Happy Fathers Day

Sunday was Fathers Day and also, the first day in over a week the sun had shined!  Yay!  We decided to take the boys to a resort located up in Onna called the Renaissance Resort.   They have an indoor and outdoor pool and the boys are crazy about the pool right now.

In the libby there were a few parrots they could see up close.

Once we got changed and sun screened and to the pool we were already to dive in, except Dayton. 

He spent the first couple hours hanging out on the side of the pool enjoying the water in a safe depth.

Braden however jumped right in.  Thomas is helping him with his back float which is a requirement to pass onto the next level of swim lessons (he still hasn't mastered it).

Eventually Dayton did let Daddy carry him out into the water, you can tell by his arms and legs, he had a very tight grip on him!

Braden has mastered the front float and was more than happy to show us several (hundred) times.

Keegan has gotten very good with his strokes, really hard to show that in pictures though.

After enjoying the indoor pool for some time we went outside to look around.  In one area they have Dolphins that you can snorkel or swim with, and next to that there is an area with a few Manta rays and a shark (Keegan says it is a nurse shark?)

There was also a touch pool with a few ocean critters the kids could pick up.  Dayton really thought he had discovered something special when he saw this bright blue starfish!

After that we headed over to get lunch and enjoy the outdoor pool.

One of the lifeguards offered Dayton a pair of water wings and he took them.  We put them on, got back in the water with him and gradually pried him away from me.  Once he realized he was floating and it was ok he was so excited.  He grinned the rest of our time there.

Still working on that backfloat.  I have always said the kid has lead in his butt, to be as skinny as he is, he is so heavy!

Hope your Fathers Day was awesome too!  Thomas and I both have lost our Dad's in the past few years so this day is very bittersweet, but also reminds us to be grateful for each other and or family.

Playing Catch-up

A few of our family members and friends aren't on facebook (yet) so I am goingto go back and post some pictures here that I have already posted there.  So, if you are my FB friend, bear with me :)  You are going to see it all again!

Blame it on the Bat.

I am going to blame my months long blogging hiatus on a bat. A handmade bat if you will.

Last fall I joined a group of ladies in creating an Okinawan Memory Quilt. There were 20 ladies and each person made a different square of something representing Okinawa. In the end we all exchanged our squares and we are each left with enough to make a beautiful quilt (one day ;)

Kimono


Koi Fish

Gecko (these are everywhere here, and make a slightly annoying sound.  Other than the sound we love them though.  They eat bugs!

Three tears symbol (The Three tears are a symbol of "death before dishonor." The three tears represent three men - a 16th Century Okinawan and two Japanese samurai.

The Okinawan was being restrained by the samurai, who were ordered by the Okinawan King to throw him into a vat of boiling oil while he watched.

To show his indifference to death and his disdain for the king, the Okinawan grabbed the two samurai and dove headfirst with them into the vat.

The story is so well-known in Okinawa, and the action is so highly regarded, that the three tears symbol is incorporated into the Okinawan flag.)

Kokeshi Doll (very popular wooden dolls)

Musical instruments of Okinawa (Taiko and Sanshin)

Bonsai tree

Paper lanterns.  Seen all over the island, mainly at festivals.  The kanjii reads friendship.

Hibiscus

Fan (my Japanese students gave me a beautiful fan this past Friday :)

Shisa, without a face.  I will add one later.  Shisa are these little lion dogs (usually ceramic) that are placed outside of all homes and businesses to protect them from evil spirits.

Map of the island with the big bases marked.

The used car lots have these huge neon plastic palm trees out front, this is the main one, B.C.'s

Pineapple

Whale Shark, these huge shark are off the coast of Okinawa and there are a couple huge ones at the Aquarium here.

Lastly, my Bat.  The bats are huge here, and everywhere. We have one that hangs under our porch overhang.  If I run out to the car at night and don;t turn on the light first I almost get hit by it!

So you can see his little red eyes.

Yummm...

Dayton eating his favorite lunch, Edamame, cinnamon tortilla chips, and applesauce to dip it in.

Notice he is also squinting his eyes shut, most likely hoping that big black camera thingy will go away.