Expo Park Adventure

We had a busy weekend enjoying some of the offerings of this island. First on Saturday we went to eat at a restaurant Pizza and Sky. It was a very basic menu. pizza. salad. drinks (which were very good fruit juices). But it's easy to see that people really go there for the view and atmosphere. It sat high on a hill, in a wooded area. The dining area was traditional Japanese. low tables, mats on the floor, rice paper sliding doors (which were all opened, adding a nice breeze on a blistering hot day).

Then we went to Ocean Expo Park, which has the second largest aquarium in the world! It was pretty sweet. We saw all kinds of fish and ocean life, coral, manta rays, whale, tiger, and great white sharks, and the dolphin show! It was a fun day!

Celebrating the 4th!

Hello Family and Friends Back Home!

We had fun celebrating Independance Day in Japan. We went snorkeling... Carrick actually got in the water! It was great and Carrick was like a little boy getting excited over the fish! We then went to a yakiniku restaurant, where we grilled our food at the table. Then it was off to the seawall to watch the sunset and fireworks that followed. It was an amazing day with great friends.

The Pictures above are from the other night at Western World, a line dancing bar here. I tried teaching Carrick how to two-step.... which kindof worked. :) And I rode the bull... video below.

SNAILS!

There are huge snails here that are kinda cool but creep you out at the same time. Most are small and you hear them crunch under your feet when you walk, but once in a while we get Huge ones in our yard. Yoshi usually sniffs and barks at them :)

As for Carrick and I we are doing good. Girl Scout Camp is this week, which we will both be at. I'm excited and a little stressed, but it will be a great time! So far it's been pouring down rain for the past two days and forecasted for all next week so we'll see what happens!

Wake Boarding!

We went wakeboarding with one of my co-workers, Yuki. We went to a smaller island off of Okinawa to this great beach. It was so much fun but really hard. I only got up about three times and it was only for a few second each but worth all the spills I took!

Children's Day

Every year Japan has a holiday week called Golden Week. All the schools and many businesses are closed and the whole country is on vacation. The week is comprised of holidays like Children's Day and Green Day. Children's Day celebrates the future of Japan through children. The people buy or make these wind kites that are supposed to represent carp. They hang one on their house for each male child. They also hang them in the parks and public places like in the picture.

Meet Yoshi

This is our new dog. His name is Yoshi, he's a full breed Yorkie and about a year old. We got him from a family who is PCSing and can't take him with. He's full of energy and acts just like a puppy. He's so cute and likes to play. The little stuffed dog in the picture is his favorite and he'll play fetch with it all day.

Botanical Gardens

Here are some photos from the day we visited the Southeast Botanical Gardens. I wish these pics were scratch and sniff because all the flowers smelled so good! We could smell it before we even got to the parking lot. It was a lot of fun to see the exotic flowers.