FAM IN JAPAN - PART VI - OSAKA

The fam in Japan posts keep coming! 

Now up...our time in Osaka!! My brother, Russ, has friends who live in Osaka so we made it a point to go visit them in their city after our time in Kyoto. I had never been to Osaka before so I was so curious to finally see it all!!

Here was our Airbnb in Kyoto. It was so cozy and really fun to all stay at together. 

REAL LIFE: waiting for the shinkansen with 6 adults, 5 kids and a LOT OF BAGS. hahaa...my siblings are all so chill though so it made traversing the public transit quite fun! Plus the kids are all amazing and the most fun travel buddies. 

On the short shinkansen ride from KYOTO to OSAKA...we had the whole car basically to ourselves and Eden was really letting her personality shine! 

Cam too! He has the sweetest smile.

I love this picture It is so real...and so US!! I love being with my family so much...this makes me really miss them!

My sissy and her three girls <3

After a short train ride...we arrived in OSAKA and were immediately greeted by the most amazing Osaka friends PLUS... sakura trees!!!!!!

We headed to a big park to meet up with my brother's friends to have enjoy HANAMI (sakura viewing!!) and I have to say...we were there on the most perfect day!

My brother Russ and his amazing friends Ai, Keiko and Mako!! He met them all over a decade ago when he came to Japan on a missions trip. They all attend a church in Osaka and are really the coolest, sweetest, friendliest ladies! 

Shout out to my amazing sister-in-law and brother-in-law for being amazing parents! 

I love these kids of sakura blooms...they are so delicate looking! 

Off to our next destination...a boat ride to see more sakura! 

This is just the best photo ever!!! Our kiddos plus Ai's two adorable boys...all hanging out in Osaka under the sakura trees!!! AHHHHHH....I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!!!!

OKAY OSAKA....YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL. 

Ai and Mako gave my sisters and I the cutest little gifts. There is nothing like Japanese hospitality. 

I told Lenny here..."funny face!!" HAHAA..oh man, she is too cute. 

HAHAHA I love this pic of Cam. I don't even know what he was doing... but I happened to snap this pic while we were on the boat! hahahaaa makes me laugh. 

Hunter is really growing up so fast!! Love that kid. 

Sweet father son hugs in Dotonbori...the most famous spot in Osaka. 

Dotonbori is really a craaaazy place!! It has a totally different vibe from Tokyo, which is why most Tokyo and Osaka people really like to differentiate themselves. It's loud, fun, wild, humorous, and lively. WOW

While we were cruising the streets at night, I stopped when I saw this group of men standing outside this restaurant. To me, they really represent the quintessential Japanese business man lifestyle. The suits, the bags, the group mentality, the drinking parties...so Japan! 

For dessert we stumbled upon a CREMIA bar to get the best icecream ever!! BUT...what was even more impressive was piece of paper the man was using to record his icecream sales. It was so oldschool and I absolutely loved it!

Our next day in OSAKA...

This was the view from out airbnb...can you believe it!!???? This is precisely why I am in love with Japan. The tiniest little street down a random alleyway in Osaka has THIS VIEW. 

first stop...cruising the streets to Kuromon market. The kids are all at a perfect age to be carried on the shoulders of any willing (and gracious) adult. I love this picture because it is a moment in time I want to freeze forever! Cam, Eden and Lenny all being this size...with my brothers...on a street in Osaka...ahhhhhhh **tears**

First purchase at the market...these crazy "white strawberries" that were actually so sweet! 

madness at the market. 

I absolutely love this photo of Hunter. It might be one of my favorite shots of him. We were at ROUNDONE (arcade center) and he really wanted to play games. He was running around and saw this game and turned around right as I snapped this photo of him in pure 6-year-old excitement!! I love him. 

It was really cool to spend some time with my bro D. Him and I share a love for fashion and style, so we got some creative shots while we were killing time waiting for the others. 

This was inside our airbnb...and staying here really made me fall in love with a house with a city view. It is pretty magical. This place had floor to ceiling windows that offered views all around...amazing! 

I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT. 

Looking back at all these photos makes me even more thankful for the time I had with my siblings and their kiddos in Japan. What a crazy blessed life we get to live! 

FAM IN JAPAN - PART V - NARA

Back to my fam in Japan photos...now up...NARA!!!

Lucky for us, we had three days in Kyoto and could take one whole afternoon to check out Nara Park, a place none of us had been before! 

We took the NARA-line from Inari station all the way (40min) which made for a perfect nap time :) 

We picked up some delicious dried kaki (persimmon) from this adorable shop, and also got some matcha mochi covered in kinnako (soybean paste) which was the softest, freshest thing ever!!! 

