our car out of this parking garage. They don't even need your car keys to take your car. Don't ask us where it goes...all we know is that it came back to us when we put our ticket in the machine and punched return. It was awesome!

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