Onsen Trip

We celebrated my aunt's retirement at a hot spring (Onsen) resort during three days of the national holiday (Golden Week) in Japan. My mother; my aunt and her husband; my sister, her husband and their children joined the trip. Luke and Ian had a great time with their cousins. Paul had to go to Indonesia for two academic conferences, so he was unable to join us. We all missed Paul -- we thought about him often, wishing he were here with us. But we are also excited to hear about all his fun stories when he comes back!

First, we stopped by a cycling park on the way to the hot spring resort. All riders have to pedal, so we had a great workout! For four hours we all enjoyed this park, then we were all ready to go to the hot spring.

We has only one night at the hot spring resort, but it was a wonderful time for Luke and Ian to get to know their cousins again. Last time they spent time together was two years ago, and at that time, Luke was just 2 years old. But this time, Luke is 4, and my sisters oldest son, Yuma, is 6. They get along and play together very well.

Here is a picture of our gang!

Kie (4) / Yuma (6) / Luke (4) / Ian (2)

Here are some more pictures from the hot springs trip:

My mother and my aunt -- they look alike and are best friend!

After dinner, we had a fun show that the boys put on! Do you know "sumo wrestling"? We had two tiny sumo wrestler that night -- Luke and his cousin Yuma.

Yuma-yama

Luke-yama

We all enjoyed this entertainment -- and had a lot of laughs!

Luke and Ian didn't want leave the hotel, because they had such a great time with their cousins.

Luke often asked me tonight "What do you think Yuma and Kie-chan are doing right now?" And Ian said "I miss Yuma and Kie-chan". When I talked to my Sister, she told me Yuma and Kie-chan asked her same question!--hahaha    I'm glad they had such fun!!

We are planning to visit my sister's house for a couple of weeks in June, so they will have the chance to spend time together again before we leave Japan.