Hokoji Buddhist Temple

Our final stop on October 11 was the Hakkasan Hokoji Temple.  It was beautiful there, quiet and peaceful.

Some of the statues on the grounds.

And a big bonsai tree.

The temple where you can (though we didn't) participate in Zen meditation-called Zazen and even listen to a Buddhist sermon by a temple master (if you understand Japanese, I'm sure it would be neat!).  I've read that the temple is 700 years old!

I love how people, no matter what their belief system, take such pride in creating intricate works of art for their worship houses.

This is said to be the largest three story pagoda in Japan.

The pagoda is pretty newly built, but its newness doesn't make it any less stunning.

I wish I had more information to share about some of the places we visit, but its hard to find good info in English.  

There are also many shrines on the grounds.  I find it so beautiful that the Shinto and Buddhist faiths complement each other so nicely that they have Shinto shrines on the same grounds as a Buddhist temple.  The red Torii gates mark the entrance to a Shinto shrine and symbolically mark the transition from profane to sacred.

There were some huge granite slab tables and seats outside the temple.  We took a little rest here while the older kids finished exploring.

I'd say we made good use of our time off from school and work!  We made some good memories and saw some amazing things!

Dragon Tower in Nanbu Town

October 11, the adventures continued in Nanbu Town where we found this giant climbing structure with three dragon heads.  I read somewhere that its 100 feet tall.

We paid our admission and got helmets on all the kids...

Then entered the mouth of the beast.

Then we climbed through these rope tunnels to different levels of the tower.  Jonas was trying to come back down past Abe and me at this point because he was afraid.  I made it through this tunnel and had to switch places with Ethan because climbing was hurting my arm too much.  Ethan was coaxing Bolton to climb up the stairs of the tower, because he, too, was afraid.

Levi, Eliza, Bryant and Abraham were in heaven!

When I reached the top (via the stairs) the view was stunning!  Those little colourful rooftops you see in the middle left are called tree houses and they're like Japanese yurts you can rent out for camping.  Nanbu town is where the locals go for fruit picking in the summer and fall.  Next year we plan to make a trip of it!

Don't look down!

We met some friends from church here (planned this time) and had so much fun climbing with friends.

Bolton was sure he was too afraid of heights to make it to the top.  I was trying to talk him in to coming up with me... he wasn't sure if he dared leave the solid ground.

But he made it to the top!!!

So proud of him for facing his fears.  That's one courageous boy!

The dad of the other family we were with convinced Jonas that he didn't need to be afraid either.  Jonas faced his fears head on and climbed up the tunnels as high as they went!  Way to go brave kid!

Abe, unfortunately for Ethan, showed no fear, at all.  Ethan was pretty nervous that we might have a tragic accident.  Thankfully, we were protected.

Back on the ground and happy to have this view instead.

We popped in to the little ramen house there for some lunch.  Actually, only a couple kids had ramen, Ethan had Japanese curry, I had a fish, and a couple kids had Japanese style pizza.  It was all interesting, to say the least.  Then we headed out for our final stop of the day...

Dahlia Garden in Gonohe Town

October 11, since the kids were out of school and Ethan was off work, we wanted to continue our adventures and exploration.  We started the day with a stop at a Dahlia Garden in Gonohe Town.  Truth be told I was the only one who was excited about this, but Ethan and Eliza got on board.  When we got there Bryant, Jonas, Bolton, and Abraham were all willing to get out and see what I was excited about, but Levi refused to even get out of the car.

Upon entrance to the garden we saw more dahlias than we could have imagined.

There were so many varieties, different colours and shapes and sizes.  It was amazing!  I loved it!

The bees and butterflies loved it too!

But to all of our surprise everyone else in the family loved it too!  It was so much fun hearing my kids call me from different parts of the garden to "come and look at this one!"  or to "take a picture of this one, Mom!"  So, yeah, I took way more pictures than necessary, but I got some really beautiful photos!  I tried to only post my favourite flower shots as well as the photos with my lovely family.

Jonas pointed this one out to me, "Mom!  This one looks like Mickey Mouse!"

This one was a favourite of at least a couple of the kids.  At least for a minute or two.  They changed favourites every couple minutes.

I think she was afraid it might eat her!

We're lucky we didn't lose any of the kids in these rows of beauty.  Several times I heard the big boys and Eliza mention how Levi was missing out.  So Ethan decided to go out to the van to see if he wanted to change his mind.  I guess sitting in the car by himself proved my boring than he expected a flower garden to be, so he joined us when we'd already been through 3/4 of the garden already.

I loved that I was able to get some cool photos of the pollinators doing their thing.

Jonas really liked these ones.  And we were all wondering if they were, in fact, dahlias since they looked so different.

We had seen so many of the giant blossoms that when we came upon these tiny blooms they looked so cute!

Three flowers, three butterflies.  Not a great photo, but pretty cool, nonetheless.

There was a little shop where you could select individual blossoms to create your own bouquet.  I had to take some home with me!

The cute little lady who wrapped up my bouquet.

And the cute little guy who carried my bouquet out to the car for me.  It was a great reminder of the beautiful creations Heavenly Father has blessed us with on earth.  You can't help buy know that He loves us when you see all this beauty.