Happy 2016 and other Random things

Happy 2016. We have been having a good 2016 thus far.  School is still out (but starts again on the 12th) and we have been able to get out and about while the temps remain somewhat mild. Happy New Year everyone!

Mt Fuji at sunset from the air. These colder temps have been bringing crystal clear days allowing spectacular views! 

We went to a giant park, Kodomonokuni park, that was pretty neat. Cool slides, open spaces and pony rides!  They also had these awesome machines. They were like a 4-wheeler. You put a couple hundred yen in them and you take them anywhere. Pretty sweet. 

Of course, had to get a ride on the ponies before we left.  Each pony had a card, similar to a baseball card, and in their photo, the pony was dressed up for Christmas. 

They had a bamboo forrest that we took a stroll through. E kept saying, "spooooooky..."

I went skiing over one of the long weekends. I went up to the Nagano area and we went skiing at the resort where the 1998 winter Olympics were held. The last time I had been skiing was Dec of 2006 so it has been a while. 

Normally the Hakuba area gets dumped on but the snow hadn't came yet. The bottom of the mountain was closed so we had to take the gondola up to mid-mountain and ski the upper mtn. 

Visibility was pretty bad most of the day while it snowed. The snow was great though. They had about 15 inches the night before so it was great snow, just hard to see where you were going. 

There was a lot of people, and it was a bit cold, but the mountain was pretty big and able to absorb the masses. 

A view from the Office. 

For the first time ever, Shannon and I got an overnight baby sitter for the girls and we hit the town on New Years Eve. We went into Tokyo, had a nice dinner and planned on bringing in the New year at the Shibuya crossing (Tokyo's equivalent of Time Square). 

Dinner at Cicada. They had yummy tapas. 

We made it to Shibuya but two blocks from the area the police had blocked it all off for precautionary reasons. Booooo.  We decided to just get on a train and head back home. We were on the train for at midnight and we realized why we don't stay out that late any more. It is just too tiring. 

We went to cloud park one afternoon and enjoyed the mild temps. 

E jumping on the cloud.

We also went to the Zoorasia that was actually really nice. Most of the zoos we have visited here in Japan have been a little sad. The cages and areas for the animals are generally pretty small. This zoo was pretty spread out which was really nice. 

Elephants

Lions

Polar Bear

Kangaroos 

She's a wild one! 

Spectacled bear that got stuck on the tree. haha.  

They also had pretty awesome parks for the kids to play in. 

LC on an Okapi. 

They had plenty of monkeys. FYI: 2016 happens to be the year of the monkey. 

The Savannah plains with zebras and giraffes

Hello Kitty. 

Merry Christmas 2015

Well I can safely say that our second Christmas in Japan was much better than our first.  Having Daddy home to help/share in all the festivities certainly makes a difference.

We had Leyton's BFF Ava over for some playtime and Frozen cookie making.

Fun in the Family Gym on base

Before school Tea Ceremony.  LC was in charge and she closely monitored the correct order of the ceremony they practice in school (it's a Japanese thing).

Modeling their new Mimi (Elf on the Shelf) jammies

We ran into Santa one day while shopping, so E hopped on his lap for a quick photo and candy cane.

New clothes from Grammy.  Love it!

Ah, another post about E's hair.  So they had their first ballet recital, and we were instructed to have their hair in a 'tight bun.'  The other mom's smiled and wished me luck.  I started by blowing it back the night before with the hair dryer.   It made her hair super fluffy.

After straightening, pomade, mousse, and a LOT of hairspray

My beautiful ballerinas did awesome.

E with straight hair.  Leyton said she looked like a whole new sister.  She was correct.

I cheated and let Ms. Minori, their ballet teacher, do the actual buns.  I just did ponytails.

Backstage -awaiting rehearsal 

They performed on an actual theater stage.  E was not a fan of the very bright lights.

The older girls performed songs from The Nutcracker.  Leyton and Ellis were mesmerized. 

So fun to watch our big girls perform

Christmas Eve we went to our friends, the Baker's, for dinner.  The girls LOVE 'Baby Madeline'.

Eh, as usual, these are all out of order.... I'll explain this one in a bit

Christmas morning!  Intentionally, the girls got very few toys.  Santa brings 3 things and puts a few things in their stockings.  Don't let this picture fool you, though.  There are plenty of gifts under the tree from family.

After opening presents all morning, we headed to the mountains to 'an amusement park by day and light show by night'.

The theme was London and Paddington Bear.

LC going down one of the many very fun/dangerous slides in Japan.  

Finally, at 5pm, they turned on the 5.5 million Christmas lights

It was amazing

Nothing says Christmas, like an LED fish and turtle.  We are in the land of pagan Christmas celebrations.  So we had to make sure to read the true Christmas story and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends!!