Mystery reader - part 1

Every Wednesday afternoon, London's class has time for a "mystery reader" to come read a book to the class.  I signed Grammie up for this auspicious honor at the beginning of the school year and this Wednesday was her big moment.  The kids loved her English accent, although they couldn't understand when she asked them if they knew the difference between a turtle and a "toy-toise" (what we Americans call a tortoise.)

Grandpa's first day

Fortunately, the kids were off school today for Grandpa's first day in Okinawa.  We decided to break him in gently and just went down to American Village for a look at the ocean, a stroll through the shops, lunch at sushi-go-round, a stop at the bakery in Jusco and then a soak of our tootsies at the natural sulfur spring outside of Chula-U.

Racking up the plates at the sushi-go-round!

Soaking the tootsies feels really good.

Later on we grabbed Grammie and went back down to American Village for a spin on the Ferris wheel.

Going up!

They're up there somewhere...

Coming down...

Welcome to Okinawa, Grandpa!

Well, after much delay (a 48 hour adventure in getting here whose story is best left untold...), Grandpa finally made it to Okinawa!!!  We're really looking forward to his two week visit (especially London who calls him his "best bud").

Last flight of the night, but at least he was on this one!

Here he comes...

Happy to be here!

Still more beautiful beaches

Sunday came and since it was such a beautiful day, I decided to haul the family to a beach on an island just off the coast of Okinawa.  We've been to this island before, but it was a long time ago and I recently had a friend tell me she found some good pickins on the beach (sea glass, shells and other treasures).

Ikei island was the island we were heading to, but first you have to cross Henza and Miyagi islands first.  But as we were on Henza island there was another bridge heading to another island that we decided to try first.  After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained - right???

And this little detour was definitely a tally mark in the "gain" column.  A tiny little place, albeit inhabited with a town, Hamahiga Jima (island), was a great find.  We ventured down to an amazingly beautiful deserted beach (Muruku beach) and rooted around for a while.

And since Grammie was with us, we were finally able to get a decent family picture (thanks Grammie!)

This amazingly beautiful beach led into another...

I'm telling you, I've been spoiled for a lifetime.  How am I ever going to be able to return to plain old sandy beaches???

After getting our fill of this area, we moved on to Ikei Jima and spent the rest of the afternoon finding shells, sea glass and awesome sand and wind-carved structures.

Emmy and London in the tidal pools.

Grammie with her collecting bag (it's not garbage!)

My boys

Having a rest in the naturally carved "seats"

A rare shot of the two of us!

Our final adventure before heading home was to follow a tiny directional sign that pointed to what seemed to be an historic spot (the sign said vestige).  It was actually an historic village of primitive structures - one recreated with a roof, the others with only the stone walls surviving.  This village, according to the sign, was actually 2500 - 2000 years old!  That's some pretty old buildings sitting in the middle of a farm field!

Inside one of the houses.

Mom standing next to the house - the base of the structure was actually sunk into the earth.

Me next to one of the "roof-less" houses.

Housing from 2,000 years ago.

Sea Wall

After hanging around the house most of the day, I finally rallied the troops for a little walk on the sea wall near sunset.  It's a really nice place to watch the waves break and take a leisurely stroll.

Grammie and her gang

E and L - still carrying their leashed animals!

Grammie hangin' in the 'hood

Emmy, London and all the other little kids in the neighborhood are really awesome at pretend play - especially with stuffed animals.  Emmy, who seems to be the bandleader for this kind of game, is particularly into her black and white border collie stuffed animal right now.  Perhaps it's these "Mist: Sheepdog Tales" movies we've been getting out of the library that spurs her on???

Anyways, the most recent game is running these border collies around to sniff for drugs.  Yes, I know a strange game! Believe me, when I over heard London saying his animal came back to base because he just found a bunch of drugs, I immediately stuck my head out the door to find out what he meant.  Turns out they're drug-sniffing animals.  I think they might have had a "don't take drugs" presentation at school this week.

Grammie somehow offered/got suckered into making a leash for the border collie, and then had a request from all the kids for a leash for their stuffed animals!  Grammie was only too happy to comply.  (Grammie also was convinced to knit a jacket for Emmy and London's stuffed animals!  What a good Grammie.)

So this was the scene when I stepped outside today...

Making a leash for Joey.

The "kennels" for the dogs when not in use.

There's "Border" sticking his head out of his kennel (which the kids pulled out of the neighbor's recycling.)

Here's London with his drug sniffing raccoon.  

And here's Joey and Ben with their dogs on leashes made by Grammie.

I guess Emmy and her animal must have been off hunting drugs...

Ball Season

It's that time of year again - Ball Season.  No, I don't mean football season, I mean dress-up-like-a-prince-and-princess ball season.  The first year we lived here, I didn't even know that the military had balls until I observed some neighbors leaving their house in their royal finery.  I soon found out that the military has celebration balls - and lots of them - every year.  So last year I managed to score us an invitation to one of the Marine Corps balls through our friend Don.

This year's season rolled around and I was told through my secret informant (Stevie does his best to get out going to the balls and will not always tell me when they are...) that the Navy Ball was on the 29th of October.  Since we are Navy, I would have liked to have attended a Navy ball, but when Stevie found out he would have to buy a new uniform jacket because of his new rank this year, my desires were dashed.  Nevertheless, I knew that he could go to a Marine ball and wear a suit, not uniform, so again I scored us an invitation to a Marine ball through our friend Dima.  Another couple who have recently joined the neighborhood, Chris and Jess, also wanted to attend a Marine ball so the six of us made it a date!

I think it's fun to get all dolled up, but I must admit that even with all my planning, I'm always rushing at the last minute to get my hair and make-up done.  And, of course, because I don't do my hair and make-up that often, it never quite turns out like I plan.  Still, I don't think we look that bad...

I think the pomp and circumstance of the Marines is kind of neat, and as long as it doesn't run too long, adds to the fun of the night.  The presentation of the Colors, the parade of the "birthday cake", the eating of the cake by the youngest and oldest Marine present, the "hoorahs" of all the Marines in their dress blues - it all makes you respect the dedication and patriotism that these guys and gals have.

And when all that was over, the dancing was FUN!

The gals

The guys

Chris, Jess, Stevie, me, Dima and Krimp