Family Trip to Japan: Day 2 Saturday

We got up and went to McDonalds for breakfast because the kids didn't want any rice or fish for breakfast. We got mcmuffins and pancakes. 

We drove to the beach and could see Mt. Fuji. The beach area was called Miho No Matsu Bara, it translates beach with pine trees. The sand on the beach was dark grey and had tons of smooth river rocks. We walked on a trail through the pine tree. I went to the bathroom at the beach and the toilet seat had a warmer. It was the best, especially because it was cold outside. 

We drove to another viewpoint to see Mt. Fuji. Shota told us that it had just snowed on Mt. Fuji. There hadn't been snow on Mt. Fuji for weeks and he said that it looked great for us!

We drove through the country and saw rice paddies and plum tree blossoms and mandarin orange trees, with oranges on them. In the country was a cave full of stalagmites and one of the tallest underground waterfalls in Japan. It was 30 meters or about 100 feet. The cave was called Ryugashi-do. 

We drove to a fish market and had sushi. There were all sorts of fresh and dried seafood. We had ice cream to finish. I had milk ice cream, which looked like vanilla but it didn't have vanilla flavor. 

These fish on a stick were a trip.

Then we drove though the forest to Shota's house by Toyohashi. The littles were excited to get to Shota's house. His house was brand new, they'd only lived in a few months. It was small but modern and nice. We walked to a park by Ren and Gunji's house and the kids played.

Then we went to dinner with a bunch of people who were friends with Shota and Merril. The restaurant required that we take it shoes off . We sat at these floor tables and underneath we're warming mats for our feet. They just kept bringing food. Mikayla, Mark, Jack and Julie we're still feeling pretty jet lagged and after we got some food in them they started getting really sleepy. Aya gave me and the 4 younger kids a ride home so I could put them to bed. Then she went back to the restaurant. 

Family Trip to Japan: Day 1

Shota and Aya Watabe invited us to come to visit them in Japan. Our flight was delayed, so we are waiting at the airport. We drove all night from our house to the L.A. airport.

We're on the plane and waiting to take off!

Mikayla looks excited!

Goodbye California. On to the Land of the Rising Sun.

We got our food! Juliet said it was kind of weird and gross. The airline was Japanese, and so was the food.

We finally landed after a 10 1/2 hour flight. Everyone did excellent on the plane! The beautiful Tokyo sunset.

Shota picked us up in an Astro Van. We were all so tired from the plane ride, and we all passed out in the back.

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This is Tokyo Tower. It is a replica of the Eiffel Tower.

We checked into our hotel, and went to bed. Merril and Shota went out to dinner after we got there.

Rhino Rally 2019...

Merril and Ryan road dirt bikes in this year's Rhino Rally and it was super muddy. 

It must be harder than it looks because Merril said guys were stuck in the mud and stopped along the course. He said he and Ryan zipped right through!

They were very dirty in the end. 

Their reward was winning 3rd place in their division. 

Big eyes...

His big eyes get sad when he's sick. Thankfully, our family is normally so healthy!

Snow!

It snowed! Is there enough for a snowman? There is if these guys have anything to say about it.

I love these faces.

They did it!

Birthday dinner...

For my birthday dinner, Merril took me to a fancy french restaurant called Guy Savoy in Vegas. I've always wanted to try a fancy place, like the ones shown on food shows. I bought a new dress for it! I actually bought 2 dresses at Ross for $15 a piece and used one so I could make the sleeves. It turned out great! 

This restaurant was super fancy and super expensive. It was course after little course of fancy food. 

Our favorite part was this guy and his bread cart. There had to be 15 different types of artisan french breads. He kept saying, "I can come back as many times as you want and you can try as much as you like!" He was awesome!  

The wait staff knew right away that we weren't their usual crowd. We ordered a dessert to share and they brought by a dessert cart and said, "Would you like to try some?" Since desserts were $30 a piece, we declined. They leaned in, "No, it's on us. Please, try some desserts." Big grins. We spent around $500 for one meal. That is crazy, right?!

We had a good time at the restaurant but we decided that we probably won't do that ever again. 😅 The food was great and we're glad we did it but we're good for the rest of our lives.

The next day we had all you can eat sushi. We both felt we were very full and only $50 instead of $500 for the both of us. It was more our speed. :)

We had pie for my birthday at Grandma Campbell's house. This is the side you never see.

Valerie's birthday is the day before mine and there was an 80s party. It felt like a party for me sort of. We had a great time messing around with the photo booth props.

Too bad some of these 80s styles are coming back. Yikes.

Valentine's Day 2019...

We had Valentine's dinner with the kids. We had a lovely candle light dinner.

But the highlight was a magnificent fondue. There were strawberries, bananas, pretzels, and marshmallows galore!

We had lots of fun dipping yummy things in the chocolate.

Mikayla's crazy, chocolaty face...

Randos...

We got bored on a Sunday afternoon and this string of pictures is the result. I have no words.

Mikayla's 7th birthday...

Donut towers are the best! Why haven't I been using them all along!? I'm just so over cake. Crazy cake for a crazy girl.

We had a unicorn-themed party, complete with a pinata!

There were presents, of course!

She's been begging for a hatchimal for a while.

We finally gave in and it was more fun than I thought it would be!

Awwww! My girl went to Preference!

Maxine is finally old enough to go to Preference.  She asked Colton and had a great time.  I was asked to take pictures and wished we were at a prettier venue. And it was FREEZING! They had lunch and played nerf wars for the day date. Dinner was at a friends house. After the dance, they went to Culver's frozen custard. These are the beginnings of the best times!

Mighty Mikayla...

Those arms are mini but mighty! All the younger kids have been climbing the door jams.  Mikayla is the best at it. She's a perfect combination of strong and slight.