Meiji Shrine, Asakusa and playground

The last couple of days Gramps and Granny were here, we went and stayed up in Tokyo and took them some of our favorite places.  The first place we took them was the Meiji Shrine, which is one of my favorite shrines (and we have been to TONS!)  It is in a really fun area--Harajuku--a really famous area well-known for their street fashion.  If you go on a Sunday you see people decked out in CRAZY outfits.  Anyways, we were there on a Sunday at the Meiji shrine and there was a wedding going on so we saw tons of people in their kimono-best!  It was so fun to see.  

In front of the main torii gate 

 He is telling us that he is 5.

Ethan and Kailey with the cute japanese girls.  Kailey was fascinated by the kimonos and told me several times that she wanted to dress up in a 'mono'!

The wedding party

The next day we took them to Asakusa, which is another big temple.  We took a river cruise on the Tokyo river to get to where we were going.  Here are some pictures in the park where we caught the cruise.

In front of Asakusa

This picture isn't very good, but at the end of the street is the temple, but along the sides are tons of fun stalls selling everything you can think of--japanese shoes, lucky cats, swords, etc.  It is fun to walk along and look.

The main temple

Every time you enter a 'holy' place, like a temple or shrine, you always have to wash your hands.

Playing at the park

We had such a fun time with Gramps and Granny and hope they can come visit us when we move to Spain next summer!!

GODZILLA park!!

One of our favorite parks is Godzilla Park or it is really called Kurihama Flower world. It is this huge park with tons of flowers and at the top is this really cool playground. We took Granny and Gramps there and had so much fun. I was also surprised to see them sliding on all the slides--it is so awesome that the kids have such active and fun great-grandparents!

Riding the train to the top of the hill!

Granny and Gramps LOVING the roller-slide!

Gramps coming down Godzilla's tail--he almost got stuck!!

There were all of these cute little japanese kids in different colored hats.

Kailey sliding down with some random japanese lady!

Gramps and Granny in the train!

Climbing Cade!

ZIP-LINE!!

View from the top!

Chinatown

One day we took Granny and Gramps to chinatown in Yokohama-it is such a fun place to wander around and has TONS of yummy food.

Cute picture of the boys!

Panda stuff is EVERYWHERE in Chinatown!

Everything is also so colorful!!

Mikoshi Parade

In Japan, fall is marked by mikoshi parades. They are religious processions featuring colorful costumes and elaborate mikoshi. The mikoshi is a sacred shrine carried by men on their shoulders or pulled. Anyways, tons of fun to watch. While Granny and Gramps were here, the city of Yokosuka had their annual mikoshi parade. It starts out in town and then comes on to base where it finishes. It is tons of fun to watch--here are some of the pictures.

The guys that carry the mikoshi wear these short coats, oftentimes with nothing underneath!!

Carrying a mikoshi

Kailey and Cade and I helped pull this mikoshi--there is Kailey in the bottom corner--we had so much fun!!

With the really heavy mikoshi, there are tons of men carrying them and they occasionally will stop and do a little dance to give them a break--you have to see it, but they kind of shuffle their feet and it looks like the mikoshi is going to fall, but it gives everyone a break.

Tons of colorful and unique outfits!

Half Marathon Mommy (and Daddy!)

Last month, while Granny and Gramps were here, the base had their first annual 'Great Pumpkin Half-Marathon' and Eric and I ran it. I have been running in the morning with two of my good friends, Breclyn and Kendal and I talked them into running it with me. Both of them had never ran a single race before and the most they had ever ran at one time was 4 miles, so this was a big thing. However, we started training during the summer and just worked our way up to it. While it wasn't one of my better runs, which was frustrating, we all finished and had a fun time and then to reward ourselves we went to the onsen (naked japanese bath house--it sounds crazy, but it is the best--one of the things I will miss most about Japan!!) The half-marathon was on base and we ran by our house twice. Granny and Gramps were so cute to bring the kids outside and cheer us on--it was so fun to run past our cute cheering section!!

Eric in action--he did awesome!!

Kendal and I running together!

Our t-shirts we had made--we are kind of slow, hence the turtle.

We joked that this was our 'Engrish" shirt--Japanese are constantly misspelling English words--we meant to spell 'peace' not 'piece'--I guess that is what happens when you live in Japan too long!!

Me, Kendal, Bethany (one of the volunteers), Breclyn and our other friend Deborah!

Splashing at Mikasa Park

We enjoyed some beautiful weather while Granny and Gramps were here--for the most part it was in the 70s and a few days in the 80s. One of the gorgeous days we went to a park that is right outside the gate--Mikasa Park. It is one of our favorite places to go to. A couple of times a day it has a water show--it is like the Bellagio, just a lot smaller. We went with some friends of ours and here are some pictures to show how much fun we had!!

The kids watching the water show with our friend Mallory!

A random Japanese guy taking pictures of the kids--this happens all the time, but it is Japan!! This guy took tons of pictures of the kids, it was pretty funny--they were just oblivious the whole time!

The kids splashing in the water, while Granny watches them.

Splashing in the water--the kids were SOAKED by the time we got to the car--Ethan and Kailey ended up practically swimming in the water--it was pretty funny!