Shomyoji Hanami

Hanami: the practice or custom of viewing cherry blossoms when they are in full bloom.

Japan is magical for about two weeks while the cherry blossoms are in bloom.  We, and everyone else in Japan, like to make the most of it by getting outside and enjoying springtime.  It is very common to go to a park and picnic under the trees.

On this day we went to one of our favorite parks, Shomyoji for hanami.

 The kids, posing at the train station.

I didn't get any pictures, but we did a short hike that had a great view and ate at the top.  There were a lot of stairs and it was hard with Calista.  Last time I carried her, but I was already carrying Beatrix.  I think I'll have to hold off on any real hiking until Calista is bigger or Bob is with us so we can both carry a child.  We went pretty slow because of her and I did feel like we were holding friends up.  Not that they said anything.

Tucker couldn't come because he needed to be home to take care of a neighbors dog.  He was happy to miss the hike, but I wished he could have come and enjoyed the outdoor time with us.

 And the walk back to the train station.

Each time we go we stop for some taiyaki.  This time I tried both sakura (cherry blossom) and blueberry.  Everyone agreed that the blueberry was much better.