The Payne Family

Typhoon Kompasu

2010-08-31T18:54:00.000+09:00

August 31, 2010

In the two years we have now been on Okinawa, we have yet to experience a Typhoon. There have been many which have skirted the island, but we have been denied the "main event".

From the looks of things, that is about to change! Of course, Mike is missing all the fun...he is currently in DC for a Brain Trauma Conference (and I'm hoping he leaves before Hurricane Earl cause problems!)

We went to TCCOR 1 at about 0030 Tuesday morning. That meant no school for the boys....they were SOOOoooo disappointed to not have school the second day of the school year (Not!).

TCCOR 1 is: Destructive winds of 50 knots or greater are anticipated within 12 hours. No school for DoDDS students. Staff and teachers will work normal hours, unless changed by DoDDS superintendent. Fill any containers you can use for water storage. If you live in low lying quarters, make arrangements to stay with a friend. Make final check of food and other supplies.

June 30, 2010

2010-07-22T22:23:00.001+09:00

Torii Beach with the Amelia's

For our June out with the Amelia's (a Spouse's Travel Group), we had an outing to Torii Beach. The weather was great- meaning not unbearably hot and muggy! We did a potluck lunch which worked out well- BBQ hot dogs, fresh sushi, delicious brownies (thanks Margy!) as well as other goodies. This outing was for the family (since the the kids are on summer break) and we were encouraged to bring along friends as well. Louise, Steve and kids attended, with Steve manning the grill (thank you Steve!)

David at lunch in the water after playing water football with Steve.

Louise and Emmy cooling off at water's edge.


Margy, Queen of the Amelias, just floating around!


We tried to do some snorkeling, but there was not much to see. I stayed our for a bit and did find a few fun things.....


This looked like a baby sea snake...not sure if it was since the sea snake are black and white as adults. He was only about 10 inches long...just a little guy!


This thing (hint: looking in the middle, going down and to the right) looked like a cross between a sea horse (especially the head) and a fish.

From what I looked up, this is a Synaptid Sea Cucumber. The lumps on it are called "bobbles". It looked like a chenille bedspread to me! When I went to lightly touch it, it shrunk down to just a few inches long in a split second.

July 4, 2010

2010-07-22T20:22:00.005+09:00

4th of July, Neighborhood Style!
We celebrated the 4th of July with our Friends and Neighbors this year. We had the BBQ's going and lots of fantastic food brought out to share...ice cream cake, fruit pizza, Apple pie (can you tell I like desserts??)...not to mention awesome salads and sides. Yumm! Even better than the food was the company. No better way to send the evening celebrating while our Country's Independence.

Here is some of the crowd gathered around...through a fogged camera lens which refused to clear!

Ty was right in the middle of things, but Steve and Arnel didn't seem to mind.

Emmy and Lydia getting ready for the evening's festivities...they were just too cute to watch!

Lydia moved on to Dad...I love her pose here! She is getting so grown up!

Hummm...looks like someone got a bit of sun! We had gone over to Kadena Air Base for a couple hours, and I think Mike went a little light on the sun block!

The kids all had some sparkling fun.

Random posts from the past...

2010-07-18T22:18:00.010+09:00

January 2010- David's Cell Project

David made a Animal Cell project in Science. We thought it turned out pretty Cool. He made the body of it out of homemade play dough and the parts out of various candies. The nucleus was a golf ball- and that was a lot tougher to cut then we anticipated. Our neighbor Steve came over to help David- for which I will be eternally thankful! Great Job David.

June 27, 2010

2010-06-28T22:28:00.007+09:00

Forest Friends

While we were out on the Battle of Okinawa Tour, we encountered a few "friends" along the way.
For those of you not in Okinawa, spiders here can grow to epic proportions. Fortunately, we saw these before going face first into their webs (always a heart stopping moment while you dance around making sure it is just the web stuck in your hair and not the web's inhabitant too).
This Black Beauty was stretched across a gully...and this thing was HUGE!! It was easy to miss since it was all black (without the yellow markings which the others I have seen have). This one dwarfed the others surrounding it...no mean feat!

A note regarding the picture at the top...
I had asked David to put his hand up and he flatly refused (rotten kid!) A very nice lady on the tour with us volunteered to help...since I had just done the same for her photo. Nice to have some point of reference so you can see just how large these little Forest Friends are (and the hand is pretty dang close to the web- the spiders are just that big!)

Even the Candy Machines are Fun!

2010-05-18T22:48:00.004+09:00

Rock, Paper, Scissors!

I have to say, the Japanese know how to make just about anything fun! While checking out at Jusco (our local department store), David and I saw this candy machine next to the register. We couldn't resist! It is always fun trying to figure out the directions (no English).

After putting in our 100 Yen coin the lights started flashing and music and bells going. David pushed the buttons in front deciding whether he wanted to be Rock, Paper or Scissors. The circle on the front of the machine flashed the three choices in rapid succession. As soon as David pushed his choice, the machine locked on to it's choice. The first round was a tie, so they went again. David's Paper lost to the game's Scissors. Is it weird that it was a bit exciting to play Rock, Paper, Scissors with a machine??
We weren't sure if you had to win in order to pick your candy, but David still got to choose his Hai Chews (have no idea how you spell the name of these candies, but we call them Hai Chews)! EIGHT different flavors to choose from including Cola, Sparkling Soda, Grape, Strawberry and Peach. David picked Peach- Yum! Those are the candies stacked up in the machine- they rotate around and you push the button for whatever flavor you want: 1-8. When it gets back around to your choice, it drops it down into the shoot.
Fun! (But next time I get to play!)

My Loyal Subject!

2010-05-18T22:37:00.003+09:00

The boys have been resistant to having their photo taken lately, so it has fallen to Ty to be my test subject for my new lens. Thanks Ty!

I love Ty's eyes- it's no wonder he is always successful at begging for treats from me...

April 11, 2011

2010-04-18T22:38:00.004+09:00

IT's BEEN AWHILE...

Well, so much for my New Year's Resolution of posting on the blog more often!
Never seems to be enough hours in the day and facebook is SO much faster for me to post...
But I miss posting to the blog so I am renewing my resolution to post more often- to not fuss with picture placement and perfecting things and just get it done!
David and I went to Gate 2 Street the other day. We parked on base and walked down to the music store- David wanted to look at Guitars and tuners.Along the way we stopped at the soda machines (of course!). I had to try something different- so opted for this one since I loved the look of the can! Since most of the names are in Kanji, it is often a mystery as to what you are getting. This one was tea- rather strong tea. Not bad once you got used to the taste- although David took one swig, made a face and gave it to me. He thought it might be beer since it was by ORION (the big beer brewery here) and was disappointed it was just tea.

January 1, 2010

2010-01-03T21:25:00.013+09:00

Itoman Peaceful Illumination Festival

Happy New Year One and All!
A new year and a new beginning...and a resolution to try to update this blog on a slightly more regular basis!
(it wasn't until I really looked at this picture that I realized just how SHORT I am becoming! Matt simply towers over me these days.)

On New Year's Day we went to a Shrine then down to Itoman's Peaceful Illumination Festival. The boys were less than thrilled, but humored me with me need to "see some holiday lights" before the holidays drew to a close. Itoman is located in the South part of Okinawa, not an area we have spent much time so getting there in the dark was interesting!

Even the weather cooperated to lend the to the Holiday Spirit- it was FREEZING! (for Okinawa standards anyway!). I had on two jackets and both the boys were glad for their sweatshirts...and Matt was wishing he had heeded my suggestion to bring pants along.

The lights display was beautiful, if small by American standards. We were even treated to the rising full moon to add to the display.

Here is what the website says in regards to this festival-
"This event sends out to the world Okinawan's prayers for peace in the form of 600 thousand miniature light bulbs being lit in Itoman City, where the Battle of Okinawa saw its end. Join the prayers at the "starlight wink" every night at 8 o'clock, where all illumination is turned off once and lit back again. "
We were there when they turned off the lights- I didn't know why until reading this...we just heard lots of Japanese then the countdown. Pretty cool when they turned the lights back on.

This part of the park was the "Under the Sea" part I guess- the blue lights were the top of the water and the sharks and boats where underneath.

The vertical lights were gorgeous- like walking through a jungle of lights!

David and I had fun playing with the timed exposure. Matt just stood around freezing.

Here is David at the end of the tunnel of lights.

There was entertainment too. Fun to watch, but cold just to stand around (yes, we are pansies here in Okinawa- it was probably about 55 degrees and we were chilled to the bone!)

The green houses were open so I made the boy s go through those with me. They were good sports...maybe because it was slightly warmer then outside! The day lilies were beautiful and very fragrant.

Here are the boys with their new friend! Matt found him in the gift shop (while he was trying to stay warm) and we just couldn't resist him!

Matt smiling like the Shisa

David giving the "Shisa smile" a go.

Matt and David are in the middle of this picture- see those dark blobs? That's them. I asked them to strike a pose and this is what I got.

First Day of School

2009-09-03T09:03:00.012+09:00

Back to School!!
August 31, 2009

Monday morning dawned bright and beautiful and after a summer of lazy mornings and late nights, the boys got up surprising well.

This year Matt is a Junior in High School.

David is in 7th grade in Middle School.

Such Happy Happy Faces

2009-06-19T23:49:00.010+09:00

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

2009-06-18T11:29:00.006+09:00

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

2009-06-17T21:55:00.013+09:00

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

2009-05-11T13:46:00.035+09:00

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

2009-05-03T20:39:00.009+09:00

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

2009-04-23T07:55:00.009+09:00

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

2009-04-23T07:39:00.007+09:00

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. :)

Boy Scout Summer Camp

2009-04-09T20:17:00.008+09:00

Motor Boating Merit Badge

This week is Boy Scout "Summer" Camp at Torii Station. David is attending all week, Mike is staff all week, and Matt is part time staff.
One of the merit badges David is working on is "Motor Boating". Every day the scouts get to go out in the Zodiac boats with the Marines- lucky boys!! Not only do the boys get to go out, they get to drive too! David, being the way David is, had to ask the first day- "Can I get thrown in??" The Marines didn't have to think twice- they picked him up and tossed him overboard. After that, all the scouts wanted to be tossed overboard!

That's David (blue and white shorts) hanging off the side of the boat in the photo below- Matt is sitting next to him.

Today Matt went out with the other scouts. I went out to- but just to the Rescue boat so I could stay dry while taking pictures (the boys in the Zodiacs got SOAKED immediately).

Today they worked on the skill of passing other boats. When they were done with that they spent some time swerving the boats around trying to dump off the scouts. At one point, the boat Matt and David were on stopped and EVERYONE jumped off- Marines and all!

Mike ended up teaching the book portion of the class.

David's School Project

2009-03-30T21:07:00.003+09:00

The Ancient Greeks and the Spartans

David just finished his Social Studies project for the unit on the Ancient Greeks and the Spartans. That was right up David's alley! For the project they had to choose two items to make- shield, spear, sword, armor....David chose to make a shield and a spear.

The spear was a good 7 feet tall and he made it out of an old rusty pole. When he was done with it, we opted to take it in after school. I didn't think it was a good thing for him to be carrying it around school with kids there!

The shield was made out of foam board. David wanted to add tacks around the edge so he had to add another layer of cardboard on the back- the tacks were so long they stuck through the foam board...little bit of a hazard! I helped sketch out the loin for him.

All in all, I think his projects turned out pretty darn well- Great Job David!

So Far Behind!

2009-03-30T20:34:00.007+09:00

I am so far behind in blogging, I'm not really sure where to begin!
To start, I will just say we are all doing well....just busy busy busy!
Wrestling season is long over, as is David (and Mike's!) Football season. Scouts is ongoing- David and Mike camped 2 weeks ago and "Summer camp" is coming up during Spring Break. Mike and Matt are staff and David is attending as a scout.

Matt has recently been certified as a Lifeguard and is applying for a summer job at the pools (and I cringe to think of my fair headed child out there baking in the Okinawa sun!). He is currently doing Track at school- discus, shot put, long jump, 1/2 mile and (his words) "the fat man's relay".

David is busy with the paper route, scouts and skateboarding. He's sad that Football is over. Not sure what sport he will do next- for now he is working out with Mike and skateboarding.

Mike is setting in as Division Officer of the APU- Ambulatory Care Unit. He has very nice 4th floor office complete with windows and his own bathroom (with shower!). I've been filling the office up with plants and photos.

