Family Trip to Kyoto

The first time I went to Kyoto Chris wasn't able to go, because he was in Alaska or Iraq or Las Vegas or something... take your pick. :) We were looking for an opportunity to go back so Chris could experience Kyoto as well. When Chris got a couple days off of work last week, we booked the last rooms left in Kyoto (it was cherry blossom season) and took a 3-day, 2-night trip to see the city.

Katelyn had never seen anything as exciting as a Shinkansen before. She was obviously pretty thrilled about her first big trip.

I had forewarned Chris that it is actually pretty rare to see geishas in Kyoto, even though that's where they're most plentiful. We were pretty excited to see a geisha within hours of getting off of the train.

...and then we saw two more and Chris started doubting my previous statement.

Kyoto is known for sights like this... pagodas, shrines, lots of people...

It really was a beautiful day. And it was nice to be there when the cherry blossom trees were blooming.

The whole family; Me, Katelyn, Chris, and our shy, adopted, Japanese son.

Happy traveler.

I was a happy traveler too when I got my coffee and unidentifiable but delicious afternoon dessert. Chris stuck with the more manly option of a local beer and edamame.

This is the "Golden Pavilion" (a.k.a. Kinkakuji), which is probably the most famous site in Kyoto. It really is covered in gold leaf. And it really is old. I thought the brochure said it was built in the 1200s. Wikipedia says it was built in the 1300s. It also says it was rebuilt after it burned down in the 1950s. Bummer. Well, it's somewhere between 60 and 800 years old.

Katelyn was pretty popular with the little old ladies.

Best restaurant of the weekend? this little French cafe we found when we accidentally got lost. Not only did they have AMAZING entrees for lunch, then also had delicious coffee and cake sets.

Katelyn was very disappointed that the cake sets we ordered weren't for her.

Bamboo grove near the French cafe.

It probably looks way cooler from the seat of a rickshaw.

We went up Kyoto tower for drinks later that afternoon. And of course Japan would have a cartoon caricature of the tower that you can pose with.

One of my favorite places from my last trip to Kyoto was Nijo Castle. We were very disappointed when we got there at 4:02pm, two minutes after they stopped admitting people for the day. However, they reopened that evening after dark, and the whole castle grounds were illuminated to highlight the cherry blossoms. 

It was a gorgeous walk through the cherry blossoms, but very difficult to capture on camera without a tripod.

It turned out not to be such a bad thing that we missed seeing the castle during the day.

Our last day in Kyoto we went to the Fushimi Inari shrine. This shrine is famous for it's thousands of torii gates. 

Holy cow. They weren't kidding when they said "thousands" of torii gates!

Each torii gate is donated by individuals or companies. The name of the company and the price of the torii gate are written on the back. The prices range from 400,000 yen (about $4K, depending on the yen rate) to over 1,000,000 yen (that's well over $10K for all you Americans looking to buy a gate). 

So if my math is correct, there's a crap-ton of money that was invested into this mountainside.

The tunnels of torii gates started and stopped and slowly wound their way up the mountain. It was a nice little hike.

Towards the top of the mountain, Katelyn made it very clear in her own little way that she needed a diaper change. We stopped in this little restaurant or hut or something because (as you can see in the top left corner of the picture) the sign said it was free. The nice gentleman who owned the place saw what we needed and not only offered to let us change her diaper there (brave soul), but brought us complimentary tea, turned on a heat lamp so Katelyn's tush wouldn't get chilled, and gave us a little plastic bag for the offensive diaper.

Katelyn did great on her first big trip. But she would really rather us stop taking pictures of her. :)

Grandma and Grandpa Visit Japan

Mom and Dad... or... Grandma and Grandpa(?) came to visit us after Katelyn was born. They were here for two weeks of sightseeing and touring Northern Japan. Well... quite a bit of that time was spent lounging around and catering to the needs of a very adorable but demanding newborn, but we got out for a bit of sightseeing and touring:).

I don't actually have many pictures of my parents' visit to Misawa, but I'm sure they have a couple (hundred) they could show you if you stopped by. ;) Here are a few we took with our camera... 

Katelyn is really not that photogenic. But if you take enough pictures, one of them is bound to turn out... right? 

Still trying to get that picture.

Ok. We'll stick to photographing adults instead:).

Like I said, we did get out a bit. One day we drove to Hachinohe to see the beach there. We happened upon a small festival where my parents were able to try tons of local food. These were octopus dumplings. Interestingly enough, they stuck with mostly french fries and chicken on a stick after this one:).

Mom supports local farmers and craftsmen.

We did make it to the beach eventually. Hachinohe has a beautiful rocky coastline. 

Mom and Dad had never looked east to see the Pacific ocean before.

It was a pretty windy day, but it made for beautiful waves along the rocky shore.

Another day we took the family to the aquarium. Katelyn loved it.

...well, most of it.

Another day we drove up into the Hakkoda mountains to show them all the snow.

They took the ropeway up.

And they took the ropeway down. Chris strapped on his skis and raced them to the bottom of the mountain. Chris won. Or maybe I won. Because I was warm, at the bottom of the mountain, with a cup of hot chocolate and a sleeping baby:).