Yuu Beach

 Despite the fact that we live right on the coast, there is a sad lack of good beaches in the area.  20 minutes south is the closest (usually) swimmable beach.  The kids kept asking when we were going to the beach again, and last Monday I finally had time, opportunity, and sunny weather.

We debated the merits of the closest beach vs the nicer beach we had never been to.  We decided on the 30 minute drive beach.  You Beach is a "resort" beach here, and is a lovely beach with decent water.  It had a terrific gradual entry so you can go out a ways before it gets too deep.  It is different in that it doesn't have the large rocks and gross vegetation that many of the other beaches have.

We spent about 3 hours there and had a great time.  Joshua and his pasty skin stayed home, which was probably good.  Despite sunscreen applications, everyone had a bit of sunburn somewhere.  It was a good day.

Marian, Callie and Delaney, seeing just how far they can go.

This is the beach.  It was really crowded, because of Oban Week and lots of vacationing locals. 

 This is how the Japanese deal with the sun.  It is awesome to see folks covered head-to-toe swimming at the beach!

The beach is more gravel than sand, and the girls discovered it wasn't much fun for sand castles. 

We had a great time looking for shells.

Unfortunately, there weren't many to take home, since most were inhabited. 

Delaney had a marvelous day! 

Rylee, taking a snack break. 

That's Marian out there in the middle.  She swam out pretty far, to where it WAS deep, and she would dive down for interesting things.  She did unearth several good sized sand dollars. 

Callie went out to join her. 

Delaney felt pretty brave with a floaty on, even though she's a pretty good swimmer without it.

World Boy Scout Jamboree

Saturday August 2 our Scouts went to the World Jamboree, which just happened to be held in Japan this year and just happened to be in our Prefecture.  So it was fairly convenient to attend for a single day.  Even more awesome, because we are "residents" it was free!  Whoopee!

Since I was in Tokyo with Callie and Delaney, Dan took Rylee and Joshua out for the day.  It was a roasting hot day, but they had a good time and felt it worth the trip.  Plus, they get bragging rights to be able to say they attended the World Scout Jamboree, which is only held every 4 years.  

Anyway, here are the pictures.....

Tokyo Fun Trip: The End

 Sunday was a free day.  That was great, because we had plans.  We went to church.  And then we went to our new friend's house for lunch.  And then we kind of stayed.  The girls had a great time playing with their 6 kids plus a neighbors 3 or 4 more kids.  So it was kind of a crazy busy fun house.  And we got lunch!  It was a good day.

Because Tokyo is so tough to drive in, the family uses a "bucket-bike" to move around town with multiple childrens,  and we got a ride home in it.  It was a tight squeeze and a little unnerving, but we made it safely back to the hotel!  It was kind of nice to relax that evening and I had packing to do.

Monday morning we made it to the fancy breakfast buffet, and it was lovely and delicious.  We got on the bus at 9am and started the long journey home.  We stopped every 2 hours or so, but in the middle Delaney and I both needed to go, so I blamed her and asked for an early stop.  We stopped 30 minutes early for our potty break, which was much appreciated.  We had a longer lunch and dinner stop and managed to arrive back to Iwakuni a full hour before the schedule officially said we'd be home. I was very happy with a 9pm arrival.  Dan picked us up and drove us home and all was right with the world!

Ywp, still love the view Sunday morning!  The church building is right next to the temple.

This is the Bucket Bike!  The 3 of us squished into the bucket for the ride back. It was all kinds of awesome! 

Delaney loved this family bathroom stall.  It has everything one might need.  And you can't even see the baby-changing table.  Note the urinal for a boy, kid-size sink,  the tiny toilet, the "changing stand" (where you step up to change clothes so your clothing doesn't touch the gross floor when you are changing), and the adult sized toilet.

My very first Big Mac in a year.  It was delicious. 

And for dinner, I had curry chicken.  Yum! Japanese rest stops are the best!

Dipping Dots after dinner.   In Melon Soda flavor!

Callie had a rose flavored ice cream cone.  It was interesting, and cold and delicious. 

Tokyo Fun Trip: A Day at Disney World

Saturday we went to Tokyo Disney World.  Honestly, if you have been to one, you have seen it all.  It was pretty much identical to Disney Florida.  It is been so long since I have been to Disneyland in CA, I can't really remember much, but it is probably the same there as well.  This does not mean it wasn't fun though!

We arrived about 8:30 and the bus wasn't coming back for us till 9pm.  I have never spent that much time at an amusement park!  We did stay busy till the end though and the girls had a good time.  Delaney proclaimed it, The BEST trip ever!".  I am glad, because it was a freakishly hot day.  I think the heat index was 105, but somehow the humidity always makes it feel so much worse.   I'm pretty sure I spent the entire day with a stream of sweat down my back, and going to the bathroom is no fun when you have to pull up saturated unmentionables.

But I digress....

That is the Disney Resort hotel back there.  Gorgeous!  And huge. 

We ended up waiting over an hour for the Monster's Inc ride.  Delaney remained cheerful, but her sister did not. 

After the ride life was rosier.

BEST ride EVER!  Star Tours was the unanimous favorite and we rode on it twice.  I know, not a good shot, but we were styling' in our 3d glasses. 

Eagerly waiting to ride the cars. 

So hot down there, but Callie was excited to "drive" her own car. 

Me and my driver.  Delaney was a little unsure at first, but got it down quickly. 

Go Callie, go! 

Waiting to get out at the end. 

We snacked on these "Pizza Springrolls", and Delaney was impressed by the cheesiness. 

Fooling around in Toontown. 

Yes, Callie loved Toontown and all it's fun things to mess with. 

 My cool kid.

I am so hot and sweaty right here.  I was documenting the overheating misery. 

They found the details on this Dumbo to be fascinating. 

 We went on a canoe ride!  I do not recall this ride at a recent Disney, but I think I remember it from when I was a kid.  You just get in a canoe, they give you a paddle, and you paddle around Tom Sawyer's Island.  Callie is posing with the bear by the ride.

Enjoying the barge ride to Tom Sawyer's Island. 

The girls LOVED the bridges. 

This bridge was built on floating barrels and caused much hilarity and fun. 

Delaney had a little trouble, but liked it very much.

You can barely see, but I'm pointing to the Cinderella castle.  You'll need to make the picture bigger to see it.  And yes, my hair is quite wet with sweat!

The castle! 

Having seen the one it is copied after, I love it! 

Delaney thought the Japanese girls jumping for photos was awesome.  So we did some too. 

We saw part of the Electric Parade, then ran to ride a few more rides.  I think this carousel was about the last ride.  We got the most delicious ice cream cones on the way out, bought our bus, and went to the hotel very tired and happy.