Views of Hiroshima from a bike

One of the biggest adjustments for our family living here in Japan is the fact that we have 1 car as a family. For those of you who have lived outside of the states this not out of the ordinary. Hiroshima has great public transportation and due to limited parking at our apartment complex we chose to have 1 car. Mike and I trade off on who takes the car certain days.

 

So... we decided to bring the kids' bikes and buy me a bike with a seat on the back for Cameron once we arrived in Japan. I am SUPER PROUD to say that we are now a biking family. This might not seem like a big deal, but I was extremely nervous about trying to navigate the city streets with Cameron on the back of my bike and Luke and Julia on their bikes. Our children were not used to having to ride with cars, crossing streets with lights, and looking when crossing the street on their bikes. After we went on our home finding trip in June to Hiroshima, I came home and made the kid practice everyday on their bikes.

 

I can now say that this week, the kids and I have rode our bikes to and from the grocery store, to the park, to the train station, and to the 7-11 store. Here are some pictures we took on our bike rides.

 

 In the midst of high rise buildings you will often see a more traditional looking Japanese house or building.

 

 

 We found this alley way of tiny fish, flower, and meat stores right by the train station. Luke loved the fact that some of the Japanese lanterns had the local baseball teams logo on them.

 

A scene by one of the 7 rivers that flow through Hiroshima.

 



Julia and Luke on their bikes. The funniest thing about this picture though is that the one and only time I whipped out the camera at an intersection we were waiting to cross is the only time there was no traffic coming. Usually this intersection is super busy!