Yesterday, Tuesday, Katsu's day was so kind to take the day off of work (he would have otherwise had a half day) and drive us to Nikko. It took about 2 hours to get there. Logan slept on the way there at least some of the time, so the ride was pretty uneventful. We got to experience a Japanese rest stop. We convinced the kids that when you went through toll booths, the pass is called "ETC" and we said it meant exceptional children - and only very good kids could go through. We ALMOST missed the exit to Nikko - in fact, we did, but Katsu's dad backed up very slowly to the entrance and we got to Nikko.
The drive once you get to the city was beautiful. The bridge coming into town was so pretty - right over river rapids and the city is all in the mountains and very beautiful. We found the parking spot right away and it was up, up, up. Maybe we should have stopped for lunch first, as it was probably 11:30 when we got there, but we decided to just go straight to the temples and shrines, which are World Heritage sites.
The temples and shrines were beautiful. You climbed up up up to get to the top of them and were at about 2000 m above sea level. There were so many stone steps and of course, Logan and Seth and Andrew wanted to climb up all of them. Logan had lost his shoe the day before, so he had only one shoe, which made for an interesting day. But this was our one day to see Nikko and we didn't have time to buy him shoes first, so we just made do. Katsu and I and his father all took lots of time holding Logan and boy, were we worn out by the end of the day.
Katsu's dad had bought a tour guide and the boys were super intent on finding EVERYTHING in the tour book. They were especially eager to find the three monkeys and the sleeping cat. This was the cause of many fights. Seth and Andrew would fight over the book and then Seth would cry because he didn't find something or didn't find it first. He had one ALL OUT fit - he cried for probably a good 20 minutes. It was very frustrating, but he finally calmed down and we could show him the temple that he missed.
The first temple was Toshogu. This is very famous historically and very very ornate. My favorite part was the monkeys - not only the three, but also the scene of the stages of life as shown by monkeys. The center temple was beautiful inside. There was a large dragon scene drawn on the top of the ceiling and the tour guide showed us the acoustics of the room by making two wood blocks hit against each other sound like a drum with all the echos. There was gold everywhere. We were too worn out to pay extra to see Ieyasu's tomb so we missed the sleeping cat.
Next, we went to this Futarsan Shrine - it is for a happy marriage and everything there had hearts and such. The gardens were pretty and it was serene. It was a lot smaller than Toshogu.
Finally, we climbed higher and higher to another temple. Everyone was a lot happier by this point and running around. I really enjoyed seeing all the sights, but was happy that we could finally eat, right.
We walked back to the car, and tried to find a restaurant, but couldn't find one. We decided to drive up to the Lake and find something on the way, but we didn't. The ride up to the lake is CRAZY. There are forty hairpin turns, one for each letter of the Japanese syllabery. The turns were super sharp and many of them are right next to a very large drop off off the mountain. Plus, half way up the mountain, the fog got so bad that you could barely see. We were all very nervous and we tried to keep the boys quiet (basically impossible, but we tried). We finally made it safely and everything was closed. After talking to a local, we could find only one restaurant open - an expensive French one, but at least we found something as it was about 3:30 and we were starving. After eating, we headed to the waterfall. I was a little concerned that we wouldn't be able to see the waterfall with the fog, but no worries. You take an elevator through the bedrock down to the bottomish of the falls. It was GORGEOUS. I mean, no Niagara Falls, but it was very pretty and with fog everywhere. It is called Kegon Falls and it was one of the big falls in Japan. Definitely worth the drive, and one of the first natural beauty sites I have seen.
Then, we headed home. Another lovely drive with Logan crying crying crying. We did everything we could to keep him happy. Finally, almost at home, we stopped at a pharamacy to get him some medicine - he has teeth coming in and he was pretty unhappy about it. Seth was asleep at this point. I took Logan out of the car seat and he is soaked - he must have poured a whole bottle of water on himself instead of drinking it. No wonder he was such a fuss.
Today, we took it easy. Plus, we had to go shopping to find Logan some new shoes. We went to the resale baby shop first and found Logan a new pair of shoes, plus a few more Ultraman monsters which the kids were just dying to have. Logan was SUPER excited to have new shoes and I was just excited that he could wake again. We then walked to Aeon - the kids absolute favorite place. Katsu spent a lot of time picking out a rice cooker (thanks to money from his Grandma - thanks!) and then we had lunch in the food court. Then, we let the kids play at the arcade again. They spent all their coins again on this shooting game - each coin gives you one shot and then if you kill something you get another 1-3 coins back depending on how big they are. It took them FOREVER to work through their coins (we got $5 worth between the two of them). Predictably, Seth threw a MASSIVE tantrum when we ran out. But after distraction, we managed to improve things and the boys went to the play area and made some huge Lego structures. we let Andrew finish to the end and then took pictures with the phone. Then, we went and bought some new bento boxes, chopsticks, and a bread cutting thing plus a whole bunch of food. Katsu picked back up the rice cooker and after only about 4 hours at the store (!!!) we headed home.
By the time we got to the Funai's home, Andrew was crying about a hurt ear. We had started complaining in the store, but I thought maybe his ears just needed to pop because of all the change in pressure from visiting Nikko. But he was screeching and crying hysterically. Katsu went off back to the drugstore to buy some tylenol and thankfully as soon as the medicine kicked in, he seemed to calm down. I think he has an ear infection, but hopefully it will clear up on it's own. We'll see how the night goes and maybe if not, we can have Katsu's dad look at it before he goes to work. We are hoping to go to the aquarium tomorrow, but we'll see how it goes.
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