We then asked a nice old ojiisan, who was helping guide tourists, where the park was and he so kindly gave us a map and directed us exactly where we needed to go. We walked 15 minutes from the station to Nara Park and quickly found the famous deer that reside there!!

We bought a few packs of these thin wafer-like crackers that the deer eat...and the kids jumped on the feeding right away! They were not scared at all! Meanwhile...I was hiding behind my camera, terrified! 

Look at Eden, so brave! 

My bros both getting in on the deer feeding action. 

Hunter kept giggling and hading the deer the entire cracker instead of bits and pieces hahaha! 

It was pretty crazy being so close to them...and the cool thing is, the deer in Nara represent "peace" and some of them even bow to you if you dip your head before feeing them!! It's true!! My brother D tried it and a deer totally dipped it's head and bowed. Wow. 

There were plenty of trees in bloom around...and I really love this pic on the right of Eden!! 

We walked around the park and stumbled upon a lake surrounded by sakura trees...MAGICAL!!!! 

This has got to be one of my favorite photos I have ever taken. I love it!!!! 

We took a nice little break in this gazebo, and D showed off his super pro "manny" skills. 

**FUNNY STORY**....mid way through out relaxing park day, Camden got too excited running down to the lake that he went pee in his pants and we had a minor crisis...that is until Stac told us she had packed extra clothes in her bag!! PHEW! The funny thing was though, that the clothes were for Lenya so we had to put Cam in white girls undies and tight green leggings HAHAHAHHA....and what made it funnier is that Stac, Jen and I didn't want to make a big deal out of it since Cam wouldn't really notice anyway so we were holding in our laugher while changing him ...which made things even funnier!!! HAHHA...i'm laughing just thinking about it now!! 

I love hanging out with my siblings. 

Our crew!! So blessed to spend a day like this with my siblings. They are truly my favorite people in the world and we are so blessed to have the good relationships that we all have. Thank you Jesus! 

Of course, we had to stop by for some icecream on the way back to Kyoto. This was a matcha vanilla swirl and it was SO GOOD!!!!

After a train ride back to the city... we hit up an awesome soba restaurant for dinner! 

Tempura with soba...amazing Japanese meal. 

And that, folks, wraps up our time in Nara and our last day in Kyoto.

THERE'S STILL SO MUCH MORE TO COME....!!!! I NEED TO CATCH UP!!!

MOMENTS.

**I interrupt my FAM IN JAPAN posts to share a quick update**

Life has been very sweet recently. The weather is warming up, the flowers are in full bloom, classes are back in swing, events are lined up on the calendar, and each day really feels like such a gift!! And gifts are sweet. 

My time here in Kashiwa is wrapping up. It is a very surreal feeling. Three years was such a mountain of time... and yet, here I am nearing the summit. The best part of nearing the end of a good thing though, is that you hold the moments much more tenderly. As if God gives us the strange ability to see the tiniest things as the brightest, most beautiful, most riveting shining gold gems on the planet. For me, those moments have been these photos above.

sipping slowly on hot coffee with dear friends
crusing my neighborhood farmers market
watching the reflection on the lake at sunset
chatting with students waiting for the bus
seeing popular Tokyo street views from new heights
savoring dinners with coworkers
spending nights around homemade meals with my Kashiwa family
embracing the emotions at farewell parties

This season I am in is a powerful and enriching time in my life. Every moment of every day is soaked in purpose, memories, meaning and...sweetness. That's really the beauty of living abroad, but more so, of living a life along God's greater plan and not my own. Had I stayed in my comfort zone, had I listened to my voice rather than the Lords, had I let my fear cripple me instead of lean on faith...I would have missed out on all this beauty and all this richness here in Japan. That is the truest sign of God's grace in my life. 

He is good, all the time. 

4 more months in Japan - let's goooooo!

FAM IN JAPAN - PART IV - FUSHIMIINARI

Lucky for us...we stayed at an airbnb right near Fushimi Inari station and famous Fushimi Inari Taishi shrine! We walked to a nearby bakery to get breaky, and then headed to the shrine as soon as possible. We arrived at around 9am and the place was already packed with tourists. We were a bit overwhelmed but soon learned a **PRO TIP** that changed the game (scroll to find out)!

our airbnb was super dope and had enough room for all of us (11ppl!!) I especially loved the entrance that felt very Japanese. 

breaky on the way to the shrine! Gotta love Japanese bakeries! 

Fushimi Inari Taisha is one of the most famous spots in all of Japan. Apparently it is a place to pray for good luck in business...as each of the red tori gates has been donated by a Japanese business! Foxes are also famous around here for guarding the shrine (usually they are dogs) so you see fox memorabilia everywhere. 

haha I posed Eden here to get a pic of her with the shrine...NOT knowing she would do this face!! HAHAHHA...she is too cute. 

