Free to move around within a box

We have been cooped up in the house for two weeks!  Well that isn't exactly true, we can take Wesley for a walk and we have a pretty big yard, but it has rained almost every day since we got back to Japan so it just feels like we haven't left the house in 14 days.  Finally ... our ROM (restriction of movement) is over!  Of course Jim has something going on and can't join us for dinner but we are going out to celebrate!  There are quite a few restaurant choices just outside the gate so hopefully we can find something we can all agree on.  Originally we were all thinking pizza but after walking around and checking our options we decided on Indian and it was DELICIOUS!  The kids are excited to have some local store/food options so close to base.

Our house is directly across the street from a C130 hangar.  The flight schedule starts pretty early some days.  As long as the windows/doors are closed it isn't that loud, but if you are outside - different story.  The kids and I have started calling the planes sharks because you can only see the tail fin of the plane over the wall.  It looks like a shark cruising by.  This happens on a daily basis.

Another great thing about being out of ROM is that we can hit up the Daiso.  This is where most of the kids' money will be spent ... although I have found a few other stores that also are in the running.  For those of you who don't know, Daiso is similar to the price of Family Dollar but with the selection of Hobby Lobby.  Most things are 100 Yen (which translates into slightly less than $1).  The only problem is the closest Daiso to us doesn't take credit cards, so you always need to have Yen.  I don't always remember this until it is time to pay.  Nothing quite as regrettable as having to leave all our stuff at the register because we don't have Yen.  It's a problem.

The only one sad that we are out of ROM is Wesley.  Now the people can leave the house again there isn't always someone around to snuggle with or on.

Yoshi on the other hand just wants to get outside so he can "Houdini" his way out of the yard!  Well I am working on filling in all the holes in the fence to keep your butt in the yard buddy.  Enjoy it while it lasts.Just wanted to show you guys I wasn't kidding when I mentioned how expensive watermelon is here.  Your eyes aren't playing tricks on you.  That is a $18.60 personal watermelon!  It is insane!  

The first weekend we were out of ROM Jim, and I decided we needed to start checking off some boxes.  

With so much to see, we just randomly picked a place and the winner was Kamakura.  One of the most visited sites there is the Tsurugaoka-hachimangu Shrine.  This shrine is important for a couple of reasons.  First it is dedicated to Hachiman which is the patron god of the Samuari, and it has existed for over 800 years.  It is also important in that with its building the capital of Japan moved from Kyoto to Kamakura and the idea of Shogunate or military rule began.  

We wandered around the grounds and observed the art displayed and walked through the small museum on the premises.  There are many cherry trees here and I can only imagine how beautiful the grounds are during Cherry Blossom season.

   

Afterwards we walked through the nearby commercial district in search of some food.  The kids weren't adventurous enough to try most of the offerings, but we did see this guy.  Although we have not yet sampled KFC in Japan, apparently it is very popular with the locals.  Especially at Christmas.  So maybe we will order our Christmas dinner from KFC this year.

Next up was nearby Hasedera Temple.  This temple is also very old and houses a 10 meter tall statue of Kannon (goddess of Mercy).  The signage in the shrine told us that in 721 a monk called Tokudo Shonin had two statues of Kannon created.  Apparently the two statues were created from the same camphor tree.  One was enshrined in Nara and the other thrown in the sea with a prayer asking it to reappear and save people elsewhere.  It remained in the ocean for 15 years and finally washed up on the shores of Kanagawa.  This temple was built for it in 736AD.  Pictures are not allowed to be taken of the statue inside the temple, but I pulled this one off the internet so you could see what we saw.  Actually this picture is better lit then any we could have taken because the temple lighting is kept very dim to aid in the preservation of the statue so thank you internet! 

The grounds of the temple are surrounded with statues of buddhas and bells, all very old and very important to the history of this place.  It was very beautiful and peaceful.  

