Oh-woah...I gotta go...back to scho-ool...AGAIN!*

It's that time again...


Mr. Senior--Troy decided this year he's all about dressing for success.



Patrick--ready to do his part in the opening day flag ceremony.



Coree--ready to take on another year of middle school...even in "last year's" backpack...which, evidently, will get her ridiculed regardless of the fact that it's not even 7 months old. (Which was, in reality, all in her imagination.)



Finally, Jake--ready to rock the 5th grade.

Here's to another great year!

*bonus points if you can name the source of that title.

Beach Olympic Voyeurism

We hung out, watching the sunset, until it was time for the activity to be over. They had a beach olympics segment, followed by dinner and a dance (for the kids 14 and older...the 12 and 13 year olds had to settle for a Disney movie on the beach). :^(



We decided to head over to their side of the beach and see what we could see.


(YMCA!)

After all...what fun are kids if you can't embarrass them with some stealthy photographs?


Patrick might consider himself quite the ladies' man...but who's just walking around during the last slow song (front and center) and who's dancing with a lovely Asian girl? (Troy--left)



Josh is trying to calculate the number of girls he danced with, but he's running into trouble with his "calculators".



Troy's pretty cute, huh?



These two aren't bad, either. Maybe I'll have to rethink who's my favorite?

Sunset in Paradise

We couldn't find another place to eat on the drive back...so we ended up going back to the beach where we started on Torii. There, we enjoyed dinner (burgers) and entertainment (this gorgeous sunset).

Just a few hours earlier this beach was bustling.


Now we had it practically to ourselves.
(And by the way...I adore this man!)



Jake impressed us with his snorkeling prowess...






What a cutie!

Beaches, acoustic guitars and our favorite child

This past Saturday, our older 3 children were invited to a Church youth activity on the beach at Torii Station. We pulled into the parking lot, slowed to about 10 KMH, kicked them out the side door, sped away, and headed over to the play area and waterslide with our remaining (favorite) child.


Jake got his fill of sliding...



splashing...



and cherry slushing.



Mom and Dad got the added bonus of listening to these guys rock some 70's acoustic hits. Sweet!



Then we decided to explore the area and see what we could find to entertain ourselves while we waited. We pulled out the map and decided to start with Cape Zampa...



Where we found this awesome lighthouse. We walked into the little visitor center, and discovered that for 200 Yen, we could hike to the top. So we did...



And about here...I was asking myself what on earth we were thinking.



But I think the view was worth it.



I really wanted a picture of myself with the light in the background...but the catwalk around it was so narrow, no one could get out far enough to take the picture for me...so this is the best I could do.



We had to zoom in on this interesting looking playground. There are SO many really unique parks and play areas on Okinawa. Stuff I wouldn't have thought of...but there's definitely a lot of "play at your own risk" kind of stuff.



When traveling, Cliff and I enjoy looking at monuments and markers. You can learn a LOT about a place that way. We saw this one off in the distance and walked over to read the story. Unfortunately, it was all in Kanji...so we had to make up our own story. This guy is Cowabungasan. He was Japan's earliest known surfer. Here he is, pointing toward his beloved coast on the earliest known surfboard. Since it was carved from stone...you can imagine how successful it was. This is why we see him here on top of this monument, as opposed to say, on the IMAX screen.



Kanji and all...I think this sign gets its point across perfectly.



There was a small petting zoo nearby. The signs with elephants and zebras caught our attention. Turns out it was just ducks and goats. They're just as good, right?



We passed by this restaurant on our way back. I LOVE these Okinawan bonnets. I'm going to leave this island with one...and I'm going to have to eat here now, too. But for tonight, we felt under-dressed...so we headed back down the coast in search of something more casual.

Flashback Friday...Kindergarten...Awkward Family Photo Style

Speaking of Awkward Family Photos Dot Com...I think today's post has some serious candidates! Today, we are looking back at everyone's first day of Kindergarten.


This wasn't actually Troy's first day (but close enough)...and while Miss Patti looks adorable...Troy looks less than thrilled.



This one cracks me up. It all started in Kindergarten. It wasn't too much longer and I found Patrick and Megan (to his left) spooning on the living room floor watching Pokemon.



Coree started Kindergarten at one school...and from day one, HATED it (can you tell? She looks stressed out here to me). It had little to do with the teacher...she was just "blessed" with a crowd of really ill-behaved boys that kind of hijacked the program. Luckily, an opening freed up at Troy and Patrick's charter school one week later (she was on the waiting list) and she was able to move to the Kindergarten class of her dreams with Miss Annetta.



While the haircut is bad, the face is precious! Jake LOVED his Kindergarten teacher...and he got to have her for 1st grade, too, since it was a combo class.

Come to think of it, ALL our kids had fantastic Kindergarten teachers. Is it a requirement that they have the patience of a saint and the demeanor of Polyanna...or did we just get extremely lucky?

Feed us again, Sam!

Some of you will remember where we took Cliff for his last meal before leaving for the Middle East. Sam's By The Sea is TO DIE FOR! We love it...but it is really a "date night" or very special occasion kind of place. It was the perfect place to go...and especially so when you consider it was the last decent meal Cliff had for 6 months. The food where he was stationed was horrid....criminal, really...when you consider the morale issue that food is and the tough, morale-draining kind of job that they were doing. We made a deal with the kids that we would return to Sam's when Dad came home.


These guys were still alive, so it was impossible to resist poking at them to watch them move.



All of these mocktails came in take-home cups, except the skull (darn it!).



I LOVE this curry soup. I can still taste it when I think about it.



They gave Cliff, Jake and Patrick bibs...maybe they looked messier?



This is my third time here...and I always get this macadamia nut crusted mahi-mahi. I'm funny that way...when I REALLY like something, it's hard for me to choose something else because I'm afraid I won't like it as much and I will know I could have had the other instead.



















Is it just me, or could this be a candidate for
Awkward Family Photos Dot Com?



And just like last time, we had to go hunting for hermit crabs.



I wish I had gotten video of Patrick with this guy. He was SO feisty and determined to get Patrick off of him...finally he just jumped out of the shell and walked away to find another one.

While it was a great evening...I would be OK with never going again if it meant Cliff never had to deploy again. I wonder with whom I could make that deal?