Trick or Treat!

I can post pics of Halloween festivities and you are just waking up to Halloween morning! <sinister laughter>

(P.S. Yes, I know I still have to finish posting Henry and Janet’s visit.  I’ve been busy making Halloween costumes and doing other things.  I’ll get back to that!)

 
Thanks to Jake and Crystal our driveway was looking extra festive this year!

Some afternoon playtime—perhaps to preemptively burn off the sugar rush?  Or just because it was a nice day.

Jake’s driveway artwork!

  
Voila!  Homemade Tigger costume.  Not because I’m all that crafty or too cheap to buy one, but because I didn’t put enough thought into Halloween to order anything early enough for it to be shipped.  I think the costume turned out pretty well, and Logan looked cute in it.

Riding tricycles is what Tiggers do best!

I AM Naomi’s costume; together we are Kanga and Roo.  (I needed something that would allow me to wear her in the front carrier.)

My cute little Roo in her pouch.

The best shot we could get of the whole gang.  Seriously, and Connor/Spiderman has a bag over his head.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We met up with Daniel en route.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Logan was a little uncertain about some of the costumes and decorations we saw.

But he had lots of fun with his friends.

Happy Halloween!  (Pumpkin artwork by Scott.)

Giant Buddhas and Dancing Lions!

First things first: highlights from Naomi’s one month photo shoot.  Which one do you think is the best choice for her baby book?

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Week 2:  Jake had a 96 for Columbus Day and then took Friday off so that we could head north for more adventures, which adds up to a very busy week and several new sights.

We began with the Peace Prayer Park (which we’d been to before) including the Okinawa Peace Hall (which he hadn’t been inside).  This is the view looking through the Cornerstone of Peace towards the Peace Hall.  The Peace Hall is kind of indistinct against the sky but it’s a tall white structure that reminds me of Saruman’s tower in Lord of the Rings.

Inside the tower is the Okinawa Peace Prayer Statue (12 m high, 8 m wide).  Technically NOT a giant Buddha (it sure looks like one to me), it represents the prayers for peace of the Okinawan people who suffered immensely from being caught in the middle of the fight between the Japanese and the US during WWII.

      
Behind the Peace Hall, there is a butterfly garden which, according to the brochure, is meant to remind visitors how precious life and—guess what?—peace are.  Noticing a theme yet?

Henry, Janet and I (with Naomi in tow in the front carrier) proceeded to the museum which was extremely well done but not always child-appropriate.   Then again, war is not exactly “child-appropriate” either.  Anyways, this room is filled with first-hand accounts (some of them translated into English) of the horrors experienced by the Okinawan people during the battle.  Very moving.

While we went through the museum, Jake took Logan to the playground.  Do you see Logan there at the top of the steps?  Just wanted you to get some perspective on the overall size.

I LOVE (and am jealous of) the lack of language barrier between children.

Lesson learned from all this talk of peace: Can we all just get along?  Yes, it’s possible we can, as long as there are roller slides and funky mirrors involved.

Next day’s event: Ryukyu Mura.  We’ve been here before, but we were less organized last time and showed up in-between parades.  The parade combines festivals from throughout the year and across some of the outlying islands into one colorful, jubilant event.

The “king” marches in, escorted by musicians and flag-bearers.  The “queen”, following behind him, also has a personal parasol holder.

  Miruku, the bodhisattva (something like a Buddhist saint) of happiness, rich harvests, and prosperity, comes in to bless all our crops.

  A karate demonstration.  In case you don’t know, karate originated here on Okinawa.

The Lion dance! 

  It’s supposed to be good luck for the lion to snap its jaws at you.  Logan was not entirely convinced.

And, of course, eisa!

And at the end, everyone gets to join in!  Also, check out the old woman balancing the bottle of awamori on her head!  Now SHE is pure Okinawan: long life expectancy and loves to party.

On that note, I’m going to call it a night and head to bed.  Next round will cover the last few days of Henry and Janet’s time with us when we headed north for Oura Wan beach, the aquarium, etc.

Just a Little East of Eden

Picking up where I left off last time, Shikina-en was closed by the time we got there on Saturday, so we went back on Sunday immediately after church. Shikina-en was the royal “summer” home, a place to get away from palace life and/or entertain visiting dignitaries.  Like everything else on the island, it was decimated during the war but was rebuilt in the 80’s and declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000.

The “udun” (house/palace) has 15 rooms and is built in a style similar to ordinary private residences.

It has a few royal perks though, such as indoor “plumbing”.  (It’s actually not that much different from modern “squatty potties”.)

  View from the tea room.  Not too bad.

The house, as is typical, is very open to the outdoors.  You can actually catch glimpses of this view from most of the rooms.

The intricate details of the garden are equally as grand as the overall picture.

Went a little more in-depth on this one because we hadn’t been here before.  Our plan was to hit this and then go to the Naha Tug-of-War, the (Guinness Book of World Records verified) largest tug-of-war in the world and the other half of the festival that we missed on Saturday.  Well, guess what?  Plans didn’t quite work out yet again.  We picked up lunch, went to a park to eat it, and Logan had a complete and total melt down.  So, no tug-of-war for us.  Maybe next year we’ll get there . . . 

Remainder of the inter-generational Wilde adventures still to come.  Hang in there!

Catching Up, Again

I’ve been in virtual hibernation while the in-laws were here, but the rest of you have not been forgotten.  I return with beaucoup pictures!  Henry and Janet enjoyed two weeks of grandkids and island sights.  They also carried with them our new *waterproof* camera!!!  We didn’t get a chance to test out its waterproof capabilities while they were here (Henry and Janet aren’t really beach/ocean people), but I did give it a thorough “dry” run. 

Week One:

A beautiful day at Nakagusuku Castle.

 

 

 

 

Morning prayers and flowers at Futenma shrine.

Followed by a stop at one of the local parks.

Taking advantage of the beautiful weather, Henry and Janet got a bird’s eye tour of the area from the ferris wheel.

  Later, needing to run some errands, I dropped Henry and Janet off with Logan at the Botanical Gardens.  Afterwards, while waiting to meet up with them I found this gem in the gift shop.  “Isn’t it bewildered” indeed!

Also while waiting to meet up, I had the opportunity to test out the camera on a couple of my favorite subjects.

 

 

 

Naomi’s first “real” bath.  She did pretty well; Logan, who was in the tub with her, completely flipped out.  He seemed to think that her mini-tub was hurting her or going to hurt her somehow.

A little roller slide action helps keep everyone young.

It’s fun to let someone else do the pushing once in a while.

Meanwhile, Henry went for a spin.

  Because of kid-care considerations, we split up and I stayed home while Jake took his parents to the Japanese Naval Underground Headquarters (first pic), a handful of sites which played significant roles in the battle of Okinawa, and Shuri Castle (second pic). 

The plan was to meet up after Logan’s nap, tour Shikina-en and go to a portion of the Naha festival.  What happened instead was meeting up at Shikina-en (which was closed), going to Kokusai St. (which, as it turned out, was not where the festival was), and having a good dinner at a Japanese restaurant. 

Lesson learned: Life is an adventure.  Adventures don’t always work out the way you expect them to.

Hope your adventures are going well!  Many more adventures and a few more mishaps to follow from me soon!