Okinawa World

We took a trip to Okinawa World this past week.

It was a lot of fun. Here are Scott and I posing with a python at the Habu/Mongoose show. What you can't see from this picture is how the snake tried to EAT SCOTT right after this picture was taken. That snake was big! Matthew did NOT want to pose with us, but he really got a kick out of seeing us do it.

Here are Scott and Matthew in Gyokusendo cave at Okinawa World.
It was really drippy in there. Lots of stalagmites and stalactites.

There were more than a few stairs...that we (or certain willing and able individuals) had to carry the strollers down.

The cave was really fun. I think the kids liked it.

Here's Scott facing off with something that looked like the big spider from Harry Potter. Yikes!

Anna was little miss independent, as usual.
She had to sit on her own row at the snake show.

Checking out some turtles

Enjoying some ice cream. I had beni-imo (purple sweet potato) ice cream and Matthew had mango-vanilla. So tasty! You can see Anna through the chair looking sad...don't worry though, she got plenty of ice cream tastes.

Matthew gives us the double peace sign pose - very popular in Japan. :) It was a fun day!

Battle of Okinawa Tour

We took a day long guided tour through the base of the Battle of Okinawa sites this week. It was serious stuff and really makes me see all of Okinawa differently now. Here are a few pictures.

Our tour guide was a survivor of the Battle of Okinawa, which lasted three months in 1945. We stopped at a cave not very far from our house where some of the Okinawans took shelter before the attack. Some of them committed suicide there because they were so afraid of the American soldiers coming. While we were there another survivor and her son came to clean up the cave. It was really powerful. There is memorial there now.

This is an old map of Okinawa displayed in the museum at the Japanese Naval Underground Headquarters. We also found out that the first landings (by the Americans) took place right near our house. We saw a lot of pictures of how things looked pre-war, during the attacks and after.

Here we are at the Japanese Naval Underground headquarters. These tunnels were dug with just picks and hoes. You can still see some of the scars on the wall from the picks.

This is our tour guide. She took us to see a memorial to one of the American commanders. She is a bit of activist for truth about the battle and the mistreatment of the Okinawan people by both sides. Hearing her perspective was one of the best parts of the tour.

We went to the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum. This was in a section of the museum dedicated to post-war Okinawa and the build up of American military bases and how that changed the island. Interesting stuff.

A lookout point in the museum.
So beautiful.

There is memorial with the names of those who died in the battle of Okinawa, (Japanese, American and British) outside the museum, along with this fountain. We kind of had to rush through this part since we spent too much time in the museum and had to meet up with our tour group again. But we can always come back. It was really eye-opening, and a lot of it, heart breaking. After hearing about some of what happened during the war, I was surprised that the locals are still so friendly to us Americans.

Ok, and here are a few less serious moments from our day of touring...

We had an all you can eat lunch at a Japanese hotel. I think I took five trips to the tempura station. Don't judge me. Matthew and Anna liked the pineapple, rolls and the jam packets...and they picked at a few other things too.

Here's Matthew feeding Anna some ice cream. Such a big brother.

Matthew and Anna on a shi shi dog shaped bench.
Anna doesn't look too sure about this.

She liked being on her own though. She is very independently minded these days and wants to do everything herself...and she's perfectly willing to go into full blown tantrum mode if she can't have it her way. I don't know if this is a passing phase or if she's just ramping up to be a ferocious two year old. Yikes!

Matthew helped me buy a shikuwasa lime drink from the vending machine.
He likes pressing buttons.

We were all pretty beat by the end of day. I had to feed Anna craisins one at a time to keep her from screaming on the bus ride home, but somehow we made it back in one piece. It was quite an interesting day!

Shuri Castle...again

We took a trip to Shuri Castle this week. I actually got to see the castle this time. Last time we went I spent my time vomiting in the visitors center rather than seeing anything. This time was better. Here's Matthew in front of the castle. He's grown up so much since last time we were here.

And now Anna is in the mix!

Matthew was enthusiastic about climbing the steps.

We only got in trouble once for putting our shoes back on at the wrong time, but I think Anna and Matthew smoothed it over with their cuteness. Fun times!

Ryukyu Mura

We went to Ryukyu Mura, a nearby Okinawan cultural center this week.

Matthew with a shi shi dog.

Feeding the goats was a highlight for the kids.

We saw a real water buffalo, but here's Matthew with a small statue of one. We took this picture right after seeing the Habu Mongoose show, which included a bunch of real Habu snakes (poisonous and scary) and a real Mongoose AND a 3-D movie of a Habu and Mongoose fighting, which terrified Matthew. I felt really bad. He was a little skittish about things afterwards...including this water buffalo statue.

Lots of "I love Okinawa" merchandise!

As we were leaving Matthew and Anna sat on this little throne. Anna was very sorry to have to get down. We were only there a few hours, but there was lots to see and learn about Okinawa.

Welcome Mom and Dad

Scott's parents came to Okinawa to visit us...we're having big adventures!
Here's Grandpa saying hi to Anna.

Matthew was crazy excited to see them!

He's been looking forward to it for a while.

We're excited to have them here!

