Apple Picking

A few weeks ago we headed off into the mountains near Mihara, Hiroshima with Obaasan and Ojiisan to a tourist fruit picking farm. We had visited this farm during apple harvesting season last year, but because of my crippling morning sickness I wasn't really able to enjoy it all that much. This year the weather was once again fabulous, I actually had an appetite for apples, and the children were generally well behaved, so all was grand.

They grow all types of fruit at the farm, including kiwi, apples, strawberries, grapes, peaches, and pears, and depending on what time of year you visit you can pick different kinds of fruit. I think they also have a large pasture of chickens where you can collect eggs for purchase. There is a small fee to get into the farm and once you're in you can eat all the fruit you want for free. They give you a small basket and a paring knife for collecting, and peeling and coring your apples if you wish. If you want to bring any home with you, you have to pay. It is a very relaxing and tranquil place with a large field to picnic in and beautiful view of the mountains. Now that we have gone two years in a row I guess it has become a bit of a tradition. Can't say I'm too upset about that!

The apple orchard had about fifteen rows of apple trees in five different varieties.

Next to the apple orchard, the kiwi were hanging large from their vines. Kiwi are the next fruit to be harvested, toward the end of October and into November. 

Last year, I spent the majority of the time policing William and making sure he didn't yank apples off the trees willy nilly and just to toss them on the ground. This year he knew the drill and was pretty good about asking before picking. 

He did manage to yank off a few spotty ones though. 

Theo managed to eat about two apples, which was no simple feat considering that he had one bottom tooth missing and a very wobbly tooth right beside it. Here he is trying to take a big bite while avoiding his front teeth.            

William, who is a little bit more particular about how he eats his apples, waited until they were cored and sliced by Obaasan.

He also enjoyed wandering around with Ojiisan who was much more lenient about which apples William picked.

Rosie even joined in on the fun by gumming and sucking on an apple slice. She wasn't too terribly impressed but kept on sucking nonetheless. 

After eating as many apples as our stomachs could handle, we had a picnic in a large grassy field. The boys loved being able to tear around and shout with not a care in the world.

I remember regretting not bringing our kite last year and so we made sure to pack it along this time. It was a nice breezy day; perfect kite weather.

As if the apples and bento weren't enough, the boys also had a tasty ice cream cone before heading back to the car.

What a perfect way to celebrate the fall!

Kochi

Here, at last, is the final catch up on of some of the traveling we did when my in-laws were out.

The first weekend in April, we packed our bags yet again and made our way to Shimanto City in Kochi Prefecture. Seeing as Kochi is the birthplace of Anpanman, what better way to get there (and make our children's day) than taking the Anpanman train! William, who is especially obsessed with all things Anpanman at the moment, was thrilled beyond words.

It takes about 4 hours by train from Fukuyama to Shimanto and so the kids were somewhat bribed into good behaviour with the purchase of these Anpanman themed bento.

Theo modeling his bento lid

We only remembered to take a shot of William's bento after he had taken a couple of chomps
out of Anpanman's head

We wanted to have a chance for Obaasan and Ojiisan to get to know Dustin's parents a bit better, so we invited them along with us for the weekend. We were able to book this fabulous house in the middle of nowhere for the time we were out. It is a model eco home built almost entirely, inside and out, with local cypress and smelled absolutely amazing! 

Front of the house

and the back

Grandma and the boys peeking down from the second story balcony

Waiting to eat some yummy nabe

Theo and I hunted down this 5 cm monster for our more squeamish
housemates and deposited him outside

The gorgeous all cypress bathroom

Even more amazing than the house itself were the views of the mountains and the Shimanto River. Directly across from the house was this large display of koinobori strung over the river for Children's Day. 

 Enjoying a walk in the sunshine with Grandma

Trying, and failing, to find fossils in the rocks

We went on a tour of the river on this traditional boat. What you can't see from the photo is that the whole interior of the cabin has tatami flooring, so everyone's shoes were left outside on the deck.

Theo soon made a new best friend when the boatman let him control the motor. Theo sat with one  hand firmly planted on the man's thigh and the other on the tiller, and giving us all a choppy, bumpy ride for most of the trip. I think he was a little surprised (and probably annoyed after a while) to find out that Theo could speak Japanese. There was an endless stream of prattle and questions from Theo about everything and anything he saw.

BFF

The day ended with a barbecue in which Theo forsook all of his previous claims that he was an herbivore. 

And here are some final random pictures of our adventures:

Theo checking out a rock slide that was blocking part of the road. There were also mountain monkeys on the road which we weren't quick enough to get pictures  of.

Dustin, the hunter-gatherer, finding the biggest bamboo shoots the forest had to offer

 And some beautiful flowers that were blooming earlier in Kochi than in Hiroshima

Azalea

Wisteria