Japan: Waterpark and 100yen Store

Day 2: Monday

Our first night sleeping in Japan with a 5 month old and jet lag was not as bad as I anticipated. We were all exhausted (which I'm sure helped quite a bit). Mark woke up a couple times, but not for long and he went right back to sleep.

Waterpark
The morning was spent getting ready for an outing to a water park. We stopped at a convenience store (a 7 eleven....who would of thought 7 elevens were in Japan!!) to choose our lunches. Chris and I picked out our first Japanese food with the help of Jon, then we were on our way.

I must describe the water park (especially since I will probably not be able to add pics until we get home). It was a park (trees, grass, etc) that had a section paved with pebbles. This area had
flowing water at various shallow depths. At some points it was just coating the ground and at others it was maybe a foot deep. It was great fun for young kids and it was free!!! Olivia, Annabella, Calvin, and Mark all had a great time splashing around in the water.

We stopped to eat our lunches from the convenience store half way though the excursion...
Chris was a bit more brave than I was in his choice of food... onigiri (salmon surrounded with rice wrapped in seaweed). I had a noodle bowl with chicken, cucumbers, egg (tomego), and sesame dressing. Both were great! -- and I'd like to add... I did pretty well with chopsticks!!

The park also had a building to color and make origami. I'm pretty proud of the origami I made.... but I'll have to wait to show you after I post pics.

100 yen Store
Jusco is couple blocks away from Sarah and Jon. It's building about 7 stories tall that has many stores and resaurants in it, including a supermarket, McDonald's, 100 yen store, and a Claire's Picture a mall but without walls between the stores--- pretty cool. After the water park we went to the 100yen store in Jusco... 100 yen store = $1 store in America.

Settlers of Catan
We are a family who loves the game Settlers of Catan. If you haven't played it... you should! We have played many a Settler's game already, and I'm sure there are many more to follow. Sarah and Jon each won a settlers game on Monday---their wedding 7th anniversary!

Fun things learned:
1) there are MANY convenience stores and vending machines for drinks in Japan
2) "soo-mee-maw-sen" means I'm sorry or pardon me --- a perfect "first phrase" to learn