Ryugujo Butterfly Garden

We drove up to Nago this week to go to the butterfly garden. We were thinking the kids would enjoy seeing the butterflies. They did not. They were both very frightened when the butterflies fluttered near them and were very happy to leave the whole experience behind. Oh well. Here we are taking a picture by the sign before we went inside with the menacing butterflies.

Here are Matthew and Anna in the car ride up. They were holding hands for part of the drive. Awww.

At the gardens again...we posed by a few of the signs.

At the entrance to the butterfly exhibit you could pick up a red umbrella, to attract the butterflies. The kids wanted to use them more as shields. If I tried to take his umbrella away, so he could see the butterflies better, Matthew cried to have it back. I'm not sure he knew a butterfly had landed on his umbrella here. He wouldn't have liked it.

Here's Anna with her umbrella.
There were a lot of butterflies in there and they came fluttering right up to us. One landed on Matthew's shoe - it left after he screamed and ran away.

I tried to attract the butterflies with one of the red hats.
They weren't going for it.

But then kind of landed on it later. Anna wasn't too happy about that.
This was after she asked me to hold her because a butterfly got too close to her.

One landed on my arm. Anna doesn't know it yet.

And she wasn't too happy about that either when she found out.

They also had coconut crabs there.
The kids were a little nervous about seeing them after the butterfly encounter.
Matthew kept asking me if the crabs could fly.

He wouldn't go near the crabs.

We stopped to enjoy the view before we left and saw a few wild butterflies while we were leaving, which also frightened the kids. I tried to tell them they could just wave their hands and the bugs would fly away from them, but they were still a little scared for a while afterward. Now I know. Butterflies are not so much fun for my 2 and 3 year olds. See some pictures from our first butterfly encounter HERE.

Cafe Caracuma

Scott took some time off work this week and we've been having some adventures. We took a little drive down to Naha and then went to Cafe Caracuma for lunch, a Thai place with a nice view. The food was ok - the kids were a little busy at the restaurant so we ate fast. After our lunch we walked around the grounds and checked out the nice view.

The views reminded me of Hawaii

Matthew found a cool swing.
Anna and Matthew were both really excited about collecting rocks there.

There were lots of fossils and dinosaur bones to see.

Here's the view on the road as we were leaving the restaurant. It was a fun adventure.

Here we are earlier in the day playing at a play place in Naha.

The ran around there for about an hour and got out a lot of their wiggles.
They loved having some free time with Daddy.

Squeaky Clean

Anna and Matthew love taking baths. They don't like getting their hair washed, but the rest is giggling and splashing. We have this really deep, and very pink, tub in our house here. I have a hard time washing the kids in it 'cause it's so deep, but it does contain the splashing pretty well. The kids were having so much fun in their bubbly bath the other day, that I had to take a few pictures.

Anna loves the bubbles. She loves the water and being wet. She especially loves sticking her head under the faucet as the tub fills up, which is why her bangs are sometimes in a V shape.

Matthew likes to pretend he's swimming in the tub and always wants me to sing Under the Sea from The Little Mermaid to him while he's in there, while he dance-swims to it. Matthew also likes to grow a bubble beard...

...and then "shave" it off with a sponge.

It's just a bath, but to them, it's an adventure. And I can't help getting caught up in their bubbly adventures...and giggles once in a while.

Another Soccer Day

Scott was able to come with us to soccer practice today, and I think Matthew was much happier to play with his dad than with me. Here they are getting ready to pass...Anna wanted to play too.

Matthew does a BIG kick. Such enthusiasm!

Here are the kids during a little scrimmage. Matthew is walking around in the background with his hands on his neck. He did kick the ball a few times.

Also during the scrimmage. I'm in the blue shirt here. I don't know what I'm trying to direct them to do here. It was a bit chaotic.

Matthew's favorite part of soccer: the end, when they get to eat snacks. He had more fun at the beginning (playing and running with dad) but still got tired at the end. We only have one more week of soccer so hopefully we can make it through!

