Riding bikes

We have path in our back yard that leads to a basketball court. It's perfect for the kids to ride their bikes on. When Anderson got his balance bike for his birthday, Jack spent that night and about a half an hour the next day riding it after school. He put it away and got out his own bike out that has training wheels. He came to me complaining that his training wheels were getting loose. This has happened so many times and it gets quite annoying. So I looked at him and said, "Let's just take them off." We have tried a couple times before to take them off with no success. But after maybe an hour or so of riding the balance bike, he got on his own bike and took off with no problems. 

 The look on his face was priceless! He had a permanent smile the whole time he was riding. 

 He was dying to tell Justin when he got home. He kept telling me that his dad was going to "freak out" when he saw him. He went through the whole story with Justin and then proceeded to show off his skills.
(Don't mind Anderson's high water pants. He picked them out himself.)

When we were talking about getting Anderson the balance bike, we both immediately thought it would be beneficial for Jack to use it too. I guess it worked! Now we just need to get Anderson to give up the tricycle, so he can get the hang of the balance bike.

I love at the end of this video, when Jack runs into the basketball hoop. Oops!

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Nakagusuku castle ruins

 We were looking for something fun to do one afternoon and decided to check out some castle ruins. Apparently there are a whole bunch on the island. I need to read up on the history of Okinawa and learn more about them. Sadly, most of them were destroyed in WWII, but I think I read somewhere that this one is the best preserved on the island. Nakagusuku is only about 15 minutes from our house. 

 The views were amazing! It would have been even better with no clouds. On one side of the castle you can see the East China Sea, which is behind us in this picture. And on the other side, you can see the Pacific Ocean. It just goes to show you how skinny Okinawa really is!

 He would not leave the house without these glasses and wore them almost the entire time.

 Not sure why I'm standing so weird in this picture...

 There were quite a few spots throughout the castle with this sign saying it was a sacred place of prayer.

Towards the end, the clouds started to break and made our view that much better. This time, we were looking out into the Pacific Ocean. We loved walking around here. We put it on our list of things to do when we have visitors. :) Now come on and visit!

Anderson's Birthday

 Anderson had been looking forward to his birthday for months. On the big day, he was the last one awake and came down to find the birthday banner and bucket, with some presents from his grandparents. Even though he was still half asleep (gotta love the sleepy face!) he was so excited that his birthday was actually here.

 We went out to lunch with dad and, of course, Anderson chose Taco Bell. 

 Then we went to pick up some balloons for the party and get Jack from school. Jack made sure that we didn't do anything fun until he got home. He was very concerned about missing the festivities.

 "I'm three mom. See? I'm three."

 We had the party outside. It was down in the 70's and since living in Biloxi and now Japan, we have turned into weenies! The hot apple cider tasted so yummy and reminded us of Patterson Fruit Farm during the Cleveland fall.

 I couldn't find the birthday candles that we bought, so we made due with one out of our emergency preparedness stuff. Luckily Anderson didn't care. He loved having everyone sing to him and was definitely enjoying the moment. 

We got Anderson a balance bike. He hasn't quite got the hang of it yet, but he sure looked cute out there trying to figure it out. I love birthdays. I love seeing the excitement on their faces and spending the whole day focused on that one person. Anderson can be a little sassy sometimes, but most of the time he is so cute we can hardly stand it. I am a little sad that he is 3. It is nice that he is getting so independent, but it's weird not having any babies around. Thankfully he still loves to snuggle and be held and wrapped up in a blankey. It lets us hold on to him just a little longer!

Happy Birthday Anderson! 

Jack's first day

 The day after the Kerema's was Jack's first day of kindergarten. He has been very excited to start school. He goes all day, from 8:30am-3:00pm. At first I was worried about him going all day, but he has done so well. And I'll be the first to admit, it's kind of nice! Having one kid at home makes it much easier to get stuff done and run errands. Plus Anderson is a little turkey these days and like to bug Jack to no end. He is much sweeter on his own (Anderson, that is). It took us a while to get into a school routine, but I feel like we have the hang of things. I'm not used to packing lunches and getting homework done! It's been an adjustment for all of us. 

 I say this a lot, but Jack has changed so much in the last year. He seems so much older to us now. We just look at him and listen to his thoughts and think that he is turning in to such a big boy. He is smart and I love hearing all the things they learn about. Every Friday they get to bring home a library book and he is always bringing home something educational. It's always a book about space, animals, or dinosaurs. He is very curious and we love it.

 His teachers rate their behavior each day and they have given him a green (the best rating) all but one day. He came home with a yellow a few days ago because he wouldn't stop humming songs in class. The next day he said he almost got a yellow but he that said a prayer in his head to help him remember to stop humming. It was a very proud moment for me. He is a sweet heart.

The visor he is wearing says "Ms. Parker's Class". They gave them to the kids so everyone would know which class he is in and could make sure he was headed in the right direction.

 That lady in the picture is the assistant teacher in his class. Her name is Miss Poindexter. She is always wearing crazy clothes and has some new crazy hair every few days. Jack says she is really nice. So far he likes his regular teacher, Ms. Parker, as well. While driving home from school one day, I asked him if he liked his teacher, Ms. Parker. He said "Yeah I do. But let's not talk about that right now. Let's just sit and enjoy the ride."

Justin had to leave early on his first day, so we got a picture with him on Jack's second day. Aren't they so handsome? 

We love this not so little boy of ours.

Zamami Island

 On Labor Day (as part of Justin's official Birth-weekend), we took a ferry boat out to Zamami Island in the Keramas. The Kerama Islands are just east of Okinawa and it takes about 50 minutes on the ferry to get there.

 Looking back at Okinawa, we were a little worried about the weather. Luckily, it got better and better the closer we got to the islands.

 When we got off of the boat, we got on a super crowded bus, filled with mostly our group of friends that went, and drove to the other side of Zamami down a little winding road. The bus driver was an older Japanese man with a super long pointy beard. I wish I would have taken a picture of our family with him.

 When we got there, we were amazed. It was gorgeous! I'm not sure I've ever seen prettier water. We stayed there all day swimming, snorkeling, collecting coral and shells, and just enjoying the view. If you look in the water, the dark spots are all coral underneath.

The snorkeling was so awesome! We saw tons of fish. We even saw a clown fish family coming in and out of their sea anemone, just like on Finding Nemo. There was lots of cool coral, star fish, little squid and bright neon rainbow fish. Justin said he saw an eel and some sea snakes, and Suzy and I spotted a little shrimp. Even Jack got into the snorkeling action. As soon as he figured out how to breath through the snorkel, he was in the water non stop. He was going up and down and back and forth looking at the fish. He stayed right by the shore until Justin came and took him out a little farther to see some other fish. He was smiling from ear to ear and thought it was the best day ever. I'm pretty sure he even said that a couple times. Jack is usually very cautious and timid when it comes to doing adventurous things (not sure where he gets that from), so it was really fun to see him get so excited about it. He asks every few days when we get to go back to the Keramas.

The kids were looking for crabs and other little creatures in the tide pools.

Seeing all of these pictures makes me want to go back!

On the way home, all the little boys were entertaining a group of Japanese ladies behind them. They kept speaking Japanese and laughing over and over while the boys soaked in all of the attention. It was like these girls had never seen any American kids before.

 We were all so tired by the time we got home. Being in the sun all day always sucks the energy right out of me. It was a great day though, and we can't wait to go back. Just think, if you come and visit us, we can take you there! ...just sayin.