Such Happy Happy Faces

Smile, Please!

I drug the boys out to take some pictures the other day. They were less then willing...the high humidity and empty stomachs were not the best combination.

Regardless, it at least gave me a chance to try out a new place to play around.
The same picture can look very different- here is the same picture of David in color, Black and White and Antique.
















I liked the wooden background here. Notice how sweaty David is- you can see the sweat beaded all over his face!
I liked the look of the stone steps.The boys had dashed off, otherwise I would have put them right under this arch. I love the rock formations in Okinawa!
The beach was very littered due to the recent storms, but still very cool looking.
Matt not too thrilled- the water just washed over his foot.

David was favoring me with smiles at least!



There's the smile- because he knew mom was about done! :)

Thanks guys- having a mom who loves to take pictures is just a curse you have to bear!!


Okay- the story behind the picture.... As we left the car to wander around David took the Burger King cup with him to throw away. We quickly realized there was no trash cans in the area so i suggested to David that he take the cup back to the car. He declined- even though the car was only about 50 yards away. Well, no skin off my nose...if he wanted to carry it around, so be it! So he carries this cup all over the place. At the final area (with the cool rock arches) he had set the cup down. As we were leaving I happened to notice and sent him back to get it. He went back down to the beach, retrieved the cup and came back to where Matt and I were waiting. When he got to the fence, he tossed the cup over and climbed over. Just as his feet hit the ground the wind kicks up and starts blowing the cup...right back through the fence. Matt and I cracked up!! It was just too perfect. David just stood there for a long moment "You have got to be kidding me.". So back over the fence...the look on his face says it all!

I was the first down the roller slide. Not one of the fastest ones we have gone on...not to mention stopping midway down.

Here Matt is sad- he just stopped going. My standing at the bottom with the camera wasn't encouraging him to come down. The other photo- he just looks so tall and grown up! (as he is waiting to harass David as he comes down)







David was really a sitting duck here...







Better go faster David, Matt is going for the ball!
David thinking he is out of danger...but not yet! Silly boy to turn his back on his bro. (Matt missed...but not by much!)

The Rainy Season

Still Raining...
Our view from the hill has looked like this for days and days now...It is the "Rainy Season" here in Okinawa, and rain it has! Now, coming from Pacific Northwest, we thought "Rainy Season? Big deal! We're used to rain!". Well, let me tell ya, Okinawa rain is a bit different! When it rains, it RAINS. It can go from nothing to torrential downpour in mere seconds. A downpour here is rain coming down so hard and fast you can't even see- and there is often a wind driving the wind sideways so umbrellas are next to useless.
What it means on a daily basis: walking through ankle deep water to take out the trash...having a dog who doesn't want to go out in the soggy, squishy backyard... wiping up muddy dog prints off the floors...remembering to bring umbrellas in from the car (irritating to be in the house ready to leave and realize it is POURING and all of the umbrellas are in the car)...
According to today's Stars and Stripes newspaper, we have received nearly 13 inches of rain in the last week alone. Since the start of the rainy season on May 18th almost 20 inches of rain have fallen. There had been talk of water rationing due to low reservoir levels, but those fears have eased a bit. We are still "drier than usual" and the rainy season is predicted to end next week.
The thought of water rationing while living on a subtropical island seems strange- everything is so green and lush! Since we've been here, we have not been allowed to water the lawns or wash the cars in housing areas.

I'm going to enjoy the rain while it lasts though...welcome breath of fresh air from the humidity and heat.

June 18, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Dear David...Happy Birthday to you!

Our "baby" is already 12...where has the time gone?

You came into the world June 18, 1997 at 10:00 PM at the Bremerton Naval Hospital, Washington. 7 lbs, 11 oz and 20 inches long....hard to believe now that you were EVER that small! At 5 feet 2 inches, you will probably be taller then me before long.

You have always been so kind, caring helpful. Now at 12 years old you like skateboarding, paintball, reading historical books and tormenting your big brother (some things haven't changed!).

We love ya, kiddo!

(picture of Matt and David was taken on David's first Easter- Easter 1998)

Happy Mother's Day 2009

I had a great Mother's Day!

Actually got to sleep in a bit and then had breakfast in bed prepared and served by David (a fantastic Breakfast Burrito- David is turning into quite a good cook). Willie and Ty stayed close by....just in case some of the breakfast fell (or was slipped to them while Mike wasn't looking!)

After breakfast we loaded up the Delica, stopped for coffee at the shoppette and hit the road headed North. The boys are not thrilled with my love for road trips (heading to "Chipmonk Rapids" as they call it), but having a DVD player in the van certainly eases their pain.

The weather was glorious and the roads clear so we made good time. Our destination- Hiji Falls towards the north end of the Island.

We tried a shortcut through Nago, taking Highway 71 instead of staying on 58. Seemed to save a bit of time, and was a nice change of scenery.
On the way up Highway 58 we saw lots of locals out on the beach and in the water. Not sure what they were collection off the beach- crabs, shell fish??

I had seen this Veggie/Fruit Stand on the way to Okuma last time we were up in this area. I jumped up and down in my seat until Mike agreed to stop (of course we had passed it by then, but he was able to back up- there was actually parking along the road)These are Daikons, or Asian Radishes. The look lovely all piled up. We tried one a while back and I wasn't too thrilled, even though I like radishes. We will have to try one again. They are very popular here.
The pineapples looked too good to pass up so we bought one (only 250 Y) and carved it up right there on the side of the road. Simply delicious!

