Days 5 and 6

We are just getting ready to go to the shrine. Mama is preparing "red bean rice", a food of celebration for the big day today. She will give a bento box full to all the neighbors. The kids are eating and getting ready to get dressed in their fancy clothes.

Yesterday was Tokyo Disneyland. It was pretty crazy! Luckily, Lucas was able to ride any ride he wanted so that was good (height requirements). We went on Big Thunder Mountain, Star Tours (a Star Wars ride, he was in heaven!), some car race thing where both kids drove the cars, Cinderella castle (Elise wore her costume all day), and It's a Small World. The kids had a great time and we were amazed at how clean it is and how polite evryone was.

The day before, we did go to Obaachan's grave and cleaned it up, brought flowers and said prayers for her. Lucas did meet his great-Grandma when he was 6 months old and she just loved him. The cemetery was way out in the countryside, surrounded by cabbage and radish filds, on the side of a hill. There was a small shrine there where Lucas rang the bell 3 times for Obaachan.

After that, we found the mandarin groves. This was such a fun experience. The kids ate a lot of oranges and we filled our bags. The smaller the orange, the sweeter they are. Wait til you see the pictures! I am planning on making a slideshow after we get home so it will be easy for everyone to view them.

Everything has gone so well so far. The kids are eating well and sleeping well, which were my two biggest worries. But they are being troopers and enjoying every minute of the trip.

Got to go! Thanks for following along and for the comments. We miss you all!

Oh, and to Mum...Ellie was pouting yesterday at Disneyland and I asked her what was wrong. She said "I want to go to randma's house!". So I guess it is safe to say that Grandma's house outranks Disneyland!