Summer with Grandma

We were so happy to have Grandma Margie here with us for the month of July! I don't know that she was as excited for the heat and humidity, but we taught her some tips and she managed to survive the rainy season and the beginning of the summer!

We tried to travel as much as possible in between teaching, Hos' school (until July 20th), church obligations, and everything else in our crazy schedule! We spent an evening in Takamatsu at Ritsurin Garden. It was so hot that we decided to wait until the last admission to try to beat the heat, but it really wasn't much cooler. But the views were beautiful!



Our students and friends were almost as excited to meet my mom as we were. Her social calendar filled up with lunch appointments and tea parties. My mom and I went to lunch with some friends and the restaurant had a beautiful garden. It was right here in Marugame and I didn't even know it was there!



The last time my mom came to visit, she didn't get to ride the BULLET TRAIN! I'm not sure how we missed that, but this time we made sure she experienced it! Holden was just as excited as my mom to ride the "fast train"! We made it from Hiroshima to Marugame in less than 2 hours!



While in Hiroshima, we took the ferry across to the island of MIYAJIMA! We spent the day visiting temples, pagodas, and climbing to the top of Mt. Misen. Even little Holden hiked all the way to the top (it was so hot I refused to carry my 30 lb. baby!)! It was a great day and we topped it off by hitting the Itsukushima Shrine at Sunset!



Along with all the site-seeing, we tried to give Grandma a good sample of all the delicious food! Our students and friends helped out with lunch invitations and food making demonstrations. One of our favorites is Okonomiyaki, which is kind of like a japanese pancake. Full of cabbage, egg, ginger, seafood, sometimes pork or beef and yaki soba noodles. Topped off with yummy sauce, fish flakes, and seaweed! Hos did a great job showing grandma how to cook it on the grill! The month went by too quickly, but we all enjoyed the visit! I will try to get some more photos up soon!