After we made it safely to our apartment and I carted what seemed an entire battalion's worth of bags up to our 7th floor apartment (thankful for elevators!) Everyone went right to bed. Usually on my Asia trips I try to go out for a walk and dinner to stay up a bit, but E started full melt down mode in the apartment lobby and we knew that wasn't happening. The poor guy was exhausted and didn't want to move. So everyone went to bed at 8PM. I'm not gonna lie...that felt good. Well, until I got up with the kids at 2:20 AM because they were wide awake. I'm not gonna lie, that was a bummer. Thankfully after an hour I made them try to sleep again and they slept from 3:30 to 5:30. The next few days we saw AM wake-ups hit 4, then 4:40, then 5:50 and we've hovered at 6AM since then (a lot better than 2:30!)
Thankful for the early wake-up though as we got treated to a sunrise over Fuji out our apartment window!
I took the fam for a walk to the Cerulean in Shibuya for a nice American style buffet spread. I wanted everyone to start with some comfort food and get off on the right foot. We had waffles, french toast, fresh squeezed orange juice, coffee, and more. Yum.
Then I took Sarah to initiate her on her first official train experience in Japan. The trains in Tokyo are the way to get around and they are great, but the stations can be quite chaotic and confusing. Imagine a place more crowded than a busy day at Disneyland with people constantly bumping into you and about 12 tracks plus a few subway lines to choose from. It's important to know how to figure out which line you need (all the trains have line names) and in which direction. I wanted Sarah to get some practice before I went to work. This was confirmed when my Nike teammates said even they get mixed up and end up on the wrong train sometimes (but that's another post).
We took the train to the Harajuku station. It's a place with a lot of style and shopping as well as the Meiji shrine (a nice park-like grounds perfect for walking on this beautiful day).
The kids enjoyed cake-pops from Starbucks while we walked.
Abby found a hollowed out tree stump perfect for her little tushy.
Ethan wanted in on the fun.
Sarah gave it a go!
Meiji shrine was built as a sort of emperor's grounds in 1920. Wonder if the emperor had kids who enjoyed his fishing pond as much as E & A?
Enjoying the weather and culture!
After this we ended up at my favorite ramen place where we all had noodles. A great way to start out the trip! Didn't even phase us when I had to run up and down the street looking for an ATM so we could pay! ;-)
4 comments:
Yay for guest bloggers! And yay for noodles! ;) Cute pics. Glad the sleeping situation got a little better.
Sarah's expression (sitting on the tree stump) is priceless! Love how you are guarding and caring for the needs of your family, Eric. We'll be praying for continued adjustment to the time zone and the new surroundings!
Jo
Jo is expressing whats on my heart too! Appreciate so much Eric each detail you are giving in the care of your family!! I was also thinking about your wrist and all the luggage you had pick up. I pray it's feeling better along with your sinus troubles. Thank you and gracias for your guest post and adding your flavor to your trip. How about one more stump picture of you (: LOVE the series and love you!!
THis is so great, you guys! I love seeing pics of your family in a totally different location. I can't get over what an amazing experience this will be for all of you! Can we make requests? I'd love to see a video or photo tour of your apartment! :)
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