I have been occupied with my photography- wrestling and football. Taking pictures for the Okinawa Youth Football League has definitely taken a chunk of my time. Lots of fun though, and I raised a bunch of money for the league (well over $1200).
I am working hard at wrapping up the football photos- maybe by next week I can start catching up on blogging (well, maybe after the taxes are done...)

Some recent activities I need to have separate posts for:
Mike and I went on the "Tunnel Rats" tour. (This was awesome!)
Scout camping at Torii Station
Ty and I on a Thursday wandering
Matt Wrestling Far East
David's school project
Matt and Track

Shakey's- Okinawa Style!

2009-03-30T19:20:00.003+09:00

October 2008

Way back in October, Mike and I decided to give Shakey's Pizza a try for lunch. We haven't had Shakey's in...like, Forever! But it was a place we used to love to go way back when.

It's apparently a very popular place here- we had tried to go before, but the boys were too hungry to wait the 30 minutes plus minutes to be seated. Even today, on a week day, there was a 10 minute wait.

They do not serve salad (we were very sad!), but did have pizza, jojos, curry rice, chicken broth, drinks and dessert. One difference is that you use the same plate the entire time- no clean plate each time you go up like in American buffets. I will tell you, we did not see a single Okinawan leave any food on their plate. If they took it, they ate it. A far cry from the gross waste of food you see in stateside buffets.

The pizza was....interesting! Lets see if I can remember the kinds we they had:
Cheese
Pepperoni
Pepperoni with corn
Pepperoni with bell peppers
Salad Pizza : this had to be the funniest one- just a baked pizza crust with lettuce, tomato and ranch dressing...no sauce. It was literally a plain pizza crust with a salad dumped on top! (very popular thou!)
Wasabi Pizza with Octopus (at least that is what we THINK the white chewy rings were). Slivers of dried seaweed on top. Believe it or not, this was my favorite!
Sausage with tomatoes
Hawaiian
One we couldn't figure out- sauce was dark and it had tiny bits of broccoli, octopus, and other unidentified objects. Good, just didn't know what it was (and that may be a good thing!).

Definitely different choices then your typical American Pizza! Very little meat- the pepperoni and sausage pizzas were more cheese then meat.

The rice and curry was good- very good actually. We tried the soup just because it was there- think it was just a plain chicken broth. Tasted good, but seemed a strange thing to have with the other stuff. But then again, I wouldn't serve curry and rice with pizza either!

The desserts were typical Okinawa...as in not very sweet. One was a pizza crust with tiny bits of pineapple (cooked) then drizzled with a bit of chocolate sauce and lightly dusted with powdered sugar. Okay, but not worth seconds. They also had sweet rolls- looked like cinnamon rolls but not quite. One kind was plain (no icing), the other had a bit of chocolate syrup drizzled over the top.

They had a table set up with pitchers of oolong tea and iced tea (the oolong tea was much milder than the ice tea). The soda dispensers included a cold, very strong, coffee, hot coffee out of a machine and an orange slushie drink (these types of drinks, similar to slurpees are popular here). The soda dispensers are a bit different- there is only one dispenser spigot- no matter which soda you choose, it comes out of the one spigot. You just push the button of which soda you want. We are used to the American dispensers which have a separate spigot for each flavor of soda. No diet soda- just Grape Fanta, Root Beer, Coke, and a melon Fanta (or maybe it was green apple?)...and the cold coffee.

We enjoyed lunch, and the experience, but doubt we'll go back. A bit pricey at 950 Yen for lunch.
Sorry I didn't take any pictures of the pizza- I didn't take in a camera and would have felt funny taking pictures (we were the only Americans there).

Close Encounter

2009-03-15T00:25:00.010+09:00

We had a close encounter up here on the hill....a close encounter with a very large helicopter! We heard the racket and went out to take a look. Half the neighborhood also came out. Hoovering close by was a very large helicopter- I won't guess as to what kind of helicopter it was (I am sure many of you know, but not me!).

It hoovered in one spot for several minutes then moved over so it was directly over the middle of housing hoovered some more. No clue as to why it was so low over a housing area since it was not a medical helicopter landing at the hospital. In all, it hung out for close to 10 minutes.The Helicopters brought back memories of when the helicopters flew through Tierrasanta while we lived in San Diego- we had them come over housing when they were looking for lost children or looking for fugitives. When we lived El Cajon, the helicopters came through spraying for some type of bug...it's been so long I've forgotten exactly what it was for. I remember everyone covering their cars so the stuff wouldn't get all over it- and of course we had to be inside when they were spraying. It was pretty eerie, especially since they did it at night (lots of noise and lights).

Anyway, the helicopters on the hill added a bit of excitement to our day!

Happy Birthday Willie

2009-03-13T22:19:00.012+09:00

Our dearest William is turning 18 years old! Can you believe it? Our kitty has pretty much traveled the world at this point. He has had health issues these last few years, but as you can see he is looking pretty good these days! He is certainly using his old age to his advantage- he meows to be lifted on the couch, meows to be lifted onto our laps, meows to eat, meows to be lifted onto the bed....and lately to even go up or down the stairs. Of course, if we aren't around he manages to get up and down the stairs, and even onto the bed (which is high) just fine on his own!

I do cater to his whims- he's earned it. And at 18 years old, who am I to deny him anything? He still gets his digs in with Mike- it is Mike's side of the bed he goes to for a lift up- even if I am still awake and he is on my side of the room...he goes over to Mike's side to meow. I usually start laughing when he does this, so I am never sure if it is me laughing or Willie meowing which wakes Mike up (bless his heart, Mike's a good sport about it even at 3 am!)

You'll notice from the pictures- Willie takes full advantage of Mike sitting still for any length of time. (and as I am writing this, Willie is laying in my lap after meowing at me until I picked him up). I'm over choosing to overlook the fact that he is shedding all over my keyboard as I type....

So Happy Birthday William!
We love ya, Kitty Cat.

A Little Bit of Rain Today....

2009-03-05T15:49:00.013+09:00

Today's weather was a bit strange! Some very early morning rain, lots of wind, then some blue sky, and back to rain. We had some periods of torrential downpours...the kind that soaks you within a second of stepping outside (I learned my lesson about leaving all THREE umbrellas in the van!).

I was just leaving the hospital after taking Mike some lunch when the one rain storm hit. After seeing how the water was flowing down the streets, I grabbed my camera and headed back out. Below are some pictures taken right down the street.
For those of you who don't live there, you may not realize that these water culverts are about 2 1/2 feet wide by 4 feet deep...there was A LOT of water moving through...FAST! Pretty cool to watch.

Further down the road, the whole road was completely flooded. You can see how deep the water is by the white car- it was up past the undercarriage. There was 4 or 5 vans parked next to me- with lots of Okinawa workers wondering what they were going to do (I think the leaves must have blocked some of the drains). the picture on the right (behind the chain link fence) shows how high up the water was gushing.

After just 5 minutes the rain tapered off and the water rapidly went down- amazing how quickly actually.

Ty

2009-02-27T09:59:00.004+09:00

Ty has been enjoying the cooler weather we have been having- and begs to be let out to laze in the sun. He loves to lay on the front lawn and look out over surrounding area. Of course, he also loves the fact that the neighborhood kids come to visit him!

In the photo, Alani (in pink and black) and Sami (in blue) were taking turns brushing Ty. He was in Heaven!!

Ty has adopted our neighbors- Rebecca, Ryan, Indira and Izzie. Whenever they are sitting out in front, he goes right over and makes himself at home- usually sitting on Rebecca's feet. They are nice enough to let him stay out with them if we have to leave...all Ty has to do is look at us with those sad puppy dog eyes when we call him in- "You want me to go INSIDE and be alone, instead of staying out here with people's feet to sit on and children to feed me sticks and pet me??" Ty loves the attention and we are very lucky to have neighbors who enjoy him (even if he does litter up their front lawn with bits of chewed up sticks and palm fronds!).

Life is Good- Just Busy!

2009-02-18T22:23:00.010+09:00

I know, I know! I am WAY WAY behind on blogging! I apologize, but too busy with wrestling and football right now to keep up on our own photos...

Matt's wrestling season has wrapped up- here are a few photos from his Wrestling Banquet, which was tonight. Can you believe how grown up he looks?? I sure can't. Coach Chumley is on the left, Coach Bobby on the right. Great pair of coaches. Matt received his Varsity letter for wrestling, which he was very excited about. Now he is really going to be bugging us about that Letterman's Jacket to put it on!

The banquet was held at the Globe and Anchor and was very nice. All the wrestlers were asked to wear slacks and ties- and they did! They all looked so handsome. Matt had to go buy slacks AND Dress shoes- he didn't have any...which is amazing considering how many clothes/shoes that child has. He actually went shopping at the BX by himself- and found a great pair of slacks on sale for only $10 and a pair of dress shoes marked down to $10- that's my boy! Scary when your child is actually clothes shopping without you (although he has much better taste then I do, fashion challenged that I am!)

Until I looked at this photo, I really did not realize how much taller Matt had gotten...Mike is looking downright short these days. (You have to overlook David's hair...he had come straight from football practice and had "Helmet Hair")
And no, we won't discuss how short I am feeling these days! The next picture speaks for itself...but just so you know, David IS standing on his toes to look taller!!
For a Wrestling fund raiser, I am putting together picture cd's of the wrestlers- their entire season in pictures. Most of the boys ordered them- and I'm going to be busy busy finishing up on those. Sorting a few thousand photos into individual files then color correcting and cropping as needed. But hey, who needs sleep anyway?? Ended up with some great action shots of the boys- learned a lot along the way too.

David's football season is in full swing- they've had two games now. Sunday I did the team photos- here is David's.

I 'm the official photographer for the Okinawa Youth Football League (doesn't that sound glorified?? LOL!) and it is keeping me busy (as if the wrestling photos weren't!).

I promise I will get caught up on the blog- it will just be a little while before I do. This weekend the boys are camping up at Torii Station for the Boy Scout Jamborette. The Jamborette will be both American Scouts as well as Japanese scouts. Should be fun! Mike is going too. I am not camping over, but will be driving them up Friday night, visiting on Saturday, then picking them up before heading to football in Sunday.

More to come:

Mike and I's Day of Play
Far East Wrestling
David's First Football Game
David's Second Football Game

A Day of Wandering with the Boys- part 4

2009-02-11T19:45:00.009+09:00

The Beach at Sunset

As the day was drawing to a close, we finally decided to head for home. Little did we realize that half of Okinawa must have decided the same thing at the same time. We got into Nago and sat in traffic...seemingly forever! Felt like we were back in downtown LA on the 405 or coming through Seattle at 5pm. After I thought about it, it made sense...there were several festivals up in that area of Okinawa and Sunday night is apparently a heavy traffic time anyway. Traffic finally cleared up after the turn off for the Express Way- whoo hoo! open road ahead!

On the plus side, the fast approaching sunset promised to be a beautiful one. I debated pulling over but had pretty much decided just to push on for home as it would be too hard to pull off (if you live here you realize what I mean- not always easy to find somewhere to stop). Just as I made up my mind, fortune smiled on me (and frowned on the boys...well, Matt at least!)- I was stopped in traffic for a red light and low and behold, there was an entrance to a actual parking lot on the beach! And traffic was clear to pull across into it! I whipped into the parking lot amid Matt's groans of "Why are we stopping??". David cheerfully got out with me and we walked down to the beach...Matt opted to stay in the car (again!).

David and I spent a wonderful 20 minutes playing at the water's edge watching the sun go down.

David found this neat "Heart Rock". We brought it home to put in our Shell Garden (next to our walkway we have part of the flowerbed filled with sand and this is where we put our sea shells, sea glass and interesting rocks we find).

The sun had set and our wandering was done for the day. Next stop- home and dinner!

A Day of Wandering with the Boys- part 3

2009-02-06T07:45:00.030+09:00

The Churaumi Aquarium

Next stop on our day of wandering, and our original destination, the Churaumi Aquarium. The Aquarium is located about 1 1/2 hours north of us and sits right on the East China Sea. The buildings are beautiful- very striking architecture.

