Hi. Steve here making another entry on our family blog - actually a very long blog entry – read at your own risk – we are not responsible for you falling asleep and drooling on your keyboard.
Work is busy and demanding these days and yet I was able to work it out so that I could take Brooklyn with me on recent business trip. We departed Seattle on Monday, July 6
th, arrived in Tokyo Tuesday, I had meetings part of Wednesday and all day Thursday and then Brooklyn and I were on our own Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday returning back to Seattle Monday. Here are a few pictures and stories from our wonderful great adventure together.
First, I had used miles to get Brooklyn an Economy Class ticket and yet was excited that we were able to get her bumped up to Business Class with me. We were then surprised when they came back and invited us up to First Class right after takeoff. As they escorted us up to First Class I told Brooklyn that people probably thought she is some celebrity and I am her agent. :-}
Here’s Brooklyn with her hard-earned dollars converted into yen.
Here’s Brooklyn on the
Narita express train from the airport into downtown Tokyo. She had a lot of fun firsts – first international flight, first train ride, first taxi ride, first subway ride, first real experience with jet lag (when she came home)…
Here’s Brooklyn enjoying our hotel room – the Conrad Tokyo – beautiful view and high tech.
There are blinds for the outside windows and the window between the bedroom and the bathroom that are controlled electronically.
Here’s Brooklyn in the high end shopping district,
Ginza. After finding out that “Sale” for most things still meant it was still way too expensive, she was excited to find the H&M store and found her a nice shirt. Way to go
shoppin’ girl!
Brooklyn stayed in the hotel, read and watched movies while I was at work Wednesday and Thursday. Then when work was completed we got up at 4:45 a.m. Friday morning and visited my favorite place in Tokyo – the Fish Market. These are frozen tuna in the background and this is the auction area. It is fun to watch the auction and then we walked through the aisles and aisles of outdoor shops where anything that swims, crawls or lives in the ocean is sold.
We then took a 2 hour train ride out to
Nikko a beautiful area with some beautiful Japanese Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. There is a saying in Japan ‘
Nikko wo minakereba "
kekko" to
iu na’ which means ‘Don't say
kekko (magnificent) until you've seen
Nikko.’ And it was magnificent – beautiful shrines and temples set in lush green mountains. Brooklyn was a fun traveling companion and you would never know from the pictures that it was very hot and humid as we explored the temples and shrines.
Through the help of some great friends, I had arranged for us to stay in a Japanese style inn where we slept in futons on tatami mats, bathed in a large Japanese style bath and enjoyed authentic and delicious dinners and breakfasts provided by our hosts. Brooklyn tried and loved almost everything. She told her mom that the food was better than the Conrad. Her mom
didn’t believe her, but she was serious. It was good. Here we are with our own charcoal hibachi cooking up chicken, steak and vegetables.
Here we are all set to snooze after a long day of hiking and a refreshing bath in the Japanese style bath. Just 30 minutes prior to this picture our hosts had taken us outside and into the woods to see the fireflies – it was
soooo cool. They only come out for about 2 weeks each year and we were fortunate to see them.
Here’s Brooklyn in front of one of many souvenir shops that also serves up
soba or
udon noodles – notice the steam coming out of the large bowl – makes you hungry for a bowl of noodles….
Here is Brooklyn in front a famous bridge in Nikko. Legend has that this bridge is over 1000 years old.
Here we are enjoying
Yakisoba (fried noodles) – yum!
On Saturday we took a bus ride up into the mountains to a famous lake and water fall. There were dragon flies all over. We stopped to rest on a bench outside a temple and Brooklyn soon had two dragon flies that would land on her hand, fly off and then come back. She has always had a special gift with animals, but this was way fun to watch. She introduced them to me and they would then land on me, fly off then come back. Thank you Dr. Doolittle Brooklyn.
