Camping in Northern Tohoku

Last week Ryan got Friday off so we packed the van and headed north. First we stopped at the capital of our prefecture (state): Aomori. As you can see, it's right on the water of Mutsu Bay. 

 The main attraction was the Nebuta Museum. Every August (when it's super hot and humid) there is a big parade where millions of people pour into Aomori to see these floats all lit up being carried down the streets for the Nebuta Festival. Luckily we've been to the museum and won't have to fight the crowds, heat, traffic and tired kids to see the floats.

 Carl sure is getting big. He had a great time exploring all over the campsite.

 For dinner we had "Walking Tacos" (chili and taco toppings all in a Fritos bag) and I was luckily to get the girls to stand still to take their pictures. Their tacos probably walked them 1/4 mile around our pavilion during dinner.

 We had a great campsite right next to these fun toys. As you can see in the background, we've graduated to two tents: girls in one, parents and carl in the other.

 Here's a shot of awesome kite flying with the town of Noheji in the background down on the bay.

 Helen had a great time with our Chinese kite. We did have to do a little training on not putting the string down. Although we've heard in Sunday school that if you let go of the sting the kite will fall, I'm not ready to test that out, especially with our best kite.

 I used to think that gorp was invented to have a high calorie snack on the trail. While that is true, I think it's main purpose is as a movement motivator. Walk to eat on the way up. Race to see the dropped snack along the path on the way back. It's really a beautiful thing.

Bali Classes and Walks

Ryan and Helen took a music class at the hotel. Here they are learning to play a gamelons, a traditional Balinese metallic xylophone. They don't use written music, so learning a long game Simon where you have to repeat long patterns of sounds.

I got to learn how to make batik, which is a method of dying fabric using wax and then dipping the fabric in the dye or painting the dye on. Then the wax is then ironed off the fabric. The batik in Indonesia is supurb. I have a long way to go before I would call my work "okay", but Helen and Jane thought my fabric was "awesome" and worthy to "put outside the bathroom for us to look at while we wait."

 Here is a real Balinese artist working on her batik.

 We got to see how they do weaving in Bali too. We've visited a lot of weaving factories and this one shown here was the best. We saw how they prepare the thread, the different ways they dye the threads, hand weaving and machine weaving.

 Here we are at an Elephant cave - a old shrine.  It is perhaps ancient, but definitely small, hot and stinky.

 We got to take a couple of great hikes through rice fields. Thankfully the Balinese plant coconut trees along the paths in their fields which provide great shade.

 In fact, during our hike we got to see the rice harvesting process. Can you see the cutting, threshing and winnowing all in this picture? It sure makes that 20 minutes to cook rice seem even easier.

Bali Bird Park and Bali Zoo

 Ever since I learned about hornbill birds from a travel book I read 2 years ago, I wanted to see one live. Bali was the place to get up close and personal. I think it was a secret dream of Carl's as well. We had to skip a trip to Komodo Island for logistical reasons, but did get to see one at the zoo. (I'm pretty sure that they would eat my small children if given the chance).

 Jane wasn't emotionally prepared to have a bird on her shoulder or head, but was willing to pet one.

 Helen has a new favorite animal (the cat has been ousted after years of drawing and dreaming about) - the parrot. Alice is not convinced that those birds were tame. In the picture on the right you will see Ryan participating in the "Birds of Prey" show. He has a delightful morsel of meat on his head that they bird seen in the background swooped right up. I'm really proud of this picture. I think it shows excellent patience and anticipatory skills.

I am not ashamed to admit that cracked plexiglass holding the weight of all my children above a "sleeping" crocodile makes me nervous. 

There is a lot of roaring going on in this picture, although not necessarily by the lion in the background who is perfectly posed like the lion in the movie Madagascar.

Petting zoos are a little different than in the States. There were of course two dozen rabbits and a few naughty goats, but the rest were deer of all shapes, colors and sizes.

There is something magical that happens between the ages of two and four when all of a sudden elephants aren't totally terrifying. Jane and Helen loved feeding the elephants and Carl was willing to watch from my back, but Alice was confident that the elephants were out to get her.

 She might have been right...

Bali, Indonesia

We just had a great trip to Bali. Here are some pictures of the hotel in Ubud where we stayed. It was beautiful and we were lucky enough to have a fountain right in front of our "cottage." The girls took it upon themselves to clean all the rocks daily. 

We also loved the mosquito nets and they proved to keep spiders like the one we found outside from getting in our beds. Sorry about the lack of perspective with the spider, no one wanted to put their hands next to it. From head to tail it was 3 inches, so the legs were probably another 5 inches. Luckily it was his little brother we found on the ceiling of our bedroom. The staff made short work of that one.

The first day we were there, the island was decked out for a religious holiday. Ryan got this great picture of the women with their offerings balanced on their heads. 

 Here are the girls outside one of the market with a bunch of great spices from the Spice islands. 

 Here is some fabulous Balinese architecture (note that we are in the shade) where we stopped to see some traditional paintings and enjoyed a cool treat afterwards.

I got to take a great cooking class. I'm cooking ground chicken with spices on the left. I also made yellow chicken curry, rice baked in banana leaf baskets I made and the green banana leaves were filled with steamed fish puree (not my favorite).

After a few hours of driving the back roads of Denpasar, we finally found where the small LDS branch met. It was only a corner room in a small strip mall, and there are only 3 families who attend there regularly. In the last picture you can see Carl making some new friends at a restaurant. In Bali a family is considered "complete" with 4 kids, so we made quite a sensation as we traveled around with the locals, and the tourists for that matter.

April Fun

In order to get our pictures from vacation up, first we need to take a little look into the not so distant past. Carl turned 6 months in April and took to rice cereal like a fish to water.

Ryan pinned on Major (in the Pediatrician's waiting room if you must know) and everyone enjoyed the process of putting the pins in. Ryan wisely only let the girls poke pins in his hate, while not on his head.

 Jane turned four and had her favorite dinner - CHILI! Could there be a happier girl?

Helen learned how to ride a two wheeler with no training wheels. Note that Alice was the only one moving slow enough to be caught by the camera. Can you tell from the picture that we have more than one type of cherry blossom tree in Japan?

Usually when the tulips are in bloom it is freezing cold and raining here. We have really been enjoying our warm spring weather.

Here we are on the nature trail on base. We didn't loose anyone down the ravine into the road below. I felt like it was a successful trip.