David and I had been to the Aquarium during a school field trip, but this was the first time for Matt (Mike has still not been...that work think just keeps getting in the way of having fun!). The indoor part of the Aquarium itself is huge and you have to pay to get in (well worth it- it is AMAZING!) . However, there is enough outside, which is free of charge, to keep you busy for hours. Since Mike was not along and it was so late in the day, we opted just to wonder outside.

Right now there is a Flower Festival going on, so there are glorious flowers everywhere! These stairs lead from the parking areas down to the main parts of the Aquarium and park. There were designs made out of the flowers, all so carefully arranged. The boarders were living flowers, but all the flowers in the middle were cut. The mama bird and baby bird were neat- the little girl in the picture loved them too. Our first order of business- lunch (it was after 3:30 and we had not eaten yet). We had packed a picnic lunch so we decided to eat while we watched the Dolphin show. While we waited for the show to start, Matt actually went back to the car for his jacket. In the sun it was nice- but in the shade, being blasted with the wind it was down right chilly.

The Dolphin show was fun and featured several different kinds of dolphins. The main feature of the show were the False Killer Whales. They did a lot of interacting with the trainers.
In this photo I'm not sure if he was sticking out his tongue at us...or playing dead! Since all the announcing was in Japanese, we weren't sure.

The stars of the show where these guys- the Common Dolphin They definitely had the WOW! factor with their incredibly high jumps (and personally, I thought the False Killer Whales looked just a tad sinister!)

After the dolphin show we saw the sea turtles. The breed several different kinds of turtles there at the aquarium and we got to see adults as well as babies. You can view them from the top, then go downstairs and see them under the water. Next best thing to diving with them.

Since I take such great delight in dragging the boys around, we had to check out this little beach. We kicked around for a bit. I made them pose for some pictures then turned them loose to play. The had a blast throwing rocks into the water (do boys EVER outgrow this??)Here is Matt putting his shoes back on as we left the beach. The story behind the photo- he was giving me a hard time about taking pictures of EVERYTHING "We're at the beach- let's take a picture. Oh, hey, he's putting on his shoes- lets take a picture!" Since he was being such a smarty pants I just stood there and took pictures the whole time he put on his shoes- me laughing and him grumbling the entire time.

Hey, anyone want a soda?? Pick a machine, any machine! (just a note here- Matt does not have his hand on David just being nice...he is actually pushing him away from the soda machines so he can't check out what kinds there are).
The boys discovered their new favorite drink- Melon Cream Soda. I am not much of a melon person, but it is surprisingly good.

Matt was uncooperative for pictures after the shoe incident, so David was the only one agreeable to pose in the pictures of this cool dragon like guy (Thank you David!).

Another fantastic feature at the Aquarium is the net play area. This statue is right outside the entrance to the nets.The nets cover a huge area and are very popular (and definitely not something you will find in the states since the potential for injury- ie: lawsuit- is there).Unfortunately, the play area is for children 12 and under...although Matt tried to play, but I made him get off. No way he can pass for 12- especially around all those little Okinawan kids. David had a blast jumping from net to net- we had to drag him away. I will admit to being jealous- looked like ton of fun and I would have been out there in a heart beat!

For some obscure reason, David was really taken with the walking escalator ramp and wanted his picture taken as he came up.

Last stop of the day: The Beach at Sunset

A Day of Wandering with the Boys- part 2

2009-02-04T20:27:00.013+09:00

Manzamo Point

Our next stop along the way was a surprise find. Matt had asked to stop at the next restroom so I was on the lookout for somewhere to stop. My first attempt of finding a beach (and hopefully a restroom) was short lived- there was a locked gate right off the road.

The next sign I saw looked promising- big white sign with blue Japanese writing. I saw something "Point", threw on the blinker and took the turn. The parking area was just a bit down the road and as we pulled in we were amazed to see Tour buses even! There were vendors on either side of the parking area, wonderful bathrooms, and soda machines (of course!). The twist to these soda machines- one of them sold BEER! Can you imagine a Beer vending machine just out in a parking lot in the States? Don't think so! David wanted to know if he could buy one- "just because". (we didn't)

We wandered through the vendors and discovered some wonderfully tasteful donuts (not sure WHAT they actually were, but we'll go with donuts). They were so good (and fresh and hot) that we bought two, then bought two more on our way out. Here is Matt telling the vendors which ones we want (they had three different flavors- all yummy)

After going through the parking lot a trail lead out into an open area then along some bluffs. The view was amazing! There was a stiff breeze coming off the water which put a chill in the air, but it was magnificent.

The blue of the water was so vivid.

As the trail wound a bit north and made a loop (the whole trail is probably only a 1/4 mile or less) you could see the coast to the north (where we were heading to the aquarium).

As it turned back towards the parking lot you could look into this cove. From what I can tell from the map, it is looking towards Onna Village.I don't know what the purpose of the rope between the two rocks- but I loved it!Our own little blue bird of happiness...

We checked out the vendors of the other side of the parking lot as we came back. Same exact stuff that the other vendors tents had! The thing that struck me as odd was that it appeared to be lots of individual vendors...but each one sold almost exactly the same things...arranged in exactly the same manner. A group of three Okinawian ladies visited with us. They commented (using broken English and lots of sign language) on how big Matt's shoulders were and how big and strong he looked. They asked if he did weight lifting. We told him "Yes, a little, but he wrestles right now." The weren't sure about the "wrestling" part until we mimed the wrestling stance "Oh, Hai!!" Sounds funny, but what comes to mind to describe them is "they were twittering like little birds", smiling and nodding. Matt was horribly embarrassed to be the center of such attention.

A Day of Wandering with the Boys- part 1

2009-02-04T20:21:00.003+09:00

Sunday, January 15, 2008

Today I drug the boys out and about. Of course, they couldn't wait to go! (yeah, right!)

The final destination I had in mind was the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium. It took us a bit to get on the road and going. We had to stop and exchange American money for Yen and got waylaid at the little clothing store next to the Exchange. Little shop, but lots of cool clothes, hats and belts (for the boys). Then onto Kadena to top off the gas tank and, finally, we were off!

We only made it about 5 minutes up the road before I had to pull over. After seeing the hearse parked along the side of 58 I just had to stop and take a picture. The Japanese Hearses are a bit different than their American counter parts...as you can see here. Quite the work of art! Believe it or not, this is not one of the more ornate ones (the picture at the top is the very front of the hearse).
Here is some information on funerals in Okinawa that was posted on Okinawa Hai:

Having been to a few Okinawan funerals, there are a few other differences I observed.

Firstly, public signs are put up on the streets to `advertise` that there was a death and give directions to the deceased home for people to come pay their respects.
At the funeral, as with weddings, it is customary to offer money in a special envelope to the deceased persons family (usually 1000yen, in old notes to show you were unprepared for the death, new notes are for weddings). In return you will usually receive a token gift (a towel, candy, cake, rice).
All the mourners wishing to pay their respects will complete a brief ritual at a alter of sorts (at the cremation center) which contains incense, and picture of the deceased. The family is usually seated and you pay your respects to them too. In my experience there isn't a service/reading that people attend like western funerals.
The family of the deceased are obliged to carry out many other rituals when a person in their house dies; some of these are repeated for up to 12 months or more. Furthermore, people in mourning usually refrain from attending joyous events such as weddings and parties for the next 12 months.
These are just things that i`ve observed so I'm sure some are wrong or incorrect, but that's the basic premise. Posted by: Kate

We made it another 5 or 10 minutes down the road before I was again compelled to stop. This time the stop was a parking lot alongside a bridge. I have always admired the sign along the side of the bridge (photo on the right with the cherry tree behind it), so what better time to stop and take a look? (especially since i had to stop for a red light- it was meant to be!) The sign on the left was one of two in the parking lot- I have no idea what it says, but thought it was beautiful!

I was pleased to find that there is a wonderful path that runs along the stream. There were some shires on the far side. David walked down a ways with me before going back to the van. Matt decided to stay at the van (fuddy duddy that he is!). While they waited for me to get back, he and David played football.

Up on the hill side, deep in the trees, was a man-made shelter. It looked to be a cave that someone walled off by weaving palm fronds- it was complete with a door and everything (the black area in the middle is where the door was). Looked very cozy! There was a man up there- but I hesitated too long to take a picture so he isn't in it.

Part II- Manzamo Point

Part III- Churaumi Aquarium

Part IV- A Glorious Sunset to End the Day

SUPER BOWL XLIII

2009-02-02T13:02:00.006+09:00

Steelers Win!!

What a close game!! I don't think Mike was breathing most of the 4th quarter.SuperBowl Okinawa style was a bit different as the game started at 8:20 AM here. The boys had begged and pleaded for the last week- "can we PLEASE watch the game??" and we did decide to let them stay home and watch...after all, it was the Steelers!! (I took them in to school as soon as the game ended). From what we heard, a lot of the high school teachers actually play the game during class- but Matt didn't think the teachers he had would do that.

There are a LOT of Steeler Fans here, so lots of people looking forward to the game. Many places on base had SuperBowl parties this morning, but we opted to stay home since we let the boys stay home. Beautiful morning for SuperBowl watching...sunny and 73 degrees.

Camping with the Scouts

2009-02-01T20:08:00.011+09:00

TORII BEACH CAMP OUT

David went camping with the Boys Scout Troop out to Torii Beach the weekend of January 16-18. He has camped many times with Boy Scouts, but this was his first camp out without Mike along (Mike usually camps with the Scouts as one of the adult leaders). Since Mike had to work on Friday and Matt was wrestling on Saturday, he decided to pass on this camp out. David was not too thrilled that he would be "by himself", but he decided to tough it out.

The scouts gathered at the Scout Hut Friday afternoon and were on the road by 5:30PM. We allowed David to take his cell phone as a comfort (they do not usually allow phones/electronics to go). Sure enough, about bed time we got a teary call from David. "Can't sleep", "Other Scouts too loud", "The others won't go to bed"...in other words, "Mom and Dad, I miss you!". We stayed positive, gave our love and kisses over the phone, and hung up... and Mom felt her heart break a little!
David did call in the morning- having a great time and they were heading out on their 10 mile hike "Love ya, bye!!". From what we heard, it was a beautiful hike through Torii Station and up to some castle ruins. How cool is that to hike to castle ruins???

Mike, Matt and I went up Sunday morning to pick David up. They had had perfect weather for the camp out- warm and sunny with very little wind. The camping area there is RIGHT on the beach- very pretty. Here are a couple of photos of the beach in front of the camping area. I am not sure what the stakes sticking our of the water are...maybe they harvest seaweed out there or something.

Later, we heard from the scout master, Walt, a funny story. For dinner on Saturday night, the boys were going to cook meatballs and rice to put in tortillas (this is a meal Matt learned from his Anacortes troop, and it has quickly become a favorite in this troop). David was assigned the task of cooking the meatballs. As he gets things set up, David whips out his cell phone. Walt asks him what he is doing. "I'm calling Matt to see how to how to make the meatballs!". Walt laughed. "I think we can figure this out- put away the phone!"
Mike and I got a chuckle from that. David has helped prepare this meal lots of times- yet felt he had to call his brother to make sure he was doing it right.

So our "Baby" survived his first "solo" camp out. Sigh. Just another step along the way of growing up...

Okinawa Friendship Wrestling Tournament

2009-02-01T14:48:00.015+09:00

Our Champion

Saturday, January 17, was the Okinawa Friendship Tournament held at Kadena High School.
It was a LONG day of wrestling: weigh-in's were before 8am and the activities didn't wind up until about 8:00PM.

Matt's weight class was round robin scoring. This means that every match wrestled earned points- different points for different things.
5 pts- win with a pin
3 pts- win by "teching" your opponent (scoring 6 more points then them in a match)
2 pts- win by decision (winning 2 of the 3 rounds)
1 pt- losing, but scoring points
0 pts- losing by a pin
At the end, the all wrestlers' points were tallied and the highest score wins.

Matt wrestled 3 matches. His first match he didn't win, but since he lost by decision, he earned 1 point.
Matt's second match was a tough one, but he pinned his opponent in the second round.For Matt's last match of the day he had to sit through over 5 hours of wrestling. We were beginning to think they had forgot the 180 weight class! The officials just wanted to keep all the final matches at the end of the day- so they sat around and waited.
Matt's coach told him he could possibly win the tournament if two things happened. One- if the wrestler currently in the lead lost, or won by anything other than pinning his opponent. And two, Matt had to win with a pin.

