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.