Detour to Universal and the dreaded flu

We all awoke quite early today and we were simply brimming with excitement. It was our big day out and the girls had been looking forward to it all week since I'd promised them this day out from last week.
A lot of my life in the last five years has been spent on trains heading out from one place and going to another but the girls hadn't been on trains that often and so even this simple and normal everyday activity seemed like an awfully big adventure. We journeyed from Shibuya to Shinkuku and then on the bullet train to Osaka shin and then from there to Osaka and on to Universal City.
The crowds were already swarming as we waited for the gates to open. I've been here several times before and I know everyone starts queuing for the first rides that they see as soon as they enter at 10:00am. The gates swing open and they rush in wanting their first fix on the first ride they arrive at. I guided the girls past those milling crowds and on to the far side where not many people had yet assembled and so our queuing time for those rides were quite quick by comparison.
One of my own thoughts is that some of the attractions are a little dated now. Terminator, Jurassic park and the 'Back to the future' seem quite old and I don't even think my daughters know who exactly Marty McFly is. It was only a few years ago that they finally demolished the Wild West show (which was based on Universals many and varied cowboy movies) and they replaced that with the Land of Oz.
The Children didn't go to in see Terminator because he's a mean robot from the future and I was surprised that they knew the movies but it appears their Father had them in a box set. Riko loved Spiderman and Charlie Brown in the Snoopy studios while Sumomo actually liked the dinosaur ride in the Jurassic park whereas Riko and admittedly myself found it quite scary. Those naughty velociraptors were running wild and even tried to grab us from the boat.
The best that we all agreed on was the Sesame street show even though it broke down (which is part of the plot) and all the characters had to improvise and they did have all of us laughing.

Sadly after lunch, Sumomo started feeling really unwell and she just stayed close to me and held on to me as Riko wandered around but always within sight, as she continued to explore the attractions with glee and her eyes wide open in wonder. Eventually though she came over to cuddle her sister and ask her if she was alright. Sumomo's eyes watered as she shook her head in the negative. In what I thought of as a very touching moment, little Riko kissed Sumomo's cheek and looked up to me and said "Let's go home Momma."
I smiled as I knelt down and hugged them both close to me.
And so we came home early after having a wonderful morning and a lovely early afternoon and after having a special time in which they really enjoyed themselves. Riko-chan made me so proud today in the way that she openly cared for her older sister and she willingly gave up the rest of her day just to bring Sumomo home to rest.
I promised them both that we'll return again soon.
We all ate pineapple and grapefruit pieces on the train home and Sumomo managed to eat just half of hers before just wanting to snuggle into me and sleep. Hitomi was home from work by the time we all arrived and seeing that I was tired and that Sumomo was quite sick, she helped get her to bathe and get into bed to rest.
Then she made some hot soup for us all and I thanked her very much. Sumomo loves green onion and noodle soup but again she could only manage a little before apologising, her appetite is really down.

I have such a wonderful feeling of close family inside my heart tonight and to be honest it's a feeling that I cannot remember experiencing with such intensity since I myself was young and I was in my own Momma's arms.