Fall at the Commissary

I like fall, even though I haven't lived many places that have a real fall - only Utah during college. But I still like going to visit the pumpkin patch in October. Last year we were in Rhode Island in October (they have a real fall!) and we got to go to the pumpkin patch AND pick apples. We also went in Monterey when Matthew was little. Very fun! They don't have anything like a pumpkin patch here, at least as far as I know. Our pumpkins are shipped in from the states. The kids were very excited to see some pumpkins at the commissary (see how excited Matthew is?), so we took a few pictures. Our own little pumpkin patch.

I told them to stand by the pumpkin and look at me. The looking at me part was hard for them.

Anna wanted to stand by the tall scarecrow. There was also a big box of pumpkins, but there were only two moldy ones left inside (that's our commissary) so I didn't want them to pose with those pumpkins.

The kids pretend to pick a few fake apples from the tree (a little decoration for the apple juice display). They were both freaked out that there was a snake on the tree.

And that is the extent of our fall festivities! Pumpkin sitting, apple picking. We covered the bases, right. I think we're going to try and make caramel apples later - using real apples this time. We'll see how that goes. Happy fall everyone!

Shoes

I did a little last minute souvenir shopping today. I still have a few weeks, but I'm getting it in now rather than later, when we are busy with packing and other fun moving tasks. I found some good stuff that I was looking for and that made me happy. The kids also found some shoes they liked. Anna picked some sparkly red slippers and Matthew picked a pair of wooden geta clogs, which he was very excited about since we have a book about them, A Pair of Red Clogs by Masako Matsuno. After we got home with his special shoes he wore them while we read the story. He is VERY excited about them.

Here he is showing off his new shoes. He got to wear them in the house just for one day. He was a little sad they didn't make the sound "kara koro kara koro" when he walked like in the story. They were padded with rubber on the bottom, so they don't make much sound when he walks.

Anna picked out these red shoes and was very excited about them also. She didn't want me to take her picture wearing the shoes though. She abandoned them when I tried (the only time she left them alone that day) and went to hide.

Sometimes she just doesn't like having her picture taken.

Coming soon...

...but not that soon.

It's a busy time for our family with the upcoming move, and it's all made even more complicated by the fact that we are now expecting a baby! We had an appointment a week or so ago and everything is good, so we're hoping everything keeps going smoothly. I'm about 16 weeks now and due at the end of March.

A few days before we fly out of Okinawa, we are scheduled to have our 20 week ultrasound to determine whether we're having a boy or a girl. Scott and I both think we are having a boy. I don't know why. We'll see.

In any case, we are excited. I've been feeling a little nauseated and very tired, but it's not too bad. We have a nice doctor who has been working with us and is very patient with my many worries, and who is not at all bothered when I bring my two kids to my appointments. I hope we can find a great doctor in Colorado too. And I hope everything with the move goes nice and smooth so I can rest and relax a lot...'cause I'm already sooo tired all the time. Gotta love it!

I tell you what...

Not much has been happening here lately. We're doing a lot of errands and chores to get ready to move (less than a month away) and I'm starting to get stressed. I tried to convince myself I didn't have to be stressed about this move, but now as things get closer and the little to do list tasks add up, it seems unavoidable. We haven't been doing much fun or exciting, and I don't have much to blog about, so here is a little bit about the kids.

Matthew, who we used to think was shy and quiet, has become a BIG talker! He will talk and talk and talk if given the chance. He's very detail oriented and likes to know how things work (as I type this he's telling me his brain is helping him move his arm). He's also at that age where he likes to ask a lot of questions. The other day he had a 20 minute conversation with a stranger about how to properly jump out of an airplane. No matter what the guy (a paratrooper) told him, he came back with another question. He does the same thing to me. I'm getting better at coming up with simple answers to his complex questions.

Anna is also a good talker, though not as inquisitive yet, and still a little shy of strangers. She did stop someone in the bathroom the other day to show them her princess sticker. The two of them crack me up sometimes. Here are some of our recent conversations:

I asked Anna what she wanted to be for Halloween...

