The Universal Truth

We just found out that in all cultures that when it is spring time the locals spread their tarps out and drink beer and grill out. The Cherry Blossoms are starting to bloom and the temps are in the 50s. Although it was kind of windy today the locals are out enjoying the spring air and each other's company.

The Pheonix

This is a Phoenix statue at the park.

It was a very nice day again but windy.

Train at train park

This is some kind of steam train at train park.

Brock does his best impersonation of the hobo on Polar Express

Rope swing

We were out on the town on Sunday afternoon and stopped at train park. The kids enjoyed the ride on the rope swing.

Grace V has no fear but looks like she is screaming at this moment.

Spring Time in Misawa

April showers bring early May flowers in Misawa Air Patch. Its a beautiful day in the high 50s. Its been raining alot and everything is starting to turn green or blooming. The Cherry blossoms are already blooming. Stay tuned for some amazing shots.

Going to Disney

We went to Tokyo Disney for Spring break. We were all very excited to get out of Misawa for some warmer weather and a nice time at the Disney resorts. We rode the bullet train down to Tokyo in about 4 hours.

Brock and Grace are good travelers and enjoyed finally getting to Tokyo station. Brock picked out some Japanese Vitamin water at the vending machine and declared himself on the road to new and improved health.

Grace V practices her future gymnastics career on the Japanese subway loops. Thankfully the train was empty so we did not disturb too many locals.

Jonathan's

From the subway station to the hotel we were told it was a 10 minute walk by the base tour people. It was cold and started to rain and we were not sure we were going the right way but we were still happy to be on our vacation. We went by Johnathon's coffee and restaurant that reminded us of our favorite Jonathon Mansberger. He never told us he had a coffee place in Tokyo. We asked several times for directions and finally made it to the hotel in about 20 minutes. We were a little wet but ready to go.

Hotel Fountain Terrace

We stayed in a hotel that was a 15 minute bus ride from the Disney resorts. It had a nice view over a local park and the Tokyo bay.

The room was not small or large but just right. Grace and Brock tried on their Yukatas and picked out their beds.

There were four twin beds in the room. The hotel was nice and clean. It was comfortable and had a "Lawsons" (7/11) and a gift shop on the first floor. There was only Japanese TV shows on and the kids missed their shows after the third day. There were many Billy Blanks TV infomercials on and lots of Japanese news stories abou the new Boston Red Sox pitcher.

Hotel Amenities

The Japanese bathrooms are very small and split up. The toilet is in a room all by itself with just enough room for you to fit in. The same goes with the shower and bath. As you can see Grace fits perfectly in the tub and the shower part is off to the right side with the shower door that closes where I stood to take the picture.

This was our closet. Just enough room to hangs some coats and other clothes.

Dinner at Planet Rainforest Cafe

We road the bus to Tokyo Disney and went to the Iksparia mall. It had many upscale Japanese shops and stores with some restaurants. We took the kids to the Planet Rainforest Cafe. It was fun to enjoy the atmosphere of jungle animals during the meal.

We sat right by a big fountain with some butterflies, lizards, and tree frogs. The meal was good but a little pricey as one can expect for this type of place and in a fancy Tokyo mall.

Grace enjoyed her mango, berry-banana shake she ordered from the bar.

Ikparia Mall

The mall near Tokyo Disney had a Planet Hollywood restaurant and bar along with some Disney gift shops that sold the same items at the resorts.

We took a walk after dinner and enjoyed looking at the shops and scenery.

Brock found a garden out on the back of the mall with a pond and fountains. We made them sit together for this picture in the gazebo.

Disney Sea

It was a very nice day at Disney Sea. We enjoyed the many nice plants and scenery that the Disney crew goes through to make up each setting.

Grace's favorite place was at the Mermaid land with Ariel and King Triton. They had little kid rides and attractions that were not so loud and scary.

She put up with Mike taking her picture all over the place but insisted on getting this one taken with Donald Duck as an Aztec Ruler.

Disney Sea

One of the Hotel's used a retro Disney bus to transport folks back and forth. It looked like something right out of the 50s with lots of Mickey Mouse accouterments.

This is the Entrance to the Tokyo Disney Sea. Disney Sea has been open 5 years and it is a big deal that was advertised all around the place.

This was one of the first themed areas entering Disney Sea with an old time ship at port near the Arabian coast.

More Manhole covers

These are Mom Cone favorites. This one is sort of hard to read but at Tokyo Disney its a Toon Hole not a Man Hole.

We found this one on our way to the Train station near our hotel. Its the Urayasu City Symbol Road cover.

Indiana Jones Adventure

This was near the entrance to the Indiana Jones Adventure to the Crystal skull ride. It was one of our favorites as it was very action packed and fast paced. The only thing was that all the words and dialogue are in Japanese. Even though the Indiana Jones character looked real there was something lost when he spoke in his Japaneses accent. It was still a very neat ride with many special effects.

Ariel's Grotto

We waited in line to meet Ms Ariel in her Grotto. She was extraordinarily happy which makes one wonder how she could be so happy after talking to all of these tourists all day. We were not sure if she spoke Japanese as she was a westerner but she did have a team of Japanese handlers that were there to help with pictures and corralling the kids. Grace was very quiet and did not say much and let Mary Beth do all of the talking. Grace said she was from Japan which sort of confused Aerial but what do you expect from a Disney Princess that lives under the sea and talks to crabs.