National Museum of Nature and Science

Right after we got back from Okinawa, it was Labor Day, so we decided to take advantage of Peter's day off and go back to Ueno Park to check out the National Museum of Nature and Science.  It was a fun outing--the museum is quite large and has some really amazing artifacts.  But, what I loved most about the whole place were the layouts and the design of the exhibits.  They were so modern and bright; it felt very fresh--I loved it!

There is so much to see and do at Ueno Park!  Check out my other posts about Ueno Park here and here.

GPS Coordinates:  35.716703, 139.776324

Cup Noodles Museum

Last weekend we went down to Yokohama with lofty goals.  We planned on going to Cup Noodles Museum, Leonard's for malasadas (the most delicious Hawaiin donuts ever, and they have a location in Yokohama!), for a walk along the pier/port area, and to Chinatown.  However, after spending 2.5 hours at Cup Noodles, we were spent and decided to grab some malasadas and head home.  So, we're excited to get down to Yokohama another time to visit the places we didn't have time for this time around.  

The Cup Noodles Museum was so much fun!!!  And, the story of Momofuku Ando, the creator of Cup Noodles is fascinating.  The museum is really interactive and the kids had a blast.

The first thing we did was make our own Cup Noodles!  This place was crazy!  

Just like everything else in Japan, we began by buying our cups from a vending machine :)

Then, we got to decorate them ourselves . . .

After we were done coloring our cups, we got in line to create our own personalized cup of noodles.  First, we watched the noodles come down the conveyor belt . . .

Then we got to turn the crank so that our noodles got into our cups.  After the noodles were in the cups, we got to choose our flavor of broth and toppings.

And last, we stuck our noodles in plastics bags and puffed them full of air so that they'd stay protected!  Every step along the way was awesome, but these plastic bags really cracked me up!

After making our own personalized cups, we went and ate some delicious noodles in their little noodle city.  They had noodle dishes from Thailand, Japan, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Italy.  We tried the Japanese ramen, Indonesian mi goreng, and Chinese spicy beef noodle soup.  They were all sooooo good!

Then, while the kids played in the awesome kid play place (they pretended like they were the cup of noodles being made!), Bennett and I walked through the museum and learned more about Momofuku.

And, then, before we left, we went and checked out the gallery of every type of Cup Noodle ever made!  I had no idea they made so many different types of instant noodles!  The kids loved it too, and here they are giving one last ninja pose with the noodles!

And, of course, the next day for lunch, we had to eat our original Cup Noodles!  YUM!

GPS Coordinates:  

35.487469, 139.638374

Hakone: Open Air Museum

After visiting Owakudani, we made our way over to The Hakone Open Air Museum, which is just what it sounds like: an outdoor museum.  There are sculptures and exhibits scattered beautifully throughout the museum's fields and gardens.  The artwork was really wonderful, and worth seeing; they even have an entire indoor Picasso exhibit!  But, the real reason we went, was for the giant play sculpture nets!  These nets were layered and the kids had to climb through holes to reach the top.  They had a blast climbing, swinging, and playing around!  Next time we go, we'll spend more time on the grounds, exploring and letting the kids run around, but it was a bit cold this time.  

Right near the nets was a giant maze-garden thing.  It was really fun, and I can only imagine it would be even more beautiful in the spring when the plants are all in bloom.  Will and Clara had a great time chasing Peter around and trying to find him as he'd hide.  Can you spot him in the picture below???

And lastly, this sculpture was a giant, metallic, reflective ball that was hung above the walkway.  And there we are, just looking right up at it!

Fire Museum

The other day, while stuck in a big rainstorm in Tokyo, we decided to do a FREE, indoor activity!  The Fire Museum!  It's really cool and a great place to spend a little time, especially if you're in the area and are trying to avoid the rain :)

The museum had a bunch of old fashioned fire trucks from several different decades.  They also had firefighting jackets and helmets for kids to try on, as well as an old ambulance and trucks that you could climb in and look around.

