The day started out like any other. We drank coffee. Then, we drank a little more coffee. We plopped ourselves in the car after lunch and made our way to Tokyo. We did a little walking. We rode a few trains. And, then the fall heard round Harajuku! But, I'm getting ahead of myself....
It was a beautiful, sunshiny day in Tokyo, and we were on a mission to find an enormous beast! First stop: Shinjuku! So, we made our way to Shinjuku Station. Of course, we ended up on the side of the station opposite of where I thought we would be, which meant a several block walk. Off we go through the city streets of Shinjuku. We heard there was a sight to see at the Gracery Hotel.
Beautiful skies and beautiful buildings along the way.
There were a lot of loud, brightly colored buildings in the area too. Anime, pachinko, music videos playing on large billboards.
Then, around the next corner....we caught our first glimpse of the behemoth! Roaring and clawing his way over that large hotel! Everyone is now carefully making their way towards the beast. Is it safe?
IT'S NOT SAFE! RUN FOR THE HILLS!!!!! I'm sure Shinjuku Chuo Park will be safe!
Aahhh....safe again! We took a few minutes to walk around the park and enjoy the lush green trees and gaze up in wonder at the tall buildings.
WAIT! What's that?? Oh no...he's emerging from a pile of sand in the middle of the park!!!!
(This 12' tall statue was made with 50 tons of sand and on display for a few weeks this summer. Part of the base was washed away by the time we made it there due to the rain the week ahead of our visit.)
All of his enemies made an appearance on the back side. Perhaps Shinjuku Chuo Park isn't the safest place to be at the moment...Tisha yells, "We should run for Harajuku, it'll be safer there!"
And, here's that moment where it all changed...
We were in Harajuku, planning to walk Takeshita Dori, and we made a quick pitstop into the 5-story Daiso (Japanese Dollar Store-but, much nicer). We all split up and head in different directions in search of birthday presents, souvenir items, and weird snacks. As I was making my way from the 4th to the 5th floor I heard a weak, "Terra!" I turn my head to find Tisha sitting on the steps with a security guard kneeling next to her. I think, "Oh, great! What has Tisha stolen now?" Turns out, she didn't steal a thing! That stupid Godzilla freaked her out so bad that he made her miss a step and fall down the stairs! Bad Godzilla!!!! After a quick check to see if she was ok, I made a mad dash to find that hubby of hers and the rest of our gang. Once we all get into the same spot, we try talking to the security guard, who has now blocked off all access to the stairwell, and has his phone out trying to get instructions from the local emergency people. Kris makes a phone call to a friend who then offers translation help and we communicate that, no, she cannot move the foot (which, I might add, was at a very peculiar angle). And, yes, an ambulance is on the way. 
While we wait for the ambulance to arrive, the kids make themselves comfy on the floor close by. I decide to take a few pictures of the action (that security guard was having the night of his life! Directing traffic on the stairway, telling people to take the elevator, which was only big enough to hold about four people at a time).
Finally, the emergency folks arrived and they carted Aunt Tisha down the stairs and out to the street, where that security guard came in quite handy as he (loudly) blew on a whistle to tell everyone in a three block vicinity to MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!
Since it was getting late at this point, I decided to take the kids home while Kris, Clayton and Tisha made their way to the hospital to have what I thought was probably a twisted ankle checked out. Wow...what a high tolerance for pain she has! Or maybe it was the adrenaline...she may have been white as a sheet, but she smiled at us and she talked to us. I was not expecting the information I received in that next text...
On our way back to the hotel, we stopped for a quick meal at McDonald's.
As we were eating the shocking text came through..."Broken in several places, will need surgery to set it and then another surgery for pins and plates." Me: "What?! Are you joking? Stop playing around!" Kris: "Totally serious right now. Will update more when I know."
Shock, total shock! The kids and I made it back to the hotel and I put them in bed. By the time Kris made it back it was close to midnight. We settled in for the night as we tried to comprehend the situation at hand. We were only halfway through their visit. And, Disney was the next day. Everyone was so excited to check out DisneySea. What would we all do now? Maybe we could just get a wheelchair and push Aunt Tisha around Disney. That wouldn't be too bad. Not ideal, but not too bad. Turns out...it was that bad.
Aunt Tisha spent five days in the Japanese hospital where she learned that 1. Japanese hospital food isn't all that bad; 2. afternoon tea was pretty awesome; 3. the Japanese idea of "grin and bear it" when it came to pain was the most ridiculous notion EVER! 4. Google Translate is super helpful and also hilariously funny.
It wasn't exactly the way we thought the trip would go. But, like the awesome family that we are, we figured it out; we changed a few plans; we smiled and we cried through it all together. And, we weren't going to let a broken ankle keep Clayton and Tisha off Mount Fuji!
**p.s. Thanks to Tisha for help with the Godzilla commentary...she painted quite an adventurous story on her FB**
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