X-mas in Japan: Pt 1 - Getting to Kawagoe

in the airport, the kids were super cute and held hands the whole time.  

Nikko all settled in for the flight.

what a snuggle monster

So many options...

From Haneda, getting to Kawagoe is quite easy... just hop on the "friendly limousine"

Soon the kids were back at Obaachan and Ojiichan's house, jumping around... 

and hiding in the futon closet.

went on a quick jog to get rid of the jet lag

Kai wondering what this is...

Bee aware... 

praying for safe travels

Walking down Claire Mall

Typical Japanese Supermarket campaign...

How you lock up a 10K$ bike in Japan... with a 100 yen lock that I'm sure I could break with a fingernail clipper

Went to the used clothing store to get some jackets for the boys.  Burr....

And ate some amazing food at Sushi-Ro.  One our first stops in Kawagoe... 

They have weird sushi like this bacon cheese sushi there... 

The boys LOVE it...

To hit up all the Kawagoe attractions on our one day there, we went to Yu Yu Land... the onsen.  

Forget why Nikko is so sad here... 

After the onsen, there is a "relaxation room" filled with toys for the kids... 

TVs, tables, magazines, books...

vending machines for french fries, sausages, etc... if you are hungry

beer, which is always nice after a soak.

And Ice Cream vending machine for the kids...

Nikko eating the dinner of champions.  Natto roll and a popcicle

Night night... 

X-mas in Japan: Part 2 - Minakami

Minakami in Gumna Prefecture.  

After Kawagoe, we hopped on a bus to Minakami with my folks to visit some Onsens.  These areas are pretty close to lots of hiking, skiing, and onsens... unfortunately on this trip we didn't go skiing.  Just didn't make sense to rent gear, leave my folks for a day, etc... to get some turns in.  One of these days we'll get on the slopes in Japan.  

Also, I'd love to do more hiking in Japan.  Here's some resources for ya. 

https://blog.gaijinpot.com/japan-wanderlust-5-freaking-incredible-mountains-climb/

https://japanhike.wordpress.com/

Kai resuming playing "Empty Out" with Obaachan... a game he learned this summer

Loaded and ready to go!

Look, Nikko's new jacket matches his bag!

The bus stopped at a rest area... these rest areas are pretty awesome.  Food courts, food carts, and clean toilets.

Nikko was pretty stoked on his sausage.  Not sure what Kai is doing.  

check out these cute campers

 

Sprinklers on the road

The boys in their get up.

Kai enjoying the "viking" (all you can eat) dinners...

and deserts...

and ice cream!

Downstairs at the game room...

While we were getting dinner, room service laid down the futons in our room!

 

So many rules

A poster for the longest long trail in Japan.  The "Snow Country Trail"... at 280 kms long.  Goes through 7 towns.  

I weigh 5x as much as Nikko.

scene at Brekky

The hiking log at the train station.

we went one station over to "hike" down to the other platform.  This station is known for having the biggest height difference between tracks in Japan.  

Even in the countryside, there are crazy buildings in Japan... 

Group yukata shot

And a goofy one

Then we went downstairs to make some mochi...