Spring Break with Grammie

We've been doing so much stuff that I haven't had time to post it and since most of it is things we've done before, I'll skip the text and just post the pictures!

On Tuesday we went to Bios on the Hill...

Beautiful orchids

Boat ride with the kids (and Lydia!)

A throne of orchids

Walking the goats!

swinging on the giant swing

Hullahooping Grammie

Water pump games

 Wednesday was bikes and a walk at Cape Zanpa

Grammie loves water and cliffs!

On Thursday we went for a little walk on the beach at Toguchi.

We came up off the beach and saw this...

Don't you always see a man walking his bull around the streets and parking lots by the beach???

The Drop Off

Sunday was a beautiful day so we packed up and headed to one of our favorite spots - the south end of the island - to go to the beach and fish.  This is a beach we've been to with Liz, Don and Lydia several times recently and it's a great remote beach, but this time we found something new!




Grammie and Emmy having a picnic




Emmy and Lydia found a water hole to sit in - Liz doesn't look too happy!



...but the girls look happy!

The guys went out to their favorite spot to fish (with all the other Japanese guys) but this was the first time we've been there at LOW tide and what they found was amazing.  Usually, to get to the water, you have to walk across an expanse of strange, sharp lava rock with some rock pools and green sea weed. 

The Japanese guys fishing around the drop off.

The strange landscape you walk across to get to the water.

Standing on the edge of a pool

The guys knew there was a pool that formed by the breaking waves that was good for finding fish, but what they didn't realize was that the "rocks" they were standing on were actually shelves which hung out over a drop of about 100 feet strait down!  The water is so clear here you can see all the way down and all the fish in between!  Next time we'll come with our snorkel gear and jump in.  In between these drop offs and the sandy beach were some great tidal pools which were like huge aquariums.  You could stand on the rock and see all the beautiful tropical fish - beautiful!  Grammie had never seen anything like it.

Looking down 100 feet - don't trip!

Grammie looking at the "natural" aquariums

The attitude...

Some of our favorite blue fishies.

Afterwards, we went to a great restaurant called Thai in the Sky that sits on a top of a mountain with a great overlook to the sea.

What a great place for dinner!

I Write the Songs

...or at least sing the songs!  Yes, that was Grammie on Saturday night when we took her out on the town to a karaoke bar.  Now, if you don't know my mom well, you might not know that she has a song for everything.  Start a conversation about some topic and she'll bust out into a song that has to do with it.  So I thought that karaoke would be perfect for her - and it was!

I've written about other karaoke experiences we've had before, but in case you weren't paying attention, Japanese karaoke isn't like American karaoke.  In Japan, every group gets their own room complete with two mikes, their own TV and sound system, computers to input songs, and of course a giant song book.

The hardest part of karaoke is figuring out how to use the computer.

BIG book of songs

It took Grammie just a little bit to get the hang of it and then she was off and running.  She sang Elvis and the Beatles and Barry Manilow and a little Taylor Swift, Jewel and Bon Jovi to boot!  I think she had a great time!

Making our selections

Mike and Kelly singing "You're the One"

Not sure what the conversation was here, but it's a funny picture!

Stevie explaining the "Dam" book.

I think she's having fun.

Really getting into it now -dancing and singing!

Mother and Daughter

Liz and Don - Liz has a beautiful voice

Araha Park

It was a beautiful spring afternoon yesterday, Stevie was home from work early, and London was off school early so we (read I) decided to walk to pick up Emmy from school.  It's a little too far for some of the gang to go the whole way so we drove to Sunset beach and then walked along the sea wall the rest of the way.  London had a great time biking and I dragged Emmy's bike so she could ride home too.

Along the way is Araha Park otherwise known as Pirate Ship Park by the Americans.  It's a really fun playground for the kids that sits right on the beach.  What a great way to spend an afternoon!

At the end of the walk, near where we parked the van, is a spa that has a natural sulfur hot spring outside.  It feels wonderful on your tootsies after walking that far!

Date Night

Thanks to Grammie, Stevie and I were able to escape for a little date on Wednesday night.  I've been wanting to check out a new sushi restaurant I'd heard about but before going for dinner we went down to the sea wall to watch the sunset...

Then we headed to Newport Sushi for some yummmmmmmyyyyyy sushi.  Really different kinds like the Cotton Boat - little rice, lots of crab topped with shrimp

Or the Monkey Ball - crab stuffed inside a shitake mushroom then tempura deep fried

Or the San-O roll - seared salmon, jalepeno and green onions over a California roll

Is your mouth watering yet???  Stevie's was - he gave it the double peace sign

Cute little chopstick rest...

Okuma with Grammie, part 2

So it's taken me a few days to get the second half of our trip to Okuma on the blog, but here goes...

On Tuesday, the weather turned nice - some sun and less wind - so the first order of the days was to rent some "buggies".  The last time Grammie joined us at Okuma we rented bikes and the kids did not forget that so it had to be done again.  We rented one "speed racer" bike for the boys to take turns on while the other 4 of us were to ride on a four-seater.  I didn't realize until after we rented the bikes that the four-seater was for two people peddling, and two people riding in front.  Cannon was trying to be gallant and offer to peddle for Grammie so she could ride, but boy did Grammie look funny stuck in the front of the bike with Emmy!  Everyone in the parking lot was laughing at her!  Of course, it was me and Cannon who weren't laughing after about five minutes of peddling Her Highness with Princess Emmy next to her!  Well, it was fun and we had a good laugh.

After our bike excursion, we tried to find another hike but ended up going on a long twisty mountain road that led to no where.  We did find what we thought was a hike, but after about 10 minutes of going strait down hill, we decided it might not be such a good idea to continue.  Mom and I were thinking of the uphill return - and I must admit I was a little scared of a stray habu snake crossing our path.  Habu snakes are very poisonous and very common on Okinawa and with this being the first warm day in a while my head was full of visions of them sunning themselves on the path or falling out of the trees (known to happen!)

Instead of our hike, we found a wonderful nature center that focused on the indigenous wildlife in this area of Okinawa.  There is a species of bird, the Okinawan Rail (or the "famous bird" as Emmy called it), which was just discovered in 1984 and is on the endangered species list.  We had been hoping for a sighting of one of these birds during our stay, but only found a model at the nature center.

Not sure why this Okinawan Rail is lifting a dumb bell, but had to take a picture!

The Okinawan Rail

The day ended by one last short hike to a part of Okuma which is truly beautiful, especially at sunset.  Grammie just loves cliffs and crashing waves and I think I could have left her here all night!