Sapporo Snow Festival

Ok...Ok... I know it has been forever since I posted on the blog and I am sorry.  I will "try" to get you guys updated and "try" to keep current!  So, let me take you back in time on our journey... back to the first week of February 2011... to the Sapporo Snow Festival!  Sapporo is located in northern Japan so we had to take an airplane to get there....

The kids thought this was the coolest plane ever...
besides Dad's jet of course!



Do you think Ally has a big enough bib on?!?!



 Our first stop on the tour was to the Sapporo beer factory!  Sapporo beer is well known throughout Japan!  We enjoyed an all you can drink and all you can eat barbeque... well the fine print is "all you can eat and drink in two hours"!  We were plenty stuffed and still had time to tour the beer store and the kids played outside in the snow.

Next, we went into the city to Odori Park to view the beautiful ice sculptures and snow displays that were there.  There were so many works of art up and down blocks of the center of town.  Here are just a few...

 

Michael on Ski track!



Snow storm hit in the middle of our walk!



 This is a picture of one of the slides at nearby Tsudome Site.  We had a blast on these giant snow slides.  We even went on a ride on a life boat that was being towed around a track by snowmobile - crazy fun!  We were going so fast that I was afraid to take the camera out to get a picture - use your imagination!  The kids also learned to ski on these little tiny skis - I am sure there is a name for them, but I don't know.  As shown below, Ally got it no problem, but Nick thought it would be easier to ski on one.

 

Our final stop on the tour was to Lake Shikotsu - here all the objects that you see are made from water from the lake and lit up to become this beautiful play land!  We had fun walking through the ice tunnels, ice skating and going down super fast ice slides.  We mostly enjoyed the hot cocoa at the end though because we were freezing!



The kids inside a frozen tunnel that was lit up.



Ally going down the slide

Disneyland Tokyo

The next big family adventure in Japan was a visit to Disneyland Tokyo. 

Ally sport'n new ears!

Brenda, the kids, and I went to Disneyland on Martin Luther King Jr. day.  It was cold; however, it is not a recognized holiday in Japan, so the park was fairly empty...for a Disney park.  We showed up about an hour before the park opened.  When the magical gates opened, Nick and Michael sprinted to Space Mountain.  Brenda and Ally speed-walked and I jogged to stay between the two groups.  Brenda and Ally called the rest of us silly because when we got to Space Mountain, we had a 5 minute wait. 



The boys trying to keep up with Ally.



We road Space Mountain, Monsters Inc., Star Tours, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Enchanted Tiki Room.  The rides were exactly like the rides at the Magic Kingdom except the singing and dialog was in Japanese.  We ate a typical amusement park lunch...burgers and fries. 

It truly is a "Small World"

In the afternoon, we rode Thunder Mountain, Small World, Space Mountain (again), Captain EO (talk about an '80s flashback), Splash Mountain, and finished with the Tea Cups.  They were the fastest tea cups we ever road.  Michael  got a little queasy...OK, a lot queasy, Michael has sworn off the Tea Cups for the rest of his life.  As a matter of fact, after the Tea Cups, we were walking and Michael walked into a light pole. 

You haven't lived until you've heard "Zippity Do Da" in Japanese.

After dinner, we sat on the cold sidewalk, froze our butts off, and watched the electric light parade.  Nick tried to get Wendy's (from Peter Pan) phone number.  She gave it to him, but it was in Japanese so he couldn't call.


Hey, I got Wendy's number...how do you read this?



Which one is the "maddest"?

Fujiten Snow Resort

Our final tour for 2010 was to Fujiten Snow Resort which is located at the base of Mt. Fuji.  We enjoyed some beautiful scenery on the bus ride out there...

Mt. Fuji

Tony, Ally and I rented skis for the day and Nick and Michael did snow boarding.  This was Nick's second time and Michael's first time snow boarding.  I was a little nervous when we went up on the lift and I saw just how steep it was and was not sure how we were going to make it down.  It was nothing like our trip last winter to West Virginia. 

Michael on the edge!

 



Nick on the ground!



Ally trying to go uphill!



It was a nice sunny day but super cold coming down the hill.  The worst part of the day was trying to walk in our ski boots to get lunch - that is so painful!!!

The family with Mt. Fuji behind us!

