Bus Trip To Kyoto

Today we took a bus trip to Kyoto!  It was the annual neighborhood association excursion, meaning a bunch of people whom we don't know in spite of living just up the street from them. 
A group of 45 or so crammed onto a tour bus and jammed on down to the big town.  First port of call was the brand new Kyoto Aquarium.  I was initially excited about going, until I realized that Kyoto + Sunday + major attraction = really awful crowds. Unfortunately, I didn't hit upon this till we were standing in line with the hundreds of other folks waiting to stuff themselves into a glorified fish tank. 
The next stop was better, because you could see the sky, and there was lunch and beer.  A stroll through the historic shopping annex cleared my head and wore Samantha out.  K was happy to have the two of us out of her hair, and she was happy to stroll as I lugged a sleeping Samantha back to the bus.
Getting out of Kyoto proved more difficult than getting in, but we finally got on the road, got our bathroom break, and got home.
Never again.

Got some nice pictures, tho.

Tsu Matsuri, the Japanese answer to the county fair

This past weekend was the town festival, a two day affair involving dancing, beer, and foods to put the local fair to shame.  K hadn't been in 20 years, Kunio also.  Samantha and I were old pros, and we took along K's brother and his family as well. 

Sports Days at School, Samantha plays too!

This past weekend saw most of the schools in our area hold their annual Fall Sports Festivals, or undoukai.  Samantha and I visited several, and had a fine time.

Sunday was Samantha's first time to actually participate in an undoukai. The preschool we enrolled her in had an undoukai, and she 'competed' in a team ball rolling race.  It seemed like an overly large production for a pre-school field day, but hey...

What a fine time in the US of A

Thank you to everyone who helped make our trip to the US a great success.  Mom and Dad, of course, and Uncle Ben as well, plus the entire Team Tennessee, with a special thank you to Uncle Richard for putting us up and putting up with us for almost two weeks.

Samantha is still talking about Uncle Ben's stinking cat, Wee Wee and Tee Tee, and all the critters up at Uncle Steve and Aunt Peggy's place.  She had a great time, and Mommy and Daddy couldn't possibly ask for anything more.

Philly was wonderful, relaxed and quiet.  I wish I'd made it down town more than I did, but beers at Sardine was a lot of fun.  Lots of love to the whole Philly crowd, you know who you are!

How 'bout some pictures?

Yabunelli, the Shiratsuka Summer Festival

Tonight was the eve of Yabunelli, the local Shiratsuka summer festival.  There were lots of stalls set up around the local shrine selling junk food of all kinds, and lots of folks milling about.  We had a light dinner, then donned our summer yukata and headed down.  Afterwards, Samantha had her first fireworks experience.  It was a lot of fun.