The Watermelons they had looked good too, but not willing to shell out 1200 Y ($12) for one...

This sign for "Crab Crossing" cracks me up every time I see it.
At the junction of 58 and the turnoffs for Okuma and Hiji Falls is this sunflower field.


It was in full bloom last weekend, but still enough blooms this week to beg to stop. I had fun wandering along taking a few photos (of course, the boys opted to stay in the van and watch the movie- flowers is not exactly their cup of tea!).










Part 2- Hiji Falls

An Okinawa Favorite

New Toes!

Ask any woman living in Okinawa what one of her favorite things about living here is, and topping the list would be "Going to Cocoks! (for you trivia people, cocok is Indonesian for "harmony") I will forever remain grateful to Rebecca for introducing me to this wonderful place (thanks Rebecca!) For you non Okinawa folks, Cocoks is the local nail/spa/salon. For 3990 Yen (roughly $40) you can go have your feet soaked, filed, rubbed, and pampered (it feels so GOOD when they wrap your feet in those hot towels!). You also get a leg and foot massage with scented oil of your choice. While you relax in the big comfy recliners drinking delicious iced tea, you browse through books of artwork trying to decide what artwork you want the lovely ladies to paint on your toes. They call it "Toe Art"- and Art it truely is! The choices seem endless. It's absolutely amazing what they can paint- flowers, beach scenes, shisia, holiday themed artwork (including shamrocks, candy canes and pumpkins), abstract designs, Hello Kitty....it's so hard to decide! There are close to 100 pages of designs- and LOTS of designs on each page. And the colors! Reds, pinks, purples, oranges, greens, white, blues, gold, silver, black...between the designs and the colors the choices just boggle my mind (granted, that isn't hard to do).

Rebecca and I went on Friday- we waited until May 1st so we could take advantage of the 20% off they offer during your birthday month (and then we almost forgot to ask for the discount!). We had such a great time relaxing, drinking tea (lots and lots of tea....which meant by the time we left we really really had to go pee!). The ladies who work there are amazing- they work with tiny little paint brushes and put incredibly detailed designs on even the tinniest toes. On the design I choose, they even blended the nail polish (I didn't know you could even do that!). On Jena's latest design (picture to the left), she said the put glitter on- one flake at a time. I had a terrible time deciding on a design...when they last for a month or so it is a big commitment! A lot of the designs I would enjoy for a week or two...but a month? Maybe not...

The picture below is the first design I had done. I loved the gold accents. After pulling up the photo I realized I these done in mid February...and they removed the last of the design when I went in (so they were on my toes for over 2 months!).

So here's to Cocok's- a place I will continue to enjoy during our time here...and maybe I will be brave enough in the future to try a really funky design!

You can check here for more photos of Cocok's toes... Cocok's on Okinawa Hai

Local Flea Market

I'll take a hamburger, fries, and that shirt over there...

This last Saturday we finally had a chance to go out and cruise around. Matt had a car wash for track in the morning so we got a late start. By the time we stopped at the bazaar on base, picked him up, went to the PX, and had lunch (at the A&W on base) it was well after 3pm. We just headed out with vague ideas of heading to Naha.

About 15 minutes south of us, there is a HUGE A&W. One of the old fashion A&W's you rarely see in the states anymore- they have where you can park and order the food and they will bring it out on trays which hook to your open window (remember that?). Anyway, this A&W is huge with a large play area and tons of outside tables. As we drove by on Saturday we notices they were mobbed with people- on a closer look we realized they were having a flea market. We stopped nearby at an outdoor store, only to realize they were closed for remodeling. Since it was a short walk back to A&W I convinced the guys we needed to check it out (actually, I just headed over and they decided it was easier to follow me than to wait for me!). Notice the gentleman directing traffic? That's one thing we have noticed here- a lot of businesses/stores have someone to direct traffic in and out of their parking lots. When you are leaving, they will step into the road and stop traffic for you so you can pull out- A very nice feature!

It was interesting to see the local flea market items...and to realize the stuff was about the same as you would see in any American flea market. Lots of clothes, stuffed animals and toys. (in the picture you can see the two little girls playing in the tote- they were so cute! I took the shot on the sly- not even lifting up the camera) I was surprised that most of the prices were so cheap- I had heard the local FM stuff was expensive. David found a cool silver necklace for 100Yen (that made is day!), Matt bought a shirt and tie for 300 Yen (right now the exchange rate is about 100Y=$1.00) and we found a "baby" (stuffed animal) for Ty for only 10Y. We had trouble with the last one- David asked how much the moose was and we just couldn't understand her answer...then we weren't sure if she really meant it was only 10Y (.10 cents). She finally found a ten yen coin and held it up. After much laughter, she had her 10 Yen and we had a new baby for Ty.
A fun and unexpected stop.

Home Away from Home

Mike's Office

About two months ago Mike moved from the ER to the APU (Ambuatory Care Unit- where they care for patients having same day surgeries mostly). As the Division Officer there, he has a cool office. I was in taking some staff pictures for him and took these too.

Here he is pulling his hair out over paperwork...
He keeps the candy dish on his desk full of chocolate (The nurses need something to keep them going!)

It's a pretty nice office- he doesn't have to share space, it's on the 4th floor so he has a view (even if the windows are so salt encrusted it's hard to see out!) AND he has is own bathroom (complete with shower). I liked the fact that I could buy more plants and have a place to put them. :)