Treasure Hunt

Cannon’s friend Marc’s mom, Maureen, asked us if we wanted to go check out a beach up north to look for blown in treasure. Even after my new conclusion that the treasure is not so great after a storm, I was still game to try a new beach.


We all piled in Maureen’s van and headed out – blindly taking an exit off the highway and trying to find a cool beach. We found a beach, but unfortunately, as Maureen said, it looked like a plastics recycling plant exploded just off shore. There was garbage everywhere! Yuck. We tried to pick among the debris to find anything great, and did find a patch full of sea urchin hulls, but quickly decided to move on and find another beach.


This time we picked our way through back streets, farm fields and lonely lanes before we came out on a beautiful empty beach full of clear water, shells and a few other strange treasures left by the storm.

Sea snake

Dehydrated blue sea star

Little bitty sea star

Gorgeous beach

Maureen is on the hunt for glass buoy balls that the fishermen used to use, but unfortunately there were none of those to be had. It was a great beach though and the kids loved playing and swimming while Maureen and I beach combed to our hearts content!

Marc and Cannon

Frick and Frack

This was a lovely, warm swimming hole with a nice sandy bottom

What can I say?

My beach bum.

Day After - All Clear

So after receiving the "All Clear" from the storm we (probably more accurately me) had to get out and stretch our legs.  After the last big typhoon came through in May, I had taken the kids to the beach to see the waves and the surfers and that’s where we headed again after Muifa passed through. 

Even though it’s a tropical island, Okinawa doesn’t usually have big waves so it’s a treat to see so good breaking waves and fun to see the surfers.  They are working on redoing the sea wall near our area and it’s now a really nice strolling path along the ocean. 

After a little while of watching the action, I was ready to hit the beach and see what treasure was washed up by the storm.  So we headed over to Toguchi beach for a stroll and treasure hunt.  Unfortunately, what I think I’ve figured out is that big storm does not equal great washed up treasure.  It actually means a bunch of broken shells, garbage and stinky dead fish.  Still, it’s always nice to walk on the beach and definitely nice to get out of the house!

This poor little hermit crab was hiding out in the tiniest of shells - I think he needed to find a new home.

Typhoon Muifa - Day 3

Wow!  We woke up to another morning of being in TCCOR-1E with the wind blowing and the rain pummeling.  The storm raged all night as it got stuck over Okinawa.



Thankfully, at 12:15 they called it at TCCOR-1 Recovery which means the storm was definitely moving on and around 5:00 tonight (after being on inside lock down for 52 hours!) we were bumped to "Storm Watch" which means we could leave our residences and the base!  The storm is over.

The initial inspection of the outside is that my plants fared pretty well on the front side of the house, but were shredded in the back.  Still, because we're on a hill and because our unit faces west, we didn't have any flooding which is not the same for others around the island.  The initial reports are that we received over 40 inches of rain!

The shed survived!!! (This is the same shed of Kelly's that blew apart in the last typhoon.)

So the good news is we are all safe, no major damage was done and - most importantly - we managed not to kill each other after being locked inside our tiny house for two and a half days!

Typhoon Muifa - Day 2

We spent the ENTIRE day today on TCCOR-1E (emergency), which they called about 9:00 last night.  That means that we MUST stay indoors while it is on 1E - which really wasn't a problem today since it was blowing and raining all day.  Of course now we've been indoors for 30 hours straight and finding fun things to do is getting a little tough...

So what did we do today?  Read books, played Wii, cleaned, did laundry, played Candyland, played Scattergories, sewed a pair of pajamas, knitted, read more books, played more Wii, made turkey soup, made trash can cookies, made tuna curry, watched the weather, posted lots on FB, took a nap, played, watched TV, did more laundry, colored, Skyped friends, messaged with neighbors, watched the weather, watched the weather, watched the weather.

And now it's 9:00 at night and we're still on TC-1E and the weather is worse than ever.  The problem is this is one slow moving storm.  Like 4 MPH.  Which means it is taking forever to get past us and pummeling us with wind and rain in the mean time.  I'm not the least bit afraid for our safety or anything in the house, it's just the plants outside.  Fortunately I learned from May's typhoon and put up all my plants that were in pots.  The ones in the ground?  Well, they're toast!

Let's hope we'll be released from house arrest tomorrow!

Can you see our island?  That's a trick question!  We're covered by the storm  just north of the eye.

Cannon's Stormy Birthday

Cannon's birthday was Thursday and Mother Nature decided to give him a big present - a typhoon!  We thought it would be ok, but after waking up to TCCOR-1, we weren't so optimistic.

The day started off well with homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast and some presents outside (while we could).  Then Cannon's friend, Marc, got to come play for a few hours.  We told Cannon he could have unlimited Wii time on his birthday so he milked that pretty good.

By the time I finally got the kids out the door to go to the sushi-go-round for lunch (Cannon's choice), and then got Yen, the powers that be called the typhoon readiness condition TCCOR-1C (caution) which means all Americans have to be back in their quarters, the stores close, and the bases get locked down, so we had to turn around and head home or risk being locked off base!

We spent the rest of the day hanging out around the house with Stevie (since he got sent home from work), opening more presents, and playing more Wii.

Cannon's request for dinner was a turkey so we had a Thanksgiving/typhoon/birthday kind of meal! 

Afterwords, our new neighbors, Spencer with daughter Sydney (Suzy, his wife, who is 40+ weeks pregnant won an all expense paid trip to stay at the hospital!) and Lisa, Rachel and Sam (John, a chaplain, also won a stay at the hospital!) braved the wind and rain to come over to share cake and celebrate Cannon's birthday.  The day ended with a Star Wars marathon for the guys (the girls watched Beauty and the Beast!) 

Are we bored?  Spencer and Stevie arm wrestling.

Better luck next year, Cannon, but we love you!

The Wonder Museum

So after melting at the zoo, we went to cool down inside at the Wonder Museum.  This is a wonderful museum inside the zoo grounds that is full of fun, hands-on science things for kids.  It's hard to describe the overall museum in words, so pictures are better.

Inside one of the hall of mirrors.



Emmy in another mirror booth.  I didn't realize how scary that lion looks until now!

Lots and lots of Emmies!

These are stands of plastic pins that you push from one side to make an impression.  My kids could spend the whole day here.

The backside impression of my kids.



A lesson on perspective...



Who remembers, is it the cookie or the drink that makes you small???

The third floor had an awesome science exhibit dealing with recycling.  There were some really creative and kid-friendly ways of demonstrating the concepts of waste, pollution and recycling.  Too bad I don't know any elementary science teachers who need a lesson plan.



Also on the third floor are some other amazing displays for the kids (and adults).  Like this one which is just a pan of goopy black stuff until you start clapping really loudly and then it magically rises up.  Haven't figured this one out yet...

Nor have I figured out the water tables which look just like a bowl of plain water until you speak words into a tube and then shapes and letters start appearing.  And if you take the metal pan and scoop the water, the shape will "stick" to the pan and you can move it around the water table...

Or this water table that sings to the kids as they turn the faucets.  The shapes that "pour" out of these faucets are the same color as the faucet they come from (not the water, which is clear, just the shape).  Freaky, but true! (And aren't the Japanese kids cute?)

This is a really cool museum, and thanks to the air conditioner, literally, really cool (a blessing after our trek around the zoo!)

Zoo Signage

Am I a glutten for punishment to take three kids to the zoo when it's 100 degrees out?  Maybe, but I did it anyways on Friday! 

And to my defense, they were the ones who suggested it!  I've already blogged about the poor zoo here - it's somewhere lost in the 1970's with their animal habitats (think concrete and bars) so we don't go a lot, but it's been a long time since our last visit and I do have to say it's different from American zoos in the closeness you get to the animals.  The animals may live in cages, but the cages are very close to the human observation areas.  Like with a good stretch, you could easily pet the tiger in his cage.  Hence signs like:

Yes, the sign asks you not to climb the fence or get to close so the tiger can spray you! (This was not taken with a zoom lens!)



Cannon tells me a story about a kid who witnessed this on his field trip to the zoo.  Of course, I try not to think why the chimpanzee throws soil - like because he's bored, lonely and angry...



Which is worse, the hurt look on the man's face or the love in the turtle's eyes?  And what's with the graphic bloodshed?

It seems like the zoo is trying to raise some extra money by offering special services with their animals.  Back in December when we came, Emmy and I fed the giraffes leaves.  Now they also offer elephant rides.  Darn!  I didn't need to go to Thailand to do that!



You can also now feed the kangaroos, but the sign doesn't make it sound too appealing to parents sending small children into the exhibit.  Loud noises make the kangaroos scary?

 Speaking of scary, this was London's impression of the ostrich...

And another sign, which is also scary...

I have no idea what this sign says, but it's pretty scary looking!

And just for you, Grammie and Grandpa, a little bit of Hilton Head in Okinawa!