Time of Reflection

Our little island got even smaller last Wednesday. Thanks to a few unfortuate actions by U.S. service members while off-base we are restricted to base indefinitely. We are allowed off-base only to travel to another base or to attend church. Click here to read a CNN.com article that explains it all.

Speculation is running wild on how long the restriction will last. I am guessing a week or less, but you never know with the military. I am amazed at how much I miss going to places off-base after just 4 days. I have already planned what I will do the day we are let out...go running along the seawall, eat at our favorite noddle place, purchase a bolt from Makeman needed to fix the jogging stroller, and take the kids to play at Pirate Ship park. I sure hope I don't have to wait very long!

Monakids Jungle

We found a really fun place to take the kids to burn off some energy. For our Ann Arbor friends it is very similiar to Fantasy Forest. We have already gone to two birthday parties here and the boys love it. This is the cleanest play structure I have ever seen. Employees are constantly roaming the structure keeping it clean. I included a bunch of photos and some fun stuff about the place.


Max is playing a Taiko Drums video game. Taiko is a drumming style of Japanese origin. We watched a Taiko drum performace a couple of months ago. It was really neat.

Me getting a foot massage in the quiet room where parents can sit and watch the kids play through a large window. It only costs 100 yen (about $1), so cheap.
My friend Taryn is helping Max use the popcorn machine. You insert 150 yen (about $1.50) in the macine and turn the crank to pop the popcorn. When it is finished popping you open the window and get your fresh, warm, buttery popcorn. Is is so good.
You can buy lunch while you play. You can get chicken nuggets, curry and rice, rice balls and other assorted treats. You insert yen into the machine and select what you want to each. The machine prints out a recipt that you then take to the food counter to get your food.
This is the entrance to the restroom. As many of you know it is Japanese custom to remove your shoes and put on special slippers upon entering a home. Then before you enter the bathroom you change to special bathroom slippers. They had the special bathroom slippers here. You don't find this everywhere so I found it interesting they do it here. Max was pretty confused when I told him to put on the yellow shoes before he could go to the bathroom. Here is a slideshow with more pictures:

Big Dip

The first off-base place we ate has turned out to be a favorite. Big Dip is an ice cream shop very similiar to Dairy Queen, but it also serves Japanese noodles and the best curry seasoned french fries I have ever eaten.

Brand always gets Banana-Susana (banana and chocolate).

Max always gets a yellow colored ice cream (his favorite color) this time it was banana. Our favorite is Ube (a purple colored sweet potato found in many Japanese desserts). It is mildly sweet, nothing like the American orange sweet potato.
The best curry seasoned french fries ever!

Superbowl Monday

I love watcing football. College football is my favorite, "GO BLUE", but the Superbowl is always fun to watch because so much is on the line for both teams and the commercials are really good. Superbowl Monday (because of the time difference it started at 8:30 a.m. Monday morning) was a holiday for most military divisions here so Josh had the day off work and we let Brand stay home from school. We didn't have a favorite team so we chose the underdogs and WOW was it fun cheering for the New York Giants. It was such a good game! The only downside of the game was not getting to see the commercials. Obviously we don't get regular U.S. television, we have AFN (Armed Forces Network). It plays random shows from all the networks and doesn't have normal commercials, only miilitary commericals. So no fun Superbowl commercials. Oh well, at least the game was really good and Josh and Brand had the day off!

Winter in Okinawa

I took Zoey for a walk today and cut it short because I was freezing! Now, I am completely aware of how cold it is back home in Michigan and Utah (current temperature is 32 degrees for both) and that I have turned into a total wimp thinking a rainy 62 degrees is cold. Mind you I was wearing capris, flipflops, and a jacket. Maybe it is finally time to dig out our jeans, socks and shoes. I am very happy to skip the coat, hat, gloves and boots this year. After enduring the coldest and longest winters of my life in Michigan for the last 7 years, I am loving our Okinawa Winter! The rain should be gone tomorrow, anyone back home want to come with us to the park?