Well, it's been a while but we finally did some sightseeing! Today after church some friends asked us if we wanted to go to the Nago Cherry Blossom Festival with them. It's something we've wanted to do since coming here but last year I was dealing with morning sickness (such a wrong name for something that lasts all day long) so we never got a chance to go. We gladly joined them.
The guys got the van loaded up (and yes it was loaded with 2 carseats, 2 strollers, and 2 sets of baby supplies) and we headed off. Well, we stopped for lunch then headed off.
Jude wondered why he was able to see mommy in front of him while in the car
We didn't actually go up the hill with the majority of the trees because it wasn't going to be easy with strollers. We headed through the typical festival booths except there was a lot more variety.
Jude bundled in his coat from Mayumi-san
We did see some Sakura on the side of the roads
We passed most of the booths to the main road where they had a sort of parade. It was a lot of Eisa groups, dancing groups, and some groups where all the people were dressed in costume (see Mike's Facebook for a video with one of the groups).
One of the Eisa groups
We got stopped quite a bit with the crowd so we had an opportunity for a family picture :)
Shisa
Jude got tired
Another Eisa group
He even slept through a drumming "war" between two Eisa groups. I had to cover him up with blankets because it got so cold.
This was after I realized I brought a hat in his diaper bag...that would have been useful the first hour or two that we were there!
Dancers
We had a great time but it had gotten so cold and rainy! We decided to head back to the van and get some food at one of the booths on the way out. Jude did really well and only got fussy a few times. It was nice getting out and hanging out with friends instead of just sitting at home...I'm ready for it to start warming up so we can go out more often!
