more monkeys

We also saw a active volcano called Mt. Asama blowing smoke . Hunter got really excited to see that.

Snow Monkeys

On Sunday , we took a day trip to see the snow monkeys.

The brochure give this about the mountain and the monkeys. Jigokudani is located in a mountainous area in approximately the center of Japan. Jigokudani Monkey park is located in the valley of Yokoyu-River that flowing from Shigakogen area of the northern part of Nagano=Prefecture. At 850 meters in elevation, it is a harsh environment where snow covers the ground for one-third of the year.

People Called Jigokudani (Hell's Valley) because they can see the spectacle that looks like the hell that steep cliff, spring out boiling water from the surface of the earth. but this place is a paradise for monkeys. Two groups of monkeys are living in naturally at present. (http://www.jigokudani-yaenkoen.co.jp/) They also have a live monkey camera, where you can go online and watch them bathing in the hot springs.

I just found out that I made the Dean's list at school. And just finished up a computer class and getting ready to start a Sociology class on the third.

Tokyo

Here are some pictures of Tokyo and the Tokyo Tower.

Disney pictures and Avery

Avery tried out for the swimming team today and made it. He starts practice with them in Feb. I am so proud of him. They said he has a beautiful front crawl and back stroke and just needs to work on his endurance and breast stroke.

Disney

I have the Electrical Parade up but haven't had a chance to put the pictures from Disney up. I will get those up hopefully tomorrow. It was a great trip. The kids had a blast. With it being a holiday for us but not for the Japanese, the lines were barely there. The most we had to wait for a ride was 15 minutes. That was the fastest I have ever been through lines at a Disney place. Most of the pictures have Hunter in them. My other invisible child doesn't like to have his picture taken and the ones I have of him that I was able to take, he just looks so miserable, but he was having fun. I don't know how I am going to get him out of the "don't like my picture taken " stage. The electrical parade was so neat but very cold and the wind picked up once the sun went down. My favorite part of the electrical parade was the Pete's Dragon float. Avery picked out an Aileen hat to match his Stitch hat and Hunter picked out a sharp shooter pistol. The Japanese just love Disney. When the characters came out for the parades, they got almost just as excited as the little kids got. The Honey I shrunk the Audience ride was really neat. You wear these special glasses so you can see it in 3-D. The professor multiples his son's rat and they come into the audience and you feel something moving around your legs. When the dog is blown up, he sticks his head out of the curtain and sneezes and you feel water droplets go on your face. When the audience is little the other son's snake comes out and hisses at you. It was a neat little show and they had earphones so you can hear it in English. Of course the kids asked what it was off of, they also asked what Roger Rabbit was. There was a Roger Rabbit ride in toontown. So I guess we will have to get the Roger Rabbit , Honey I shrunk the kids and Pete's dragon movie for the kids so they can see them.

more parade

Disney's Electrical Parade

Busy last two weeks.

We have had a busy last two weeks. The boys went back to school on Jan 5th and I worked every day that week. This week I worked on Friday. The boys are back in swimming lessons and I am trying to get Avery to try out for the swim team during the end of January. We are going to enjoy the three day weekend, by going to Disneyland on Monday. The boys are excited and can't wait for the trip. I will post the pictures from the trip next week sometime. Hope everyone is enjoying the new year.