Japan {Ginkakuji}.

Pete had a great night sleep and enjoyed a lazy morning in our bed with his bottle.

When in Japan do as the Japanese {I say that a lot! We are going for the real experience!!!}, wearing matching PJ's the hotel gave us.

We were tempted to go down to breakfast like this but opted not to!

Beautiful arch in the middle of the city.

I have no idea what is up with the 'no tripod' signs.  Maybe its outdated and should say no selfie stick.  But why?!

Tickets to Ginkakuji.

Ginkaku-ji 銀閣寺 translates to "the Silver Pavilion"  Lauren found out that this is one of the favorite sites of the locals to visit but that tourist like the Golden Pavilion better {more of a 'wow' factor I guess}.

The zen temple does not have any silver foil on it anymore.

Nate was not with us today - he had to catch an early flight to China for the day for some business meetings.  Lauren was an awesome guide!

The gardens and these sand creations were almost more beautiful then the temple itself.

A worker working on the sand creations.

This sand creation was amazing - I have no idea how they built it!

It is suppose to represent Mount Fuji.

Really simple but beautiful architecture.

I like how this shot turned out with the coins in the wishing water.

 A bamboo garden!

Another bucket picture list item.

A view of Kyoto from the upper part of the gardens.

This bee was HUGE {although now that I am looking at the picture I think it might have just been a really big fly} and it was really annoying!  I am surprised I was able to get a picture of it - it was allover the place.

Okay, back to the view now that I got a picture of the annoying bee/fly.

We had a great time walking around the gardens and talking with Lauren as our trip was coming to a close.  I was trying to convince Lauren that she wants to move to Midway :)

Huge skinny trees.

The rock pathways were very warn.

{PS- I loved these shoes on the trip, TOMS}.

This tree lined corridor is called the approach - for obvious reasons, you walk it before turning the corner to the temple.

Just outside the temple entrance was this box full of colorful papers with prayers written on them.

Sound familiar?!

We couldn't pass up the soft-serve on this hot day!

I love this picture of Tagg grabbing for a bite!

We also couldn't decide on a flavor so we got several and shared!

We rode the bus with these darling school girls back toward the hotel.

They were happy to pose for my picture :)

And they were obsessed with Pete.

Each girl took a turn taking a picture with Pete.

Look at Pete looking at her! Ha!

One last picture before we all filed off.

And I had to take a picture of the ergobaby - the official baby carrier of the trip.  We couldn't have done the trip without ours and surprisingly we fit right in in Japan - everyone has one.

I got up the courage to ask theses cute kids' parents if I could take their picture.  The mom's were totally okay with it but I could not get Tagg on board with my idea!

Tagg on the go.

Classic.

Ginkakuji was our only stop before a quick bite to eat at this bakery {you don't see many bakeries, they don't really bake in Japan - the homes don't even have ovens}.

Then off we took on the bullet train for a ride back to Tokyo.

Everyone around me was asleep.

Even cute Laren and Tagg.