Climbing up the Mountain

Two weekends ago, we rode the train to the end of the tracks to see what we could see out the windows at the different stops. At one stop we saw a Buddha type thing and a tall red tower and said to ourselves "we will go there someday." Well that someday was Saturday. We didn't have any other plans for the weekend and thought it would be fun to get off the train where we saw the temple and see if we could find it. Sure enough, we did! We only made one wrong turn on the way. When we got to the base of the hill, we left the stroller and had Lucy walk with us while Ben carried Jack in his "papoose"! Lucy did really well walking up all the stairs, but I made her hold my hand just in case she fell backwards. Here are some of the pictures we took-

Some of the stairs up to the temple

There was a huge cemetery all along the way up. They take really good care of their cemeteries. There are water spouts and brushes hanging on them to clean the headstones. They also clear all the leaves and sticks off of them too.

This is When we got to the hill- resting in front of the Buddha guy

These two guys were on the outside of some door. I thought they looked a little scary

The view from the top!

This is the Red tower that is to the right of the Buddha temple.

There were a ton of these statues. I am not sure what they are for, but a lot of them were dressed up and had some small toys placed in front of them. (I guess I had better do a little bit of research)

We stopped to rest at a small picnic bench and we had a few snacks from my stash in the backpack- and I took a few pictures of cutey Jack!

Costco Shopping

Today Lucy, Jack and I went on a trip with a group of people from the shipyard to Costco! The bus left at 10:30am and came home at 3:30pm! It was the longest time I had ever been at Costco... but it was also the most fun I have ever had there! It was just like the Costco's at home, they sold a lot of Japanese food, (well, duh... we are in JAPAN!) but for the most part it felt like being home! They even had a food court that sold hot dogs, pizza, and ice cream!

 

The entrance into Costco.... i love the feeling of something familiar!

 Here is Lucy waiting to go in, with some friends that live right below us and we are becoming good friends! We are enjoying have good friends!

 The Costco cart... they only have one seat instead of two!

 The checkouts, and the front of the store

 the have the same flower spot as they do at home!

 people waiting in line for the samples... a crazy mob!

 the sample lady handing out the goodies

 I found this in the frozen food section... it is frozen spaghetti!

 Ahhh yes! Sweet Dr. Pepper!

 I wasn't sure what these things were... until I looked at the price tag.....

 FISH PASTE!!

 The sign for the food court... nothing like a Costco hot dog!

 The kids and I went to the bathroom at Costco, and this was the sign above the changing table... I like the "keep watch" part!

 These are all the carts that people leave with their bought stuff in while they eat lunch... everyone is so trusting, I just love it!

All the people at the food court... we had to wait for 5-10 minutes for a table to open up!

 It was another fun day here in Japan! 

A funny sign

On most of the elevators here there is this funny sign that I just died laughing at the first time I saw it!

 

It is a true sign! The other day we went to the grocery store and right as the doors were closing, Lucy stood up in the stroller and put her fingers in the door! She sure did cry! Luckily it was just the tips of her fingers.  So next time you see a sign like this.... LISTEN!! 

Sushi Dinner

On Monday night we had sushi for dinner. I have only had it one other time while we have been here, and I wasn't too thrilled with it. We decided to try it again for some dinner time fun! Well, needless to say, we probably won't be getting that again for dinner for awhile. I am not a fan of sushi or the idea of raw fish. Even writing this right now makes me feel kinda sick. But we still tasted it all and funny enough, Lucy liked it the best!

a FULL weekend

This past weekend was such a fun one... especially because Ben got Monday off for Martin Luther King Day. On Friday night the kiddos and I met Ben on base and decided to scope out the Shopper's Plaza a few blocks away. It was just like a typical mall... lots of clothes-expensive, of course; a food court and there was even a fun play place for Lucy. We hit that first! They had some of the weirdest toys I had ever seen. Like big stuffed animals stuck to soft poles that rotated around and a big netted area that had big balloons that were pushed around with fans... Lucy hated this!

 

 

Then on Saturday, we went to Chinatown in Yokohama. There were a ton of restaurants and small stores selling clothes, jewelry, produce and knick knacks. There were two temples that we saw. Inside there was a vendor where you could buy incense. Then there were big stairs up to the Temple where people would light them and do their worshiping. It was neat to see all the detail put into it.

 

We bought Lucy a cute Chinese dress that she wears to bed almost every night! She calls it her fancy dress. We walked around a lot and by mid afternoon the kids were tuckered out. We found a place to sit down and rest while the kids took a nap. When they woke up we walked around some more before heading home. 

On Sunday we went to Church. What a relief to finally be able to communicate in English and to be somewhere familiar. The Church is the same in Japan as it is in the states. What a blessing! Lucy went to nursery and was so happy to have some friends to play with and to sing songs with! She has been begging to see some friends! Church was in a building with 6 floors. The chapel and Sunday school was on the third floor. On the 6th floor was Relief Society, the mother's lounge- which had a great big couch and a big comfy arm chair in it- and nursery. On the 7th floor was young men and young women's classes. I am not sure what was on the other floors, but it was crazy to constantly be on an elevator to feed Jack or to go to our different classes.

 

After church, there was a free Magic man on base at the movie theater.  His name is Craig Karges the Mentalist. He was really good and left us wondering about everything he did!  We also saw Megamind at the theater and Lucy just loved it! It was the second time that we have taken her to the movies. The first time we spent the whole time in the hallway watching the movie through the door windows! She actually sat in her own chair and was intrigued the whole time! We liked it too! We would definitely recommend this movie!

 

During all this madness, our sweet little Jack was so good. He just went along with all the activities and never made a peep. We are so blessed to have such wonderful, fun children to share this great experience with!