Japan

First let me start off by saying that Japan is the CLEANEST place that I have ever been. There was one moment when we were walking down a back lane that both me and Jay agreed we would be fine letting the kids set up a picnic no blanket needed it is that clean. I have been in love with the idea of Japan since I read the book Memoirs of a Geisha and it did not disappoint. We decided on Kyoto because it is supposed to be one of the last areas in japan that still feels authentic and not too commercial it also has two large Geisha districts. A lot of our friends here in Shanghai that have visited Japan did a airbnb because the hotel rooms are they size of my pinky toe. So we experienced our first airbnb and it was pretty awesome we will def use them again. If traveling to Japan with kids one thing you need to be aware of it EVERYTHING is small and quiet. Truly the most quiet orderly place I have ever been. They even have signs up telling you to whisper lol so yea that was fun with the kids. In truth looking back if we had the choice I would pick to go to Japan with just Jay. One highlight of the trip was we actually saw a Geisha which when you do research they say is extremely unlikely. Overall the trip was amazing and I would highly recommend Kyoto. The streets were so charming the sushi was amazing and the people were friendly and extremely polite. 

My Dress here is from Free People 

Girls posing for a magazine photo shoot in the Geisha district Selah is wearing A Zara Top and Gap Denim 

Our Geisha Spotting..truly a dream

still a babe we had to buy an emergency umbrella stroller Pippas little jumper is from Zara 

bamboo forest Pippas little dress is from Rylee and Cru 

the best traveler ever love my Selah girl 

The most common way to get around Kyoto is by bike and they ZIP around the city you have to really watch out. Here was an adorable mom daughter bike duo at the park. M

All I ate haha

Shaved ice and Ice Cream 

Me and Pips in the Geisha District 

Beijing

Hey guys hope you are having a great start to your week! I thought I would share some of our pictures from our trip to Beijing. We really lucked out on this trip. Just days before we arrived Beijing had a bad wind storm and horrible pollution. I didn't have high hopes for our trip at all. The storm ended and blew out all of the pollution so we ended up with a gorgeous blue skied days. The picture below is us on the wall and zero filter on it at all. The great wall was something I knew I had to see especially since I lived in China for more than a couple of years. Jay had to push me a little to book this trip because it was a lot of sight seeing and I am much more into beach trips. I am SO glad we did. Seeing the Forbidden City in Beijing and the Great Wall was so interesting both rich with so much history and so many awesome truly unbelievable stories. I still can not understand how they even built this wall. It took them 250 YEARS to complete. Our guide told us it is the longest tomb in the world because so many people died while building it and bodies were built into the wall. CRAZY. 

Nothing says The Great Wall of China like good ole Burger King afterwards

Here we are in the Forbidden City. This place was huge and so interesting loved hearing about all the emperors and they rules and scandal that went on inside these city walls. 

A little tired at this point lol

 people taking pictures of the kids just par for the course...

Here is a picture of the Terracota Warriors in Xian. After staying in Beijing we jumped on a plane to go and see them. It was awesome such a wild story. A farmer was searching for water in the 70's and FOUND these warrior and the signt of a emperors tomb. Truly insane.

After seeing the warriors we tried their local soup it was delicious! 

Amazing sky on our flight home