Emma turned three today, and as Dad would say, a good time was had by all--except Emma, she has been sick and had a fever during the party. I slipped her a couple of Tylenol chewables a few minutes before these pictures were taken, but not soon enough for them to have the desired effect. I was just happy to get some shots where she wasn't crying.

Maesar hill was taken over by candy eggs this morning and we were all about
the thrill of the hunt.

Yesterday we got out of the megatropolis of Tokyo and visited the woodland realm of Nikko. The above picture was taken at a famous shrine there which also serves as the tomb of one of Japan's greatest Shoguns. I don't recall his name, but his relationship with a shipwrecked Portugese sailor was the basis for the book and movie "Shogun." You can see Dunnington in a white t-shirt climbing the stairs. The outstanding feature of this shrine is that it is much more ornately decorated than any building we had seen previously. This is very un-Zen, but apparently that was the Zeitgeist. The building pictured is actually just one of the gates in the complex.

Today we made our first excursion into Tokyo. The highlight of the day was taking in a bit of traditional Japanese theater. I find myself sounding very much like my dad: "Do you know how old I was before I got to go to Kabuki theater?!"

Above is a picture I took during our lunch in a ramen shop. Dunn's been quite a trooper when it comes to trying new foods, and I must say that all of the chopstick training has paid off. I've been particularly impressed with how willing he is to try his hand at speaking Japanese. We were at a street festival in Kyoto on Saturday and Dunn was happy to run back to a stand where we'd bought some food and ask, in Japanese, for some chopsticks. At his age I remember being too shy to ask for a cheeseburger at McDonald's--in English.