October was a very exciting month for our family. Not only did my parents come, but 1 week later my brother's family came to visit for 10 days. We would have kept them all month if we could have! It was so fun having a cousin, aunt, and uncle around! Joe is not in all of the pictures due to business trips in China and Osaka Japan.
You'll notice that Shane is NOT in any of these pictures either because he was still in the Philippines doing a humanitarian mission. Hopefully we'll get a post from him soon with all of the details (hint hint). He had a great experience and we are so happy for him.
Jamie and Carson's arrival
Jamie and Carson arrived ON Jamie's Birthday! Here's the cake we celebrated with because you can't come to Japan on your birthday and not have a authentic Japanese cake.
The kids had a blast getting to know each other again and making lots of silly faces together.
Okutama Mountain
This was kind of a bummer trip. Remember the Roller Slides we went to earlier this year...we'll we thought we'd go again since it was such a blast. The only problem was...when we arrived this time they said kids under 1st GRADE could NOT ride the slide...WHAT??!! Jayden kept saying.."but, I've done it before". Needless to say there were many tears shed (I'll admit that I probably shed the most) and we had to walk away. Luckily, there was a park nearby that got our minds off of the sad experience (and 2 hour drive).
You had to cross this bridge to get to the park. This bridge was hilarious! It played this "carosal" music the whole time we walked across it! It was out in the middle of no where in the mountains. RANDOM!
The musical bridge.
Playing at the park and trying to get over the experience at the roller slide.
Jamie & Carson on the zip line.
Looks like we got over it and are now making silly faces.
Walking across Lake Okutama.
Trip to Hakone
Notice all 3 kids crying (Carson is hiding and crying)...& notice my brother Joe laughing??? I can't remember exactly why they were all crying but I think it had something to do with us not putting their 3 carseats right next to each other. We just had to laugh because here we are getting ready to take off on a fun adventure and ALL 3 kids are bawling...What are we thinking???
The hot springs in Hakone (the kind you wear swimsuits at). Thanks to a friend we found out how to get REALLY discounted tickets to the hot spring. I love getting good deals!
Our favorite...the Dr. Fish bath.
Here's what it looks like to have fish eat your dead skin. This is Joe's foot.
The Dead Sea "Salt" bath. My kids do not like this bath because it stings every sore and makes you itch, but it's fun to just sit and float. At least Carson tried it out.
The Green Tea bath.
We stayed in a hotel right on the Lake Ashi. It was really fun. My favorite part was the Japanese bath the kids and I went to that night. We loved it! I couldn't quite convince my brother and his wife to try it out...maybe next time :)!
My kids love this pirate boat ride.
Joe, Jamie, and Carson.
On the other side of the lake we took this ropeway up the mountain to the smoking sulfer pits in the distance.
If you eat these black eggs cooked in the sulfer pits then you will live a longer life. There were hundreds of Japanese people there eating black eggs so we had to do it too. Even the kids ate some. Don't worry...they were NOT black on the inside. Jayden was REALLY sad that dad didn't get to eat the eggs and have a longer life, so it looks like we'll have to make this trip again :) Good thing Hakone is one of our favorite places to go.
I've started collecting pictures of these wood cut out boards. They are EVERYWHERE here. This one is of them riding the ropeway up the mountain with the pirate boat and Mt. Fuji in the background. That pretty much sums up our trip.
Jamie, Jayden, Joe (on his iPhone :) & Carson.
Jumpin' Jellyfish ride.
The whirlpool (tea cups).
Eating Sushi
Can't come to Japan and NOT eat at a sushi-go-round. The kids had a fun time grabbing stuff off the conveyor belt. We're not big sushi fans, but it was still fun.
Showa Park
Jayden and Tia in TIME OUT at Showa Park. I don't even remember why, but I do know that they weren't supposed to be by each other, but how can you break up two sad kids crying like that?
Jamie & Carson riding their Japanese bike.
Disney Sea
It was a little rainy that day but it didn't stop us from having fun!
It was almost Tia's birthday so she got a birthday sticker from the employees and she picked out this Mini Mouse hair accessory to remember her birthday fun.
Tia is finally tall enough to ride a roller coaster...YAY! This is her & Carson on their 1st roller coaster. She was a little nervous, but absolutely LOVED it! I think we ended up riding this ride 3 or 4 times. It was called Flounder's Flying Fish Coaster.
Jamie, Jayden, Joe (on his iPhone :) & Carson.
Jumpin' Jellyfish ride.
The whirlpool (tea cups).
One of our favorite things at Disneyland and Disney Sea is their popcorn. They have really fun popcorn buckets you can buy and then you keep refilling them with all flavors of popcorn (chocolate, strawberry, carmel, curry, soy, and lots of other crazy ones).
Taking the train around Tokyo
Visiting Hachi the dog at Shibuya Station.
Sorry this is blurry...I was trying to hurry and take a picture while I was still moving. Most of the train stations in Tokyo DO NOT have elevators or escalators. Look at these nice business men helping us get our sleeping kids down those stairs. The Japanese are usually very very helpful in situations like this.
Taking the Tokyo Cruise through the bay.
Playing at the beach on Odaiba Island. Yes I know...I look 9 months pregnant. The wind caught my dress in the worst possible place. Don't start any rumors because I am NOT pregnant...sorry ReAnn :)
"The Fight"
Joe, Jamie, and I finally just gave up on the 2 boys. They were competing the ENTIRE trip, so we finally let them go at each other. Don't worry, we didn't let them hurt each other, but believe me...it was hilarious to watch.
Carson getting ready for the attack.
Carson yelling 3 year old profanities at Jayden (you can hear it on the video below--he he).
I think Jayden is actually laughing.
You can clearly see who won...but I wouldn't mention it to Jayden!
A short clip of the fight.
Other than that Jayden had fun doing this.
And Tia had fun doing this...
...showing crack and playing in the ocean!
We then went up into the ball between those buildings...
...and had a beautiful view of Tokyo.
The last few nights we stayed at the New Sanno hotel in Tokyo (our military hotel) and the kids had fun swimming, playing, and enjoying a fun night watching a movie and eating popcorn. Even though everything was a competition between the two boys, they still had a GREAT time together.
Joe, Jamie, & Carson we LOVED having you here! Please come again!!! We already miss you like crazy!
