Spring is Here!

This past week it was my goal to go to a new park everyday to see not only the beautiful cherry blossoms, but also the amazing flowers that are blooming all around Sasebo.  I had a great time. Here are some of the pictures I took, there's a lot, sorry... I got a little carried away!

On Monday I went to the parks around 99 Islands. I went to both Hananomori and Tenkaiho.

The view from the top of 99 Islands... it's incredible!

This field was huge!

This picture is just for my friend, Mary... enjoy!

 Then I headed to Nimitz Park which is right across the street from the base.  I just love the lanterns and cherry blossoms!

On Tuesday I went to Saiki Park and walked under the bridge. 

A view from the bridge.

The walking trail was amazing!

Once again, my favorites... lanterns and blossoms!

On Wednesday I went to a super fun park called Peacock Park. Not only were the cherry blossoms spectacular, but the park also had peacocks and flamingos and tons of beautiful flowers.

I thought this little boy feeding the peacock was too cute!

This lady was imitating the flamingos and all of her friends were laughing.

Finally, on Thursday, I took my first trip to Huis Ten Bosch.  It is a Dutch theme park in the middle of Sasebo, complete with tulips, windmills, and wooden shoes. All the tulip pictures are for you, Mom (tulips are our absolute favorite), I wish you could have been here to see them with me!

I loved the white tulips mixed with the colorful flowers.

Me and Maud

These were my favorite... amazing colors!

A field of tulips, it was breath-taking!

Just for you, Mom and Dad!

 I took a break on Friday, my nose needed it!  Then on Saturday, my friends and I headed out on a road trip. We didn't really know where we were going, but we were hoping to make it to Ogi Park to see the lanterns and 3,000 cherry blossoms.  To our surprise we only had to turn around once! The park was amazing, but next year we want to make it to the festival.

This park was amazing because of the reflection of the cherry blossoms on the water.

The walking path lined with cherry blossoms and lanterns.  It was beautiful to see at night!

A sweet Japanese man saw me struggling to take a good reflection picture (since I didn't have a tripod, the pictures were blurry), so he took his camera off of his tripod and let me put my camera on it.  He helped with me the settings and everything.  He was so kind.

 I had an fun week exploring this amazing town I live in.  The cherry blossoms are quite a sight to see!  I'm already looking forward to next spring so I can find more parks!