Playing with Grandma

Last year when Barbara came, Sydney got an ear infection and was a bit pukey. This time my kids were both going through a week long stint of hand, foot, and mouth disease. Shawn's was more mild, but poor Sydney got it pretty bad. And both of their bums were so blistered, it looked like the most terrible diaper rash I've ever seen. Anyway, I may have had a very minor heart attack when I saw Sydney posing in this picture for her Grandma. Nothing like letting your diseased kid touch fresh produce (that we weren't going to buy) in the Japanese grocery store. At least it made for a cute picture, right?

Sydney modeling some lovely goya. You can see some blisters on her hands and around her mouth, but she was almost over it by then.

Fun with balloons!

Another hitch in our "fun with Grandma" plans was that Spencer's command was put on lockdown less than 48 hours after her arrival. Some Marines from Headquarters had caused alcohol related trouble off base literally the same day they lifted the "no alcohol off base" ban, and the General was really mad and put 3rd Dental on lockdown. That meant Spencer couldn't come with us to any off base restaurants and such, but thankfully he was able to get special permission for some sightseeing stuff because his Mom was visiting. And in a stroke of irony, the lockdown was lifted the day after she left. Naturally.

We did go bowling on base one night, and it was Shawn's first time to actually participate. He LOVED it, and Sydney does too. 

She's quite independent and insisted on carrying her own ball to the ramp.

Shawn liked to assist in the carrying process, then pushed the ball down the ramp all by himself.

On one of Spencer's workdays, we took Grandma B. to Torii beach. The tide was super low so there was tons of seaweed everywhere, but we still had fun playing in the sand and finding sea glass.

Snack time!

Grandma B. found a blue starfish.

While I cleaned up our beach gear, Grandma took the kids for a little walk. They found these water spouts, and the kids were highly entertained with turning the water on and off and getting sprayed.

On another day we visited Peace Prayer Park. We trucked it up these steps to see what this white building was, and it turned out to be an art museum.

There was a huge Buddha statue inside as well.

Family photo-op in front of a bell tower.

Grandma B. and Shawn overlooking the suicide cliffs.

For lunch we determined to find Thai in the Sky, so named because of it's awesome view of the ocean. Finding it was super tricky, but through a stroke of luck (literally spotting a specific Kanji on an itty-bitty sign) we totally found it. 

The restaurant lived up to its name! Love that water.

Each dish was a mountain of yummy food.

Poor Shawn didn't take a nap and was soooo tired. We gave him his bink and blankey and he'd just lay down on his tray and rest while we ate.

Up north we did a first time visit to Neo Park, where we were able to get up close and personal with lots of animals.

White birds.

Reddish orange birds.

Turkeys.

Dogs.

Guinea pigs.

Giant tortoises.

Regular sized turtles.

And ROUS's.

We topped off our sweat filled visit with lots of cold beverages and a train ride around the park.

Before heading home, we found this super old, very traditional Okinawan place for lunch. Pretty much the only thing on the menu was a few different versions of Okinawa soba- a noodle filled soup with a totally fatty hunk of pork in it. Not my favorite, but the building was cool and the grounds were really pretty!

Finally, we got to take Grandma B. to Sydney's beloved Pineapple Park. I don't quite understand why she loves it so much, but whatever.

Syd and Grandma touring the park in our pineapple cart.

Grandma B. Comes Back!

We were so excited that Grandma B. was able to come visit us again. The kids were eagerly anticipating her arrival... and unfortunately got hand, foot, and mouth disease just days before her arrival. Shawn's case was more mild, with sores on his feet, hands, and bum, but Syd had it way worse, even getting sores on her face. The first night she cried and thrashed in bed all night because her feet were so itchy! When she was still having a hard time the night that Barbara was flying in, I asked Spencer to give her a blessing. Within 45 minutes she was calm and asleep, and she didn't have a problem with her feet again after that. Whew! What a blessing that was, because it also freed me up to do some cleaning before Barbara got here.

Her first real day here we ditched church since our kids were diseased, and Grandma B. kept them entertained all morning with crafts and new toys. Spencer and I were both like, "Hey, this is pretty sweet to not have to entertain our kids all the time!"

After dinner we went for a walk on the sea wall.

My kids are so photogenic :)

Someone (ahem, Sydney) had to pee mid walk, and I couldn't find a bathroom, so we walked down the stairs toward the ocean and she peed in the corner. We like to keep things classy like that.

Feeling much better.

 Everyone came down to join us. While I searched for shells and sea glass, Spencer and the kids were entertained by skipping/throwing rocks and coral in the water.

Grandma B. & Sydney

Ahh, I love how the beach offers fun for everyone!

Preschool Graduation

Sydney's last day of preschool was May 22, and we got to go watch the afternoon classes perform songs as part of their graduation ceremony. Several weeks beforehand, Syd would come home singing "The rules, the rules, the rules of the classroom..." and every week she'd learn a new line. Needless to say our whole family had the song memorized and performed it regularly in our house before graduation day. She was really excited that they would get to wear (and keep!) "cool sunglasses" for that particular performance. On the day of she also told me they would all get "cool black hats with a yellow thing that hangs down," which I somehow didn't put together that she was describing a graduation cap until I saw her walk in with it on her head. Too cute.

Sydney & Amelia

Addy & Sydney

Singing "Kira Kira Hikaru," the Japanese version of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."

"Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold. A circle's round, and has no end. That's how long I want to be your friend."

"The rules, the rules, the rules of the classroom."

One of the rules: "Work together, don't fight, or you'll get in trouble."

Our favorite part- when hands went in the air and they spun around for the last chorus. 

Giving Miss Malia and Saya-san a hug.

Picking up her diploma and culture book.

Her class had Japanese culture day twice a month, and those were some of Sydney's favorite school days. Her culture book was a compilation of crafts and things she learned on culture days throughout the year. 

We're excited for her to start another great year at Kuwae in the fall!

22 Degree Halo

On May 1, Shawn and I dropped Sydney off at preschool and then headed home to put him down for a nap. As I was getting him out of the car, my neighbor Meredith yelled to me, "Suzy, look at the sun!" I looked up and was totally amazed at the sky. 

I wouldn't have even noticed if Meredith hadn't told me to look up! She informed me that it was called a 22 degree halo, and the Internet said it could be seen up to 100 days per year. Of course it looked way cooler in person since the picture can't do justice to how big the halo really was. I immediately called Spencer and asked him if he could easily get outside to look at the sun. He was on his lunch break at Subway, so he ran out and checked out the sky. Then I could hear him telling random people out there, "Hey, look at the sun." Pretty random, but cool.