I hope everyone had a great Golden Week vacation. I think May is the most beautiful month of the year in Japan. I love being outside as much as possible after the cold winter and before the rainy season starts.

Mr. Ito and I have been camping four times since the beginning of Golden Week! We have camped in  Matsumoto, Fukui, Tateshina, and Mie and were lucky enough to enjoy sunny weather each time.

While we were in Fukui, we decided to visit the newly renovated Dinosaur museum. It was fantastic and I realized how much I need to update my lessons about dinosaurs. In the past twenty years, there have been so many new discoveries in paleontology and astronomy and it is difficult for teachers like me to keep up!

Not only do they display dinosaur fossils, they also have many fossils of other extinct creatures, such as the Irish Elk. Doesn't it have impressive antlers? The Irish Elk is included in the BIG BOW English Lab lesson on extinct animals.

I couldn't resist the Spinosaurus curry in the museum cafe! (The green back fin was a rice cracker.)

Another animal shaped treat I enjoyed was at Warashibe in Mie prefecture, near Tamaki Interchange. They only serve taiyaki, a fish shaped cake with filling. I believe they have the best taiyaki in Japan! I ordered one with an bean jam and butter. You have to carefully hold the taiyaki sideways so the melted butter doesn't drip out.

It's been over a week and I'm still thinking about how good that taiyaki tasted!