Here’s Brooklyn out in front of a Japanese restaurant serving a type of trout. Our host served it to us the night before and it was really good. Unfortunately we were already full with
yakisoba and did not have room for a fish on a stick.
Before entering a temple, you wash your hands in a sacred water place like this. It symbolizes purifying yourself before entering the shrines and temples. I showed Brooklyn how to do it properly by first pouring the water on your left hand and then your right. It was fun sharing Japan with Brooklyn.
Here we are in front of the
Kegon Falls – they were beautiful – pictures just can’t capture it all.
Here’s a picture of Brooklyn with our Japanese Inn hosts, Mr. and Mrs.
Ogihara-
san –they were great. Our last night there Mr.
Ogihara-
san sat down with us a taught us Origami (folding paper) – he showed us how to make cranes and I showed him how to make frogs. It was fun.
Then it was back to Tokyo for one night where we stayed at another Japanese style inn.
Here you can see that Brooklyn is almost as tall as the 40 plus story skyscrapers!
On Sunday Brooklyn and I tried to go to church, but after racing through the subways we found that the Japanese service that we thought started at 1:00 p.m. had been moved to 9:00 a.m. and the English service that was supposed to start at 1:30 p.m. had been moved to an early time that day. We had brought a change of clothes with us in our backpacks and so we changed and took this picture by the Tokyo temple. It was here in October of 1980 that I as a new missionary in Japan was able to shake President Kimball’s hand – he had come to dedicate the temple and all the missionaries in Japan had gathered to Tokyo. That was also when I was able to meet my older brother, Scott, who was also serving as a missionary in Japan at that time. This just adds another wonderful memory to this spot.
Here we are enjoying a pork cutlet at
Tonki. I have been coming to this place for over 20 years – this deep fried breaded pork cutlet is
soooo good.
Oishii yo!
Here we are enjoying
Ramune – a Japanese soft drink that is in a cool bottle that is sealed by a marble that is inside the top of the bottle.
Here's Brooklyn in front a Pagoda that is located in Asakusa, close to the inn we stayed our last night.
This trip together was filled with one amazing experience after another and I feel so blessed that it all worked out. For the trip home I had warned Brooklyn that it was not likely that she would get bumped to business class again and yet they had over-sold economy class and so they bumped her and we got to sit together. What a great way to finish the trip and what a fun and memorable Daddy-Daughter date. I will treasure this time with Brooklyn. I was so proud of her - she was open to lots of news things. She learned some Japanese, learned how to use chopsticks and learned that there are wonderful people and cultures in other parts of the world. And I was in heaven as I was reminded that we have been blessed with a wonderful and precious daughter.
I hope you have survived the blog entry. Yes, I know that there were 24 pictures - I didn't have time to post all 770 of them.... :-}
Two floaters and one scary swimming shark!
A swim-in movie is way better then a drive-in movie!
I served homemade cupcakes and milk to our swim-in guests! They didn't even get out of the pool to eat them!
It has been really warm here and our house is super hot so being in the pool to watch a movie felt so good. We have decided that our next swim-in movie will be "Finding Nemo"! That movie shouldn't be quite as scary as Jaws! Wanna come and join us? 
One day we found a place on the lake where we hiked up to some rocks that were around the lake. We had fun taking turns jumping off the big rocks into the lake. Even our dog Kia jumped off the rocks into the water. Just not at the same height as the kids and Steve did!
Brooklyn taking a dip to cool off!
Mackenzie taking the plunge into the lake!
Steve taking a plunge too!
There is a really fun waterpark in town so one day we went there to play.
Here is Brooklyn tubing down one of the slides.
One of the pools had this huge waterfall. Here is my family standing behind the waterfall.
At the entrance to the lazy river they have a swim up bar. Here is a picture of Brooklyn and Mackenzie taking a break eating ice cream bars.
Family picture at the swim up bar!
They have this cool water faucet that hangs in mid air by itself. Isn't that cool?
