Here are a few pics...check out my facebook page if you want to see the videos!
Monday, February 14, 2011
Evelyn's school play
This weekend we also got to see Evelyn's school play! They put on a cute production - and I think they all did great, especially for 4 year olds! It was all in Japanese, so I give the American kids extra credit. It was a Japanese folk tale about a Peach boy (click on the link if you want to read about it). Evelyn told me she was the devil (ogre)...so it finally made sense that she really was playing the part of the devil. She had a mask and everything! It was so fun to see her be part of it. Even the little things, like when the teacher did role call and said Evelyn's name, and she said "hi". Not "hai" - but close enough. She was actively involved in all the procedures and made us so proud!!!
Here are a few pics...check out my facebook page if you want to see the videos!
Here are a few pics...check out my facebook page if you want to see the videos!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Valentine's Day Weekend
This weekend we went to Evelyn's school for her play (will post about later) and then hopped in the car and headed into Tokyo. We scored tickets to the New Sanno Escoffier Dinner, as well as a room (which are hard to come by) and a babysitter hired to come watch the kids in the room while we went to dinner. We got to the hotel around 5pm, went to one of their restaurants to get the kids something to eat, then quickly got them bathed and ready for bed. The babysitter got to our room around 6:30 and we headed down for our romantic dinner.
The room was beautiful, filled with soft lighting and lots of red, pink and white decorations. A quartet band played music as well as a pianist. We had an 8 course meal accompanied by different wines. The food was unique (aka - different for me) but very good. It was a french-themed meal - so think lots of rich creams and butters. Quail egg soup??? I tried it - but had a hard time getting over the quail egg part :-) Unfortunately, all the richness made my belly upset through the night...but I still had a wonderful time with my wonderful husband!
The next morning we woke up with the kids and went to breakfast. Then we headed to their amazing pool and hot tub! We could've stayed there all day!!! But we only stayed for an hour or so. While we were there Gavin lost ANOTHER tooth! He loves telling people that he lost his tooth in Tokyo! Surely a moment to remember!
After the pool, we went back to the room, packed up, loaded the car and then headed out (by foot) into town to explore. It was a beautiful day (seriously perfect weather in the midst of a week of crappy weather) and we hopped on the subway to go to the Tokyo Tower (only 6 minutes away). The kids were so excited!!!! Since it was such a nice day, and crystal clear skies, we were able to see for miles and miles! Seriously we could see all the way from Mt Fuji to the airports! The kids thought it was so cool that they could walk out onto a glass floor and look all the way down! It was pretty scary - but once they did it - they were laying on it, jumping on it, etc. I was totally freaked out - but tried to hide it! We even waited to go all the way to the tippity top to see everything. I am glad we did (so we can say we did it) but I don't think it was worth the wait or cost to go all the way up. The main part was good for us :-)
After all that, we went back to the hotel, picked up our car and headed home. The kids and I slept the whole way (only about an hour) and I slept a little more once we were home (still so tired from being up all night). All-in-all, it was another awesome Bull Family Adventure!!!
The room was beautiful, filled with soft lighting and lots of red, pink and white decorations. A quartet band played music as well as a pianist. We had an 8 course meal accompanied by different wines. The food was unique (aka - different for me) but very good. It was a french-themed meal - so think lots of rich creams and butters. Quail egg soup??? I tried it - but had a hard time getting over the quail egg part :-) Unfortunately, all the richness made my belly upset through the night...but I still had a wonderful time with my wonderful husband!
The next morning we woke up with the kids and went to breakfast. Then we headed to their amazing pool and hot tub! We could've stayed there all day!!! But we only stayed for an hour or so. While we were there Gavin lost ANOTHER tooth! He loves telling people that he lost his tooth in Tokyo! Surely a moment to remember!
After the pool, we went back to the room, packed up, loaded the car and then headed out (by foot) into town to explore. It was a beautiful day (seriously perfect weather in the midst of a week of crappy weather) and we hopped on the subway to go to the Tokyo Tower (only 6 minutes away). The kids were so excited!!!! Since it was such a nice day, and crystal clear skies, we were able to see for miles and miles! Seriously we could see all the way from Mt Fuji to the airports! The kids thought it was so cool that they could walk out onto a glass floor and look all the way down! It was pretty scary - but once they did it - they were laying on it, jumping on it, etc. I was totally freaked out - but tried to hide it! We even waited to go all the way to the tippity top to see everything. I am glad we did (so we can say we did it) but I don't think it was worth the wait or cost to go all the way up. The main part was good for us :-)
After all that, we went back to the hotel, picked up our car and headed home. The kids and I slept the whole way (only about an hour) and I slept a little more once we were home (still so tired from being up all night). All-in-all, it was another awesome Bull Family Adventure!!!
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Hakone Yunessun
As stated in an earlier post, we have decided to take advantage of weekends off-call and experience as much of Japan as possible. We decided this weekend to head towards Hakone, a hot springs area, for the day to go to the 'Yunessun". This is a mixture of hot springs spa and amusement park.
The drive was only about 2 hours (we got lost for about 20 minutes though - so about 2:20) and we were there! Parking was easy and the people working there seemed used to English speaking customers and were very nice in explaining what we needed to do.
First, we split off (boys and girls) to the locker rooms to get ready. When we were done, we met up in the first area known as the Aegean Sea pool. This was a huge heated indoor area with shallow waters, jet sprays, bubbles, etc. They even had a 'thunder and lightning' theme accompanied by cool splashed of rain water coming down at you once in a while. I think the kids would have been fine if we stayed in this area all day. There were a lot of other people - but it never felt crowded.
