In October, we decided to become ninjas. We traveled with two other families to Akame, a few hours west of us, and signed up for their rigorous ninja training course.
After fumbling our way into the ninja getups, we first mastered the rope. Each of us, babies included, practiced pulling ourselves along this rope to be ready to cross crocodile-infested rivers or castle motes.
We scaled walls and hiked downhill in our impossible ninja clothing while wrangling children. We learned to disappear through secret doors and belly crawl through the tunnel to escape.
We moved onto the blow darts, honing our skills to take out dangerous targets like weird little wooden people.
We received some classroom instruction, including what to shout at our enemies: "PYOU! SHIA! JIM! ZAI! RIM! TOU! KAI! RETSU! ZEN!" (I think?)
Our little ninjas were great sports, training their hearts out and preparing for special missions... or snack time.
All jokes aside, it was a lot of fun. I'll admit I was a bit flustered by the outfit, which made me look like a giant purple people eater and kept falling off of me. But the kids had a blast and we did too.
After our ninja experience we had noodle lunch at a nice little (completely empty) cafe in the tiny town there, returned our ninja clothes and hiked to see the gorgeous 48 waterfalls. We didn't actually see 48 waterfalls, but the ones we saw were breathtaking.
That night we ate dinner at an interesting restaurant called "BABY FACE PLANETS" and headed to our airbnb in the middle of nowhere. The airbnb was like a nature camp for high school kids, with lots of extra rooms (just tatami mats and floor futons) to rent and communal bathrooms and onsen. It was interesting but certainly enough for our needs, and the best part was when the kids went to bed and the 6 adults partied in the hallway late into the night.
Needless to say, Dean was THRILLED to be on vacation with Parker and Braxton. All the kids had a great time and there were no major injuries!
On day 2 we went to the longest ropeway in Japan. This was Mount Gozaisho in Mie Prefecture. Holy cow, was this beautiful! I highly recommend this day trip!
At the top of the mountain there is a beautiful view of Nagoya and another little ropeway and lots of rocks for happy little boys to climb on. We had more noodles at the top and made our way back down just before sunset.
I will always remember this fun trip with good friends. I can't wait for the next one!