Ou-jima and such

In trying to find something fun to do on Friday since our plans have been somewhat sabbotaged for the week, I remembered a cool beach that my friend Angie and I stumbled upon with the kids when we were Kit Kat hunting earlier this summer.  After a morning rain storm that threatened to cancel any fun for the day again, we headed south to the very bottom of the island to find the beach and a cool little roadside tempura spot for lunch.  Stevie hadn't seen the spot before so I was anxious to show him how "Japanese-y" it was in this area (no military bases anywhere close so very few Americans). 

Squid strung up on barbed wire drying in the sunshine.

We found the little lunch spot and ordered our tempura fish, beni imo (local purple sweet potato) and mixed veggies.  Of course, our drinks came from a drink machine which I will have a whole post on soon...  Well, I acidentally pressed the wrong button and ended up with a drink called a "Bikkle" - having no clue what it was, we let Stevie take the first drink.  He figured out it tasted like a lassi - a yogurt drink served in Indian restaurants.  Not bad.

I'll skip over the bad news parts - me backing the Blue Beater onto the boat ramp and getting the back axle stuck and it raining the minute we stepped foot on the beach - to tell you the good news.  We found the beach - a very beautiful azure sea spot that reminds me of a Corona commerical - and had a great afternoon relaxing on the beach. 

Stevie and Cannon took a ride on a glass bottom boat out to a barrier reef and saw some amazing, big fish.

 The best part, though, were the baby sea turtles.  As Cannon and I were wondering down the beach we saw these three wooden containers floating near the shore.  A quick peak inside showed three bales (groups - I had to look this up on Wikipedia) of baby sea turtles all slightly different sizes.  What an amazing site to see in the wild!

Standing outside our house after we returned, surrounded by a fetch of dragonflies (a group - again, looked this up on Wikipedia - you can thank me later for the science lesson), I thought our bad luck for the week had ended.  Dragonflies are supposed to be good luck in Japan.  Alas, it didn't work as Stevie received the news that his fishing trip with his friends from the Hill had been cancelled.  The boat had been rammed by another as it was loading ice.  At least I guess this was better that it happened without him on the boat!