We watched the other 180 match while holding our breath. It was a good match, and the leading wrestler was unable to pin his opponent. So far, so good. Now all Matt had to do was win his match...with a pin. But no pressure!!
I was so nervous I could hardly hold the camera (and didn't even notice my flash was not going off- which is why the pictures are lousy!). Matt was able to flip his opponent over and put him on his back...
and held him for the pin!

Here is Matt and one proud Dad right after the match.Here is Matt with his "Champion 180 Pounds" award. He had to wear his "Wrestlers for Life" t-shirt Coach McNally (his 8th grade wrestling coach from Anacortes) gave him a few days before we moved.

To celebrate Matt's win, the three of us went to Chili's after the tournament. David wasn't with us- he was camping with the Boy Scouts at Torii Beach.

We're Still Here!

2009-02-01T13:07:00.003+09:00

Hey Everyone!
We are still here... busier then ever.
I will be trying to catch up on blogging- I am WAY behind.

Stay tuned for news on the following:

Okinawa Friendship Wrestling Tournament
A Day of Wanderings:
A Japanese Hearse
The Aquarium and Dolphin show
A Glorious Sunset
The Cherry Blossoms
Rumble on the Rock Wrestling Tournament

Here Comes the Tooth Fairy!

2009-01-19T11:05:00.008+09:00

David lost a tooth today! It was one of his bottom teeth.

I didn't even know it was that loose until last night. When David showed me it looked like this (YUCK!!).

He was worried about swallowing it in his sleep, but it managed to stay attached. This morning it was really bothering him so he wiggled it back and forth and finally ripped it out.

Welcome Home Matt!

2009-01-11T22:31:00.017+09:00

The Kubasaki wrestlers came home from Yokosuka and the "Beast of the East" tournament today. They flew out of Tokyo sometime after 4 and were supposed to arrive in Naha at 7:00 PM.

We decided to go down and pick up Matt rather than wait for him at the high school- we were too excited to hear about the trip to wait!
We allowed plenty of time to get to the airport since we hadn't been down there before. Didn't take as long as we thought so we drove around for a bit then decided to just park and go in. Found out the flight was delayed 20 minutes so we had plenty of time to look around the airport. The Domestic side of the airport, where we were, wasn't as big as I thought it might be. I would say maybe a quarter or a third of the size of SeaTac. One whole floor seemed to be all shopping. Instead of lots of individual shops in separate spots, it was all open and laid out like a department store...all that separated the different vendors were the walk ways. Great to wander around and see stuff without having to go in and out of shops.

There was LOTS of cool stuff to see! David and I were intrigued with the "Green Caviar". They had samples so we just had to give it a try...although as you can see, it isn't the most attractive looking thing. Taste was...okay. The little "balls" pop in your mouth and it has a salty, sea water taste. Since we couldn't read the signs in Japanese, I'm not sure what the big deal is with it, but they were selling the "Green Caviar" in several spots. I looked it up online once we got home and here is what I found:
It is also called "Umibudo" or "Seagrapes." It is family of Caulerpaceae in the seaweeds genus. "Some species (especially Caulerpa lentillifera and Caulerpa racemosa) are eaten under the names sea grape or green caviar or umi-budo in Okinawa. They have a peppery taste." (Wikipedia). I didn't really taste any peppery taste...maybe a bit of a tang, but not much. I also found that Umibudo is supposed to be "good for beauty and health" and it is often used as a "salad vegetable". Definitely an interesting food! Tempting to take it and pop it like bubble wrap (glad I didn't mention this to David as he would have had to give it a try!) On the way out of the airport, we even got Matt to give it a try. The picture below shows the display of boxes ready to buy- they had large and small boxes available and they looked like they were made of Styrofoam- to keep this stuff cool and fresh I guess. Pretty pricey stuff- 2,100 Yen for these boxes (about $23 right now) As it got closer to the time of the plane arriving we went downstairs to the "Arrivals" area. They had a wonderful aquarium right next to were we were waiting. The fish were fun to watch- especially this HUGE Moray Eel. I am used to seeing the black moray eels- this spotted one was very different, as well as being about three times bigger than any other Moray I've seen.

I would have to say one of my favorite spots of the airport had to be the...bathroom. I know, I know- but they had the coolest toilets! (and a great "nursery" area for nursing moms...a large separate room that even had an area with running water to mix formula). Restrooms here in Okinawa can really vary- from the "Squatty Potties" to the ones like in the airport.As you can see in the picture, these were high speed, low drag, potties! "Flushing Noise" (with volume control) for those with bashful bladders, water spray controls allowing you to select what you want sprayed and with how much pressure you want it sprayed with (and the water is nice and warm!)...and don't forget to use the "Powerful Deodorizer" if necessary (you would have to agree, this is a pretty neat option- and one other patrons can really appreciate!). Top it off with heated seats, and that is one high quality toilet!

I couldn't resist peeking into the stall labeled for mothers. Wow! Where were these when the boys were toddlers? I love that they not only have a safe (and clean) place for the youngsters to sit while Mom uses the pottie, but they also had pottie seats for the kids to use the big toilet without falling in... and a big enough stall to move around comfortably while helping your kids. (FYI- Mike said the men's room wasn't quite so deluxe- not so many "bells and whistles" on the toilets and no "Dad" stalls there.)

Notice the extra toilet paper? All those rolls just stacked there- most of the restrooms we have been in have extra rolls in the stalls. Not in the states- even the rolls in the TP holders are usually locked in! Apparently TP theft is not common here in Okinawa.

The Week in Review...

2009-01-11T22:07:00.003+09:00

January is off and running.

This week sure flew by!
Monday saw Mike going in for surgery for a hernia repair. He is feeling better, but still a lot of pain, bruising and swelling. He wasn't quite expecting the incision to be so big (4 inches)- now he has a matching scar to the appendix scar! He has two weeks of convalescent leave, and will definitely need it.

Monday also started Tackle Football Practice for David- and Mike too of course, since he is coaching. He was VERY slow moving on Monday (I am actually surprised he made it out there at all with having surgery in the morning). The team did conditioning all week, and will condition next week also. It's killing Mike has to just stand around during practice- no lifting, no running,...not much of anything. He has several assistant coaches and is glad for the help. David has been sleeping well this week- I guess two hours of working out during practice can do that to a kid. :)

The weather this week has been cool- and felt down right cold on Saturday! All the neighborhood kids were bundled up while playing outside- big jackets, gloves, hats...you would have thought it was Washington or Idaho...just minus the snow. Friday night the wind kicked up and blew all through Saturday. Temperature was about 50 degrees, but with wind chill they said it was 40. Burr! Warm for anywhere else, but we were freezing here! When David and I were down at the seawall today Sunday) there was sand everywhere. So much sand blew up onto the grass areas that it completely covered the grass- almost looked like it had snowed (we can dream at least!). It looked like they had already swept off the walkways, but sand was still piled up along the sides of the walkway to the seawall- about 18 inches deep in some areas.

Saturday night we took David to see "Bedtime Stories". Very much an Adam Sandler movie. David really enjoyed it- Mike and I liked it, but a lot of things really bothered us about the movie and it was not as good as we had hoped. Still, it was cute- especially "Bugsy"- the bug eyed Guinea pig.

Matt is back from Japan tonight- trying to catch up on some more homework before crashing. We went to the airport to pick him up (see other post) and stopped for dinner on the way home. Made for a late night getting home after 9pm.

Time to take Ty for a walk and call it a night...another busy week is on the horizon.

Beast of the East Wrestling Tournament

2009-01-10T22:04:00.006+09:00

Congratulations Matt!

This weekend Matt is in Yokosuka, Japan, for the "Beast of the East" Wrestling Tournament. The team left Thursday after school, they spent Friday practicing, and today (Saturday) was the Tournament. They will arrive back to Naha Airport at 7:00 tomorrow night.

Matt just called a few hours ago to give us an update. Of course, he couldn't just come right out and say how he did- he spent 15 minutes giving us a minute by minute account of the day. FINALLY he broke the news- he had placed 3rd in his weight division!! We were SO excited!! (and I bet Matt was grinning ear to ear since he drug out the story for so long before telling us the final result- brat that he is!!)

We weren't sure how Matt would do there at the Beast, especially since he was "wrestling up" . What is "Wrestling up"? you ask? The boys are allowed to wrestle one weight class above their actual weight. Since the Kubasaki team has more than one kid in some of the weight classes, they "wrestle off" to see who is going to wrestle at that weight (at the Varsity level). For this big tournament they did the wrestled off before Christmas. Matt was out wrestled for his actual weight class, but could "Wrestle up" and try for the next weight class. He wrestled the boy in the next weight class and beat him, so he was allowed to go to the Beast and wrestle in the 181-215 pound class. (for the trip to Beast of the East, only one student per weight class was allowed to go- there are no JV/Varsity matches).

One thing Matt didn't realize- he had to weigh at least 181 since he was wrestling up...and he had dropped a few pounds this last week and was down to 179 pounds. He had lots to drink before the weigh in to make weight! (only my kid is trying to ADD weight to wrestle...aren't most wrestlers doing any thing possible to LOSE weight??)

A brief summary of Matt's matches (I will update this once Matt is home and can give me the full story again- so check back!!):

For the first match he received a "bye", meaning he didn't wrestle- it is an automatic advancement to the next round (a lucky draw and the first time he has ever had a bye).
He had to wait 3 hours until he actually wrestled. It was against someone weighing in at exactly 215 pounds (so he outweighed Matt by over 33 pounds). Guess he got Matt in a headlock, bloodied his nose and his lip and took the first round by points. Second round he again bloodied Matt's nose and took him by points. Since it is the best 2 out of 3, Matt took that match as a lose.

Next match was against a 197 pound guy. First round went to the other guy by one point. In the second round Matt pinned him about half way through. A Win for Matt!

Matt's final match was against another giant- full 215 pounds. This kid was from Kinnick, so he had hometown advantage. Matt took the first round by points. Second round went to the local boy by points. This put them into a third round- Matt said both of them were completely sucking wind. The guy shot at Matt's legs, but he was able to sprawl out and then get behind him to score. He was pushed right up against the line (if you are pushed out of the circle, your opponent scores a point), but was able to get away and score. The Win goes to Matt!

Not only did Matt take third for his weight class, his placing 3rd put Kubasaki High School into the third place position. Woohoo!!

Wish we could have been there to see it... Extremely proud that he did so very well, especiall wrestling boys so much heavier then him. Guess wrestling those Marines really paid off!

It's Been Exhausting

2009-01-10T21:52:00.004+09:00

Being an only child is exhausting I guess! With Matt being gone (he is currently in Yokosuka, Japan, for wrestling), David has been enjoying being an "only child" for the weekend.

One of the benefits- being allowed to stay up a bit later than normal. David was told to head to bed last night...but didn't quite make it upstairs. He only made it off the couch onto the floor...where he promptly fell fast a sleep! Ty soon joined him... and then Willie too.

After about two hours we finally woke David up (not an easy task) and got him upstairs to bed. Today he didn't believe that he fell asleep on the floor- he was sure he had just rested there a few minutes and listened to us the whole time. It wasn't until I showed him all the pictures that I took that he really believed he had crashed out on the floor for so long!
(I think the football practices this week MAY have had something to do with David being so tired by the end of the day...)

Notice Any Differences?

2009-01-04T22:52:00.007+09:00

In our everyday travels around Okinawa, we often come across things which highlight some differences in cultures. After being here for several months, we've gotten used to many things here in Okinawa and don't even think twice about them. I took this photo outside a Lawson (similar to an American 7-eleven, only much nicer!).
It wasn't until looking at the photo that several things popped out at me.
Take a look....What do you notice??

Some things I noticed:
The phone- seems in the states that pay phones were not always easy to find. Here they seem very easy to find, even around town.... AND the phone books are usually intact.
The cigarette machine. Where is the last cigarette machine you saw in the states?? I think the last one I saw was inside a bar. Not as common as the soda machines (of course, since they are EVERYWHERE!), but readily found.
The "But Can"- so you don't have to put out your cigarettes on the ground. (and conveniently placed right next to the cigarette machine!)
The Trash Cans- count them, one, two, THREE for recycling your trash (plus an extra can for regular trash)- all nicely color coded. And the locals use them! Even the trash cans seem clean here.

