Cambodia

(Although we could have taken a hot air balloon ride and snapped the above photo, we did not).

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Cambodia - located between Thailand and Vietnam, it's a hot steamy country still rebuilding after decades of civil war.   It reminded me of rural Brazil, with its dusty dirt roads, motorcycles, abundant fruit and simple homes pieced together with scrap wood.

Every night we would ask the girls what their favorite part of the day was and it was always . . .  Tuk-Tuks!

I'm not sure if there is anything that Ryan likes better than taking videos while in motion.  Be warned before you watch his "Tuk Tuk Montage", if you have a tendency for seasickness. 

Ruins: Angkor Wat. Built nearly a thousand years ago in the 1100's, this massive Hindu temple is Cambodia's pride and joy (featured on it's flag).  It wins the prize as the largest religious building on earth, and today it's actively used by Buddhist monks and visited by millions annually.

We caught the sunset, along with hundreds of other tourists. I hope you recognize the skill in getting pictures without all the scaffolding - yes we found scaffolding at yet another historic site. 

Our tour guide walked us right up to this muddy puddle and I thought that he had lost his mind until he pointed out the reflection. 

Here we are outside the 190 meter wide moat. 

Here we are learning all about the legend of the "churning of the sea of milk" from our friendly tour guide. 

Here's a bas relief of monkeys playing instruments and having a party.

Ruins: Ta Prohm. Another nearly thousand year old temple complex, this one was fascinating because of the many large fig trees growing over the walls and piled up stones. 

This was my favorite temple site because there weren't very many tourists there yet, the trees made great shade and the kids weren't tired yet.

There is something thrilling to know that  you are treading where Harrison Ford has gone before.

Following our intrepid guide through the rubble.

It's so tough to get everyone to look happy at the same time.

Ruins: Angkor Thom. Only 800-some years old, this "Great City" was the last capital of the ancient Khmer empire, not abandoned until about 1600.  The many large faces (200+) on the towers makes this temple complex unique. Below is the gate you go through to get on the grounds.  Buses, cars and even elephants go through there. 

Here are the girls with stone elephant trunks.

This was the greatest tree that we saw on the site.

Luckily we had our kids along so we could travel no faster than a two-year old which saved me from looking  like the one slowing everyone down.

One of the many, many faces. I felt like I was being watched the whole time we were there.

How many faces can you see?

South East Asia Trip

We have so many fun pictures and stories to share with you from our trip that it's been hard to get started.  How about a fun map with arrows to begin with?

1st Stop: Tokyo

Our trip stalled a little at the beginning.  Yokota Air Base, outside of Tokyo, has 3 flights a week to Singapore to carry official government travelers and usually has 20-30 seats open for space-available hitch-hikers like us.  We flew to Tokyo on Thanksgiving day hoping to fly to Singapore the following day, but due to a flight cancellation, we didn't get out until Monday.  The troubles with being stuck in Tokyo were that we only had one set of semi-warm clothing and Tokyo's incredibly expensive.

On Saturday we rode the train and monorail to Sanrio Puroland, a kid's paradise that like the 'Disneyland' of Hello-Kitty and other Japanese kid's characters.  Here you can see Michelle and the girls shivering in the rain just before we entered.

Here's a peek of the colorful fun inside.  The girls were really in their element - colorful cats around each corner, lots of little kids their size running everywhere, catchy music playing constantly, and lots of hands-on activities.

The sun came out on Sunday and helped us stay a few degrees warmer.  The trees were in full color, and on our walk around base the girls decided to decorate this bush like a birthday cake.

2nd Stop: Singapore

Singapore: a city-state on the tip of Malaysia, about 3x the size of Washington D.C., 5 million people.  They like to call themselves the "Garden City", and they've earned as you can't drive or walk anywhere without lush green vegetation and colorful flowers around you.  It left an impression on us as an extremely clean, green, and welcoming city.  It was so exciting to see all the signs in English.  Singapore was a British port a long time ago, and everyone there speaks English in addition to Malay and other languages.  Michelle was especially thrilled to listen to English hits on the taxi radios.  

Here we are walking from the subway station through the Arab district of Singapore.  Note the humidity affecting the camera lens, and yes that is Helen holding a barf bag. Traveling with kids is not for the faint of heart.

Singapore is only slightly less terribly expensive than Tokyo, and Michelle found us a great deal in a hostel on a 8ft x 10ft room with double bunk beds.  It was just right for 5 tired travelers. 

Halloween, Tokyo, Gingerbread & Snow

Here are the girls in their Halloween outfits. Ryan splurged and painted their little kitty and puppy noses.

On our way to the temple we stopped at a rest stop with a warning against snakes, at least that's what we thought it was. Alice is walking now and nothing can stop her, definitely not the threat of snakes.

