Family Vacation Japan 2014

This was our longest trip with kids - 3 weeks in Japan!  We wanted to really experience what it would be like to stay there longer and we haven't gone on a big trip since Sweden in July 2012.  The jet-lag was bad both ways, but the experience was definitely worth it.  The kids had a good time adventuring and they bonded with each other (and seem to play together better since the trip).  We got to visit with my grandmother, who is in a skilled nursing facility, and spend time with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. Most days, we explored Yokohama or Tokyo and we also took a side trip to Shimoda, on the Izu Peninsula, a couple of hours (on an express train) south of Yokohama.  We ate lots of good food (ramen, tonkatsu, shabu-shabu, sushi), found our way around on the complicated trains, and escaped media-hyped typhoons together. For more pics, click here