After the waterpark we ripped back to camp to prepare dinner. It was still smokin' hot outside - thank goodness for our popup shade!
One morning Steve and Mackenzie went and played 9 holes at a nearby golf course.
Mackenzie was on the girls golf team at the High School this year. Steve said that she has really improved. Check out Mackenzie's golf swing!
Mackenzie got to drive the golf cart and was in heaven!
Each morning we had a nice big breakfast and then made a lunch to take with us wherever we went exploring. Brooklyn helped me make lunch this day.
One day we went into town and walked around all the fun shops in downtown Coeur d'Alene right by the lake.
Steve brought his bow and arrows with us camping and the girls have been wanting him to teach them how to shoot. One afternoon after we got off the lake we found a nice little spot for some archery. Here is Brooklyn getting ready to shoot her arrow.
Mackenzie aiming at the target....which was a bunch of beer cans they found and set up. And Kenz and Brooklyn actually put an arrow right through one of the cans!
The brave and mighty archery instructor...Ralphy! ...who never hit one of the beer cans...
First, I had used miles to get Brooklyn an Economy Class ticket and yet was excited that we were able to get her bumped up to Business Class with me. We were then surprised when they came back and invited us up to First Class right after takeoff. As they escorted us up to First Class I told Brooklyn that people probably thought she is some celebrity and I am her agent. :-}
Here’s Brooklyn with her hard-earned dollars converted into yen.
Here’s Brooklyn on the Narita express train from the airport into downtown Tokyo. She had a lot of fun firsts – first international flight, first train ride, first taxi ride, first subway ride, first real experience with jet lag (when she came home)…
Here’s Brooklyn enjoying our hotel room – the Conrad Tokyo – beautiful view and high tech. 
There are blinds for the outside windows and the window between the bedroom and the bathroom that are controlled electronically.
Here’s Brooklyn in the high end shopping district, Ginza. After finding out that “Sale” for most things still meant it was still way too expensive, she was excited to find the H&M store and found her a nice shirt. Way to go shoppin’ girl!
Brooklyn stayed in the hotel, read and watched movies while I was at work Wednesday and Thursday. Then when work was completed we got up at 4:45 a.m. Friday morning and visited my favorite place in Tokyo – the Fish Market. These are frozen tuna in the background and this is the auction area. It is fun to watch the auction and then we walked through the aisles and aisles of outdoor shops where anything that swims, crawls or lives in the ocean is sold.
We then took a 2 hour train ride out to Nikko a beautiful area with some beautiful Japanese Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. There is a saying in Japan ‘Nikko wo minakereba "kekko" to iu na’ which means ‘Don't say kekko (magnificent) until you've seen Nikko.’ And it was magnificent – beautiful shrines and temples set in lush green mountains. Brooklyn was a fun traveling companion and you would never know from the pictures that it was very hot and humid as we explored the temples and shrines.
Through the help of some great friends, I had arranged for us to stay in a Japanese style inn where we slept in futons on tatami mats, bathed in a large Japanese style bath and enjoyed authentic and delicious dinners and breakfasts provided by our hosts. Brooklyn tried and loved almost everything. She told her mom that the food was better than the Conrad. Her mom didn’t believe her, but she was serious. It was good. Here we are with our own charcoal hibachi cooking up chicken, steak and vegetables. 
Here we are all set to snooze after a long day of hiking and a refreshing bath in the Japanese style bath. Just 30 minutes prior to this picture our hosts had taken us outside and into the woods to see the fireflies – it was soooo cool. They only come out for about 2 weeks each year and we were fortunate to see them.
Here’s Brooklyn in front of one of many souvenir shops that also serves up soba or udon noodles – notice the steam coming out of the large bowl – makes you hungry for a bowl of noodles….
Here is Brooklyn in front a famous bridge in Nikko. Legend has that this bridge is over 1000 years old. 
Here we are enjoying Yakisoba (fried noodles) – yum!
