A Week Chock Full of F-U-N!

Since Mom arrived we have been going at full speed almost the whole time. The first four days Mom was here it rained incessantly, then we went to Tokyo and came back to extreme heat and humidity - but at least it's easier to get around and we're not trapped in the house.When Mom arrived, it was Christmas in July which was fun, especially for Maximo. Nana was full of Thomas paraphernalia, so Maximo was super excited.

Maximo already in new pajamas and playing with new toys from Nana!

The next day we went to IKEA, 1. because Mom has never been to one 2. because we wanted to buy a "big boy bed" for Maximo. This may have not been the best plan. There were about 8 trillion people in IKEA, Maximo was HORRIBLE and his new bed got him off his sleeping schedule for about... well, tonight was the first night he went to bed without a bit of a fight.Maximo and Flavius trying out the new bed (this is the top bunk of the bed)

We then just relaxed and were kind of stuck in the house due to the weather for a few days, but ventured out in the gaps of rain for lunch, shopping and a little River Mall.

On Wednesday, we boarded the Shinkansen for Tokyo... Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea! This wasn't our original plan, but we scored a free night at one of the resort hotels and knew Mom would like being a part of Maximo's first experience at Disney! We had a great two days.

Nana, John and Maximo @ Disneyland Tokyo

On Thursday, we went to Tokyo Disneyland, which was a lot like Disney World, but, in my opinion, a bit better. It was a little more modern, there were a lot of places to sit down and there were also many shaded areas. John took Maximo on his first ride = Pirates of the Caribbean! He's really into pirates, but when he came out of the ride, he ran over to me, saying, "Mommy, pirate boat, little scary!" (John said he cried through some of it!) Pirates of the Caribbean - Maximo's first amusement park ride!

There were tons of little girls like this dressed up as princesses, I think there was a place you could go to dress up! I loved this one's hair! They must have been so hot in these dresses.

We persuaded him to get on another couple of rides with us - the train around part of the park, It's A Small World, and the carousel. We wouldn't go on any rides that had a wait, really the only thing I wish he could have done was the Dumbo ride, otherwise, we did all we needed to do. We went back to our hotel mid afternoon because Max was too wound up to sleep in the stroller in the park, then we returned for dinner at the Pirates of the Caribbean which was like stepping into Louisiana - very dark with lanterns and Spanish moss, then stayed and watched the Electric Parade. It was a fantastic day!

Water cannons shooting off from the castle - delicate Nana with her umbrella!

Maximo and Daddy on the carousel

On Friday, we headed to Disney Sea. To me, it was like what Epcot is to Disney World. It's an amusement park that has a water theme - all the different areas were different "ports" from around the world. It was scorching hot outside, but Max got to ride a few rides that didn't scar him for life and we saw a Little Mermaid show that was like little kid Cirque de Soleil. We went to a Mexican restaurant hoping for some decent Tex-Mex, which it didn't, but had a real Mexican band who played while we ate. Then we headed back on the Shinkansen for home.Maximo and Daddy on the Little Mermaid Flounder ride - pretty fast - he loved it!

Since then, we've been recovering from our trip. We've gone to Kobe Club for a swim, we went out to dinner one night for Kobe beef at Kochan's and we've shopped.

Tomorrow we head to Kyoto for the day. I'll try to post after our trip.
Here are more pictures from this month: