Another trip!

I'm afraid this blog is turning into a little bit of a travel log. I really want to capture the everyday moments but we do take a lot of trips! Our latest was a trip to Japan (with a layover in San Francisco) for Jon and I while the kids were with Rachel and the rest of the cousins and aunts in West Jordan! It was awesome!

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA:

We spent most of a day WALKING around San Francisco--those hill were killer but it was beautiful! We rented bikes and biked to the Golden Gate Bridge from Fisherman's Wharf. We also walked through Chinatown. It was a great day, then we caught our overnight flight to Japan!

Sour dough bread in San Francisco

Biking to the Golden Gate Bridge!

TOKYO, JAPAN:

Jon and spent most of our time WALKING around the city and loving it. We were both very impressed by the people--they seemed so calm and patient and polite even though it is a huge city--went on for miles and miles--it felt a lot different to us than New York City or London. We noticed parents many times who were so calm with their kids and they just seemed so happy. I want to be more like a Japanese parent! 

Tokyo Tower

It's so hard to capture what it was like on camera, but these two pictures are at one of the Buddhist temples. They always smelled like incense because people buy little sticks to burn and add to the pan, and there are always washing stations to wash your hands/drink from before approaching the temple.

The Tokyo LDS Temple! We took a long walk on the way to church so we could see it.

Church on Sunday

The view from our way fancy Hyatt room

On the subway

Tokyo DisneySea! We spent a day here and had a great time doing rides and enjoying the scenery. We would just laugh when the workers gave instructions for the rides--we had no idea what they were saying; it was fun to see how others must feel when they come to the USA to visit and don't understand our language.

These were really yummy rice dumplings filled with something like pudding

My favorite meal of the whole trip--curry from a Disneysea restaurant in the Arabian section!

This was a show about food from different countries--here they are showing hamburger and fries from the USA!

KYOTO, JAPAN:

We also WALKED and WALKED and then biked around Kyoto. We enjoyed seeing the streets, the temples and shrines, the shops, and even the grocery stores. Just being there with the people and experiencing in small way their culture and way of life was an incredible experience! We discussed before we left how neat it would be to have a Japanese foreign exchange student when our kids are a little older; we would love that influence in our home.

One of the MANY temples in Kyoto--it was amazing how we just stumbled upon them! A lot of the Japanese girls wore kimonos to the temples. That was cool to see.

While we were shopping a group of school girls came and talked to me for a homework assignment--they had to find someone who spoke English! Fun!

A fun restaurant with the food below . . .

Cold buckwheat noodles and tofu--not Jon's favorite (especially the wasabi!)

Biking around Kyoto was one of Jon and my favorite things

Our favorite place to stay on the trip

Our Japanese-style room at the Guesthouse Soi in Kyoto

Grocery shopping for candy to bring the kids!

A "blueberry cheesecake" crepe made with tofu! Interesting . . .

Other interesting foods we tried on the trip . . . we both decided that we don't love Japanese food and I think I know why they are so thin! :)

Making red bean-filled "cakes"

Rice crackers dipped in soy sauce

Our favorite Japanese meal--Ramen and dumplings!

A vending machine that cooked us a frozen meal of rice patties and chicken nugget things

Ana eating a dried octopus that we brought home with us (she and Mandy are the only ones who tried it)!

Megan and Katie trying out some of their Japanese candy at home!