Another thing which is not quite as apparent in the photo- the sidewalks outside the stores are clean. I often see the shop keepers outside sweeping up around their stores. Sure there is trash around, but I have to say things appear much cleaner here then in the states (and I would hazard a guess that a lot of the trash I see around come from non-locals)

Wrestling

2009-01-03T20:57:00.031+09:00

Futenma "Tap Out" Wrestling Tournament

Today was the MCCS Wrestling tournament at Futenma. It was a good way to get the boys back on track after the holidays- especially since January is action packed with wrestling events every week.

Wrestling finally got underway just before 10:00am. Matt's first match started out well. He held his own during the first round, but lost by points.

During the second round Matt was ahead on points...but a slick move on his opponents part caught Matt with in a pin.
Matt was frustrated- if he had realized how little time was left in the round, being ahead on points means he could have gone on the defense and possibly won the second round so they could go on to the third round for the best two out of three.

Second match...another scary looking Marine! (Matt has said that after wrestling the Marines at these tournaments, he will never again be intimidated by a high school student on the wrestling mat. This was an issue last year as Matt wrestled, as a freshman, against some very accomplished and scary looking seniors).
On this match, the first round went well for Matt, but the win still went to the Marine on points.

During the second round "after the Marine scored several points, Matt, in a desperate attempt to score, threw his opponent in an impressive head-and-arm, taking him to his back (and holding him there seemingly forever) to win with a pin". (in case you are wondering, those are Matt's words!)s).Yeah!! I'm not sure who was more excited- me or Matt! I was yelling and screaming- very exciting!! Matt was thrilled to
have beaten a Marine. OOOO-RAAAH!

After winning a match, you have to go up to the head table and sign your card. Despite shaking hands, Matt was able to sign his score card (accompanied by a proud little brother)!

Just 10 minutes later Matt was called for his third match. Caught him by surprise- and if he had known, he could have asked to have more time. They are supposed to have a minimum of 15 minutes between matches. With only 12 minutes to recover from a pretty intense second match, Matt was once again on the mats. Matt definitely held his own during the two rounds, but in the end was out pointed.Today was by far the day of wrestling Matt has had- he went out aggressively and fought hard and well. The two Marines may have won their matches, but they worked hard to do it! Great job Matt- Proud of you, Kiddo!

By the way, Matt attributes his stellar performance today to his new red, white and blue Asics wrestling shoes!

Here Comes 2009...

2008-12-31T22:42:00.010+09:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
明けましておめでとう

"Akemashite Omedeto"

Happy New Year to One and All.
2008 was an exciting and eventful year for us- and we're hoping 2009 will be just as exciting (just maybe not so chaotic!) and filled with many many new things.

A bonus of living in a foreign country is learning about their customs and culture. In Japan, New Years Day is apparently one of the biggest holidays of the year.
Here is is a clip from Wikipedia...

Hatsumōde, hatsuhinode, the "firsts" of the year

Celebrating the new year in Japan also means paying special attention to the "first" time something is done in the new year. Hatsuhinode (初日の出) is the first sunrise of the year. Before sunrise on January 1, people often drive to the coast or climb a mountain so that they can see the first sunrise of the new year. Hatsumōde (初詣) is the first trip to a shrine or temple. Many people visit a shrine after midnight on December 31 or sometime during the day on January 1. If the weather is good, people often dress up or wear kimono. Other "firsts" that are marked as special events include shigoto-hajime (仕事始め, the first work of the new year), keiko-hajime (稽古始め, the first practice of the new year), hatsugama, the first tea ceremony of the new year, and the hatsu-uri, (the first shopping sale of the new year).

So here is to our First of this year- our first New Year in Okinawa.

We spent a quiet New Year's Eve- watched "Dan in Real Life", BBQ'ed hamburgers and snacked on shrimp cocktail. We all made it until midnight (thanks to a late coffee with plenty of caffeine for me!)and stood outside with neighbors watching the fireworks (see above) over Chatan Town and listening to all the shouts of "Happy New Year"!

Ice Skating

2008-12-30T22:20:00.020+09:00

Another Free Trip!

Today, December 30, we went Ice Skating at Southern Hills Skating Rink (this is the only ice skating rink on Okinawa). This was yet another trip we won through the Schilling Center (gotta love it!).

We meet at the Schilling Center at 10:15 and by 10:30AM we were on the road comfortably ensconced in a full sized bus. We all took advantage of the very relaxing 30 minute drive to do a bit reading.

Although we were a bit worried, they DID have skates to fit Matt's feet (whew!).

Opening the doors into the rink itself, we were hit with a blast of frigid air- ahhh! Pure heaven! It was actually COLD...and it felt oh, so very good! Even before hitting the ice, we decided it was worth the trip just to sit in the blessedly cold air. Oh, the simple delights when you live in a tropical paradise.

You are required to wear gloves while on the ice- and we didn't mind since it was cold. We even kept our jackets on for most of the time.

Even though Matt had never ice skated before, he picked it right up.

David took a bit longer, but he was the one we had to drag out- he didn't want to leave.

They had one break while we were there- a short time out while they ran the Zamboni over the ice. It was neat to watch the ice go from all cut up, to smooth and shiny!

I had not ice skated since...oh, I think I was about 7 years old. I went with my sister and the family across the street (Kim and Nina- Lauri's best friend)...and all I really remember about the trip was that my fingers got slammed in the door as we were leaving to go skate. Ouch!
This time went much better! Although my guys spent a lot of time laughing at me. I decided to teach myself to skate backwards...every time Matt skated by me he would just shake his head "Mom, just give it up!". However, by the time we left, I did manage to skate all the way around the rink backwards...it wasn't fast and it certainly wasn't pretty....but I did it! (and had a few good laughs at myself along the way)

The boys discovered "Green Fanta" in the soda machines- they loved that! The soda machines in the rink were a bit different than the other machines here. They dispense the cup, dump in ice, then fill with soda. Small cup for 100 Yen- but fun to watch the process!

This building (church?) sits across the street and above the skating rink. I liked the look of it- especially the retaining wall, which looks like it has melted and buckled.

Not sure what to think of this cigarette "butt can"...."Good smoking?"- what is THAT supposed to mean? There were three of four of these right outside the doors to go in.

Come June or July, when the heat has become just too much for us, we plan on escaping back to the ice skating rink- even if we just pay the 200 Yen spectator fee and sit in the cold. Humm...wonder if you can buy a season pass???

December 28, 2008

2008-12-30T22:19:00.000+09:00

Yaejima Park
Yesterday we had so much fun finding different parks, that the boys and I went out again today. Mike had to work so we were on our own. We stopped by a park just outside Kadena- Rebecca and Angie had both told us about the park and the fun roller slide and drop slide.
This statue is along the street edging the park- I have no idea what it says, I just liked the style!
Posted along the fence to the park was this sign. I puzzled over it for quite a while.... I have to wonder about it- what exactly is the sign saying?? Does this mean you can't walk your dog here, under penalty of being shot?? Nothing written on the sign seems to match the picture, and the red X is next to the man walking the dog...not the shooter. Hummm....don't think I will take Ty to this park!

Here is the play structure you climb to go down the roller slide. This roller slide was great- long and fast! Most of the kids were using cardboard to sit on- I think it helped them go faster. This roller slide had smaller rollers than the slide at Wakamatsu Park- think that helped it be a faster slide too. One little girl had a plastic disk she was using- it looked like it was designed just for these types of slides. It was just big enough for her bottom and had a small handle in front to hold onto. Almost like a mini snow disk.

Here is the slide from the top- I'm ready to head down!You can barely see David in this picture- he is just coming around the curve on the left.
Matt had to try it head first.

Next stop at the park- the Drop Slide. I have to admit, I did not try this one! The boys were not impressed...I guess they were expecting more. David ended up twisting his ankle on his last try- but he did in the lower part, not the drop part.

After the Drop Slide Matt and I walked up to the top of the park (David opted out of this since his ankle hurt). There was a mini shrine up near the top.

A final set of stairs led to a little spot with a nice view of the city.

December 27, 2008

2008-12-28T13:10:00.002+09:00

Comprehensive Park in Okinawa City

The second park we went to today was awesome! Definitely a park we will be heading back to soon. In the few hours we were there, we just saw a fraction of the park- it is huge.
There are miles of running and biking trails (including marked 3K, 4K & 5K courses), a track, a stadium, a carp pond, water slides& water park, paddle boats, miniature golf playgrounds, tennis courts, picnic areas....so much!

Our first stop was eating our picnic lunch. We felt like giants- all the tables (and other seating too) were LOW to the ground.

After playing football and Frisbee in the big open field we went through this torii gate

and checked out the carp. We didn't see any of the turtles, but LOTS and lots of carp! There were a couple of families feeding the carp so we hung around and watched.

They come right up- David was even able to touch one. They were almost cute as they begged...

but at the same time they are a bit freaky- they open their mouths really wide and make weird sucking noises...a little eerie sounding! I am hoping I don't have nightmares from that sound...

Next time we are going prepared with popcorn or bread to feed the fish (apparently you can also buy food from machines there too).

We followed the trail up over two bridges and found this in the middle of the tail. Looks like a sundial and compass.

This playground was wonderful- we had a great time climbing on this rope jungle gym. It was huge!

the trail we were on T'ed into a trail following along the coast line. These benches were sheltered by huge "oyster shells"- pretty wild looking.

By now the sun was setting and we called it a day. Heading back to the car we stopped by some soda machines to check out some of the different sodas- there were several we had not seen before. You just can't believe all the choices you have here for drinks out of vending machines! As I said before, the boys claim this is their favorite thing about Okinawa. We loved the look of these three...unfortunately we couldn't try them as we only had 90 Yen and a 500 Yen coin, and the machine would not take the 500 yen coin for some reason.

Wrestling

2008-12-28T12:30:00.001+09:00

December Wrestling

Kubasaki Vs. Kadena

Matt wrestled a couple of matches against Kadena wrestlers in scrimages. In this match, Matt dominated and won with a pin in the first round.

Matt's teammates helping him get ready to step onto the mat for his match.

Camp Kinser Wrestling Tournament

Camp Kinser was the first MCCS Tournament Matt wrestled in. The boys wrestled against active duty service members. Little intimidating to watch our young boys wrestling against these tattooed guys...but the guys they wrestled were great about adjusting their wrestling level to who they were wrestling. In several of the matches, the boys ended up wrestling team mates.

Camp Courtney Wrestling Tournament

Sunday, December 21, Matt wrestled at the Camp Courtney Wrestling Tournament. Weigh in was from 7:00-8:00 AM so we had an early start to the day. I wasn't sure how long it was going to take us to get there (it can take an hour with afternoon traffic, but knew a Sunday morning shouldn't be too bad...) so we left at 6:45 am to allow plenty of time. It ended up being a quick trip- just a half hour door to door. Matt got registered and weighed in- then was finally able to eat his breakfast he brought with him.

Courtney put on a great Tournament- beautiful crystal awards as well as ipods for 1st through 3rd! The boys (from the Kubasaki Wrestling team) were so excited. They also supplied tons of bottled Gatorade, apples, bananas, oranges, granola bars and box of box of different "100 Calorie" snacks. What a spread!

Matt wrestled two matches in the 185 lb weight class. He did really well on the first one, but lost by points. The guy he wrestled was a tough competitor- he had wrestled two weight classes last week (they allow them to "wrestle up" if they wish).
On his second match he was pinned- this guy went on to place second.

Four of the wrestling team went with home with ipods- by placing in the top three (which in some weigh classes is easy- one of the boys didn't even have to wrestle...he was the only one in his weight class- made his whole week to walk out with an $150 ipod! He ended up wrestling up in the next weigh class so he could at least wrestle, and did great.

January is a busy month for wrestling- they have a MCCS tournament the first weekend, the next weekend Matt travels to mainland Japan for "Beast of the East", then the Okinawa-American Friendship Wrestling Tournament at Kadena, Kadena vs. Kubasaki (straight high school verse high school match) and finally "Rumble on the Rock" the 29-30th. Whew!!

"Santas" of Christmas Past....

2008-12-26T16:26:00.001+09:00

How Time Flys By...