Welcome Home Party

Last night we went to a squadron party (Scott's work) to welcome back all the deployed members. The squadron had a lot of people deploy this spring/summer and the last 5 have just returned (Scott included) so a party was in order.

We went to the Skoshi Bowl on base (skoshi means "little" in Japanese). Kadena has two bowling alleys; a big normal one and a separate small one (the Skoshi Bowl right next door) that is smaller and people reserve it just for parties. It was a lot of fun 'cause it was just our squadron there so it wasn't too loud and we weren't bothering other people with our loudness.
Here's Matthew wearing his glow in the dark glasses.

Anna put hers aside so she could run around with a half eaten hot dog bun in her hand for a while. There is another little girl in the squadron (a daughter of someone in the squadron) who was born one day before Anna and they haven't seen each other since we left Okinawa last December, so it was fun for them to see each other again. They've both grown into busy little girls. And there is also a new little boy their same age in the squadron now, so they had a little toddler posse going last night. Matthew supervised the whole thing.

Here's Matthew bowling. The bowling place had the pop-up rails, so Matthew could have the rails just for his turn, and they had these frame things that he could use to roll the ball down the lane. I've never used them before, but they were just right for Matthew. He had a great time with it! Scott, as it turns out, is pretty good at bowling, so he beat us all.

Here's the Welcome Home cake, complete with a tank on top.

Here's Anna with our commanders wife, Jenn. The kids love her and were squealing and running around trying to give her high fives a lot of the night. She was a good sport about it. She also watched our house and tended our cars while we were gone in the states, picked us up from the airport and put the bowling night together. She's great!! We had a really fun time! Maybe we'll have to go bowling again.

Not the boss of me

When Scott left on his deployment, he told Matthew to take charge while Daddy was gone. Matthew took this very seriously and has resisted relinquishing his head of household role now that Scott is back.

Along those lines, Matthew has been giving stern commands to people lately.
"Daddy, Turn on the [car] lights!!"
"Buckle your seatbelt, Grandma!!"
These commands are often car related.

Today at lunch, I moved to a different seat at the table.
Matthew: Move your plate, Mommy! (referring to a serving plate that he assumed was mine)
I told him the plate was fine where it was, but he kept insisting.
Matthew: Move your plate, Mommy! Mommy! Move your plate!
Me: Where did this bossy boy come from?
Matthew: Rhode Island (pause for effect) Now, move the plate!

He really is a sweet boy, despite what it sounds like. We're working on getting him to state his requests (demands) in a nice voice.

Happy Halloween

We had an easy and low-key Halloween. In the morning we walked through the steamy Okinawa heat to the 100 yen store for Halloween treat buckets. On the way home we got rained on...and then it stopped and steamed again. I'm still adjusting to the Okinawa weather. And I didn't bring any of our warm weather clothes, I shipped them a few weeks before we left the states and they still aren't here. That wasn't too smart...but I digress. Here are Matthew and Anna getting ready for trick-or-treating. Anna was a kitten.

And Matthew was a fireman. Apparently it is a popular combo. We saw another sister and brother dressed as kitten and fireman too. I guess the fireman can save the kitten from a tree or something. Matthew was really excited about his costume.

We also met Hello Kitty in the BX and Matthew was really excited to take a picture with her - further evidence of the fireman/cat connection? Matthew actually insisted that she was a bunny, so I don't know.

We went trick-or-treating inside at the BX, which worked out since it rained a little bit tonight. We only went to about 6 or 7 shops before the kids buckets were totally full and we decided to stop. Here's Anna trick-or-treating. She was so excited to see the other kids in their costumes and completely perplexed by the people who would put candy in her bucket. It was a lot to take in but I think she had fun. Everyone thought she was very cute.

Matthew was really excited about the trick-or-treating too and kept asking about it all day...and telling me we had to go trick-or-treating NOW because today was Christmas. We tried to correct him, but he wouldn't hear of it.

And here they are at the end of the trick-or-treating excursion. I think we were only at it for about 15 or 20 minutes, but that was plenty for them. It was a lot of fun and afterwards we headed back to the house for dinner and a quiet evening at home. Happy Halloween everyone!

Monakids Jungle

Yesterday we went to Monakids Jungle, an indoor play place on the island. We were the only ones there so Matthew and Anna had their run of the place. They had a good time...at least I think so. Here's Matthew getting a little help on the zip line.

Anna and Matthew in the ball pit.

Scott and I tried to play the Taiko drum game (two player) but we had to take turns running off to follow children, so we didn't really get to play together. It was still fun though.

This was one of Matthew's favorites - driving the bus.

So many buttons and levers to push and pull

Here's a big shot of part of the play area. There were really a lot of things to do...and since we were the only ones there, no bigger kids to compete with. That's a roller slide on the far right, which was also a big hit.

Anna in the bouncy room. She really got the concept of jump and fall down in there.

They did have to get in each other's way a little bit, but mostly there were no conflicts.

I think Anna liked the ball pit best. There was lots of squealing and rolling around. I did have to rescue her once or twice when she got stuck in the middle and couldn't get out, but it was still fun. I think we'll be going there again.