One of the coolest parts of the museum is the giant firefighting helicopter hanging from the ceiling.

The Fire Museum is definitely worth checking out if you're in Shinjuku with kids!

Dallas!

This weekend we went to Dallas for a quick trip to see one of my very best friends from college. We really only had one day, but we packed it in!

I had never been to Dallas before, and it is such a cool city! We started out by catching the trolley and taking it downtown to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science.

This was definitely one of the coolest museums I have ever been to, and we barely even scratched the surface of all they had to see and do! Before we even entered the museum they had fun, free crafts for kids to do in the lobby. Will and Peter made a parrot out of clay, then I helped him create a parachute for a little toy frog out of a plastic bag. This was so much fun! Will would have been satisfied to do the crafts and leave!

Once in the museum, we spent a lot of time in the kids play area and then we went to the Sports room. This room is fun for the whole family--you can race a T-Rex, cheetah, Pliosaurus, or several famous athletes; you can check out how an MRI works; take videos of yourself performing a sport and then watching it back in slow motion and even compare your video to a pro; plus more! Really fun stuff.

Here's a video of Will and Clara racing a professional athlete. At the end of your race, it even shows your stats!

After the museum we walked over to Klyde Warren Park, which was lined with food trucks and had lots of shade, a playground, and a splash pad! Perfect for a hot and hungry crew! And the banh mi sandwiches we got were soooo good!

We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in our friends' pool and hanging out. Then we went out on the town for Korean food in Dallas' K-Town (Who knew?! I almost felt like I was in LA!) And then, to finish off our ode to LA, we stopped at Sprinkles!!!! There's nothing like a good cupcake to finish off a great day!

Thanks for the fun times, Bonnie and David! We loved Dallas!

Kickin' it in SA: SAMA Playdate

Welcome to our new series, Kickin' it in SA, where I will spotlight different spots and things to do in San Antonio (and in the future, wherever the Air Force takes us!). We love exploring our city and trying to make the most of wherever we are living.

For this week's Kickin' It, Will, Clara, and I met up with some friends (Melissa of @half_pints) at the San Antonio Museum of Art for their weekly Playdate. Today's Playdate (free with regular admission, half off for military, and kids under 12 are free!) was called Bugs, Bugs, Bugs! Perfect for our "B" of our ABC's of Summer as well!

The activities were cute and perfect for toddlers. We started out by matching the same color bugs to the colors they had laid out on a mat. Then we moved on to color bug coloring pages with Crayola Oil Pastels; I haven't used those since art class in elementary school! And I didn't realize how much I have missed them!!! lol. Seriously though. Those things are awesome.

After coloring, the docents (interns? fun and cute girls??) talked to the kids about bugs, specifically rollie pollies, and had some in a small container to show the kids. Then they took us all on a small scavenger hunt to find the scarab beetle on a piece of art. And Will found the beetle on the head of a mummy!

After the scavenger hunt was the kids' favorite part of the Playdate. They each were given a pipe cleaner with a beetle looking bead and then allowed to make their own bracelets with additional beads. Super cute.

Overall, a fun day! The SAMA Playdates were worth the trip! I'm glad we went and explored the museum. This was such a fun activity for kids, because, whereas this museum isn't necessarily kid-friendly, or anywhere I'd take toddlers usually, this activity opened the museum up for us. We explored for a few minutes after the playdate, but once it was apparent that our kids were getting a little too wound up for such delicate spaces, we headed out.

apparently Will  lost a leg in this picture!

From the museum, we drove over to The Cove which has great food--they're famous for their fish tacos and were featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives! But the real bonus for families is their playground in the back for kiddies to play on while they wait for their food.

image via

So . . . if you're in San Antonio this summer, make sure to check out SAMA's Playdates and grab a bite at the Cove! And, now I'll send you off with a little art installation that was on a wall outside of the SAMA. Words to live by :)