Every year we take pictures with Santa...our own personal Santa that is.
Mike and I found Santa our first Christmas together after we were married...which means he is now 20 years old (can that really be right? Yikes)! One look at him and we knew we had to get him. Even then we shopped at Costco (although it was Price Club back then) and this is were we found him- the flagship store in San Diego.
We have taken pictures of Santa with the boys every year... all the way back to when Matt was just 4 months old and about the same size as Santa. Since all of those print photos are in storage back in the states, I can't share them with you. I do, however, have some more recent photos...some with Santa, and some not, but all a trip back through time.
Check them out....

Here is last year, 2007. Boys don't look too different other than Matt's braces.

Back to 2006....a definite difference here.
All the way back to 2005....Was this only three short years ago? My sweet adorable elves.And back still further to 2004- only four years ago and they look like such babies!
Time surely does fly by, even when we think we're looking, it just passes us by in the blink of an eye. I know the boys cringe when I pull out the camera (and they're begging me to pull these photos off here!), but I wouldn't give up a single photo of my little angels for anything! So grab your cameras and snap away- you'll be glad you did! :)

December 25, 2008

2008-12-25T18:49:00.000+09:00

Our First Christmas in Okinawa

Mike worked Christmas day, so we had our Christmas at night, It was pure torture for the boys to look at all the presents and stuffed stockings all day, and not be able to touch!
I did let Matt and David each open one- but in some ways I think that made it even worse. Ty enjoyed opening one of his presents (a new bandanna)...and he was ready to keep going too!

The boys and I had a leisurely morning- just relaxing and kicking back for the most part. Matt went to the gym and I took Ty for a nice long run and got back just before it started to rain. It was in the 60's today, but at least the rain and clouds made it seem more like Winter and Christmas. We had a late lunch and after I did all the prep for our Christmas dinner we headed out to Jusco and the movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still" at 4:00 pm. Not too bad of a movie- not exactly a holiday movie, but there weren't exactly a lot of choices.

Mike was home by 6:30PM and the boys were able to go through their stockings. "Santa" had put in all kinds of cool things...like this Jolt gum (looks like Matt already had a piece) and Garden Lemon Tea...our favorite drink here in Okinawa.

Ahhhh...technology invades. Quit texting your friends, Matt, and open your gifts!

David was thrilled with his Tech Decks (finger skate boards). He received a bunch of decks, parts and ramps. We also got him a Razor Scooter- David is excited to give it a try while doing the paper route.

Matt and David opening present from Santa...a very cool remote control car!

Matt's big gifts were shoes (but of course!)- Wrestling shoes and Air Force One's.

Mike reacts to his new T-shirt.

You're in Steeler Country now, Folks!! The guys are dressed and ready for the Superbowl...

LeAnn sent Matt a bear- complete with an Anacortes Letterman's jacket.
David played photographer and took a few pictures of Mike and I- thanks Dave!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T13:06:00.000+09:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all our Family and Friends.

May today be filled with many blessings for each and every one of you.

Ty is getting an early start on opening presents... the rest of us are all waiting until Mike gets off work after 6:00Pm on Christmas night.

Scout Camp-out

2008-12-20T17:23:00.000+09:00

Kin Blue Beach

This weekend the guys camped with the Troop up at Kin Blue Beach, just outside of Camp Hansen. Beautiful location where the boys got to camp right above the beach- the sound of the soft waves on the shore lulling them to sleep.

They met up at the scout hut at 4:30 in on Friday afternoon and after loading all the Troop gear they were on the road by 5:15. I drove up with the Troop- just to drop off and come home. We took the Expressway up- the first time Mike and Matt have been on the Expressway here in Okinawa...it's almost like driving in the states! Got all the way up to 100 KM per hour- which is about 62 MPH(shhhh! Speed limit is 80KM- but even the locals don't drive that slow!)

By the time we got to Kin Blue it was almost full dark. We pulled the cars together and left the headlights on for the boys to set up camp. Matt and David didn't know what to make of THAT....they're used to hiking in to the camp sites, then setting up by headlamps of it was already dark. I stayed for awhile to watch the fun, then bugged out for home.

Mike gave me a call Saturday morning and I asked how everyone was doing. "Okayyyy...". Humm...what does that mean? "Well, I woke up at midnight power puking...threw up all night." Ouch! He was just glad no one had been tenting with him. So Mike had a rough night throwing up and dry heaving. He had planned on going on the hike with the boys, but he ended up opting out of the and tried to catch some of the sleep he didn't get the night before.

I had to wait around the house Saturday morning for some movers to pick up our couch we sold but after they came around 11am I hit the road to head back up to the campsite. When I arrived Mike was still trying to get some sleep. I was sneaky and snapped off a few shots before he woke up.
The scouts were still out on their 10 mile hike so I had a few minutes to play around and take pictures. Ended up ducking back out to a Family Mart to find some Sprite like soda for Mike. It was hard to find the signs for the Family Mart...I almost missed it (NOT!) That huge sign on top of the building was pointing to the Family Mart directly across the street...which had another sign almost as big in the parking lot. Guess they don't want anyone to miss them! Notice the sign includes the fact that they have toilets!

I passed the scouts coming back from their hike on my way back in.

This is where the boys pitched their tents.

Standing at the campsite and looking North along the coast.I joined the troop for the last mile of the hike (they had only hiked 9 miles and needed to do 10 miles for it to qualify for the Hiking Merit Badge). We walked up one of the service roads and then back along the beach.
Matt stayed behind to keep watch on the camp site...This was a huge leaf from an Elephant Ear Plant. The leaf must have been at least 2 feet across. The light was catching it just so- it was just glowing in the shadows.

On the walk back along the beach, I filled my pockets with shells and sea glass...just couldn't resist! The beaches here are usually usually a mix of coarsely crushed shells and coral.

The scouts had a chance to play around at the beach while they were gathering drift wood for the camp fire. The water was so clear!

As we were leaving Marine Security stopped by to check on everything. His dog was HUGE-and a total sweetie, He told us he was young still. I asked how much he would weigh full grown- maybe 200 pounds? He said the grand sire had been 240 lbs, the sir 280 lbs...and this guy was the largest of his litter. Can you image a dog almost 300 pounds??? Yikes! We visited with the puppy dog a big...and got drooled on a lot!

A New Endeavor

2008-12-17T01:17:00.000+09:00

Paper Route

At the beginning of December the boys have begun a new endeavor...a paper route! (As if they don't have enough to do)

They were asked to take the route by the Stars and Stripes (our paper here). I had been in email contact with gentleman in the circulation department, Scott, in regards to our current subscription and the fact that we were rarely receiving our paper. After finding out about Matt and David he asked if they might be interested if a route ever opened up. Lo and behold, not long afterwards our route became available. The boys jumped at the chance to make a little spending money, and since they both wanted to do it they are sharing the route. So far it's working out...but a big responsibility to get the paper out 7 days a week in the time window they give you (the papers arrive between 4 and 6PM and they want them delivered by 7:00PM).
The regular route doesn't take long (only 18 houses, including ours), but Thursdays seem to take forever! Every Thursday they deliver an extra 100+ papers- a free "Stripes" issue that is put out...and all of those have to be rolled and put in bags (to hang on the door knobs) too. The first Sunday of the month they also have a huge delivery- The Sunday issue goes free to the 100+ homes and since they are thick papers they are difficult to put in the plastic bags.

One battle they have...keeping Ty away from the papers! He seems to think they are delivered to HIM and he keeps trying to give them to us so he can have a cookie. He will even take them straight off the pile of unfolded papers...rotten dog! :)
In the picture above he was just beside himself...so many papers and we wouldn't let him have any of them!

It will be interesting to see how it goes. Their customers have been very appreciative of receiving their paper everyday (unlike the sporadic service from the previous carrier).
The last two days Matt driven the route while David ran the papers to the doors. Actually takes longer to do it that way, but Matt is loving the fact that he can DRIVE! The first day he drove off I had to resist the urge not to go stand out on the hill and watch him drive around...it wasn't easy! :) Hard watching our babies spread those wings and fly...

Our Saturday

2008-12-15T15:38:00.000+09:00

Horseback Riding

This Saturday we went horseback riding. It was yet another outing won through the Kadena Schilling Center (I love that place!).

We meet at the Schilling center at 8:20am to be driven up to the stables. We had the same driver who took us to the BloKarts, and one of the other couples attending had gone to the BloKarts with us too! Felt like a little "mini reunion". The other couple going lives here on Lester too- we see them all the time out walking their little Rottweiler puppy, Shisa.

It only took about 25 minutes to get up to the stables, which are located in Yotiman Village (were we had gone to the GoKarts with scouts). The Village was beautiful- and there were Shisha everywhere!

This funny guy helped point the way to the stables.

Sign to the Stables.

This little guy was the greeter- I think his name was Tuttles. Scruffy little thing, isn't he?

We were at the stables close to two hours. It was not really a horseback riding trip (like we thought), but more of an introduction to horses. A bit tame for me- but nice to have a chance to be around horses...I've missed them! They went over safety (how not to get kicked or stepped on), then showed us how to brush, clean their hooves, and saddle them. After they showed us what to do, we did it too.
One of our helpers showing us how to put on a bridle.

There were only three horses so the other two couples each took one and our family had the third horse. She was beautiful, but definitely the skittish one. We then got on and where lead around the riding arena. If you had ridden before you could be off the lead. We all went off line since even Matt and David have ridden before (Matt at Philmont and David went trail riding with me in Washington).

David was the first to go- got to protect the head.

Rider's Up!

After we each rode once around the arena, we got chance to walk the horses around the village.

Matt was having a tough time- not sure if he was having an allergic reaction to something or what was going on, but he could barely keep his eyes open.

David helped water the horses after we got done.There were several kitties wandering around. This little bob-tailed guy was a cutie.

Couldn't resist taking this picture...the flowers on this hibiscus were just so vivid and beautiful.

He's Got It!

2008-12-09T23:02:00.000+09:00

He's Got It!

Matt is done with Driver's Education and is now in possession of an OFFICIAL Military OKINAWAN DRIVER'S LICENSE!! Yikes!
Unfortunately (Fortunately??), it still means he can only drive on BASE until he is 18 years old.

He received one of the new licenses- it is similar to a credit card. Our licenses are huge laminated cards. Apparently, they had a system which produced these nice cards like Matt has....but they didn't pay their bills and so they shut down the system. They just got it back. When the guy told us this I thought they had been using it for a couple weeks or months...but apparently Monday was the first day back on the system. One of Matt's friends had gone in on Friday for his license and he got one of the large cruddy laminated cards.

To say the least, Matt is thrilled to now be a licensed driver!

December 7, 2008

2008-12-07T19:52:00.000+09:00

A Sunday Afternoon Hike

The weather was just glorious today! Mike took advantage of it by going for a nice long bike ride.
After a late breakfast (of Belgium waffles- Yumm!) I gathered up the boys and shooed them out the door- it was time to go out and enjoy the day! Of course, they were all thrilled to go with the prospect of exploring some trails with Mom.

Our first stop was the beach at Kadena Marina to take some photos for Christmas cards (which are still not done). Not very productive with the teenager not willing to smile.....
and then the youngest getting hit in the head with the football (lesson learned- give the person you are throwing the football to heads-up BEFORE you throw the ball!)

There were quite a few folks out fishing.

Here David and I are just playing around with the camera.
Our next stop- the Yamada Stone Bridge trail. The MCCS Hike Trail guide describes it as a mid-range hiking trail. "The path to Yamada Stone Bridge contains a shrine, several caves, a well, a bamboo forest, and an ancient bridge. This is a fairly easy trek featuring some fabulous views of both the Pacific and the East China Sea."

We actually find at least 3 shrines, one cave, the bamboo forest and the view point. I don't remember seeing the well- maybe we saw it and didn't realize what it was? We also missed the Ancient Bridge- there were signs at various spots along the trail...but since we don't read Kanji, the didn't do us much good!

The trail is just of of Route 58 and wasn't too hard to find although we missed the turn off the first time around. We along the side of the road and headed out. At the start of the trail was a small farm/garden area. There were some huge 8-10" pea pods (well, they look like pea pods, not really sure what they are), bananas, papayas and some unrecognizable items.

The way Bananas grow are so cool!!

The highlight here was the huge banana spider- which David walked right under without seeing. He was less then thrilled when we pointed it out to him!
At the start of the trail, we didn't know which way to go. The first path we took was a dead end, but it lead up to this shrine. I loved the writing inscribed on the rock.

The broom just invited you to tidy up...

