Weekend with Daddy

Nate has been out of the country for the past three weeks but in between conferences he was able to come home for a few days. Even though the weather was raining and we had to change our weekend plans we had a great two days together.

Girls woke up to Daddy home and the first thing they did was snuggle on the couch and watch cartoons.

On Saturday we ate Shabu-Shabu for the first time. It was delish! Sort of like the melting pot in the states, you put thinly sliced meat (we had beef and pork) in a hot pot of delicious broth (the broth had so much flavor!). You also have a huge basket of veggies, eggs, and different dipping sauces. When you finish the meal they bring you soba noodles to put in the broth and finish the meal.   

Next we went to the CupNoodles Museum in Yokohama. It was a lot of fun! One of the activities was making your own cupnoodles, including designing the cup. Girls really enjoyed the whole process. 

After church and before sending Nate off to the airport we went mikan picking. Mikans are so yummy and easy to peel with no sticky mess like oranges. We need them in the states! The grove was beautiful and fun to play hid and seek in!

While you picked it was all you could eat. Daddy doing the picking while the girls have a mouthful!

 I have so many other posts to catch up on but this is a start! Can't wait to have Daddy home soon!

Halloween 2014

We had a blast on Halloween! The base opens up and allows Japanese nationals to come on base and trick or treat (Japanese people do not door to door trick or treat). With all the kids on base its basically a huge Halloween party! People go all out with decorations and costumes which made it so fun. My friend Kaycie and I did not plan matching costumes but it was so fun trick or treating as an Egyptian posse with the kids.  I didn't get any good action shots of the kids trick or treating, those girls were a blur running from door to door!

The girls met Ariel at TokyoDisney Sea and have been star struck ever since. The wig did not last very long but we had some fun with it!

We did one simple pumpkin so they could help and then Daddy surprised them with an Ariel pumpkin design!

Ready to get some candy!!!

The Egyptian Posse! Do you see Aaron and Reagan in the corner? That was the clearest picture of those two from the night!

We were asked several times by Japanese parents if they could take a picture of their kids with the Egyptian Posse!

This was a picture from a Halloween party we went to the weekend before. Our friends have a Karaoke machine and everyone had a blast singing in costume!

Nate and Jordan won the costume contest! Gift card to the NEX, score!

A Karaoke shot, Kaycie is an amazing singer and I like to be her backup.

I can't wait for Halloween in Japan next year!

Sumo

Last Friday we took the girls to see Sumo in Tokyo. It is an all day event, starting at 8am and ends at 6pm, but the best matches are towards the end of the day.  We picked up Aubs from school and made it to the sumo stadium around 3:00 to see our first match.  The girls actually got really into it and were cheering for their favorite color Sumo wrestler. Nate and I really enjoyed watching it and could have been there all day but 3 hours was the perfect amount of time for the girls to experience it and have fun! The matches in the last hour were very intense.  There were apparently some big upsets because a few times the fans sitting on tatami mats were flinging the cushions towards the ring! Sumo in Tokyo was an unforgettable, once in a lifetime experience!!

Climbing a Volcano:: Mt. Fuji

     Nate and I climbed Mt. Fuji this week! We took turns with our neighbors and watched each other's kids so the couples could do it together. Climbing Fuji is a long day!  We left our house at 2:45am and drove 2.5 hours to the 5th station village which is where you start the climb.  Our excitement and ignorance at the start helped us push through some bad weather in the beginning.  Less than ten minutes into the climb we got into a storm and it started raining which turned into sleet and got very windy and cold.  After a few wardrobe changes (we had rented hiking and rain gear thankfully) an hour later we made it thru the rain and wind. The rest of the climb was much nicer but it was very cold as we got towards the top.  Climbing season is officially over September 15th because the mountain gets lots of snow and ice most of the year. We started climbing at 6am and it took us 5 hrs 42 minutes to get up the mountain and 3 hours to get down.  The 5th station is at 7562 ft and the summit is 12,388 ft.

Sunrise at the 5th station. This is where we parked and bought our walking sticks!

About 5 minutes before the huge rain cloud rolled in! 

Yay the storm passed and we were able to get up the mountain at a steadier pace.  We wore ponchos on our backpacks to keep them dry.

For a few Yen each you can get stamps on your walking sticks at the huts along the way.  Getting stamps at the huts is a huge motivator and lots of fun!

I just finished huffing and puffing before this photo in front of the Tori gate!

First stamp/brand of the day!!

There are a few "hotels" (I use this term loosely) on the mountain  so you can climb, stay the night, eat some hot ramen, and see the sunrise in the morning from the top of the mountain.  I would have loved to see the sunrise from the summit but sleeping so close with strangers is not my idea of fun. 

You can see the guy on the left putting on another stamp!

Getting closer to the Summit

Some points were a bit scary, you could just fall off the side of the Moutain, eeeek!

The last few steps!!!

About to go thru the tori gate to sacred grounds, summit of Fuji-san! The last hour to this point were tough! Nate and I couldn't believe how the altitude affected our endurance. We would feel good one second, then take 3 steps up and be completely exhausted, out of breath, and dizzy!

We did it! 

Our Japanese friends we made along the way. We kept passing each other back and forth and always ended up meeting at the huts.

From the summit with my best friend.

Nate had a warm bowl of curry udon and I had a delicious bowl of pork miso at the summit!

Headed down. Zig zag after zig zag just like this!

Made it back to the 5th station! 

Back at the car just before sunset.  We had time on the way home to go to a traditional Japanese Onsen (hot spring bath) to warm up and relax our weary legs in the hot tub, ahh!  Plus their was a great view of the mountain from there.

Climbing Fuji-san is an experience I will never forget - so many memories from that challenging day. The views from the mountain, being in the clouds and watching the clouds form were amazing but there was also something beautiful about the terrain.  Maybe it was the lack of oxygen but we thought the mountain was gorgeous, even the barren trails and black rocky paths. It was a very rewarding experience to hike that crazy thing and if you are ever in Japan it is a MUST DO!

I love this picture of Fuji framed by cherry blossoms. 

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