Our Trip to Tama

Tama Hills is an Armed Forces Recreation Facility. It is very large piece of land that is an hours drive away, but only 13 miles away. On the property there is a small hotel, a handful of cabins, our 18 hole golf course, paintball field, camping sites, horseback riding, miniature golf, tennis courts and some other outdoor activities.
A few weeks ago John called Tama Hills to see if there were any cabins available for the weekend and lo and behold there were. The Commanders Cabin was available for Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. Friday was Halloween so that was out, so we booked Saturday and Sunday and pulled Lexi out of school on Monday. Monday was a Japanese Holiday so Anika did not have school. We are usually not so spontaneous and it paid off. The Commander,s Cabin is NEVER available, at least we have tried to get the Chief's or Commander's Cabin for some time now and have not had any luck, until now.
One small problem, Lexi was going on a Girl Scout overnight on Saturday night. Lexi's troop was meeting some Japanese Troops and staying at Odwara Castle. We wanted this to be a family event. So on Sunday afternoon, John drove an hour back to base, waited an hour and a half (the bus was stuck in traffic) and drove back an hour. It was great to have Lexi at the cabin, I really missed her.

We packed up the bikes and the bike trailer and headed for Tama. We played miniature golf with Anika and Alexander when we arrived and let them play on the play ground afterwards. We then checked into the amazing cabin. Even though we were in the middle of the city you would never know it. We were totally secluded and could only hear the birds and animals and were surrounded by forest. When we were sitting outside we could actually hear the wind swooshing from the flapping of the blackbirds wings. That was the first time I ever heard that, it was incredible. The cabin had 2 bedrooms, a loft which was like a family room, kitchen, living room, breakfast nook, deck and jacuzzi, plus a private driveway, for complete privacy.

John in front of an old ammunitions storage bunker with Anika and Alexander.

A long day of golf and playing in the park.

We unpacked and put the kids down for a nap and played several hands of Phase 10 and I kept winning, which I needed, because I was on a serious loosing streak with Phase 10, John kept beating me. Around 5:00 we went to the restaurant for dinner in our little 6 seater golf cart, that came with the cabin. The food was delicious, John had crab legs and I had a scallop and shrimp stir-fry and of course the kids had nuggets.

The next day was spent on a long bike ride around the property. I didn't realize the property used to be a munitions plant during WWII, then there was a huge explosion that killed 5 people and the plant shut down, we won the war and now utilize the property. There were a lot of creepy, old ammunition bunkers around the property.

We played another round of miniature golf with the kids, another playground run and it was naptime and Phase 10 time. John left to pick Lexi up and I hung out with Zander and Anika. Lexi loved the cabin and it was so.... nice to have her there. Although she didn't want to play any board games, because she was too tired from her trip. So she watched Flicka with us, while I proceeded to kick John's Booty once again in Phase 10. I just have to document this, since it had been months since I won a Phase 10 game and then I won 10 games in a row. It may never happen again.

It was so nice to get away as a family and the short break was a breath of fresh air and rejuvenated ALL of us.