Comprehensive Water Park

After our run of bad luck trying to go anywhere off-island, and then a day of lock down in the house, we decided to try to do something fun closer to home. 

There is a Japanese pool that I've heard is a great time for kids and adults, albeit there are many rules to follow.  We've been put off going before because of these rumored "rules", but after our week I was desperate.  We knew the rule most targeted to Americans is "no tatoos", which if you look around at the military population, excludes a lot of Americans!  If you can cover your tatoo up - by swim shirt, band aid or tape - you're fine, but if not, no admittance.  Apparently in Japan tatoos are associated with gangs so they are not looked upon favorably.

Here are the other rules we were presented with, printed in a nice color brochure, given to us by a very polite Japanese lady as we approached the ticket counter...

But as Stevie said, this is their turf and we have to play by their rules.  Turns out for how paranoid I was that Stevie was going to get called out of the pool for his small, uncovered tatoo on his ankle, I was the one who got reprimanded for having sunglasses on in the water without a strap!  So I got creative and borrowed the strap off of Emmy's goggles.  Looked silly, but worked!

Getting past all the rules, the pool was really fun.  There was a lazy river, two long twisty water slides, another fun slide, a great place for the kids to play and more. 

Cannon floating down the lazy river.  That's a waterfall, not rain!

These slides were made of concrete and were FAST!

And the weather was great - clear skies and lots of sunshine (which despite my diligent application of 60 SPF sunblock, the kids got seriously red).  And to top it off, I had borrowed Kelly's underwater camera so I was able to get some fun pictures of the kids (of course, this broke rule number 5, no bringing any electrical device into the water!)

Above water.

Below water.

Space Non-"A"

We tried again on Tuesday to get on a flight to somewhere on mainland Japan, but it didn't look good when we walked into the terminal and there were 30 people waiting.  Alas, when they announced that there were only 3 seats on plane we knew for sure we weren't going.  :(

Stevie suggested lunch at Chilis (yes, there is a Chilis here!) as a consolation, but it was closed for maintenance.  Then we decided to go to the pool.  The sounds of the pool went something like this - [Emmy jumps in] splash - RUMBLE - tweet - "Everyone clear the pool!  Thunder." - GRUMBLE [that noise was the boys lamenting their inability to get in the pool].

So we moved on to Plan B - a trip to the Kerama islands (part of the Ryukyu islands of which Okinawa is the largest).  I was able to book a lovely looking log cabin and a ferry ride over and even borrowed Kelly's underwater camera in hopes of snapping a picture of a sea turtle.  But that plan got foiled when London woke me at midnight to tell me he'd been sick.  Man, what did we do wrong this week?

White Beach

Stevie has taken some leave (vacation) this week with the intent that we were going to try to "Space A" it to mainland Japan.  For all you non-military folk, Space A is a way of flying - free! - anywhere the military flies.  That sounds great, except there are hundreds of "ifs" that need to fall into alignment for the trip to be successful.  Like a base near you needs to be flying to where you want to go, when you want to go, and have seats available, and no one else with a higher priority status, or sign up date, or check-in time trumps you for the available seats, and the flight doesn't get cancelled at the last minute, and - oh yeah - you can only find out where they're flying 24 to 72 hours in advance... and then the whole thing starts again when you want to get back.  But believe it or not, the stars do fall into alignment and I have heard great success stories (and a few horror ones...)

So our first attempt at Space A was this morning when I hauled the whole family with bags (lightly) packed to Kadena to try to catch a flight to Atsugi.  Before even entering the terminal, a lady leaving informs us that the flight has been postponed 24 hours.  Strike 1.

So as a consulation, we tried to go to one of the bases here on island that we've yet to visit - White Beach.  Supposedly there is a great beach, water sports (kayaks, sailboats, jet skis, etc.), a pool and even cabins if we wanted to stay over.  We found the camping area first with a beautiful beach

and then a sign

Strike 2


So we drove over to the pool to see what it was about.  Closed on Mondays (it's Monday).  Strike 3.  And the rental shop is closed on Mondays too.  Strike 4.


But the kids found a Barbie fishing pole and a container of hooks and rubber worms so they made their own fun trying to catch us dinner.  No luck.  (I don't think that counts as Strike 5 since they were having fun.)

Let's wish for better luck tomorrow or maybe Wednesday (if Stevie doesn't get tired of being dragged to the airport.  I know he won't be disappointed if we can get on a flight!)

