Kyoto {Geisha}

I almost forgot to post this!  One of the things on my bucket list in Kyoto was seeing a real geisha.  There aren't many left in Japan, but Kyoto is a place where you can still find them.  They are talented, beautiful Japanese women trained in the art of entertaining.  They are not prostitutes!  One evening in Kyoto, we went to the Gion district with the express purpose of glimpsing a geisha.  We were lucky enough to see three of them!  The pictures are not great because it is so rare to see them and they move so quickly, we barely had time to get a picture.  Glad we got some pictures, but they really do not adequately convey their beauty and grace.

Minions!!!

So one of my all time favorite things about having so many littles, is dressing them up for Halloween.  I love that they will let me dress them up the same still.  They were soooo adorable this year!

 

 

Pumpkins!

This year we were too lazy to let our kids carve their own pumpkins (plus they get moldy so fast here!), but they did get to decorate them with markers.  Each kid (and pumpkin) has such different personalities.  Ken did carve a big pumpkin but we forgot to take pictures.  And then it imploded. 

Soccer concludes

This year's soccer season was kind of a joke.  It rained so much, over half of their practices and games got rained out.  The kids love soccer, so it was kind of sad, but at least they got to play and have fun.  Grover and Ollie were on the same team and it was so sweet to watch Ollie take Grover under his wing since this was Grover's first year playing (and he's a head shorter than everyone else).  Mostly Ollie and Grover goofed off (notice the swinging on the goal and the drinking water instead of playing), but they had fun (and got treats!) so that's all that mattered to them.  Stone was one of his team's best players.  He played mostly forward and scored a handful of goals for his team.  Pepper and Grey just played and enjoyed being outside with enough space to run free.  We really enjoy watching our kids grow and see how they evolve. 

 

 

 

 

Kyoto {Monkey Park}

The Japanese macaque (aka snow monkey) is the only species of monkey native to Japan.  There are a handful of parks here where these monkeys roam free.  The kids have been wanting to go.  There was one in Kyoto and we decided to make the trip.  In order to get to the monkeys, we had to hike 20 minutes up a fairly steep mountain.  At the top, there were a bunch of monkeys and a beautiful view of Kyoto.  You can't feed the monkeys (or look at them in the eyes, or crouch down, or take direct pictures of them) unless you are in an enclosure.  We bought some food and were able to feed them. We all loved it!

 

 

 

Kyoto {Bamboo Forest}

In Japan, bamboo grows like a weed.  It is a very invasive species and thus grows everywhere.  We went to see a well-known forest.  It was beautiful.

 

 

 

Kyoto {The Intrepid Daughter-in-Law}

That's me.  The intrepid daughter-in-law.  Haha.  When we arrived in Kyoto, after trying to find our house (hard to find--we had to back out of a teeny, tiny street because it got so narrow, our van wouldn't fit--Ken was an amazing backer-upper and saved us), we had to find dinner.  Our house was located within walking distance of many restaurants.  While Ken looked for parking for our car (because our house didn't have any), I lead my mother-in-law and all five of my children down a dark alley and underneath the train tracks in pursuit of dinner.  It wasn't late, but it was dark.  Ila was terrified.  I don't know why...just because we were in a foreign country, in the dark, in a strange alley...  Anyway, after a couple failures, we finally found an AMAZING ramen place that did not disappoint.  The next day, Ila wanted her picture taken in front of the scary alley.  I was not afraid (too much) because Japan is one of the safest countries on earth.  I also knew we had to eat.

Kyoto {Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine}

One of the most famous, picturesque places in Japan is the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto.  I've never seen the movie, but a very well-known scene from Memoires of a Geisha was filmed here.  There are literally thousands of bright red-orange torii gates located here throughout the park.

 

 

Kyoto {Golden Pavilion}

We wanted to take Ila to another part of Japan, so we went up to Kyoto for a couple of days.  Our first stop was the Golden Pavilion.

 

 

A gorgeous, old structure.

 

 

We were there!

 

 

And so was everyone else.  Ila got to see how "famous" we are when we travel around here.  Shouts of "kawaii" (cute) follow us everywhere.  People take our pictures.  Grover even got a kiss on his cheek.  The kids kind of hate it.  Poor blonde American babies!

 

 

 

 

Miyajima with Grandma

When visitors come to Iwakuni, you take them to Miyajima Island.  The famous island with the deer and famous floating Torii Shrine.

 

The shrine!

 

 

The famous pagoda, also on the island.

 

 

Sweet grandma with her babies.

 

 

The giant spoon!  I've been looking for this forever and we finally found it.  It was the highlight of the trip for me.  And the steamed buns.  Mmmm.

 

Sushi-go-round

So, despite living here for nearly two-and-a-half years, we had never been to have sushi.  I hate fish, and the kids don't care for it too much either.  Since grandma came though, we needed to give her an authentic Japanese experience.  She likes sushi, so we went.  It was an experience!

 

To order, you would select the picture you wanted and it would then be delivered on the conveyor belt that goes around and around, hence the name "sushi-go-round".

 

 

The kids were excited about the concept and even tried a little bit of sushi.

 

 

Needless to say, we all ended up eating curry because we thought the sushi was gross.  Our American friends say they'd take American sushi over Japanese any day because their is so much more flavor.  The girl was a hot mess and we ended up rushing our meal and leaving hungry.