Nikko

The second week they were all here we started in Nikko. It is one of our favorite places. It reminds me of Gatlinburg, up in the mountains. I was super mad that I forgot my camera this trip, so all these pictures are from the phone. Hopefully I can get some from some of the others that took pictures.

When you need a haircut...

At the shrines in Nikko. Eedie and Mike had to come up late because Eedie broke out in hives and had to make a trip to the UC.

At Nikko's most famous waterfall, Kegon waterfall.

The whole family

We had dinner at a ramen restaurant. You don't tip in Japan and I always feel bad about the crazy messes we leave.

She is getting pretty good at chopsticks.

The V Dog looks huge here. 

We went to Edo Wonderland in Nikko. It is a historical village recreating the Edo period in Japan.

I thought this lady was funny with her big smile.

This dog with a samurai ponytail, or chonmage, was kind of the mascot of the park.

Eedie was okay with him.

Annabelle was a bit nervous.

Some kind of Ninja tour.

\

What the heck? 

This guy...

maybe the Magic Mike of Edo period?

Getting ready before a Ninja show.

The Ninja that took the picture must not have been using his Ninja skills when taking this picture.

Yes, the toilet sign.

Grilled mochi, also called yakimochi, is a grilled pounded out rice cake.

In the Ninja training house. It was built sideways so the Ninjas could train while fighting from all different angles. Not sure if this is real or just of fun thing to have for tourists.

For some reason we only took pictures in this one area.

Pretty fun, but made you feel sick.

The kids were playing a game where they had to knock the paper lantern off of the Ninja.

Grilled squid. We passed on that one.

Some sweet pipes.

Another Ninja show. A couple of them jumped from that tower.

Then they brought out this parade float

The kids dress up in the festival kimono. 

All of the kids beat on the drum. Annabelle was really nervous.

Eedie got into it.

Then the child labor began.

This lady went around fanning the kids. It was SUPER hot that day.

Still not sure about it all.

Lots of people. Can you find the girls? =)

A cool boat.

New drinks. The one on the left was really good. It is sealed with a marble which is pushed down into the bottle to open it. You can still see it in there. The grape drink tasted like cough medicine.

Ninja Annabelle.

That night, we went looking for a restaurant. We used the GPS which took us on a 40km goose hunt which took us to a dead end road and this secluded shrine.

We ended up just heading back to the cabin for peanut butter sandwiches.

Annabelle feeding sister.

So big.

The next morning we headed down to a place called Kanmangafuchi Abyss. It's an area along a  river that has 70 stone statues of Jizo, a Bodhisattva who cares for the deceased. 

These crocheted hats and bibs were placed on many of the statues. This particular one had a huge dragonfly on top of its cap.

In front of the river.

A little pair of shoes 

One happy baby

There was a cemetery in the area. Someone left some beer for this guy.

We ended up getting lunch at a grocery store. This was the sign in the parking lot. 

Dried octopus

Having a picnic out in the crazy heat.

Super fun trip!

Jones' Family Trip - Week 1 Hakone and Mt. Fuji

Marvin, Matt, Megan and Catherine (A Jones childhood friend) came to visit us the last week of July. They were here for two weeks and we stayed pretty busy.

We started off celebrating Annabelle's 4th birthday. It had been a week earlier but we decided it might be fun to celebrate with everyone. We had an awesome "rock n' roll Hello Kitty" cake (Sweet Treats by Trisha).

On the way down to Hakone we found this fun treat, dried fish and all.

We visited the Odawara castle on the way to Hakone. The castle dates back to 1447, but the current structure is much newer. 

Cool car.

We stayed at a Japanese style hotel in Hakone. The girls loved it. Here they are having "tea".

We went to eat sushi. This guy was hanging on the wall at the restaurant. 

Our $25 sushi.

These statues were at the bar at the restaurant. Mike did a lot of giggin down in Kentucky and never found frogs like this. 

The next morning we had a very traditional Japanese breakfast. The fish, soft boiled eggs, and orange juice kind of enjoyed by some. Glad we had some granola bars in the car.

This is natto, a traditional Japanese food made from soybeans fermented with Bacillus subtilis. I had to give it a try.

Seriously, it tasted like dirty shoes and stinky cheese. 

We took everyone to see the sulfur pits and to ride on the pirate ship. We had done this trip a few months prior so I didn't end up taking too many pictures.

This is where they boil the eggs.

Eedie and Meg

Black ice cream that was strawberry flavored. Some of the best ice cream ever.

Eedie sure loved it.

After the boat ride, we got ice cream again. It was super hot. Mike tried the wasabi flavor. He said it was alright the first couple of seconds, but then he couldn't do it anymore. He had to through it away.

We also hiked Fuji that week. We left the girls with a friend. They never would have made it.

The is the whole gang about 2/3 of the way up. It was rainy and windy most of the way up, making the trek a little tougher than usual. 

This Japanese family had their four year old hiking while their five year old road in the pack. I couldn't believe the four year old didn't complain at all.

One of the beautiful views about half way up.

In a rain cloud.

At various points along the mountain, you could get a hiking stick branded for about 200-300 yen. 

The 3100 meter marker.

All the ladies... I had a Jolly Rancher in my mouth.

Getting closer.

Finally, the top.

We had beef bowl and ramen at the top. It was pretty cold so the warm food hit the spot.

I liked this sign inside one of the shops at the top. "Reserved for the party travelers."

It finally cleared up while we were on top. Crazy how high up we were!

Afterwards... tired, sore, wind burned and ready to head home.

I know I haven't hiked that much, but it was seriously the best hike I've ever done. I have to do more like it in the future! Just maybe not on a blustery rainy day.