Girls' Day Out

Beautiful!

We miss you already!

Matt and Petenera decide to go to Kyoto for a couple of days and Steve has to go to the US for a meeting, so our nieces and I get to run around Tokyo together.  After waving goodbye to Steve we stop by Sensoji Temple. 











I think the highlight is meeting a real sumo wrestler.  The girls enjoy having their photo taken with him.  

 










 





We also have our fortunes told.  Alaina and Laurel have good ones, but Sophie has a bad fortune.  Don't worry - she ties it off so the bad luck doesn't stick to her.

bad fortune, good fortune, good fortune

After stopping by a shop to create their own custom journals, we have sushi for dinner.  The girls are feeling more adventurous about food now, and all of them try sea urchin...but none of them like it.

Alaina is already anticipating the taste.

She's smiling because she hasn't tried it yet.

This is right before she starts to gag.  Yuck!

"Scary" masks - appropriate for our TV show.

That night we try out the Japanese face masks and watch a Japanese TV program on Netflix - My Dangerous Wife.  It's only in Japanese, with no subtitles, but we create our own dialog for the characters. We watch a few episodes, then try to find a synopsis online in English so we can understand what really happens, but we don't have any luck.  I guess we won't ever know what happens to Maria!

Tie-Dye's favorite part of the day is waking up the girls in the morning.  They're not scary when they're sleeping!

I just want to lick your ear!  Slurp, slurp!

Rise and shine!

I can help you eat your breakfast, Laurel.

The girls start adopting
the "Japanese" pose.

We start off the day with a shopping trip at the the 8-story flagship Uniqlo store in Ginza.  From there we eat lunch, and Alaina takes one for the team when a waiter spills water on her.  She's wearing her coat, so it doesn't bother her at all, but two managers come over to apologize and offer us free drinks (non-alcoholic!).

Maybe if it had been a hot drink we would have gotten
the food for free, too.

After lunch we pick up the journals the girls designed the day before.  Everyone's happy with their choices, and they're making plans for their use.

All the journals are completely different.

What to write in it??

That evening Matt & Petenera make it back safely from Kyoto.  The family spends the night packing, and even though they purchase an extra duffel bag while they're here, it's a tight fit to get everything ready for the flight home.  After a few hours (and some donations to the Tokyo household) it's all ready to go. 

Will we ever make it all fit?!?

Once they're gone the apartment feels empty and quiet - it's just Tie-Dye and me.  He's so sad that his girls have left.  I miss everyone, too! 

So sad!