Beaches, Buddhist monks and guinea pigs--oh my!

Because I know everyone is just dying to hear about our weekend . . . (Seriously, is anyone reading this? Leave me some comments so that I know I'm not just wasting my time here!)

My two best boys at the beach.

Logan and I picked Daddy up after work on Friday and we headed out for a couple hours of fun and relaxation at Tropical Beach.

Saturday we explored Camp Hansen (Jake's old stomping ground from the last time he was here, nothing worth taking a picture of there though) and then stopped in at this nearby Buddhist temple, Kin Kannon-do.

The story goes that a Buddhist monk was washed ashore after his boat sunk in a tsunami. In gratitude to the people of the village for helping him out, the monk rid the village of habu (snakes) and made them this golden statue of the Buddha.


The Buddha statue is housed in a cave beside the temple and most of the rest of the cave is used to store awamori (a locally-produced alcohol).

A monk was offering worship while we were there. I took the opportunity to observe (unobtrusively) for a little while; there was a lot of incense-waving, bowing, putting various things into a fire in front of the altar, and towards the end he rang a small bell several times. Not sure what it all meant, but it was interesting.

Not content with one adventure for the day, we decided to visit the zoo on our way back home. Ten points to whoever can correctly identify this animal.

We got to see part of a show where they had the elephants doing various tricks (pulling tires, dunking basketballs with their trunks, etc.)--here one of them is giving the trainer a high-five.

Logan enjoyed the petting zoo.

And, because it seems like the thing to do, I'll throw in another flower shot.

Lotus flower at the zoo.

Tomorrow's agenda: church and ???