Okinawa

Brad had to go to Okinawa (a tropical island south of Tokyo) for 2 weeks in August for a trial, so we thought "let's try to catch a space-a flight and go with him."

It took us 6 times over 5 days of going to the terminal here on base for us to finally get a flight.

But, we made it.  We flew on the patriot express with Atlas Air and have never had better flight attendants.  The girls loved every minute, especially when they got to wear the scarf and sit in the special seat.

We had a layover at a marine station, so travel time was about 9 hrs.

Cailin's face shows exactly how we felt when we landed in Okinawa.

With a good night's sleep we were ready to hit the beach the next day.  We drove about 15 minutes to an Army post that has this awesome beach.

What a perfect morning.

While Brad worked, we explored the base (on foot since we didn't have a car).  There were about 5 places we could walk to. 

The girls were convinced these statues outside the BX are to keep the bad guys away.

Free mini golf at the community center

We went on nightly walks off base when Brad got home.

This is a diagonal crosswalk through a major intersection.  First one we'd ever seen.  All traffic stops while pedestrians cross.  I couldn't get the whole intersection in the picture, but it was pretty cool.

We loved hanging out at the sea wall.

Brad's trial got delayed on Wednesday, so he unexpectedly got to spend full 2 days with us.  We rented a car and drove to the Ocean Expo Park.

 We played for a while on the nets,

saw the dolphin show,

 had more beach time,

and ate ice cream.

Then they sent us home because a typhoon was coming.

On Friday we went to the Pineapple Park.  We learned all about pineapple and got to sample all we wanted.

Then right in the middle of it was a huge seashell display that filled 2 rooms.  We were a little confused on the sudden appearance of seashells in a pineapple park, but it was pretty cool nonetheless.

Then it was more sampling and buying anything and everything pineapple.  We probably would have bought something, except that the prices were exceptionally high like this liter of juice for almost $13.

 We found a great ramen restaurant for lunch.  Brad loves ramen.  It's not my favorite only because of the seaweed they put in most of it.

So, I ordered fried rice that came out in this bowl that is so hot it cooks while it's sitting in front of you (like a frying pan, but a bowl).  I'd had other meals with the frying pan bowl, but never fried rice.  I love how the rice gets crispy at the bottom.  Such a good lunch.

Then we went to another fruit park, but it wasn't as big a hit as the pineapple park.

We were pretty tuckered out afterward, but don't worry we got one final go at the beach.  Did I mention we love the beach?  We were hoping to catch a red sunset, but the clouds wouldn't allow it.

It was a great trip.  I'm glad I didn't give up after the first five times of not making a flight.

Best of the 4th of July Celebration

Dressing up like pirates for the scavenger hunt (longest, hardest hunt we've ever done)

with our friends, the Jones family.  But we took 3rd place!

Pony rides

Face Painting

Ian's first corn on the cob

First fireworks too!

And this isn't even half of what we did.

What a great day!

Ian's happy (and he knows it)

Ian is a happy baby, but now we have proof that he knows it.

A couple weeks ago, Alexa and Cailin were singing the "if you're happy and you know it" song to each other, and Alexa just decided to try to get Ian to join in on the fun.  She said "if you're happy and you know say ba-ba!" And wouldn't you know, he said "ba-ba!"  I thought for sure it was a fluke, but then she sang it again, and he complied again.  This went on about 6-7 times when I realized I needed to capture this on video.  I got my phone out just in time to capture the last few seconds of him feeling cooperative.  And get a load of his big finish. It's priceless.

We've tried several times since then to get him to do this again, but either he no longer knows he's happy, or he's just not interested in being his sisters' puppet/parrot.

Fun Signs

Some of my favorite signs I've seen in Japan so far.  :)

Just one of the many perks about living overseas.

The Artist

"I'm an artist," Alexa said dryly, matter-of-factly. 

Not "I wanna be an artist," and not "I'm gonna be an artist." Rather, "I'm [currently, sure as I'm sitting here, no doubt about it] an artist."

One of her friends, a little older than her, was complimenting her on a picture she drew. Intended or not, Alexa perceived it as patronizing. And she wasn't having any of it, at least not from a near peer.

And sure enough, she is an artist. She created these lovely flowers today without any help from mom or dad. 

We'll have to work on the attitude, but she's definitely a creative one. 

3rd time's the charm

Alexa figured out how to ride her bike, sans training wheels, on just her third attempt.  Cassi captured it on video. 

Now, all she wants to do is ride her bike.

Silly Saluting

I don't know if anyone out there is still reading our blog.  We post so sporadically, that it's probably very dull to follow us, but this little exchange I had with Alexa needs to be memorialized, so here goes.

Cassi and the kids picked me up for lunch today.  We went to our favorite restaurant, an Indian place called the Great Taj Mahal, because they were having a lunch deal to commemorate their 6th anniversary of being open.  The curry there is great, but we go for the naan.  It's outstanding. Here's to 6 more years of soul-pleasing naan...

Anyway, this place is just a stones throw from base, so there were a lot of personnel from base enjoying the lunch deal.  On our way out, a group of three Airmen were strolling up to the restaurant.  They saluted me, I returned their salute.  Alexa noticed this and asked "Why do you always do this?" as she's hitting her forehead repeatedly. I said, "We have to do it for work," thinking I would spare her (and myself) the explanation of military customs and courtesies that contribute to good order and discipline among us service members.  Alexa just starts cracking up.  Like really laughing.  And I don't think I've seen her laugh like this before.  She gets giggly from time to time, but this was different from giggly.  She really found this idea of hitting your forehead with your hand funny.  And maybe the thought that I had to do it for work contributed to the humor.  I said, "you're a funny girl," because her cracking up made me start laughing.  She said, "no, I'm not the one who does this all the time" and starts hitting her hand against her forehead again.  We laughed all the way to the car, and I've been laughing about this throughout the day.  She's 5, by the way.