Yokohoma

At 9:15am, we ventured out to Yokohoma, which is the second largest city in Japan, to find Sea Paradise and China Town.

Sea Paradise is an aquamarine/amusement park. It's the nicest aquamarine I've ever been to. We really enjoyed it.

Caleb thought the little fish we're the best, especially the "mud skippers" and the big fish he thought might get him through the glass, but he learned quickly that he was safe and able to explore.

As Shawn says, "You can't spit in any direction and not hit a train in Japan" and Sea Paradise was no exception. Grandma and Caleb took off on this little train and had a blast.

After Sea Paradise we got back on the train to find China Town. We walked around for a bit trying to find it, but once we did, it was soooooo cool. There are many tea shops and restaurants and little places that roast and sell hazelnuts and these large steamed dumplings filled with different types of meat and vegetables. The streets are crowded with little shops filled with souvenirs, Chinese clothing and trinkets.

We didn't get back on base till after 9:00 pm and we were so tired! China Town is a place that you could spend all day at and so is Sea Paradise. It was exhausting trying to visit them in the same day.

Riley's First Solid Food

We decided to give Riley some rice cereal because he still seems so hungry after he finishes a bottle.

Oh, he loved it!! He took to eating solids VERY WELL. He took the spoon into his mouth and ate like he's been doing it forever.

Grandma loved being here for one of his biggest milestones!

Kita Kamakura

We started our day at Yokosuka train station at about 11:30.

We took the train to Kita Kamakura which was about a 20-30 minute ride.

Kita Kamakura, (kita meaning, north) is a tranquil area of wooded gullies which includes three of Kamakura's "five great" Zen temples: Kencho-ji, Enjaku-ji and Jochi-ji.

This is the San-mon, the main gate. It is made of wood and held together without nails. It was built in 1783 by priest Daiyu Kokushi.

Behind Caleb is the Butsuden, (buddha hall or Worship temple). Inside contains the following image of the Buddha.

I'm sure that what we were seeing is much more important than what we understood, but either way it was very interesting to experience. We saw men practicing Zen, and keepers who cleaned the entire area that was impossed by tourists directly after something was touched, and an older gentlemen, maybe a monk or a practicing monk (we think) came up to Riley and rubbed his head in several circular motions while repeating words (we think a blessing, maybe).

After we left Kita Kamakura, we stopped at Kamakura to eat a late lunch and walk through the local shops and markets. We got home at around 6:30 and ended the day with sushi and fresh fruit we brought home from the market. It was a great day!

We are walking everywhere that we go. Caleb loves to hold grandma and grandpa's hand and lead the way.

We decided to eat some lunch out in town. Tom was a bit worried when the waiter didn't bring any forks out with his food, but he learned to use chopsticks very quickly

As did Joann

And even Caleb tried the chopsticks....with some success.

Love having family

Riley is in love with Grandma. She can really get him laughing and talking.

Caleb on the other hand is in love with grandpa. Wherever Grandpa is, is where you will Caleb.

FYI

We have Shawn's mom and step-dad flying in on the 16th for a two week visit. I may not take the time to do much blogging, we'll see. I'm hoping to get some Rachael time and let the grandparents take over some childcare duties....so maybe I'll have lots of time, if not, I'm apologizing in advance.

A new friend

Riley has a new friend. His name is Bear and Riley loves to sleep with him. Riley does this thing where he tugs on a blanket with both hands when he's trying to fall asleep, so I got him this blankie that is also a rattle and a teddy bear. He loves it. I wonder if he'll call his "Dee Dee" like Caleb does his. Or maybe he'll call his "Bee Bee" since there's a bear on it. I think Caleb started calling his blankie, "Dee Dee" because his orginial blankie had a duck on it (which was lost in our moving process and has since been replaced with a Pooh Bear blankie). Either way, Riley gets alot of comfort from his new friend.