Not far down the trail was this shrine. The guys were already begging to leave (we were all of what, 10 minutes into the hike??). Some such nonsense about it being habu territory and sacred areas...we would be on the news as "American Family Disappears While Hiking- Never Found!"....Gesh!! I just laughed and hiked on. Silly guys! I told them if they came across a habu laying across the trail they had my permission to turn back.
These markers were along the trail at various spots. No idea what they are- they had writing on all sides. Marking historical spots? Map markers? Something to confuse Americans??

Here was the first cave we found. Hard to tell from the photo but it dropped down then went way back into the side of the mountain. Wonder what kind of things got down there...and weren't able to make it back out??

A side trail across from the cave lead up to this shrine and a smaller cave.

As we were getting ready to head out from this area we met up with a group of four mountain bikers. David was impressed- "Wow- what are the odds of meeting Americans all the way out here??" (Maybe because Americans are the only ones crazy enough to be hiking out in the middle of the jungle?") They were very nice- they had just finished two trips out and back on the trail. They said the view at the end was well worth the trip- even offered to show us photos they took so we could decide if it was worth it to us. I declined- "Oh no, we are going!" (I ignored the three groans from my hiking buddies). After a bit of visiting, we eagerly pressed on (well, I eagerly pressed on...the guys just didn't want me to get lost on my own!).

Another lovely (large) spider along the way....fortunately David remained oblivious of this one just inches off the trail.

Here David leads the way for me. Of course, I kept falling behind since I couldn't resist stopping and taking pictures.

We made it! Here we are at the lookout. A short spiral staircase leads up to the circular viewing platform. A very nice group of Japanese men were there- one of them insisted on taking our photo (thank you!).

Looking North you can see the East China Sea on the left and the Pacific Ocean on the right. Views are amazing!

To the West you can see the light house at Zampa Point.

Typical of Matt and David....

The boys and I. These soft grasses were everywhere along the open areas of the trail. I just loved the way they looked waving in the breeze.

Mike and David head through the Bamboo Forest on the way down the trail.
Over Matt's objections, I had to take this photo! I loved the orange clay of the trail. Very bright...and extremely slick.

Here goes David on the final leg of the trail. As you can see, it is very green.

Matt made it back to the van first- and played Peek-a-boo with us. He knew I was trying to take a picture and was teasing me.

By the time we made it back to the van it was after 3:30 and we were starved! After much debating we headed to Pizza In right outside Gate 1. We stuffed ourselves with thin crust pizza, salad, and curry rice (yum!). We had the boys cracking up as we related stories of their youth...from infancy onward. Brought back some wonderful memories...as well as making us realize just how grown up they have become...

One last stop before home. Still on the quest for a decent picture of the boys, I begged Mike to drive down to the Sea Wall before going home. Not much luck getting that perfect photo...but fun none the less!

The sunset alone was worth the trip.

Here Mike is laughing at the boys while I direct them to where I want them.

The "jacks" along the seawall.

I couldn't resist the look of this lone pair of flip flops waiting for their owner to return...

December 2008

2008-12-02T09:58:00.000+09:00

Each Boy Represented...

Our van is getting even easier to find in the parking lot- we now have both boys represented on the back of the van. You would be surprised how many burgundy Odysseys there are here! Now we look for the stickers rather then standing there wondering "WHICH one of these is ours? Anyone remember just where we parked??"

We were proud to put the "Honor Roll Student" on the van...David was tickled to death that would actually put a bumper sticker on (how could we not??).This green and yellow decal is the Okinawa symbol for "New Driver" (as in "BEWARE" and "STAY WAY AWAY FROM THIS VEHICLE!" ...or something like that!). It is a "Wakaba mark". New driver must display this decal on their car for one year after receiving their license. There is another one for elderly drivers (called a "maple mark" or "autumn leaf"). I think these are a wonderful idea! A gentle reminder to give these new and elderly drivers a little extra courtesy and patience.

2008-12-02T07:38:00.000+09:00

He's
on
the
Right
Side

Doesn't it look weird to see Matt driving on the right side of the car? At least for those of you stateside...

Mike doesn't care for being a "Back Seat Driver"....

Matt is done with the classroom part of Driver's Education and has been trying to put in the time behind the wheel. It isn't easy here...being able to drive only on base sure limits the driving opportunities!

We often pull over right after coming on to base and let Matt take over. If we have time, we let him drive in circles around base. (oh so thrilling!) On this day we actually spent a good chunk of time over on Kadena and let Matt drive for quite a while. Kadena Air Force Base is the only base big enough to feel like you are really DRIVING. If you drive out around the flight line/runways, you can do a good 8 to 10 mile loop.

You can see the size differences on the map. Kadena is on the top. Camp Lester (hospital and where we live) is just below it where it says "Chatan Town". Camp Foster is South of Lester. From our house (at the back of the base) to the gate of Lester is just over 1/2 mile.

December 1, 2008

2008-12-02T07:27:00.000+09:00

Housing is Going Green!

Well, kinda...
These are the "Towers" on Camp Foster- right near Kubasaki High (Matt's school). They have been working on the outside for several weeks now- looks like they are repainting them. It is quite a job to put this netting up- there is a complete structure of scaffolding for the workers underneath.

I can't help but think of how weird it must look on the inside...looking out through all that green!

When they do exterior work on buildings here, they always put the netting up. I'm not sure if this is because buildings are so close, the fact that it is often breezy, or if there is a safety reason....
I know when our neighbors in Anacortes painted the outside it made a mess at our house- our crop of apples that year all had to have paint scrubbed off.

Anyway, just thought this was interesting!

Sunday, November 30

2008-11-30T22:57:00.000+09:00

Our Second Thanksgiving

Today we celebrated a family Thanksgiving...and cooked our huge 26+ pound bird! The Turkey was excellent- even if it did take 6 hours to cook. It was a real workout pulling the turkey in and out of the oven- I recruited Mike's help when I flipped it over after the first hour.

The skin looks burnt, but it is just where the sugar in the sugar, mustard & bourbon marinade caramelized. We had all our favorites- mashed potatoes, rolls, peas and pearl onions in white sauce (my favorite!), cranberry sauce (which Matt grudgingly shared with the rest of us), and, of course, gravy and stuffing (Mike's only required dish). I did forget to cook the butternut squash- but we can cook that tomorrow and have with the leftovers. (At least I didn't forget it in the microwave or oven- I completely forgot to even start it!) Oh well, what's Thanksgiving without forgetting a dish??

Here Mike once again practices his carving skills...with an eager David awaiting the first taste of the turkey.

I did realize there were are lot of things I wish I would have brought with me...and a few things I thought I had but didn't. My turkey platter, my turkey cooking rack, more serving bowls...Cooking stuff is not easy to find here. Angie has promised to show me a local cooking store so I am looking forward to that! I had to borrow her springform pan for the pumpkin Cheesecake I made for Thursday's get together.

Today was and early day for the boy and I. We got up before 5 am to go down to the Exchange on Camp Foster. All weekend they were giving out $20 gift cards to the first 100 people in line. We went down on Black Friday- but at 4:30 am we were about 200th in line. We ended up staying even though we knew we wouldn't get any gift cards- they were having other give-a-ways too. We FROZE in line though! Felt like we were back in Anacortes! Very glad we had thought to take down a blanket- David and I huddled in that (Matt just went back to the van to warm up). Someone said it had dropped to 54 degrees- and there was a stiff wind blowing to cool it down even more. I know, 54 degrees does not sound cold- but for here it is freezing!

This morning was much better- it was much warmer and we were about 40th in line so all three of us received the $20 gift card when they opened at 8am. They were also giving out Scratcher Cards and Matt won a $25 gift card! He was very excited- David less so... David really couldn't complain though...he won 2 $5 gift cards on Friday. I just won a free haircut (about $7) and free french fries. Didn't do any shopping this morning- just went for the special give-aways. Friday morning we did finds some good deals...including a serving platter I could use for my Turkey. The big demand items were the 1 Terabyte external hard drive for $129 and the notebook computer for $349 (that was tempting even though we didn't need one!). Matt, of course, shopped for clothes...the Nike apparel was 40% off and he was looking for sweats (it is cool enough now we are all digging out our fleece and looking for warm stuff to wear).

One thing we all agreed on regarding Thanksgiving...it is all about the left overs!
Yummm! (and no cooking for several days- yea!!)

November 27, 2008

2008-11-27T21:07:00.000+09:00

Our Thanksgiving

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving! We were invited to Peter and Melissa's house and were thrilled to have the opportunity to spend the day with friends.Peter and Melissa live just a few miles from us out on the Town. They are just steps away from the Seawall. This is the view from their front balcony. It was great to see their house- we haven't seen any of the off base housing before today. Melissa calls it a "pencil house"- very thin and tall. On the ground floor is a two car garage (drool!!) and a mud room. Up a flight of stairs to the living room/dining room/kitchen/bathroom. Up another flight of stairs to the master bedroom and a bedroom/den. Up yet another flight of stairs (yes, this house has LOTS of stairs!) which takes you to two more bedrooms. Definitely "Western Style Housing" verses a traditional Japanese house.

Mike had the honor of carving the turkeys. (yes, that's Matt being a goof in the back!)

Not sure how many people where there, but Peter and Melissa had lots of people coming and going all day. Everyone brought oh so much yummy food- especially Angie's mashed potatoes and Ray's gravy.

Lalon and Ray enjoyed the peach cobbler (with ice cream and whip cream, of course!)Joe (and Melissa too) was nice enough to take our picture before we left. As you can see, it was a bit breezy out! Really felt like fall today- cool, breezy and a bit of rain.

We still plan on having our own Turkey Day- I have a 26 pound bird in the fridge defrosting. (and it is taking it's taking its time doing so...think I may resort to a sink full of cool water to get it going...) The Commissary didn't have a whole lot of choices- either a 25-26 pound Butterball or a 14 pound off brand turkey. Well, if I'm going through the trouble of cooking a turkey, might as well make it big!
The boys are already planning on those turkey sandwiches with lots of cranberry sauce...

As We Give Our Blessings

2008-11-26T22:18:00.000+09:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

We give our THANKS for our Loving and Supporting Families- we love you all!

We give our THANKS for all of our giving and generous friends....we don't know what we would do without each and every one of you.

So many people who hold such special places in our hearts.
We have much to be Thankful for- Today and Everyday.

May your Thanksgiving be filled with Family, Friends, Love and Blessings (and lots of good things to eat!).

I Guess Some Things DO Change!!

2008-11-25T21:57:00.000+09:00

We are all jumping for joy!!
Gas Prices Finally Falling...

Well, the word is out, and spreading FAST!
AAFES has announced that starting November 28th (Black Friday) our gas prices will drop from $4.06 a gallon to $2.433 a gallon! YES!!!

Here is the announcement from AAFES:

Gas prices fall Friday in Japan / Okinawa

OKINAWA – Motorists will pay less at the gas pumps in Japan and on Okinawa when AAFES service stations open on Black Friday, historically the busiest shopping day of the year. Midgrade unleaded gas will sell for $2.433 per gallon, due to a reduction in cost AAFES pays for fuel through the Defense Energy Support Center .

DESC, the most economical fuel supplier available to AAFES in Japan and on Okinawa , will lower their wholesale cost beginning Dec. 1, and AAFES is happy to pass along the savings to customers a few days early.

May it be a long time before we see these costs again...

Putt-Putt Golf

2008-11-25T08:45:00.000+09:00

A Challenging 18 Holes

For weeks we have been eying the miniature golf course on Kadena saying "We have got to give that a try sometime".

After spending the morning at Forest Adventure Park, we had to back at Kadena for Matt to have is first session of "Behind the Wheel" Driver's Ed. Since we had an hour or two to kill, David, Mike and I decided to hit the golf course...putt putt style!

It's a cute little course just behind the Schilling Center and next to the Commissary and Exchange. Best of all, it's free of charge! You just have to go in and check out the putters and golf balls.

David tries to line up a challenging put. I think all three of us managed to get our ball stuck underneath the rhino on our first attempt (or two or three) at this hole.

That is one hungry gator! Too bad it is so hard to "feed" it! I showed the most "skill" (translation- "luck") on this hole...I think it only took me two tries to successfully shoot the gut...This was fun to keep trying tho..we got a lot of laughs from this hole.
This was another difficult hole...you have to hit it just hard enough for the ball to stop under the canon and drop into the little ravine which will run the ball down to where the hole is. If you it the ball too hard, it goes past and it's even harder to make it from the other direction.

