White Family Adventures: Spring is here!!!

The Cherry Blossoms (Sakura) have stated blooming, which means Spring is here.

The last couple of weeks home have been spent finding time, between rain storms and windy days, to get out and enjoy all the beautiful Cherry Blossoms. These trees bloom for only a couple weeks each year before all the petals fall to the ground, covering it like a blanket of snow. We have yet to make it out to Hirosaki Castle this year, hoping to make that trip in the near future. We have gone around to local parks to enjoy their playgrounds as well as the beautiful trees and cool weather. Following are a few pictures of our outings.

Statue of Liberty Park (Icho Park): Home to Japan's largest Statue of Liberty, this statue is on the same Latitude as Lady Liberty.

Towada Horse Park: Found this park thanks to some friends. This park is situated in the hills of Towada. There is a large playground with play equipment, as well as a large area to run around and play soccer, catch or any other sport that requires lots of room. As you enter the park you will see a large horse shaped slide. There are pony rides available as well as the opportunity to feed ponies carrots for around $1. In the back of the park sits a large roller slide that winds it way down the hill.

Train Park (Chuo Park) Misawa: Located right outside the main gate, this park is a great place to view the Cherry Blossoms.

Sakura Yabusame:Easter Sunday was spent enjoying an Archery Festival in Towada. Ladies dressed in elaborate costumes shooting arrows at targets along a runway while riding horseback. Despite the muddy grounds and lack of Cherry Blossoms it was a fun and beautiful day.

Easter Egg Hunting: Due to our plans to attend the Festival on Sunday we celebrated Easter on Saturday with friends and neighbors. We also welcomed a few Japanese friends to celebrate with us and introduce them to our Easter traditions. The egg hunt was completed just in time for it to start raining again.