Next we headed up the stairs to the dreaded OUTSIDE! It was freezing out. Literally. We were up in the mountains, snow still covering the ground. So to run outside in your bathing suit was less than desirable. But right outside the doors was a hot tub to soak in and warm up your body. Then, you could walk up the stairs to "rodeo mountain". There were 2 more tubs at the top of the stairs, to regain your warmth again. One was super hot, another was just hot. Once you were boiling hot again, you could get to the top of the slides and have fun! Evie was too small to go down the slides - but she still went up and soaked in the top with me. Patrick and Gavin went down a few times (as Evie and I sat in the lower hot tub) and I went down once with Gavin (just to experience it. It was so awesome to be outside in freezing air - but be totally warm. I am so glad we went in the winter - as I think the experience would not be as amazing in the summer.
After we had our fun with Rodeo Mountain, we headed back inside for the Dr. Fish. This is a large pool that has those fish (you know you have heard about them) that eat the dead skin off of your feet. It tickles to high H*LL but was such a cool experience. The kids were troopers and joined us. We told them they were "kiss fish" that kiss your feet...so they were excited! After the first few squeals (from all of us - including Patrick) you started to get used to the tickling feeling. The kids flinched everytime one touched them, but I tried to stay still to get a few on and get some pics. You got 4 minutes in the pool - which was long enough!!!
After the kiss fish, we headed towards the outside pools. The kids were most excited about these for some reason when they saw the brochure. The was the chocolate bath, the coffee bath, the red wine bath, the green tea bath, the sake bath, the charcoal bath and a waterfall bath. Each supposedly has benefits for your skin or health - but all I know is they felt like heaven. Again, we had to muster the courage to take the first steps outside to get into the hotness - but we were so happy we did! I think the kids liked the red wine bath the best (they are my kids, of course) because it made them look purple! I liked the sake one because it was the hottest. The green tea one was also very soothing...so I couldn't really give a favorite. Just imagine how you feel after sitting in a hot tub for a while - and multiply (safely) by 5 hours!!! So utterly, totally exhausting and relaxing. It was great...especially because the kids loved it just as much as Patrick and I did!
Here are a few of the outdoor pool pics:
Coffee Bath -
Red Wine Bath -
Green Tea Bath -
Sake Bath -
no pics
Charcoal Bath -
Waterfall Bath -
Random Bath at top of mountain -
What the kids looked like on the way home -
The drive was only about 2 hours (we got lost for about 20 minutes though - so about 2:20) and we were there! Parking was easy and the people working there seemed used to English speaking customers and were very nice in explaining what we needed to do.
First, we split off (boys and girls) to the locker rooms to get ready. When we were done, we met up in the first area known as the Aegean Sea pool. This was a huge heated indoor area with shallow waters, jet sprays, bubbles, etc. They even had a 'thunder and lightning' theme accompanied by cool splashed of rain water coming down at you once in a while. I think the kids would have been fine if we stayed in this area all day. There were a lot of other people - but it never felt crowded.
Next we headed up the stairs to the dreaded OUTSIDE! It was freezing out. Literally. We were up in the mountains, snow still covering the ground. So to run outside in your bathing suit was less than desirable. But right outside the doors was a hot tub to soak in and warm up your body. Then, you could walk up the stairs to "rodeo mountain". There were 2 more tubs at the top of the stairs, to regain your warmth again. One was super hot, another was just hot. Once you were boiling hot again, you could get to the top of the slides and have fun! Evie was too small to go down the slides - but she still went up and soaked in the top with me. Patrick and Gavin went down a few times (as Evie and I sat in the lower hot tub) and I went down once with Gavin (just to experience it. It was so awesome to be outside in freezing air - but be totally warm. I am so glad we went in the winter - as I think the experience would not be as amazing in the summer.
After we had our fun with Rodeo Mountain, we headed back inside for the Dr. Fish. This is a large pool that has those fish (you know you have heard about them) that eat the dead skin off of your feet. It tickles to high H*LL but was such a cool experience. The kids were troopers and joined us. We told them they were "kiss fish" that kiss your feet...so they were excited! After the first few squeals (from all of us - including Patrick) you started to get used to the tickling feeling. The kids flinched everytime one touched them, but I tried to stay still to get a few on and get some pics. You got 4 minutes in the pool - which was long enough!!!
After the kiss fish, we headed towards the outside pools. The kids were most excited about these for some reason when they saw the brochure. The was the chocolate bath, the coffee bath, the red wine bath, the green tea bath, the sake bath, the charcoal bath and a waterfall bath. Each supposedly has benefits for your skin or health - but all I know is they felt like heaven. Again, we had to muster the courage to take the first steps outside to get into the hotness - but we were so happy we did! I think the kids liked the red wine bath the best (they are my kids, of course) because it made them look purple! I liked the sake one because it was the hottest. The green tea one was also very soothing...so I couldn't really give a favorite. Just imagine how you feel after sitting in a hot tub for a while - and multiply (safely) by 5 hours!!! So utterly, totally exhausting and relaxing. It was great...especially because the kids loved it just as much as Patrick and I did!
Here are a few of the outdoor pool pics:
Coffee Bath -
Red Wine Bath -
Green Tea Bath -
Sake Bath -
no pics
Charcoal Bath -
Waterfall Bath -
Random Bath at top of mountain -
What the kids looked like on the way home -
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