For a "Kids" course, this thing was very challenging....

These flowers were in the middle of the course, and are all over the island. I love the way they look before the flowers open all the way- and the contrast between the the spikes and flowers.

Forest Adventure Park

2008-11-22T22:42:00.000+09:00

Just Zippin' Along, Having a Blast!
November 22, 2008

Today we went to Forest Adventure Park- WHAT A BLAST!!

For those of you locally who have not yet tired Forest Adventure- YOU HAVE TO GO!! We had soooo much fun...even me, who is NOT thrilled about jumping off of things.

So, those of you who aren't on Okinawa, are asking yourself, "What is Forest Adventure Land"?

Well, it is pretty much just what it says...an Adventure (with a capital "A"), in a forest. This Adventure involves an outdoor park full of zip lines, rope bridges, a Tarzan swing, hiking paths...all kinds of fun stuff! It is located only about 20-25 minutes from our house, near Maeda Point (where we did our qualifying dives).

You check in at a small office right across the street from the beach at Maeda Port. This is where you pay and sign all the waivers- and your last chance at an "American" restroom. From there they load you up in their shuttle vans and drive you up to the actual park.

Now, I must say, this was the first adventure! After turning off the main road, we went off through the sugar cane fields....and these drivers were flying along these narrow twisty roads like you could not believe! With the 7 foot high sugar cane along the roads and hairpin turns, you could not see anything. I think the drivers know where the other drivers were so they could fly up with no regard for oncoming traffic. Didn't really feel unsafe... but visions of "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" come to mind... Drivers were very nice- we where running back to our van to grab a few things, and the van chased us down to drive us there and back. Very sweet...and after realizing how far away the lot where Mike had to park, I was glad for the ride!

We were dropped off (pretty much in the middle of a field of sugar cane and pineapple plants in the middle of no where) and followed the signs to "Wipe Out Lodge". They were already getting in the Holiday Spirit and a employee full of smiles was handing out candy canes.The employees then harnessed us up. They make sure those things are on nice and SNUG! The smaller ladies would actually brace themselves and pull for all they were worth. Still, they were not uncomfortable...although I was glad for the relatively cool weather today. I think the gals had it easier then the guys...the guys really had things squeezed and pushed with those harnesses.

After everyone was harnessed up, we were led down to a "mini course" for a safety/How-to brief. We were shown how to clip on, climb the ladders, walk across a line and try small zip line. Our Tour Guide here was showing us how the safety clip is used.

Mike clipping on both clips. The first one to go on is the larger blue one. This is the one which actually slides along the cable. The second, red one, is the safety line. It is clipped on to something at all times- even while climbing the ladders or nets. The clips go on in opposite direction- just in case you grab them, you would only open one clip, not them both (but you are never supposed to touch the clips once they are on, or cables- for obvious reasons.
Here I go- I always knew I could walk a "fine line"!

Let's see...which clip comes off first?? Oh yeah, the red safety clip! Safety First...

As soon as the guide saw we know how to do everything, we were free to go! The first zip line is a nice long one- right over a forest ravine! Matt was the first to go through his safety check so he was off and Zipping first.

This one on the left was a LONG zip line- one of my favorites. I am standing at the end here- you can see the group of people WAAAYYY on the other side waiting to come across. Best advice I can give you- go before you think too much about it! The other zip line was towards the end...and you picked up some serious speed on this one.

These net bridges were fun- and very bouncy!

Here goes David- right through the tree tops!
Amazing feeling to be gliding (zipping) over the tress across the jungle. That amazing feeling lasts until you get about 2/3's of the way across and you start worrying about landing...

Getting to the start of the zip lines there are wooden ladders, cargo nets, or peg ladders to climb.

Some of the zip lines were right next to one another- others were a bit of a hike. Here Mike is hoofing it to catch up to the rest of the group. It was quite an uphill jaunt between these zip lines...fortunately this was about the half way point and there was a cooler with ice cold sodas- orange, grape or tea (one per person, please!) What a nice touch. Very relaxing to sit at a picnic table in the middle of the jungle and enjoy an icy drink.At the end of the course is a huge assortment of obstacles. To the left, front, is the landing net from the Tarzan swing, to the right of that is a swinging bridge over to a ladder. Up the ladder to the rope bridge. From the Rope bridge you can either take the rings across (Matt is in the red going across), or the wooden platform bridge. Then up another ladder to the platform for the last zip line.

The start of it is the "Tarzan Swing"...this was the one I was dreading! You climb a couple ladders to get to the top of a very tall platform. After clipping in and grabbing hold...you launch yourself off the platform, free fall until the line catches and swings you into a huge cargo net. I am NOT a fan of jumping off of things...or even climbing down. I will go up anything...it's the coming Down that always gets me! So here I am standing at the top of a VERY tall tower on a small platform...nowhere to go but down. Hummm...the thought of climbing back down the ladder crossed my mind...but with a herd of Boy Scouts cheering me on I said a quick prayer and stepped off. I'm not sure if I was screaming out loud, but I was certainly screaming on the inside! It is over amazingly quickly- and is incredibly fun! The first second of free fall is terrifying- but it is over so quickly you ALMOST forget about it. Although I loved it, I'm not sure it will be any easier to do again!

Here is Tarzan Mike...
Mike, David and I all actually bounced off the net when we hit. Mike was able to keep his feet hooked. David and I had to swing back into the net.

Here is Matt hanging out- watching and laughing at us during the Tarzan Swing. I have few pictures of him since I went off with the rest of the scouts and we didn't see much of him. Only zip line we were able to watch him do was the very first one.

The rings were tough too- took a lot of control so the rings didn't flip all over.

This bridge was harder than it looked. Each time you stepped, the step swung forward, making for a long reach. Not too bad after you get the hang of it.

Here is David contemplating his pending departure on the zip line.

This is the last zip line on the course. I took this photo as I was zipping down- Mike is standing on the platform watching and waiting for his turn.The view from the last zip line tower is amazing. You can see across the turquoise shallows and brillent blue waters to the Zampa Lighthouse and north across the fields and hills.

BloKarts

2008-11-16T12:53:00.000+09:00

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Saturday we had a chance to try BloKarting. This was another trip won through the Schilling Center. Two hours of playing on the BloKarts AND transportation, all at no cost- what a deal!

We meet up at the center on Kadena at 3pm and they drove us and four other people to a field south of Naha. The driver said it was an hour drive, but it ended up only taking half an hour- which was a good thing since the van had the heater on and it was blowing extremely hot air along the floor. It was hot enough we had to lift our feet up on to the seats. So we were glad the drive was relatively short.

BloKarts are three wheel carts with a large sail to catch the wind. Here the guys were assembling one of the carts. They are very compact (have cool little storage bags) and put together quickly. Matt pitched in and helped put one of them together.

Our driver translated the directions of how to get into the carts, steer, and what to do if the cart tips over. From what we could gather, the group of locals have the BloKarts and they allowed us to borrow two of them for the evening. The locals set up the carts, showed us what to do, then pretty much sat back and watched. They were out in the field for a little bit, but I don't think the wind was strong enough for them to really enjoy it- they were too "hard core"!

David was the first to give it a try- he was a bit nervous!

You steer with one hand and control the sail with the other- very simple. Here David has the sail loose after just completing a turn. Ideally, you run 90 degrees to the wind. We were limited on what we could do since we had extremely little wind to work with.

Unfortunately, with the wind not being strong it was hard to get the carts going. For part of the time, we had to push start the carts after every turn. The wind did pick up for a bit later on, then died completely before we were supposed to be done. When we weren't in the carts we were helping out pushing the guys who stalled. Here our Tour Guide helps Matt get going again. The Tour Guide was very nice- and kept apologizing for the lack of wind. He got a real work out helping all of us on the go.

Here Matt is helping me get ready for my first turn behind the wheel. The gloves are to protect your hands if you tip over, and also when you use your hands to roll the back wheels in an attempt to get rolling again.

And I am off and on the go! I was lucky enough to catch some of the best winds of the evening. These carts are a blast when they get going! Matt took this picture (after wrestling the camera from David).

Here is Mike giving it a try...

One of the guys who came with us said he had gone last year and the wind was so strong they were up on two wheels most of the time. Sounds like Fun! He didn't ride the carts as much as the rest of us- I think he was spoiled from last time.

Even with the light winds, we had a fun time. I would definitely like to give them another try with better wind conditions. In some areas, they rent out the BloKarts to run along the beach...that looked like fun!

The Last Week or So in Review...

2008-11-15T23:14:00.000+09:00

Mid November

It has been another busy week around here...mostly the routine day to day stuff that keeps your running around crazy but at the end of the day you wonder "WHAT exactly did I do all day??"

The boys had a short school week- just three days of school this week. David had a five day weekend, while Matt had a four day weekend (and yes, David did rub in the fact that he had an extra day off!). The schools combined Veteran's Day with Conferences so it ended up being lots of days off. Mike worked both Saturday and Sunday but had off Monday and Tuesday. A relaxing time, even if it did rain cats and dogs for much of it. When it rains here, it can really come down! Within minutes the water can be rushing down the street in front.

The boys and I stayed close to home due to car troubles, but I did take the boys to go PaintBalling on Sunday. We woke up to more rain on Sunday, but the boys insisted on going anyway since they were meeting friends. The start ended up being delayed over an hour due to the rain and lack of people. Weather ended up clearing for the afternoon and more guys showed up so the kids had a great time.

Matt started wrestling practice this week- he has been looking forward to it! He really likes the coach (a woman- can't remember her name as I have only heard it a time or two). This morning (Saturday) they had a three hour practice....Matt came home and crashed on the couch. Of course, getting up and being at practice by 7:45 am may have had something to do with it too!

David is disappointed in the fact that he will probably not be playing Tackle Football this year...and maybe not for the next three years. The only Tackle Football program for the younger kids here is put on by the Air Force and this year they didn't have enough interest to fill the teams...so they canceled to program. This unexpected announcement (made at a parent meeting) was not well received! They are still putting on Flag Football. David agreed to play Flag but is devastated that Tackle Football appears to be out. The only hope is a group of parents trying to put together a Tackle Football "Okinawa Youth League". We signed David up, but it is extremely doubtful they will have enough kids to fill out the teams needed.

One other recent "Happening" around the Payne household...
David attended his first DANCE! He was extremely excited- worried for a week about what to wear even. Since Big Brother attends dances, it was huge for David be able to go to one. Very amusing to listen to the brotherly advice being given before David left. Matt even walked him over...and Mom forgot to take a picture of her handsome man on his way out the door...Anyway, David had a great time, even if he said he didn't dance.

Another noteworthy news item- David made The Honor Roll! For him, this is HUGE!! David is rightfully proud of himself. Three Cheers for David on a job well done.

A Midnight Run Under a Full Moon

2008-11-15T22:36:00.000+09:00

Thursday, November 13

Ahhh...the glory of a midnight run under a full moon! It was simply wonderful. The weather has been cooling and two nights ago it was just too beautiful out to resist (besides, Mike was working the night shift- I'm always restless when he works nights). I went out for 3 or 4 miles (just on base), then came back for Ty...he had been giving me the oh so sad puppy eyes when I left. He was in doggy heaven- especially when I took him down the side road to the water treatment area and let him run off leash (shhh...don't tell!). Felt so wonderful out- cool (but still humid- that's a given!) with a slight breeze and the world lit up from the full moon. Add in the bats swooping low overhead and the run was just perfect.

An added bonus was the fact that this was the first pain-free run I've had for months. I have been dealing with "Plantar Fascitis"- which is the inflammation of the tendon on the underside of your foot. About a month and half ago I thought I had just bruised my heel, but as the weeks went by it continued to worsen. A trip to the doc confirmed that it was Plantar Fascitis and he recommended lots of Motrin and stretching. Even with that I have been sidelined from running. I was spending time on the stationary bike in the gym...not my favorite! I was finally working my way back onto the treadmill (softer than the pavement), then short runs back and forth to the gym.

I can tell I'm not completely healed yet...the last two days my foot has been sore (maybe the fact that I keep forgetting the Motrin and haven't taken the proper time to stretch has something to do with it??), but at least not the exteme pain I had for awhile.

Can't wait to start hitting the road again...there are trails to run and roads to be explored...