The boys were up next...and I figured out a way to get them to smile like this. The trick is to use an element of boys that is pretty much embedded in them from birth... "competition." So what I kept saying was, "OKAY...lets see who was the bigger smile!! Hunty or Cam??" Which produced this shot! hahahaaa.

aaaaaaand ...back to these faces. 

My sissy and her two oldest girls. 

My bro D and Hunty. Hunter loves D!! 

OK PEOPLE...HERE IS THE ***PRO TIP***!!!! --> Walking up the tori gates is crazy. You can't get a good photo even if you were Beyonce so the trick is...walk 10 minutes up in the crowd and then TURN AROUND TO EXIT. Since everyone is pre-occupied about walking up to the top of the mountain..the exit is magically EMPTY!!!! And you have a 99% higher chance of getting a photo without any people in it...it timed correctly. 

Take for example...

Russ + Jen with not a single other person in the shot and I did not edit anyone out!! This is pretty much miraculous considering there were thousands of people at this place. LESSON LEARNED. 

Classic Russ doing yoga everywhere.

After taking a bunch of photos...we grubbed on some street food and then headed out for the rest of the day. 

Fushimi Inari was awesome and a good stop off for us!! Now off to show you pics of our next spot which was truly epic..N A R A !!!!! 

FAM IN JAPAN - PART III - KYOTO

**I am a bit behind on posting!! School started back in action this week and it's been busy with the new schedule. But, I finally have time to sit down and write about our first full day in Kyoto!!** 

On our first full day in Kyoto, we woke up early to hit up ARASHIYAMA...and I was so stoked to go since I had never been before! 

Hunter was really intrigued by this man selling balancing dragonflies and I almost bought him one until I saw it was 20 dollars!! 

For those who don't remember...Tayah Ruth was born last August at the exact moment that I was on a plane back to Japan! That is no joke! She made a very memorable entrance into the world and I was so excited to spend as much time with her as possible in Japan. She is the chubbiest, happiest, chillest baby ever!!

Arashiyama was so epic!! Despite the crowds, we were able to get some good pics...and even one of all the kids "standing" (stac is holding Tayah up LOL).

After cruising the bamboo forest, we went on a little walk over to see some monkeys! The kids were super stoked about that. 

Eden!!! This girl has the biggest personality and willingly poses for all my pics...I love her sassiness and confidence at such a young age haha! 

When we turned the corner to see KATSURA river I was in absolute awe. STUNNING. 

Hunter is 6 now...and he's growing up so fast! I love his personality and curiosity about everything. Every time we would get on the train he would say "how long is this one? how many minutes are we on here?" He is currently obsessed with NBA players and teams which proves he is a true Komae! haha. 

I love these boys.

So...we paid a few bucks and walked 30 minutes up to see the monkeys on the mountain! The walk up was a little more strenuous than we imagined (or wanted haha) but the kids did a great job and didn't complain at all! At the top we got an awesome view of a bunch of monkeys roaming freely around...pretty cool. 

haha I love this pic of Lenny! 

My sissy and I joke that there is not a single pic of her in Japan without the Ergo on HAHA. true. Tayah loves being carried by her mommy! 

For lunch we had OYAKODON (chicken+egg over rice) by the river and that was EPIC. Such a peaceful and beautiful lunch. I ordered the ZENZAI, which is red bean soup with mochi, and it was PERFECTOOOOOO. WOW. I think a true sign that I am full-blooded Japanese is that I love red bean!

Ok...up next was something I was personally so excited to finally check out ...the hippest coffee shop in all the land, ARABICA. 

This coffee shop is the epitome of Japanese coffee culture - minimalism + hip baristas + hyped coffee drinks + simple logo + instagramable spot ...WOW 

The line was a good 35minutes...and lucky for me, my awesome bro Ant waited in line with me! 

#worthit

Arashiyama was epic...but after lunch it was time for our next stop...KINKAKUJI (GOLDEN TEMPLE) 

I love this pic on the left because it perfectly depicts how we traveled all 10 days in Japan..2 strollers, 5 kids 6 adults...rollin deep! 

We happened to be there right at the perfect time of day where the reflection of KINKAKUJI (the golden temple) was so insanely clear in the water...JAPAN IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

I can't wait to show Tayah this picture when shes a teenager...and convince her to come back to Japan with me to recreate this hehe. 

It was really fun to travel around with my bros. They are all so chill and cool...love spending time with them! 

We were lucky to stumble upon more sakura on our walk through a local neighborhood. 

We ended the night at a local park we found! And I gotta say...this pic is a framer!!

THANK YOU KYOTO...I LOVE YOU FOREVERR!!!!!

Still one more day of pics from this amazing city!