Cherry Trees in Bloom

April is the month for cherry trees in the Tokyo area. They were beautiful again this year.

Christopher and Caitlyn at the Hot Spa Resort: Dr. Fish

Everyone got their feet nibbled and had a nice day in the hot baths.

Christopher and Caitlyn's Trip to Japan

My brother, Christopher, and our niece, Caitlyn, came to visit in honor of Caitlyn's 16th birthday. It was nice spending time with family. We met them inside the airport with a sign, birthday hat, and balloons, and drove them home in style in a rental (party) van adorned with streamers.

We spend two days in Fussa and the night at Yokota Air Base, where we used to live. This is the hospital where Caitlyn was born at Yokota.

Caitlyn's preschool in Fussa:

And our favorite place: Showa Park!

Beautiful spring flowers:

The famous Hachiko statue in Shibuya, Tokyo:

Delicious okonomiyaki:

We held a "C" theme party, with Christopher and Caitlyn the guests of honor. With old friends Hidemi and Masako:

A green tea set for Caitlyn's birthday:

Nagano City

The three of us joined a large group of Camp Zama Girl Scouts and their families on a trip to Nagano City to visit with a sister troop. We had a great time and the Nagano troop were wonderful hosts. After a few hours driving, we arrived and they took us immediately to the Big Wave. This was the ice skating venue for the Nagano Olympics in 1998 (the year Maddie was born.) They had a regular rink in the middle and also opened up the speed skating area around the perimeter. It was really cool for Maddie to be able to skate on that fast ice! Vanessa and I decided to visit the 1998 Olympics Museum rather than skate. We enjoyed remembering the highlights of the Olympics that took place while we lived in Japan 12 years ago.

Vanessa and Yuri at the main entrance to the Big Wave.

There was a small museum with many items from the '98 games.

Vanessa in front of the mascots from the Olympics.

After a few hours of skating we checked in to our hotels. The hotels were actually traditional Japanese inns called Ryokans. They had tatami mat floors and we slept on futon mattresses on the tatami. They were really nice and comfortable! After we got settled in we were escorted to a meeting hall where the girls were taught how to make soba noodles from a master chef.

Maddie did a great job cutting the noodles. They were very straight!

After a delicious pot-luck dinner including the freshly made soba noodles we headed back to our Ryokan for a much needed rest. The next morning after breakfast we headed to the nearby temple. This temple is a National Treasure of Japan.

It is believed that if you rub this statue where you are having problems, you will be healed.

The Dalai Lama will be coming to speak at this temple in the summer. We may come back!

This was a chef making noodles in the window of a nearby restaurant.

After a wonderful day, we thanked our hosts and got back in our vans and headed home. Another great trip. We think we will go back in the summer and visit the ninja village somewhere in the mountains around Nagano City.