Fuji Safari Park

Safari Park is located near Mt. Fuji, but it was too overcast to see it this time. There was rain in the forecast so being in our car was pretty ideal.

The boys were so excited to see the animals walking around so close to us!

Who knew kangaroos could be so feisty?! 

After driving through the different animal areas (each was sectioned off kind of like Jurassic Park!), we parked and went to pet some of the animals. The boys were immediately drawn to the kangaroos so we paid about 50 cents or maybe $1 for food to feed them.

Eventually some of the kangaroos started boxing! The boys were so tickled to see it and Justin could not stop laughing.

The rabbit house was also a highlight for Cooper. He loves animals and probably would have been content to stay there for the rest of the day! 

Cooper was so happy to sit nicely and pet the rabbits. Sam wanted to knock things over and run wild. At least they're consistent! 

Mt. Fuji and Hakone

So, I was quite relieved that our tour to Fuji didn't involve any hiking...unless you count the stairs in Hakone. In fact, it was mostly a series of pleasant bus rides and stops. The tour also included a "Japanese style lunch". Japanese style lunch can be loosely translated to mean: "lots of small samples of a variety of foods that will surprisingly make your stomach feel full for at least 2-3 hours". I got the vegetarian "sample" and the rest of our crew had the regular "sample".

Vegetarian meal

Although we were able to see Mt. Fuji best from the visitor center and again when we got to Hakone, we did have a chance to actually stand on the mountain, too. The day was clear enough for us to go to Step 4 which is the highest point that anyone can go in winter and also the point where the trees stop growing. (Some vague memory of elementary science class makes me want to call that the tree line...)
The Korean pop group Code V happened to be visiting Fuji at the same time as our tour so we joined the hoards of girls snapping pictures and got a closer look. Gina somehow managed to get us close enough to start a conversation with them and they were actually really outgoing and friendly. An older woman nearby said that we were "lucky" to talk to them b/c apparently they're kind of a big deal here. So random. 
Anyway, it was a looong and exhausting tour, but worth every moment of the mad dash at 5 AM until the nice quiet cab ride from the Shinkansen (bullet train) to the hotel.