Japan Tokyo sights

We drove up to Tokyo on Saturday to see the Cup of Noodles museum and the Sensoji Temple and Asakusa District.

 This is the main lobby of the Cup of Noodles Museum.  It was actually quite interesting.  We drove to Tokyo this time instead of taking the train.  There were a lot of toll roads that were expensive.

 In the museum we learned the history of the man that invented freeze dried cup of noodles and how he started and marketed his product.  It was cool..

 It's amazing the variety of Cup of Noodles.

Then we got to each make our own.  First we colored and designed a cup, then picked out the ingredients we wanted.  They packaged it and gave it to us.

 After that we drove on into the center of Tokyo.

 This is Sensoji Temple with the shopping mall in front with lots of interesting vendor shops and stores.

 We got a view of the Tokyo Skytree from a lookout down the street.  When it was built the Tokyo Skytree was the world's tallest building at 2,080 feet tall.

 Shops in front of the Sensoji Temple.

Statue on a roof.  Everywhere you go in Japan there's always lots of people. 

 Some of the tourists dressed up in traditional Japanese clothes for their visit.

 Nearby Pagoda.

 Entrance gates at front of Sensoji Temple.

 Under the bell.

 Gardens with a buddha.

 Koi pond.

 Tucker, Penelope, Scarlett, Leon and me at a Chinese lion statue.

 Goju No To pagoda, which is five stories.

 In one shop they build plastic food displays.  This is some hamburger.

Geisha girls eating ice cream, which struck me as kind of funny.  We had a full day.  The next day was Sunday and we went to church in Japan the second time.

Japan Adventures in Babysitting

Now we started a new phase of the trip.  Doranda and Bob left on a vacation to Korea (where Bob served his mission) and we were the babysitters for all five grandchildren.

 What made it especially challenging, besides being in a foreign country where we don't speak the English much, we had no car.

 The only way to get around was by bicycle or on foot, or to take the train.  This the neighborhood where they lived.  The train station was only 3 or 4 blocks away and the base was only 30 - 45 minutes by train and then walking or an hour by bike.

A nearby park we went to a couple of time.  We also continued the homeschooling with the kids, which kept them and us busy for a lot of the day.  Things went pretty good but we did have a few mishaps that made it interesting.  The first day after Doranda and Bob left we had a typhoon hit.  It was windy but otherwise not too bad.  I even went with Penelope and Scarlett on the long trip to the base for a soccer practice that afternoon, by train and then walking, only to find it cancelled.  Then on the second day Jacquelyn took Penelope to soccer and Scarlett wouldn't go because she couldn't find the right socks.  Otherwise things went pretty well.  We made lots of trips out to the base.  Sometimes by train and then walking the rest, sometimes by bicycle.  We had a tons of fun with the kids.

This is the Middle School where Tucker had band class every day, and he had to ride his bike to get there.  I went with him the first day.  He also had tryout for the High School Play, 'James and the Giant Peach'.  He's really good.  On the second day Tucker forgot his base badge on the way to school and came back home very worried and upset.  We got his badge and I rode with him as he made the trip for the second time that morning.  We really hurried and he got there just as the bell rang.  I was was totally exhausted though, and had to stop at the base food court for a root beer float before riding back to the house.

 Finally it was time for the first soccer game.  We got the girls all there in time, but had a little problem at the start of the game.  Scarlett had her shirt tails out and that was against the rules.  The coach tried to get her to tuck them in, but she wasn't having it.  They started calling for the grandma but Jacquelyn couldn't get her to cooperate either.  She started to get really really upset and Jacquelyn had to take her out of the game and over to the sidelines and sit with her at the bench.

 After a while she felt better and came into the games, all properly attired and tucked in.  Here's Scarlett and Penelope playing soccer.

 Penelope was center and did the kick-offs.

 Scarlett playing soccer.

 Scarlett after the ball.

 Leon was helpful and assisted me watching Calista for the first half of the game.

 Then he got bored.

 One of the girls kicking the ball.

Tucker was bored too.  They were good sports though, and had to watch several practices and games from the sidelines.  I enjoyed watching the game.

Japan Battleship Mikasa

On Sunday we went to church with just the kids and us.  We made it there on time and everything worked out without a problem.

 Then one day I took the older kids, while Jacquelyn stayed home with Calista, to see the Battleship Mikasa.  Scarlett also wanted to stay home with grandma.  We had to ride our bikes there.  Tucker led, then Penelope, then Leon (lagging behind but pedaling and working very hard to keep up with his littler bike), and then me.  It was a long hard ride for Leon, but we all made it.

 Battleship Mikasa in the distance.  The ship was used in the Japanese-Russian War.

 Statue of a famous Japanese Captain.

 Comm room.

 View from the lookout.

 The main deck.  I let the kids run around and explore where ever they wanted, but they stayed together as a group.

 Inside they had gaming stations where you could use virtual reality to pilot the Battleship in the big naval battle of the war.  Penelope and Tucker at VR stations.

 Leon at a virtual reality station.

 They had a room full of tons of models of the battleship made out of all different kinds of material by children from the elementary schools that come to visit on field trips.  I think the lego one was the kids favorite.

 Exploring the deck.

Battle stations! Battle stations! All hands on deck, attack, attack, attack.

 Tucker manning a gun.

 Penelope manning a gun.  You could actually swivel them around and raise them up and down.

 Anther game room where you could play this battleship fighting game.  Tucker, Leon, and Penelope all busily engaged.

 A view down the front deck with the main guns.

 The top of the back deck.  Leon exploring.

We had a lot of fun running all over the battleship.

Japan End of trip

The next day we did home school, and then soccer games, and then a trip to the Commissary on the Navy base.

 This is the kids on a walk through the neighborhood going to the train station.  They were a huge help with Calista all the time, especially Scarlett.

 This is the train station.  We got pretty good at finding it.  On one of the last day though we almost had a tragedy.  I was taking the girls to another soccer game.  Just me and Penelope and Scarlett.  But I forgot my train card to pay for it, so we went back home.  Then we decided it was too late to make it by train so we rode bikes.  We made it there okay and the girls played in their soccer game.  On the way home it was rush hour and Penelope almost got hit by a car.  No one did anything wrong on our part.  We were riding down the sidewalk and this car wanted to turn off the the road, cross traffic, cross the sidewalk, and enter a parking lot.  They really gunned it and were heading straight for Penelope on her bike.  Then they saw her and the car seemed to miraculously stop, just inches from running her over.  I don't know how it ever stopped but later I received a distinct impression that an angel had stopped the car to save her.  Every day we prayed that the kids would be safe while we watched them and I think it was partially in answer to our prayers and also because Penelope is really specially and the Lord has great things in mind for her.  I am so thankful.

 The last day before Bob and Doranda were to return we went on a hike through the city to a park.  The pictures above are from us on our walk.  We saw this statue of the Thinker.

 Typical slanted streets.

 We finally made it to the park, it was a long hike.  They had bicycles and pedal driven go-carts for the kids to drive around in.  Here you see Leon and Scarlett in front and Penelope in back.

 Jacquelyn with Calista.

 Tucker and Scarlett.

 Penelope.

 Tucker on a unicycle.  He can actually do it for a little ways.

 A big go-kart race.

 Leon and Calista in a large sandbox.

 Penelope and Scarlett on a two person tandem bicycle.

And Leon on a shark cycle.

That was the end of our babysitting.  Doranda and Bob got back from Korea okay.  We went out to dinner a couple of times, and then we had to leave and flew to China.  We had a wonderful trip and a really really great time visiting Doranda and the grandkids.  I'm so glad we got to come.