This is the view from our balcony. Our little beach is usually quite calm, more like a bay. But the past couple of days we've had LOTS of wind and the waves have really kicked up. Yesterday we saw dozens of Okinawan surfers and wind-surfers out in the water. We went down to the beach to watch them. I pretty much had to hold Mason down to keep him from jumping in and giving it a try! Not much other news here, Ty is busy at work. I've been busy unpacking and setting up the house. Mason has started soccer--his team is appropriately named "The Dragons." And Alaina continues her reign as The Family Princess!
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
This is the view from our balcony. Our little beach is usually quite calm, more like a bay. But the past couple of days we've had LOTS of wind and the waves have really kicked up. Yesterday we saw dozens of Okinawan surfers and wind-surfers out in the water. We went down to the beach to watch them. I pretty much had to hold Mason down to keep him from jumping in and giving it a try! Not much other news here, Ty is busy at work. I've been busy unpacking and setting up the house. Mason has started soccer--his team is appropriately named "The Dragons." And Alaina continues her reign as The Family Princess!
Thursday, February 22, 2007
The Lt. Col. list is officially out and Major Ben Edwards, Jr. is on it! Yay for Daddy! And it came out on his birthday, no less. Happy Birthday! We love you, Daddy!
Our shipment from Montgomery finally arrived! We were soooooo excited to see our things again. The movers just pulled the van up under one of our balconies, stood on top of the truck and passed the boxes over the rail!
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
And we're all smiles! He even brought us all some neat trinkets, like Alaina's pink Mongol hat. Travelling to and returning from Afghanistan, he passed through: Moscow, Kyrgystan, Istanbul, Singapore, and Dubai. Ty enjoyed Afghanistan--he said the temps were in the 20's and the terrain was quite rugged (elevations up to 14,000 ft). He found the Afghan people to be "quite appreciative" and said their army was "very competent and willing to fight." He says he's really looking forward to working with them next year. But we're just glad he's home!!
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Monday, February 19, 2007
The vending machines are EVERYWHERE here... just out in the middle of an empty field with the bulls (literally!) or at the foot of someone's stairs in their driveway. It's really peculiar. But the kids love picking out drinks and using their yen. So far, these are our favorite drinks... Alaina--Apple Tea, Mason--a grape soda, Ty--Vitamin Water, Anna--Georgia Cafe Au Lait--which you can even get out of the machine hot or cold.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
So many things get lost in translation here! We always get a kick out of reading signs and business names. This little sign in our apartment's elevator gives us a smile everytime we get on. Can you decipher the message? (PS Let me add that I am ALWAYS thankful for ANY amount of english ANYONE can speak! And this effort is far better than I could ever achieve in Japanese!)
...was this bamboo "kitchen cabinet." We have about 4 tiny cupboards in the kitchen and that's it for dishes AND food storage. So we really are using this as a kitchen cabinet. It even has a neat little basket built in at the bottom for potatoes and onions. I've also bought a medium sized oriental rug, a neat little end table, and a dresser/shaving (?) mirror with a stand and drawer. Ty better hurry home from Afghanistan or there could be more on the way!
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Here's a shot of the first piece of furniture I bought over here. (Yes, that means I've already bought more than one!!) The wives group had a "coffee" in a store called "The Oriental Place." It's owned by a Chinese woman who imports antiques from the China countryside into Okinawa. She gave a really interesting talk about her childhood and growing up with Communism and The Cultural Revolution. Then she walked around the store and gave us the history of each piece in the store. On this piece, only the panels are antique. The buffet was built around them. A girl could get into trouble with all this good stuff to buy!
Monday, February 12, 2007
Here is a new little friend we've made. Zach lives in our building (they're a Marine Corps family, too). Yesterday his mother took Alaina and I to the neatest little restaurant down a dozen back alleys. The restaurant opens up onto a lovely garden with trails and fountains and tons of flowers. We ate outside while the kids played in the garden. What a fun lunch!
Thursday, February 8, 2007
We can't get enough of the parks here. They are so cool. The Japanese don't seem to have any of the gazillion safety regulations that we do in the states. Of course the element of danger makes it that much more fun to the kids. What could be better than a huge playground at the top of a mountain!?! And, yes, that's Mason in the middle of this thing!
These tombs are all over the place here... along the side of the road, in the woods, half way up a mountain. They look so enticing and mysterious to Mason but it's a big no-no to play on or near them. The tombs hold cremated ancestors--sort of like our cemeteries. The entire family will come to the tomb on special days and picnic and burn incense to pay respect.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Mom wanted to see a picture of our apartment building. Here it is... home, sweet, home. It's 6 floors high with 2 apartments on each floor. We live on the second floor, on the right hand side. It looks like it could be in the middle of Panama City Beach, doesn't it? Except for the chickens/roosters/geese (also serving as our alarm clock!!) that live on one side and all the little Okinawan gardens on the other sides. The photo was taken about halfway between the building and the beach.
Monday, February 5, 2007
Here is a shot of one of the lovely beaches we saw today. Beautiful green water. The USMC has built some weekend cabins along this beach and in the summer they have all sorts of water sports and boating equipment available. We hear the reservations are already limited. I hope we can arrange to spend some time here this summer!
Today we drove up north to see the last of the cherry blossoms. We had quite a hike up and around a mountain to get to them. It was a beautiful day and very interesting to see another part of the island. We also drove through the Japanese "resort" area and saw some beautiful beaches.
Saturday, February 3, 2007
...just a quick shot of our already overflowing bowl of treasures we bring back from the beach everyday. Pretty, huh?
There are many interesting trees here on Okinawa. Some look like Dr. Seuss trees--being tall and squiggly (I'll have to find out their name). Shown here is a Banyan tree with its long and twisted roots. We saw this one yesterday on Kadena Air Force Base and had to stop and let Mason do some climbing. Today we are hoping to drive up to the North part of the island to see the Cherry Blossoms that are blooming right now.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
...or maybe I should say front yard. Our apartment sits on the Pacific Ocean and has an amazing view. Nearly every day the kids and I go down to the beach. They just love it--Mason especially. The caves, streams, tunnels, cliffs, and tide pools all make it a wonderful place for little boy adventures. And Alaina and I like to look for the beautiful shells and sea glass that are abundant.
Last weekend we went to one of the fabulous parks the Japanese are known to have. (They have outstanding play equipment.) This one even had a "rollerslide"--a long conveyer belt-like slide made up of lots of little rollers. Needless to say, even Ty and I had to give it try! We picniced, hiked in the woods, and played. It was a really fun day and EVERYONE slept good that night!
