More of our tour...

I totally forgot before I was looking through our photos... that our tour to see the Snow Monkeys consisted of so much more... we got back in the bus after our hike to see the monkeys and headed to a small town named Jigokudani Yaenkoen (not such a small name) were we got to tour a cute little town of shops, eat some good food and buy some souvenirs...

When we first got there we had lunch at this restaurant that was expecting our group of 20+... it was so yum yum and we got to sit with some random people from Australia which was a blast to get to know them...and dessert was a the best strawberry I have ever had which was made in the little farm town.

After eating we went shopping and some of us at some more... Here is pierce eating some locust... some dead locust... the guy at the shop asked Pierce if he would eat it and he picked one up and put it in his mouth and then can you believe it he went back for another... who's kid is this...

Then after shopping and eating we went to tour a Buddhist Temple (sorry don't remember the name)... it was big and nice to look at but I spent the most time chasing my tired son (who was not taking a nap and should have been) and praying.

People purchase these wooden plaques at the store and write their prayers/wishes on the back of them and once a year the temple will burn them and the smoke will carry their wishes to the heavens... I am so glad that as a believer in Christ we don't have to do this... that whenever and wherever God will hear us and He is not interested in our sacrificial offerings or task... He just wants our hearts.

Jessica captured the best picture of Pierce... I just adore this one... and I adore that kid...

We did have the privilege to witness a bride and groom taking wedding pics... oh how beautiful... I was in awe of how beautiful they both were and the attire was amazing.

At the end of the temple yards there is a cute little street of more shopping... don't you just want to shop there... so nice.

Now it was Mr. Travis' turn to carry both kids...

A great day with the Custers... ok tomorrow we leave Hakuba and head to Matsumoto... (tomorrow meaning blogging about tomorrow).

Did you know there are Snow Monkeys...

Are you ready to see ALOT of pictures of snow monkeys... you better be... bc here are all 500 of them... just kidding... well sort of.

On our last day in Hakuba, the Custers, Pierce and I traveled the distance to see the snow monkeys... an hour bus ride, a 30 minute walk and we were finally there...

The snow monkeys are found in "Hells" Valley, it was called this bc when it was first explored the Onsen (natural hot springs) produced such a fog/steam they thought it looked like Hell. I forgot the Japanese word for Hell but you get the picture. The snow monkeys congregate around this area bc of the warmth the receive from the Onsen in the winter months... they really do take baths in the onsen.

Here are the boys looking out the window...

We had a little hike so I had to put Pierce on my back... Blake stayed behind to go skiing one last day.... Lets just say that I wore the wrong shoes I was slipping, sliding and falling at times the whole way up and down.

It was a beautiful hike (with 40lbs on my back).

Just a good picture of how far ahead Travis (carrying K-man) was from me... Jessica stayed behind to pick me up when I fell... :-)

We even had stairs... are we there yet???

Still beautiful...

We made it... this was the first guy that I saw... he was just amazing... and so close.

And then there was this guy just a little above me... love this picture of the snow falling around us.

They feed the monkeys little seeds that bury are buried in the snow and the monkeys will dig and eat them... so cute to watch. We were able to get really close to them bc they are totally use to people and they forbid any food and drink into the onsen area where the snow monkeys are...

They even clean each other... did you get it?

Travis had to take a closer look... here we girls are on the bridge.

Here is the onsen... take a look at all these monkeys basking in the hot water... so cute... but I do have to say that it was not too pleasant on the olfactory nerves... pee euw...

And check out those teeth...

A good picture to see how close we were to these monkeys.

Still cleaning...

I just love this picture... all lined up... and the one on the very end just got out of the onsen... can you see his wet coat.

The Custer Clan... with sleeping baby.

This guy made me a little nervous to get next too... bc he seemed pretty ticked off... the tour guide told us before we got there to not make eye contact with the monkeys bc they took it as a threat... and sometimes would attack... well there were no attacks here but alot of hissing... and how do you tell a 3 year old not to make eye contact with a monkey...

I love this picture... bc you get to see them crawling on this cable with some Japanese writing in the background... love it.

This next picture is very funny... bc not until I looked at the picture did I realize how close Travis and I were to each other.. we must have been walking along and then turned in to take the photo and hoping not to fall off the ledge we got a little close... funny that his wife Jessica noticed the same thing in this picture... he he he.

This by far is the best picture... Jessica took it and I just love it... totally looks like a national geographic picture...

After our trip I was not tired enough so I took another kid.. not really just wanted to even out the weight...

Another great day... sorry that daddy could not join us but I am glad that he got another trip down the slopes... stay tuned to see us head to Matsumoto.

Day 6 - another day in Thailand!

Day 6 (day 2 in Thailand) was a long and busy one...and man was it getting hotter in Thailand...

We decided to hire a private van with a driver for 5 hours to show us Koh Samui and all the main attractions... boy were w clueless on what he was about to show us... it was a great tour and well worth it.

When we arrived in Thailand, Chris said he wanted to see a Monk... so at our first stop we ran into the float with a monk on top of it spraying people with holy water...



Busy Koh Samui, Thailand.

One of our stops we went to the see the largest Buddha on the island.....

And look another monk...

We had to take off our shoes and climb all the stairs... and the view that awaited us was amazing...

Check out that view...

The next picture is for Julie... you love bougainvilleas check out this tree... they grew a tree and then grew a bougainvillea in it and made it look like a tree with gorgeous blooms... we might have to try this... nice huh?

We made a little stop at a 'sight seeing spot'... beautiful water and islands in the background. Pierce did not want to look at the camera bc it was so bright outside...

Our next stop was to see the famous "grandfather" and "grandmother" rock formations... we had no idea what this was going to be... I will let you use your imagination to figure out why they call the structures what they do.

This is the "grandfather".

and this is the "grandmother".... wow not sure how I feel about these...

Othen than the obscene structures that we came to see, most of it was beautiful ...

Then we got back in the van and headed to the monkey show and to get some fresh coconut juice.

The monkey messed up my hair (HE HE HE)... he was not about to bite us he was yawning...

Double fisting it... one of these is good for me and one is not... can you guess which one?

Then we headed to the see the mummified monk... we could not find any information to say when this monk died or how old he was... it was a place of worship so we took a few pics and then got out of there... the whole thing was a bit creepy.

Then off we went to ride some elephants... we had lunch first at the elephant park which was not bad and of course as soon as Pierce saw the elephants we had to take a ride... and Chris is just like a kid of course he wanted to go too... so off we went...

After 5 hours we thought it was time to head home... we were all hot and tired... Pierce fell asleep on the ride home and let me carry him all the way to the hotel (without waking up) but as soon as I laid him in bed he woke up... oh well I guess a 15 min nap is better than no nap at all.

A babysitter came to play with him and watch him rest in the room... while mommy went to the spa for a hot rock massage and Chris went to the pool.

That night we headed to the beach for some dinner (which was excellent) and then we walked on the beach... Pierce really likes to take a walk after ever dinner... so cute... and what a night to walk on the beach...

At dinner Pierce (or Chris :-))was serenaded by this group... they sang an American song and she sang beautifully.

We got to do a lucky lantern... there were people on the beach selling them and they would light them and let them go and then you make a wish... none of us shared our wishes with the other... our little secret.

Video of our Lucky Lantern... what a great tradition.

After our walk we put Pierce to bed and then Chris and I headed back out to the beach to enjoy the night life... they have these great little places where you can lie down and enjoy the night sky and music in the distance... we meet some neat people and got entertained by locals trying to sell us stuff or get us to take a picture with their pets or little local kids that wanted to play games with us and if we won they would pay us and they won we would pay them... I am smarter than that... they would have kicked my bottom for sure.

One more day left (not really but that is what we thought on day 2)... see you tomorrow.