Culture...It's not just for yogurt

(I am experiencing that feeling you get when you wait so long to do a task that it becomes overwhelming to the point of feeling completely incapable of accomplishing it. Kind of like eating an elephant...so...here goes that first bite. )

We have a family tradition every February where we go to the "Matsuri - A festival of Japan". It's held in downtown Phoenix and we go because it's the closest thing we have to actually going to visit the real thing. Okay...it's not even a close 2nd, but it's all we have. Since we can't take the kids there to experience the culture, we do this instead.

Hannah enjoyed wearing her yukata one last time. It barely fit this year.

Rachel didn't fit into her yukata anymore, but she still looks cute in her Matsuri t-shirt.

Hannah 'enjoys' some katsu chicken (lightly breaded, fried...yum...what's not to like). I think the face reflects that she doesn't like this version as much as she does her dad's.
(This is the time when the Foliakis usually surprise us and join us. They decided not to come this year. (sad))

No more teriyaki chicken left in this bowl! (note, I just realized I know the guy in the background...I knew his family from home, then he was living in Japan while I was on my mission and he was in one of my wards. Small world).

I didn't get a shot of what Chris was eating...Unagi (eel). More like U-Nasty!

PiP mentioned the 'shave ice the size of your head. Just like in Hawaii' from the Aloha Festival. Well, they had it here, too...and we bought it, too. The girls didn't want to share...

...so we had to get our own! Yum!
This guy is amazing...he takes clumps of hot candy and puts them on a stick, then he cuts and shapes them into all kinds of creatures. If you biggen this picture you might be able to tell he's making a lion. He also made a phoenix and a dragon...pretty impressive.


These ladies are doing the obon-0dori. It's a dance done during a specific festival in the summertime. Sadly they didn't ask for volunteers from the audience because, if you know me, you know I'd have been up there (yeah, right!).

Finally, with our tummies full and our pockets empty (and our scalps sunburned), we had enough and it was time to say sayonara until next year.