Our Weekend

Duane was on-call this weekend so we didn't travel too far from home. Saturday was beautiful and we took the boys to feed the fish at Comprehensive Park. We met a retired couple from Colorado Springs who are here doing volunteer work near the Air Force base. They are in the picture talking to Sandy by the bridge. The fish go crazy when you feed them bread.

On Sunday we went to church at Calvary Chapel. We have gone to a few places but this one is the best fit for us so far. Afterward we went out to Sunday brunch at the Officer's Club on Camp Futenma which is just south of Camp Foster where Duane works. The view off the deck from the dining room was amazing. You can see our apartment just to the left of Sandy's head (tall brown building on the water). Grant had to do a little "pose" on the bridge at the front of the Officer's Club.

We thought we should send pictures of our cars. The middle photo shows Duane driving on the opposite side. We are getting very used to that by now. Sandy has a Honda Accord Wagon and Duane has a Toyota Windom. Both are considered "big" cars, you have to see how small all the other cars are here in order to understand.

November

The weather has been beautiful so far this November here in Okinawa, with record highs. It has been in the mid to upper 80's. There has been more rain lately, but at least it is not snow. It's been warm enough to still wear shorts and t-shirts. Unless you get "hot" from riding your bike (like Grant) and need to take your shirt off and have a Gatorade break.

This morning (11-15) we went on a family walk to the park near our apartment along the sea-wall. The sun was bright and warm. It is fun to see all the people fishing, no matter what time of day it is. There were alot of colorful tropical fish that we could see because the water was very calm and clear.

Grant and Will continue to grow and change daily. They have become great pals, and Grant can make Will belly laugh at any moment. Both are learning sign language with Sandy using some DVD's. Grant has been enjoying coloring and writing his name (not the last name quite yet).

Duane attended the annual Marine Corps Birthday Ball on Monday night. It was held at the Officer's Club on Camp Foster. He had to wear his formal Dress Blue uniform. It was interesting to see all the Marine Corps VIP's in there sharp uniforms with all their ribbons and medals. It was a really formal ceremony followed by dinner.

Work is going well for Duane, he was informed this week that he may have to travel up to Iwakoni to treat some patients in the near future. This may become a biannual event. Hopefully Sandy and the boys will be able to come along and be able see a new part of Japan.

Date Night

The Marine base hosts a Date Night once a month. You register in advance and for one evening they will watch your children in a very clean, well run, and fun childcare center. It is free and they offer to watch your children from 5 pm until 10:30 pm. Duane and I decided to give it a try so that we could linger over a meal and have some nice conversations.

We tried a place called Tuna House. Here is a sample of items on the menu. We like to point out when we see things spelled like they are pronounced with a Japanese accent. It is very common to see some funny spellings on menus and signs.

We tried Okinawan Crepe, Tofu Chanparu, and Sushi. The Okinawan Crepe was yummy and full of green onions. The Sushi was 1/2 price so we ordered 3 plates of it. At this restaurant we liked the shrimp the best.

Here is my favorite picture. For this date we brought Will because for the most part he just sat in his car seat and watched me eat. When he was ready to see what was on the table, he wanted to touch everything. This did not last long and we were almost done eating. He is a curious 7 month old and he seems to be able to get a hold of anything he wants.

Here are a few pictures of us. We were sitting on the floor on mats. The restaurant was very casual and had lots of local people. We sat for over an hour and talked about future trips we would like to take while living here on this side of the globe.

Foster Fest

Camp Foster had it's annual "Foster Fest" this weekend. It is free and open to everyone on the island. It is just one of many weekend activities planned by the Marine Corps Community Services. There were a lot of live performances by local Japanese groups, food, and games.

Grant had a blast on a trampoline harness jump. It went very high and he had a huge smile on his face the whole time! He tried to do a few back flips but couldn't make it all the way around on his own, maybe next year.

Will didn't seem to get into it as much as Grant.

Most of the food was not your typical American style fair/festival food. The stands had a lot of Japanese food that was fun to sample.

Grant also had fun on the "choo-choo train".

The Northern Adventure

We had our first "96'er" this weekend, meaning we had 4 days off. I guess this happens quite often here with the Marine bases around government holidays. We decided to head to the northern part of the island. It was only 50 kilometers, but due to the roads, traffic and stoplights, it took 2 hours to drive there. The time went by fast because we drove along the ocean the whole way.

We stopped at Ocean Expo Park and Aquarium. Grant thought the dolphin show was amazing. He also enjoyed the sweet potato ice cream.


















From there we headed to Camp Schwab, a Marine Corps Base on the Pacific Ocean. They have cabins that can be rented by active duty military members. The view from our deck was beautiful. We spent two days enjoying the beach swimming, making sand castles, and collecting shells and hermit crabs. We had the whole beach to ourselves!




























On the way back home we stopped at Pineapple Park. They have lots of free samples of pineapple products including juice, wine, cookies, cakes and off course fresh pineapple. Grant had his fill of free samples!




We also had an interesting canned beverage made of goya. Goya is a member of the gourd family. Here is a description from a website: "Goya is an indispensable vegetable in semi-tropical Okinawa. Until quite recently, when summer came you could see the bumpy green Goya gourds hanging from trellises in the yards of houses everywhere. The bitter taste of Goya is very refreshing in the heat of summer." I don't think we have acquired the taste of the bitter goya yet, but it was interesting.

Finally, we have noticed that several of the stores have dead snakes for sale in jars filled with some sort of alcohol. Don't know much about it, but it looks very intimidating.

Grant's Birthday

We brought party favors from the US. Grant loved them but Will thought they were the greatest thing he had ever seen.

Grant had a spider man cake from the Commissary. Not as good as Lunds but good all the same.

Our two boys enjoying our balcony in the evening.

We covered Grant's eyes before we wheeled in the big surprise.

He loves his new bike! Our living room area is big enough to ride in. He can do a dinning room table loop and a couch loop. Not a bad workout while Will is sleeping.

Grant has been asking to go bowling ever since I told him that the building next to the "grocery" store (Commissary) was a bowling alley. He had a blast. We would do this again with him in a heartbeat. The bumpers came up automatically when it was his turn and he was able to use this devise so the ball did not stop mid alley (which it did before he started using the devise).

This last picture is of the boys room. As you can see Grant is in a big boy bed and likes the movie "cars" theme. He loves his bed and is sleeping well at night.