Anna: I want to dress up as Peter Potter (while putting on the Harry Potter scarf in our dress up box).
Scott: Is that the boy who lived and never grew up?
(See some old Harry Potter dress up pics HERE).

Anna: Mom, I broke your earphones, but it's o.k. It was an accident.

After I told him he won't be going to preschool here this year (this kind of broke my heart):
Matthew: (starting to cry) But do they have schools in Colorado?
Me: Yes (hug)
Matthew: Do they have bathrooms at the school? Are the potties just the right size for me?
Can Mrs. Weathers (his preschool teacher) fly on a plane and be my teacher in Colorado?

To me after I finished discussing some work issues with Scott...
Matthew: Who is going to get burned? You said they are going to get fired!
(No one is getting fired by the way)

Scott (talking to me about work): ...It's like a monkey on my back.
Matthew: (alarmed) Daddy, is there a monkey on your back?!?

Me (to Matthew after discussing the TV and satellite dish with him at length) : Let's just drop it.
Matthew: But if we drop it the TV will break!

Matthew: (anytime he wants to strike a deal or bargain with me) Mommy, I tell you what...

Me (to Matthew): What a good memory you have!
Matthew: I am a good remember-er. I'm a remember boy!

Anna (to me after nap time): I like you! You're my mommy and I like you!
Matthew: And you aren't the wrong mommy. You're the right mommy!
Anna: (in agreement) Yes, you're the right mommy!
Matthew: And daddy is the right daddy
Anna: Yes, and he's the right daddy and he likes Matthew. He likes Matthew A LOT!!

For the record, Scott likes Anna too! ;)

Okinawa Zoo

This weekend we went to the Okinawa Zoo. I've never been there before mostly because so many people have told me how small and lame it is. But I was actually pleasantly surprised. There was a lot for the kids to see and do and we had a great time. It did rain on us while we were looking at the animals, so he had to take shelter for a little while, but it all worked out. Here are Matthew and Anna by the sign.

One of my favorite animals to see was the bats. There are a lot of bats that live in the trees around Okinawa and when they fly around at night they look so big. We finally got to see some up close. I thought they looked like little monkeys. This bat (bottom right) was climbing up the fence with his big bat wings. It was super creepy looking...but I didn't get a great picture. It was cool to see them up close. Matthew was checking out an anteater (upper right) and sitting on a little hippo statue. So fun.

We saw lots of cool animals - horses, lots of birds, snakes, crocodiles and other reptiles, so many monkeys, BIG hippos, tigers and a lion, giraffes, elephants, kangaroos, koalas, a big bear, ostriches and emus...and other stuff I can't remember. It rained on us, so we sat and ate lunch at this covered enclosure by the elephants. The elephant was hiding, but eventually came out for us to see. Anna thought it was amazing that he was flipping mud up on himself.

This sign by the iguana kind of made me laugh. I know, it's a little graphic, but why do they both look so happy?

At the petting zoo the kids had a great time holding the chicks (gently) and petting the rabbits and guinea pigs. It looked like they had other bigger animals to pet, but they were under cover since it was rainy. Matthew and Anna both LOVED holding the baby chicks.

On our way out of the zoo we took a spin on the carousel. Matthew picked the panda to ride on and Anna picked the dolphin.

Right next to the zoo (and part of the same Discovery Kingdom complex) was a children's museum. We went in to check it out. Here are the kids on the big chair. I saw the sign after we were done that they weren't supposed to stand on it. Oops. Sorry.

Here are Matthew and Anna playing at the big pin art wall. They loved sticking their hands (and faces) in there to make fun designs on the other side.

Anna was excited to try the rock climbing wall, although she didn't make it very high. Matthew liked it too.

Here they are running down the little track. The kids were automatically timed running down this short runway and then it extrapolated their 100m time. At least that's what I think it was doing...something like that. They did this one over and over.

And here are some other fun things at the museum, a little water table, a block play place, a big screen with our shadows and different sized eggs to climb in and out of. There was a lot of stuff to do and we had a great time. By the end we were all beat and ready to get out of the heat. We had a great time!