After the day of playing in the snow we went to The Gotemba Kogen Brewery Restaurant.  It was an all you can eat buffet - including the beer!  Only catch was you only have 80 minutes so you can't stay there all night eating and drinking!  The buffet was grand and I think Ally ate 4 ice cream bars for dessert.  Nick and Tony enjoyed the sushi and Michael and I enjoyed the steak.  After the buffet we took a walk under the holiday festival lights outside - it was pretty amazing!

Mochitsuki Ceremony or Mochi Pounding

Well, we are definitely getting into the culture here in Japan!  We attended a Mochi Pounding ceremony that was put on by the Japanese here at the base.  Mochi is a traditional food served during the Japanese New Year celebration.  Mochi is made of rice that is pounded into a paste, molded into shape and served.  As you can see from the pictures - we were pounding the rice to make mochi.



The kids "pounding the mochi"!

During the celebration, they also had traditional Japanese dancers and of course the drums.



And...some not so Japanese dancers!

 They also had games set up for the kids to play... as you can see Michael was having fun with this toy!

Another tradition is to have your name written in Kanji which is supposed to bring you good fortune for the new year - we each had our names done so hopefully we will be ok!  This is Ally having her name written...

The traditional Japanese decoration - the equivalent of our "Christmas tree" - is called the kadomatsu.  It is bamboo decorated with some pine branches and is really pretty.  We also ate a lot of good food and tried Sake for the first time.  Tony enjoyed it, but it burned going all the way down for me!

Finally, no party could be complete, Japanese or American style without some cotton candy!!!!

December 2010 Homecoming

Tony had to leave us once again the day before Thanksgiving because North and South Korea decided they didn't want to get along....again.  It was sad to see him leave but we were able to get our Christmas tree up with him before he left.


Ally hanging ornaments!




Michael putting the Angel on this year!

Nick also played guitar at his school's Holiday program.  The guitar class played Christmas carols in the front of the auditorium to welcome guests to the holiday concert.  They did a pretty good job.

Finally, Dad came home!  He got to fly in this time so we went to meet him at the hangar.  It was nice to see him getting out of a jet again!




Tony Flying-In



 

Mandarin Orange Picking & Kawazu Seven Waterfalls Hiking

Our next tour for November started out with Mandarin Orange Picking.  There was a grove on the side of the mountain and we were allowed to eat as many oranges that we could eat in one hour.  The tour guide said she had a prize to whoever ate the most oranges... so Ally, never backing down from a challenge, ate 8 oranges in an hour!  She won a piece of chocolate and couldn't even eat it because she felt so sick!



The Wildlife!  Watch out!

Next on our tour was the Kawazu Seven Waterfalls hike.  It was really pretty and a nice day for a hike!  We got dropped off on the side of the road and our tour guide started out taking us in the wrong direction.  Once we figured out the right way to go - we stopped for a bathroom break.  Only problem was since this was out in the middle of nowhere - there were no regular toilets in the bathroom... Ally and I had to squat and pee in the hole in the ground "traditional" Japanese toilets!

Next we went to Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park.  We went up to the top of this crater via what looked like a ski lift.  When we got to the top you could see down inside the crater and they actually had people down in the center doing archery.  We walked around the top perimeter and got some fantastic views.



Ally and I on the Lift.




580 Meters is roughly 634 Yards



 Here are some more pics of the kids with the view - which was kind of cloudy that day!

 

Hibiya Park and Tokyo Chrysanthemum Show

When Tony got home we went exploring so that he could see some of Japan.  We ended up at Hibiya Park which is just outside Tokyo where there was the Annual Chrysanthemum Show going on.  Chrysanthemum is the royal flower of Japan.  There were different types of Chrysanthemum's all over the park - it was beautiful!

This is a view of Tokyo from the park - it was almost like sitting in Central Park in New York and looking out at the City.

This is a picture of a garden house that was really pretty in the park.  There were artists sitting just below where we took this picture and they were sketching this scene.  My picture was a lot quicker but their paintings were really pretty.

Tony and Ally in the Garden House!

We also just enjoyed some time relaxing in the park - it was the best part of the day!

We also went downtown and ate some lunch at a ramen noodle shop - it was a little awkward because they didn't have big tables - it was like a lunch shop.  So, Michael and Nick ate together, Tony and Ally ate together and I got to eat with some stranger... good times!