4th of July at Okuma

We went to Okuma for the last time over the 4th of July weekend. It is one of our favorite places in Okinawa. It was sad knowing it was our last time there. We had a really fun weekend. Here are some highlights of the weekend.

The boys had fun on the bungee trampoline. Max could do back and front flips.

Brand could do back flips and jump high enough to touch the trees.

The cabanas

View from our cabana.

Josh & Thad

Brand's favorite part of the weekend.

Ray, Brand, Josh

After some talking, we got Max in the raft. He loved it too.

Brand, Max, Suz

Brand and Thad on the boat.
Thad really likes the beach.

Brand building a sand fort with his friend Terrell.

Max likes the crashing waves.

Thad

Josh

Thad and Ray

Josh and Thad

Keramas with Jay

Josh's brother Jason had so much fun visiting us last summer that he had to come one more time. Yeah... we love visitors! His trip just happened to be during Spring Break for the kids. We had already planned on taking a ferry to one of the outer islands for a camping/snorkeling trip so if worked out perfectly. The littlest 2 boys and I only stayed for the day (Thad + tent camping for 3 days = stressed out mama). Josh says it was the best snorkeling yet so I am a little sad I missed out, we are just going to have to go back!

It is a 70 minute ferry ride.
View of the beach from our campsite.

The kids hung out on the beach while Josh, Jason, and I went snorkeling.

Jason and Josh

Soba noodles for dinner.

Sea Snake

Octopus (it did make it back to the ocean alive)

Clown fish, Jay took this awesome picture!

Sea Turtle

Angel fish

Beautiful coral reef

My favorite picture of Brand snorkeling!!!

They also saw a 5 foot shark, a ray fish, and a flounder. Like Josh said, the absolute best snorkel trip yet. I am so happy Jay was here for it. Definitely makes the LONG trip here totally worth it.

Cherry Blossom Festival

We drove 1 1/2 hours north to the Nakijin Castle Ruins for the Cherry Blossoms Festival.


Thad and I tested out our new carrier. He loved it and slept most of the time.

View of the East China Sea from the top of the castle ruins.

We had lunch at Pizza in the Sky on the way home. They serve one type of pizza (sausage, green pepper, & corn) and salad with ginger dressing. It is one of my favorite places to eat on the island.

Thaddeus 9 Months

I am so behind on blogging that I thought I would get back in the swing of things with some pictures of Thaddeus. Thad will be nine months old tomorrow. He is a very happy, smiley baby! Last week he figured out how to get around on his own with a cute scoot/crawl-like move. He finally gave in and will eat solid foods. Of course he only happily eats sweet potatoes, pears, and applesauce but at least it's a start. He loves his big brothers and is very entertained by their craziness.

He loves his Jumperoo. I love how well it wears him out!

One of the games we play all day long is "keep the baby out of the dog's bed". Sooooo gross!

He loves Zoey and now that he can get around by himself he follows her around the room.

Zoey loves Thad too. She sits right next to the highchair and eats everything Thad drops.

Our cute little Thad!