Mimi and Pops Visit Japan

Mimi and Pops pick up Rylee at Yochien

Shoe slots for indoor and outdoor shoes at Yochien.



saying "Hi" to the fish at the Yochien pond


Oya Garden

Tobu World Square

The wonders of the world and more in miniature.

Since the cherry blossoms weren't quite in bloom yet, we visited a plum tree farm. It was lovely.

Mimi walking Rylee down to the bus stop.

Off to school

A day in the Nikko Mountains

We took a ride in a cable car to see the view of Chuzenji Lake from above.

It was beautiful!

Mioko, our sensei, came with us as our tour guide. She was great!

Chuzenji Temple

saki barrels

"hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil"

Snuggleing with Mimi after a long day of sight seeing and playing.

Mashiko, pottery town

Mashiko's mascot is the well endowed racoon, those aren't his feet he's standing on.

Kanaya Hotel

My teacher and I visited Kanaya Hotel in Nikko for a cake buffet. Kanaya Hotel was built in 1873 and is the oldest western style hotel in Japan. By western style I don't mean cowboy theme and as you can see the exterior is Japanese looking. It is the hotel rooms that are western style in that they have beds, full size tables and chairs. A traditional Japanese style hotel is called a ryokan. At a ryokan you sleep in a tatami room on the floor, eat at low tables with no chairs, you sit on the floor.

Several famous people have stayed at the Kanaya Hotel such as, Gandhi, Helen Keller, and Pres. Roosevelt.

The hotel has a very interesting photo gallery that I really enjoyed!


The hotel grounds will be beautiful in the spring and fall. I look forward to visiting again, as Nikko is only a half an hour away.




This is my teacher, Mioko, she has been such a wonderful help and good friend.

Spring Uniform

Rylee has a new Spring uniform and it's just too cute! Much better than the orange jump suit. She loves it too, she is thrilled she gets to wear a skirt everyday to school!

Rylee is learning many Japanese words and songs. She sings Japanese songs all the time at home and I have no idea what she is saying, to be honest I wasn't sure if she was just singing gibberish or actually Japanese words. So I decided to record her singing and show it to my teacher and what do you know, she is actually singing a Japanese song. My teacher recognized the tone right away and started singing along. I was amazed! In this video Rylee put her outfit together for the special performance, she is singing the Japanese graduation song. They have been practicing the graduation song because the school year ends at the end of this month. They will have a two week break and then school will start again in April.

New Japanese Bike

I bought a new bike this week and I love it! The girls love it too! I can't wait for it to warm up so I can ride it everywhere.