What the Storm Blew In

Our next visitor was Typhoon Muifa.  She (he?) only stayed for about three days, but she dumped something like 40 inches of water on us while she was here.

Despite appearances, we really managed not to get too stir-crazy.

Look what the storm blew in!  Aunt Rachel had her own CRAZY experience getting here, but she made it eventually.

First stop on our tour was Zakimi Castle.

Then the Nakamura Old House.  We had to alter our normal schedule of guest events because of Rachel’s abbreviated trip, so she got to see this in lieu of Ryukyu Mura or Okinawa World/Cave.

Amazing how nice the sky looks after the storm is finally gone.

   
My kids are completely zen :)

July

Yep, I’m going to cover an entire month in one post!  Luckily (for you?  for me?), I was quite preoccupied with VBS in July and took far fewer pictures than normal.  Let the fun begin!

 

 

 

Logan vs. Henry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who’s that pretty girl with the great big smile?

 

 

 

 

 

Peekaboo!  Playing with VBS leftovers.

 This doesn’t happen very often.

 This doesn’t happen all that often either, mostly because the flower doesn’t stay put and quickly ends up in someone’s mouth.

Playground fun.  Because, if you haven’t gathered by now, this is what we do :)

  Cuteness.

Oh yes, and we do some of this too.

Somewhere over the rainbow.

 
We found a new section of Comprehensive Park where the pigeons are basically tame.

I felt bad that we didn’t have any bread (or rice) for them, but the kids had fun chasing them all the same.

Just another day at the park.

Jake has a habit of referring to helmets as “brain buckets”; consequently, so does Logan.

Doo doo-doo dooooo!  Announcing the end of another blog post!

Bye!  

Last Hurrah with Mom and Dad

Love this funny kid!

After all our travels up north, we had to break things up with an easier day, meaning playground in the morning and souvenir shopping in the afternoon.  Mom snapped this great shot of me and my kiddos on the teeter-totter (Dad was on the other end).

Mom took Naomi for a ride down the “little” slide.

  
Later, Naomi picked (and ate) wildflowers while Logan went down the big slide.

The final stop on our island tour: the Peace Prayer Park.

After visiting the central monument area, we parted ways.  Jake took Mom and Dad through the museum, while I took the kids elsewhere. 

It was blistering hot that day, so in an effort to prolong our time in the air-conditioning, we checked out the observation tower first. 

Next up was the playground, of course.  And obviously we had to follow that up with some ice cream.

Mom and Dad flew out the next morning, right after church.  We had a great time while they were here, and they were good sports trying out all sorts of new things.  I’m very proud of them!

Climbing Up and Down

Now, where was I?  Oh yes, here:

Mammoth, multi-level, outdoor-but-completely-shaded playground.

With slides, bridges . . .

mazes, tunnels, and more, there’s always something for the kids to explore.  Plus, you’ve got that gorgeous ocean backdrop.

Then we had time for one last adventure up north with Mom and Dad.

Cheerful wildflowers greeted us as we began the trek to Hiji Falls.

The snake was this long, my father says.  Yes, really.

  While they were looking at the snake (if I remember correctly, it was dead), I was busy with this less chill-inducing creature.

There’s a certain elegance to these little things, don’t you think?

About halfway through the hike, you go over a bridge and look down, way down, on this.

We ran into a friend from my workout crew who took this group shot for us.

To give proper credit, Mom really does have a good eye for photography.  This is one of her pictures.  (I’ve stolen several from her for this series.)  You can’t see the full height of the waterfall, but the lighting and composition make this shot so evocative, I swear I can hear the water thunder. 

A little splashing on the way back down.  And obviously another shot swiped from Mom’s camera.

All tuckered out by the end.

Almost done with Mom and Dad’s trip, then there was VBS (which pictures I’ve already posted), then Rachel’s visit.  Once I get to Rach, I’m only a month behind—yikes!!!   

Best Place I’ve Been

I’ve had the opportunity to visit some really spectacular places, several of which you’ve seen here.  But in my mind, the best place I’ve ever been was a college campus in Winston –Salem in the summer with no air conditioning.  I will never be able to explain all that Governor’s School means to me or how much it did for me.

This is the most political you will ever find me getting on this blog—probably the most political you’ll find me getting at all, ever.  But I like to let you know what’s going on in my life.  Mostly that means pictures, and most of those, as you know, are of the kids, but this time there’s an article I’d like you to read.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/09/02/1454294/governors-school-supporters-up.html#storylink=misearch

That’s all.  Thanks!

Tropical Dreams

We’ve been curious about this place for . . . well, for about two years since we got here :)  But we’d never made the time to visit it until now.  WOW!!!  SG, I wish we had known about it while you were here—sorry!

This is the part you can see from the road and from the butterfly gardens just down the road, the part that sparked our curiosity.  They call it the Tropical Dream Center.

First of all, you walk in, look up and see this.  Then you exit into a courtyard and from that moment on, EVERYWHERE you look, everything is exquisite beauty and picturesque perfection.

I’m going to stop talking now and just let you see for yourself . . .

 

A cacao tree.  Because it’s not paradise without chocolate.

Ascending that spiral tower that I showed you at the beginning.

A portion of the view from the top.  Just look at that water!

5 out of 6 pairs of eyes—not bad!

      
Some of these lily pads are big and sturdy enough for a child to stand on.  No, we didn’t let Logan try but they have pictures.

Some proof that we were there:

 

And if all that wasn’t enough . . .

They had this really fabulous playground right behind the Tropical Dream Center.  You’ll get a few pics from that next time; this is just an appetizer.