We rented a van to drive down that you can see in the background. Ryan was in his element, riding high like a big rig, catching every blast of wind coming off the mountains.

It takes a little bit of fancy photography to get a picture of the temple without the city of Tokyo in the background.

Three happy girls outside the temple.

Getting off the subway in Tokyo. It doesn't really capture to milling crowds down below.

Here we are at the Ueno Zoo enjoying the pandas.

I am not sure if there is anything as enjoyable as watching my kids chase around other "kids." Alice loved this part of the zoo and ran after the goats yelling at them.

We invited our friends over to make gingerbread houses.

If you know Helen's favorite color is pink and Jane's is purple, can you guess whose house was made by which girl?

Winter has begun and you could not find happy girls!

Columbus Day & Hakkoda Mountains

October marks the time to launch our Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria again in honor of Columbus. Luckily Columbus' boats did not sink like our boats always do. 

Three girls trying to fall into the drink.

                

We've discovered that we live near beaches famous for sea glass. The girls love matching the sea glass with the pictures. 

Last weekend we drove up a twisty road up to the Hakkoda Mountains to enjoy the autumn leaves. Apparently most of the residents from northern Honshu had the same idea and those twisty roads were very busy; think Grand Central Station.

We took a tram ride to the top of the mountain that holds 101 people. 101 people packed like sardines touching people on all sides. It would probably be the safest place to faint since there is no way that you could fall down. You can see the city of Aomori in the background.

Here are the big girls and Ryan at the top. You can see some old volcanoes in the background. 

At one point Jane got to walk with Helen along the trail which really made her day. The vegetation was the perfect height to keep them from getting distracted and the planks made is super fun to stay on the trail/clip-clop bridge.

Some portions of the hike were very muddy and only allowed for one food on either side of the trail and a certain swaying motion to transfer weight from side to side. Ryan thought it was hysterical and felt compelled to take a picture. 

Shimokita Peninsula

Last week we went on a short camping trip with our friends to the northern part of our island, Shimokita Peninsula. It rained for a good portion of the time, hence we drove all the tiny winding roads to see various tourist traps. 

This is the first campsite that we've stayed at that came with a picnic table - what a luxury. 

We stopped at Osorezan, one of the three holiest sites of Japan.

It was really fun to walk along the trail looking at little hot springs, piles of rocks with pinwheels, and little graven images. 

 Here are six Rokudai-Jizo and three wet Hacketts.

 We drove along the coast to see the mysterious snow monkeys. I think they used to run wild in this area. In fact the signs in this area do warn drivers against crossing monkeys, but it would appear that they had a great round-up and put all the monkeys in this cage. There is something about looking at my little monkeys looking at other little monkeys that warms the heart.

 The following day we drove out to Cape Shiriyazaki, home of the famous wild horses. I can't even begin to explain the let-down. I hoped to see wild horses in the style of "The Man from Snowy River." Instead we found horses in the style of overfed circus ponies. I didn't even have the heart to take their picture, instead I got Helen.

 Here are Ryan and the girls in front of the lighthouse. I sang "I'll be your candle on the water" the whole time we were there.

 My favorite part was searching for small treasures among the boulders. 

Backyard and visit to Inakadate

It is so good to be 9 months old. Alice is all over the place crawling, cruising, standing unaided with her "magic feather." I don't remember our other girls moving so fast or so quickly. Clearly she is trying to catch up.

Our neighbors have two swimming pools that we can borrow whenever we want. That seems to be every time we put our swimsuits on.

 We don't have air conditioning, so when it's hot I get inspired to harness the power of the sun. We made a solar cooker and successfully made mac & cheese - the granola didn't do so well.

 As part of out emergency prepardness plan Ryan got us poles and stakes for our tarp.

Last week we took a day trip to Inakadate, Japan to see the rice field art. I wore my John Deere shirt in honor of this agricultural event. After driving two hours to get there, Ryan and I decided that it reminded us of the Corn Palace. It's really too bad they don't sell geodes in Japan so that we can be sure when we have found a tourist trap.

Here is Ryan's favorite field. I asked him why and he said it was "an action movie in rice, complete with lightening, sword and fire." He even went so far as to say that most males would agree that it was the best one.

 My favorite field is in the background which consists of a bunch of people in a dragon boat.

 This is the close-up of said dragon head.

The girls loved the rice field art. Or maybe they just loved being on a short "vacation" and singing all the way across the width of Japan. 

Here is another picture that I couldn't resist throwing into the mix. Jane is in transition to giving up her naps. Some days she is more successful than others. Luckily her little bunny was able to tell her what happened in the story when she woke up.