    

    

Just down the street was the third site of the day the Kamakura Daibutsu or Great Buddha Statue.  Built in 1252 and sitting in at 11.3 meters and weighing in at 121 tons, this bronze statue of Amida Buddha is second only in height to Todaiji's Great Buddha in Nara.

Like the statue in Nara, this Buddha was originally housed inside a temple building after its casting in the 13th century. However, in the next two centuries the hall was destroyed by one act of nature after another (typhoons, tsunami and earthquakes) so the Japanese finally took the hint and left the Buddha to brave the elements on his own.  It is normally possible to enter into the Buddha and climb up into the Buddhas head.  I wish I could show you a picture of what that looks like, but sadly we weren't allowed to enter due to Covid restrictions.  Looks like we will have to save that sight for another day.

As much as we miss Okinawa, there are some perks to living on the mainland - one of them being COSTCO!!  It doesn't have everything that we are accustomed to, but it does have enough of them to make it worth the 20 minute trip.  Jim says we can only buy "essentials" when we go.  I tried to convince him Yoshi "needed" this cat tree, but he wouldn't budge.  Poor Yoshi.

Another "perk" is there are several malls nearby.  Although none as close as the one near our last house.  The closest one does have a Lush store, so that makes up for the fact the girls can't walk to it. 

The last weekend before school starts and we have coerced the kids into a hike of Mt Mitake.  According to the guidebook and some friends who have done it, the hike is about 60-90 minutes up a paved trail to a pet friendly shrine.  So Wesley gets his dream shot and comes along.  Needless to say, the kids were not thrilled and we had the usual wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Jim and I responded with the usual not caring.  The hike wasn't that hard, but just challenging enough.  I totally want to do it again when it is cooler and the leaves are changing.  

Musashi Mitake Shrine was founded more than 2,000 years ago and is dedicated to wolves.  The legend surrounding the shrine involves an evil spirit disguised as a deer.  The prince that slayed the deer then was engulfed in a thick unnatural fog.  A white wolf appeared and led the prince to safety.  The wolf was an incarnation of the spirit O-Inu-Sama and has been worshipped in many shrines in the surround area.  Inu is the Japanese word for dog and therefore the Shrine is very popular with dog lovers.  There is a small village surrounding the shrine that includes lots of restaurants, small inns and souvenir shops.  The village originally housed the priests and monks that were care takers of the shrine.  The next time we come we should plan on spending the night.  The views of Tokyo and Mt. Fuji are supposed to be incredible!   

The alternative to hiking up from the parking lot would have been taking the cable car, so we decided to take it on the way down.  It was WAY faster and Wesley and the kids were extremely happy with that decision.

    

At the base of the cable car station there was a small ski lift that provided a lovely view of the area.  Jim, Ben and Lucy decided to check it out while Lilly and I stayed behind to sit with Wesley.  After we were heading back home we read up on Mt. Mitake on a few travel websites and discovered there was several other hikes towards waterfalls, onsens (hot springs) and an observatory.  Come to find out we didn't even make it to the summit!  So now we definitely have to go back! 

Another thing that happened the weekend before school starts is Wesley's 5th birthday! I am not sure how we got him to pose for this picture.  He does not enjoy  sitting or staying or having his picture taken!

Ben has found a skate park fairly close to our house.  He has been able to talk his father into taking him to it a few times.  Here he is working on his bowl game.  He has come a long way. We are very proud of his hard work.

We have FINALLY made it to the first day of school!!! I am super thankful Yokota is able to do face-to-face instruction.  I know the kids are too!  They are sick of remote learning and sick of only having themselves to hang out with.  They are probably sick of looking at me as well.  I am not offended, some days the feeling is mutual!  Jim was able to be here for the first day of school this year.  That is kind of an anomaly.  I think over the years he has only been able to see the kids off a couple times.

After the kids left, I was walking by Ben's room and saw his to-do list for the day.  I especially like the small print.  It says 177 days til summer.  As if he hadn't just had the longest spring/summer break on record!