Tattoo Night

My kids love to write on themselves all the time. It's fine if we are not going anywhere, but when we do, it's kind of embarrassing. So anyway, one night we decided to go crazy and Baachan started writing our names in Kanji to make it look like the real tattoos that everyone gets with the Japanese writing. This is what happens...

Universal Studios: Islands of Adventure

Still catching up from the summer time...

This place is probably one of the coolest theme parks that I have ever been to. I've been there before, but now they have the Harry Potter land, which was AMAZING! They really do capture the feel of Harry Potter. Also the ride was so much fun!!! Forget Disney, and go here!

The train station in the Harry Potter land. The place was so crowded, but we were still able to have a really good time. Crazy, huh? I think my sister and I waited almost two hours just to ride the ride. But it was worth the wait!


Welcome to Hogsmeade. See all the people? Crazy.


My parents were so nice and took my children so that my sister and I could go crazy and ride all the rides. For a moment I felt like an irresponsible teenager and thought, "This is the life! Why didn't I enjoy and appreciate this more when I was a teenager!". Just kidding... :) We got these express passes from Universal which are kind of pricey but so worth it because we didn't have to wait for any of the rides, except for the Harry Potter ride. But like I said before, so worth it!

Emi and Brenden had a blast at the Dr. Seuss land. I think she liked Universal more than Disney.


This picture cracks me up! Brenden loved being by the dinosaurs at Jurassic Park. As you can see, Emi is not in the picture because she is afraid.


Butterbeer. Mmmm.... so good. Get the frozen one, taste better. My cute sister modeling for us here.


Emi loves her Auntie!


Baachan being cute and Grandpa... well, I must say that it fits his personality. Hahaha...

Disney World

While we were in TN with my parents, they took us down to Florida for a little family vacation. I'm more familiar with Disney World than I am with Disneyland because we use to go quite frequently when we were growing up. It was fun to be there with everyone and see Emi enjoy the place of her dreams. Come on... who doesn't have fun at Disney World?

Baachan with her grandkids.


This time Emi was not into the characters or princesses, so it was nice that we didn't have to wait in line to see any of them. She was more into the rides. My little girl is growing up. *tear, tear...*

Brenden on the other hand did not like Disney World too much. This is what happens when you drag a stubborn, hard headed two year old to Disney World.

Pinocchio at the Parade. The parades are so much fun!


Grandpa and Brenden watching the parade. It was so hot!!! God bless Grandpa for doing that for Brenden. :) That's the bad thing about going to Disney World in the summer time. Definitely prefer Christmas time in Florida.


Then we headed off to Epcot to eat some good food around the world. Love that place!


Of course, being a Japanese family, we went to Japan and ate our dinner there. Oishikatta!!! It really does feel like you are in Japan. Epcot does really good job of getting the authentic feel for each country. I wish I took a picture of the pastry that we ate in France. So good!!! I want some right now as I'm doing this. I guess I got to go back next year. :)


I wore Crocs on this day and my feet were killing me. I thought Crocs were supposed to be comfortable, but they are not. I don't know how my kids live in them because they hurt. Why did I buy Crocs in the first place?


Fun trip and like I said before, going to have to go back next year!