Cannon looking oversized on the playground equipment.

The Rest of Cannon's Birthday

Cannon had also asked as part of his birthday celebration to go to Okuma which is a military "resort" on the north end of the island.  The place is no frills, but good, wholesome family fun set on the most beautiful little peninsula of land.  What he really wanted to try was parasailing and since I have been wanting to do this myself, I whole-heartedly agreed!  Unfortunately, I couldn't get a reservation at the resort so we opted to drive there and back in a day (only 1 1/2 hours each way, but that's a long way on this island!)  We had to be there by 9 am to sign up for the parasailing, and besides one of the best things about Okuma is breakfast in the restaurant so it served us well to be there early.  The biscuits and gravy at the restaurant is the closest thing to Cracker Barrell's we'll see for two years!

Everything started off well, we got an 11 o'clock reservation for parasailing (Stevie declined due to his fear of heights), we had breakfast (buffet on a Sunday which meant unlimited biscuits and gravy for the kids - woo-hoo!) and then we still had an hour to wait for the big moment. 

This is where I should probably pause and say that we've been having some weather issues in Okinawa this summer.  Instead of the intense, melt-the-wax-in-your-ear heat and humidity and sunshine that is typical here, we've had a lot of rain and odd rain/sun days.  Like you look outside and it's blue sky with puffy clouds, then you look out 15 minutes later and it's pouring rain, then you look out 15 minutes later and it's blue sky with pouring rain.  Very odd.  And you have to know that I'm notorious for not checking the weather, because it is usually wrong.  So knowing this I'll continue our story...

About 10:20 I bought the kids tickets to go on the bungy trampoline which they absolutely loved!  Note in the pictures the blue sky with puffy clouds. 

Look Mom, no hands!

As soon as Emmy finished her turn I looked across the water and yelled "run!" - we could see the rain coming at us across the water!  So 10:40 looked like this...

11:00 rolled around and it was beginning to clear again so they said the parasailing was on.  I kissed Stevie, London and Emmy goodbye on the beach, told Stevie to raise the kids well if we didn't make it back, and then got on the boat with Cannon. 

Half way out I looked over to shore and thought, this doesn't look good. 

But the captain pressed on until we got out into the open.  At which time he noticed that we could no longer see the mountains because of the rain.  The scary thing is I think he would have still put us up in the air had I not called it off and said it was OK to take us back to the dock!  I was joking to Cannon that had we gone up we wouldn't have seen anything because the cloud cover was so low.  And he said, "Yeah, how are they going to see if we make the X with our arms when we're in the clouds?"  (The written English safety directions handed to us said you were supposed to make an X if you wanted to come down!  The crew spoke no English.)

So our parasailing adventure came to an unsuccessful end, but I know we'll try again if we ever get a sunny day...

Stopping at a roadside stand on the way home.

Two tired out kids!

The dragon fruit I bought from that roadside stand.  Have you ever seen anything so exotic?

Peace Prayer Park

After resting from Friday's adventure of babysitting 7 kids for 13 hours - a long story which is best not told in detail, the picture speaks a thousand words...

Emmy and London's room at the end of the day...

Anyways, we took it easy Saturday morning, but were ready for adventure in the afternoon so Stevie suggested going to the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum - otherwise known as Peace Prayer Park.  This is a museum and memorial set up on the southern end of the island and dedicated to those involved in the Battle of Okinawa during World War II.  I've learned a lot about that battle since living here, mainly because it is why the US military has so many bases here.  It was a horrendous battle, the only battle fought on Japanese soil, and what prompted the US to ultimately drop the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  There was a tremendous number of lives lost during the battle including many, many civilians.  If you ever want to read an interesting book, I suggest reading The Girl with the White Flag by Tomika Higa.  She was an Okinawan girl who went through the Battle of Okinawa and it is a powerful, informative and moving story.

So the Peace Prayer Park is a memorial to this battle and also is meant to be a statement for peace.  It's idyllically situated on the side of a cliff with rows and rows of black granite tablets, similar to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC, etched with the names of those who lost their lives in the battle including Okinawan civilians, Japanese soldiers, and American soldiers. 

At the far end of the walk lies an eternal flame in the center of a fountain. 

Emmy and her friend Lydia who went with us.

Beyond the flame are the cliffs and ocean.

