It's been six months since our trip to Fukuoka. Life being what it is, I am barely getting photos up from that trip. I made a goal to make it to the temple within the year. Sean and I took turns going through a session. We met missionaries afterward that said if we would have let them know, they would have offered to watch our children so we could have gone together. If you are LDS and want to make the effort, contact the senior missionaries and they may be able to help so you and your spouse can go through together. If that isn't an option for you, I took the kids to the zoo that is literally right across the street. There is a botanical garden attached and you could spend hours there. I woke up really early to go to a session. I walked quite a ways and started with 100 percent battery on my phone to use Google Maps. I love mornings in foreign places. It's one of my favorite things to do while traveling, getting up before the rest of the world and seeing that space empty. That walk will be one of my favorite memories of Japan.
As I arrived at the entrance of the temple, my phone died, I was getting a little nervous just a few minutes before that I wouldn't find it and end up totally lost, I consider it a miracle it made it right to the entrance. I was a little anxious as I had no way of contacting Sean if for some reason he decided not to come when my session was done. I went in hoping for everything to turn out ok. Once I finished my session I came out of the temple and saw my family walking up the hill, it was a really beautiful sight. While Sean was doing his session I took Ely and Koa to the zoo. The next day we went to church. Even though we have lived in Japan for 3 years we had never been to a Japanese speaking branch. It was a neat experience. One of my favorite parts of the trip was being invited to dinner at the senior missionaries home. It's refreshing meeting people who are the type of people you want to be when you "grow up" and the Bailey's were these type of people.
Our flight was scheduled for this day, we had several hours before we had to be on it so we did some sightseeing. One thing I love about traveling is that things that seem hard or impossible can be achieved. You can do hard things, like take your children on a train out to the middle of nowhere to see a giant reclining Buddha. I still can't believe we made this work. To be honest, if we hadn't of met the Bailey's we might not have received helpful tidbits to be successful with this. Go to the main train station in Fukuoka, take the Hakata to Kidonanzoimmae. Find the information desk inside the train station, they are helpful and can send you to the right location to purchase your tickets.
Following this we went to the mall, Canal City to go to Ramen Stadium. Essentially it is a whole bunch of different types of ramen from Japan all in one spot. I can't remember what we ordered, we went where the wait was the shortest. After our cold morning, it was nice to have some soup!
This was totally unplanned, but amazing to come across. TeamLab had come to Okinawa a few months earlier and both of my children loved it. It just so happens that TeamLab, a digital art museum, had set up in this mall. We went following lunch and spent quite of bit of time there.
The building with all the scribbles on it is Ely's and the car in the picture beneath it says "Koa". You can color a building or a vehicle and then scan it into a live moving screen. It really is incredible!
Koa loved these balls! They change colors and were in a completely padded space.
Following TeamLab we went to have dessert and to watch the water show. After this, we headed to the airport, where we spent a lot of our time in a bookstore because we still jumped the gun on arriving too early. Essentially, I have learned on excursions like this, that they are not vacations, but rather adventures or trips. I did end up more exhausted than I would have just stayed home, but life is short and the world is big and I want to see as much of it as I can. I understand why people do resorts with kids clubs and go to Disneyland and theme parks year after year because little children just don't quite appreciate culture. A part of me really does believe it rubs off on their sense of adventure and character. When traveling with little children you have to readjust your expectations. It isn't terrible traveling with little ones, it is not the same however as doing it childless and in the earlier years of your youth. If you love to travel, don't stop just because you have little ones. Teach them early how to behave on airplanes, subways, trains, in large crowds and in new places. There are some aspects of motherhood that I can honestly say I stink at, exposing them to culture is one thing I am proud of and do well. There were moments on this trip where I even said "Never again!!" and then these amazing moments came along that made me fall in love with my children in completely new ways.