On Saturday we took a bus ride up into the mountains to a famous lake and water fall. There were dragon flies all over. We stopped to rest on a bench outside a temple and Brooklyn soon had two dragon flies that would land on her hand, fly off and then come back. She has always had a special gift with animals, but this was way fun to watch. She introduced them to me and they would then land on me, fly off then come back. Thank you Dr. Doolittle Brooklyn.
Here’s Brooklyn out in front of a Japanese restaurant serving a type of trout. Our host served it to us the night before and it was really good. Unfortunately we were already full with yakisoba and did not have room for a fish on a stick.
Before entering a temple, you wash your hands in a sacred water place like this. It symbolizes purifying yourself before entering the shrines and temples. I showed Brooklyn how to do it properly by first pouring the water on your left hand and then your right. It was fun sharing Japan with Brooklyn.
Here we are in front of the Kegon Falls – they were beautiful – pictures just can’t capture it all.
Here’s a picture of Brooklyn with our Japanese Inn hosts, Mr. and Mrs. Ogihara-san –they were great. Our last night there Mr. Ogihara-san sat down with us a taught us Origami (folding paper) – he showed us how to make cranes and I showed him how to make frogs. It was fun.
Then it was back to Tokyo for one night where we stayed at another Japanese style inn.
Here you can see that Brooklyn is almost as tall as the 40 plus story skyscrapers!
On Sunday Brooklyn and I tried to go to church, but after racing through the subways we found that the Japanese service that we thought started at 1:00 p.m. had been moved to 9:00 a.m. and the English service that was supposed to start at 1:30 p.m. had been moved to an early time that day. We had brought a change of clothes with us in our backpacks and so we changed and took this picture by the Tokyo temple. It was here in October of 1980 that I as a new missionary in Japan was able to shake President Kimball’s hand – he had come to dedicate the temple and all the missionaries in Japan had gathered to Tokyo. That was also when I was able to meet my older brother, Scott, who was also serving as a missionary in Japan at that time. This just adds another wonderful memory to this spot.
Here we are enjoying a pork cutlet at Tonki. I have been coming to this place for over 20 years – this deep fried breaded pork cutlet is soooo good. Oishii yo!
Here we are enjoying Ramune – a Japanese soft drink that is in a cool bottle that is sealed by a marble that is inside the top of the bottle.
Here's Brooklyn in front a Pagoda that is located in Asakusa, close to the inn we stayed our last night. 
On our way down to Tacoma we stopped off at the Cheesecake Factory for an early dinner.
Mackenzie wanted cheesecake but we didn't have time to eat it there so we took a slice to go and we shared it on our way down to the concert. Yum...chocolate raspberry truffle!
Here we are just before the concert started.
Mackenzie and I were up on our feet and jammin to the music most of the night. See the lady behind Mackenzie in the pink sweater. She asked Kenz to sit down so they could see. HELLO...we are at a concert you know and 3/4 of the crowd was up on their feet rockin to the the tunes! So we ignored her and enjoyed the concert up on our dancing feet!
At intermission Mackenzie bought this cute American Idol t-shirt. She put it on for the second half of the concert.
Allison Iraheta was so good and really had the audience rockin!
Danny Gokey sang the Michael Jackson song, "Pretty Young Thing" (PYT) as a tribute to the King of Pop! He also sang the Rascal Flats song, "My Wish" which I loved.
Adam Lambert was by far the best of all the performers and was the audiences favorite. He sang 4 songs and a couple of groups songs but our favorite was "Mad World".
Kris Allen was amazing. He played a little guitar and also piano. Mackenzie and I had a great time. Our seats were awesome - 8 rows up off the floor on the left hand side of the stage so we were really close. Steve has our good camera with them in Japan so I only had our small camera but it was fun to capture our fun night out on the town together. Mackenzie and I have decided that we are definitely going to the 2010 American Idol Concert! It was awesome.