There is also a museum divided into four rooms.  The first room chronicles the events leading up to the battle (with a slight Okinawan-bend to the facts).  The second has reconstructed houses and castle walls  destroyed by the fire fight along with movies of footage shot during and after the battle.  The third wall had some pretty graphic photographs of the atrocities of the war (Cannon told me he thought there were some inappropriate pictures for he and London to see) and included a mock cave with refugees hiding inside.  Because of the geological formation of this island, there are lots and lots of natural caves which the Okinawans and Japanese used for shelter.  The fourth room showed post-war life, which of course highlighted the presence of the US military.  I found it funny that there were pictures of military housing proving that the places we live in look the same in 2010 as they did in 1945!

Was this our house in 1945?

Mock military gate - keeping the Japanese out of their own land.

While Stevie and I had the boys in the museum, Emmy stayed downstairs with our neighbor, Liz and her little girl, Lydia.  Here's Emmy standing next to the chains of origami cranes.  I believe each chain has 1,000 origami birds which are supposed to stand for peace.

A rare family photo!

Cannon Turns 10!

There's no going back now, from here on out Cannon will always have double digit birthdays!  Boy, does that make me feel old.  Can't believe it's been 10 years since he came into our lives and what a joy every minute has been.  He's one cool kid.

Today was all about his favorites which started with biscuits and gravy and presents.  Thanks to all who sent gifts - it was better than Christmas for him.  In fact I was awoken this morning by Emmy asking, "Can Cannon open his presents???" 

After a morning of trying out all the new toys, I took Cannon to his favorite restaurant, a Nepalese place, for lunch.  We were all going to go, but Emmy and London are slightly under the weather so Stevie and I took the approach of divide and conquer. 

After lunch, Stevie took London, Cannon and the neighbor, David, to Round 1 - the 7 floor amusement place full of all kinds of games and fun.  I hear they had all kinds of fun including riding the mechanical bull!

What a shot!

How Stevie spent his time at Round 1 - in the massage chairs!

David on the mechanical bull.

After Round 1, we had Cannon's favorite dinner, homemade macoroni and cheese with meatballs, and then a surprise party with the neighbors!  I felt bad that I couldn't do a "real" party for him since all his friends have moved, so the neighbors helped celebrate his special day with cake.  He was totally surprised when he came down stairs and saw a living room full of people wishing him a happy birthday.

Bakugan cake

Happy Birthday, Cannon!  Love, Mom

10,000 Eisa Festival

According to Stevie, for the past 364 days, since we missed it last year, I have been talking about going to the 10,000 Eisa festival in Naha.  Well, the annual festival finally came around again so we had our opportunity to go on Sunday.  With a bright HOT Okinawan sun shining down on us we climbed in the Blue Beater with our neighbors, Krimp and Demitri, and one of the new OB docs, Carolyn.

Eisa dancing is a traditional dance that dates back several hundred years but is completely unique to the Ryukyu islands, of which Okinawa is the largest.  Originating from a folk song, the dance was designed as a way the young people could pay respect to their ancestors each summer by marching through their neighborhoods while playing taiko drums.  Taiko drums are traditional Japanese drums.

The dance is performed in a group and has a beautiful rhythmic beat which is accompanied by flowing, energetic choreographed moves.  After watching these guys yesterday, I really think it should be offered as an exercise class at the gym!  It could be the newest exercise craze - after zumba and pole dancing!

So the festival is several days long, but the culmination is the 10,000 eisa dancer parade which takes place on Kokusai street (the touristy, kitchy street in downtown Naha).  The whole parade was amazingly well coordinated with exact times and places where the troops from various towns around Okinawa would stop and perform their routine.

Even the littlest guys got into the routine!

Did I mention how HOT it was?  Ice cream to cool off!

A sad clown?  I've never seen the "clown" thing before so I'm not sure what part they play in the eisa dance.

Posers!  The Japanese love to give the peace sign in photos.

As we wondered down Kokusai Street, we wound our way to the fish market.  Emmy and her friend Lydia were fascinated by this HUGE lobster.  Dinner anyone?

Emmy meets a stone fish. 
Stone fish live in the waters around here and are extremely poisonous if you touch their spines, but, according to the fish monger, make delicious sashimi!

After buying some parrot fish for dinner, we headed back down Kokusai for some more of the parade.

Add caption