Japanese Transportation

We've been in Japan for 3 months now and we feel like we are starting to get comfortable on our "Mama Chari's". Not only is it our main mode of local transportation, it is also one of Spencer & Holden's favorite ways to get around! This photo was taken when we first moved to Japan. Holden is in the front basket and Spencer is enjoying the view from his seat on the back!


This next photo was taken about 2 weeks ago on our way back from dropping Spencer off at one of his lessons. Zack is riding solo and Holden & Andrea are on the "mama chari". ( And yes, those are rice fields in both photos, notice how long the rice is in the 2nd photo :) )


When Holden is at home he likes to cruise around in his own car! He doesn't sit down hardly at all and I am afraid it is only accelerating his ability to walk. We're in for trouble once he does walk, he's already into everything!



While we feel like we are getting good at getting around on our "Mama Chari's" we realized that we have not taken a train anywhere! So Julie & I decided we would take the boys and ride the train to Takamatsu for the day. The trick was getting all four of us with our bags for the day and the stroller to the train station on our "Mama Chari's". Determined to ride the train, Julie managed to balance the stroller in her front basket and we loaded the back basket with our bags while Holden, Hos, & I loaded down my bike.


These photos don't do any justice to Julie's skill of balancing everything on her bike! She said the hardest part was starting off, so we tried to avoid as many stops as we could!


Luckily, we all made it to the train station with all our cargo! With a little help from the ticket taker at the train station we managed to get on the right train for Takamatsu!


Here we are in Takamatsu train station, Andrea, Spencer Hos, & Holden in his stroller!


Just outside the train station in Takamatsu there is an "Oni" statue. "Oni" is japanese for demon or ogre and is Holden's nickname, so we couldn't pass it by without getting a picture!