Fevers

This last week has been a week of fevers, chills, and sore throats. Max was first, I was next, and now Brand has it. Hopefully it skips Josh. Our medicine cabinet was depleted after Max and when it hit Brand I found myself at the hospital pharmacy at four o'clock in the morning picking up more ibuprofen and acetaminophen. A nice benefit of being active duty in the military is you can get over-the-counter pain and cold medicine free at the hospital pharmacy 24 hours a day. This is another reason I am really glad we live next to the hospital, especially since we don't have a 24 hour CVS down the street.

I got a new camera last week that I am really excited about. I have been researching cameras for the last six months and finally decided on a Nikon D80. I love it! Here are a few of the first pictures I took.

The good, the bad, and the ugly!

The Good:

Brand's arm is doing great! The bone stayed in place and we are happy he ended up not needing surgery. The doctors are happy with how things are going and expect to remove the cast in 3 weeks...YEAH!

Schools out for the summer! No more dragging Brand out of bed in the morning, stuffing breakfast in him as he complains he isn't hungry and doesn't want to eat, and then walking/running down the street to make the bus. I love the lazy days of summer. I especially love getting to spend more time with Brand.

The Bad:

I was rear-ended by a Japanese lady 3 weeks ago. My neck was a little sore the next day, but other than that Max and I were fine. The worst part was having to stand in the rain for an hour waiting for the military police to arrive even though the accident was right outside our base. I reached a new level of awkwardness standing with the Japanese lady and the Japanese police waiting for the SLOW American police. The van was in the shop for a week and half leaving me and the boys stranded at home. All the horrible memories of sharing a car with Josh for 10 years came flooding back. Needless to say, Max and I did the "dance of joy" when we got the call to come pick up our van.

We have all been a bit more homesick lately. We are starting to talk about when a good time to visit would be and how to pay for the expensive trip home. Hopefully sometime in the next year we will make it back for a visit. For our family and friends back home know we miss you all and talk about you often! For our new friends here in Okinawa thanks for making this experience so great, life wouldn't be the same with out you!

The Ugly:

Hot, humid days and not being able to cool down in the pool or at the beach. Having a broken arm at the beginning of summer has to be one of the worst things that can happen to a kid (and the mom for that matter). It has gotten so humid here that when I walk outside wearing my glasses the lenses fog up instantly. I am constantly concerned about keeping the kids hydrated and covered in sunscreen while they attempt to play outside. I hope the doctors are right and we only have 3 more weeks until pool and beach time.

Broken Bone

Can you tell what is wrong with this picture?

Brand was in our backyard, playing with friends after school, when he tried to jump from the top of the ladder to the middle of the slide. He had made the jump many times and was somewhat famous with the neighborhood kids, but on this attempt something went wrong. Poor kid, I don't think he will be trying that again (or shall I say he isn't allowed to try that again).
As the x-ray shows he split the radius in his left arm just above his wrist. And if that wasn't bad enough the two ends of the bone were overlapping about an inch, making it very tricky to set. Brand had to be sedated because setting this type of break is very brutal and they often break the ulna in half in the process. As his mom all I can say is thank goodness he was dreaming while they set the bone. I couldn't watch and Josh only made it through the first of two attempts before he joined me on the outside of the curtain. After many minutes of pulling and twisting it worked and the doctors were able to straightened out the radius without breaking the ulna or having to pin it together in the operating room. The bone is still very unstable and can slip back even while in the cast. The two ends don't fit exactly the same way, but in kids it usually adapts with time. He will get another x-ray next week to make sure everything is still in place. If it has slipped back he will need surgery to pin it together.

Brand is the bravest kid I know. He barely made a sound as we drove the 2 blocks to the hospital (yes, we actually live next to the Navy hospital). It took an hour and a half before he was given any pain medicine, if you can even call 400 mg of ibuprofen pain medicine. Around this same time he started going into shock so they moved him from the waiting room to a bed. The doctor finally saw the x-rays after two hours and then gave him morphine. It most likely was because he was going into shock, but through the whole thing he stayed calm, waited patiently, and allowed the doctors to take care of him. He was such a tough kid. Here he is with a morphine induced smile.

Brand's favorite things about breaking his arm. He got to stay home from school for two days, watch movies and play games. He got balloons and a gigantic cookie from our friends (thank you so much Cat!). He got a triple scoop ice cream cone from Big Dig for holding still for the IV. All his friends can sign his cast. He is the current "King of the Playground" after such a fantastic fall. And lastly, he has a cool story about how he broke his arm.

Notice how he has the same shirt on from the day before. We were both too afraid to mess with his arm just yet.

Brand's Field Trip

I got to go with Brand's 1st grade class on a field trip to see a childrens play at the Okinawa Community Center. The entire thing was in Japanese but it was amazing how much we could figure out through the acting. The first play was a story we hadn't heard before about Forest Animals. There was a lot of singing and dancing. The second play was the Ugly Duckling so it was much easier to follow since we knew the basic story. Here is a bit of what we saw.

This is a lady welcoming us, I wanted to share a bit of the language we hear around us everyday.

Here is some of the Forest Animal Story.

Lastly, here is some of the Ugly Duckling.

The majority of the audience was Okinawa preschool age children. Don't they look so cute in their uniforms. It was amazing how well behaved they were for their age.

We were suppose to have lunch at a park after the play but in true Okinawan style it changed from beautiful sunny skies to pouring rain during the play. Brand and I ended up eating lunch at Burger King on-base just the two of us. I had a great time hanging out with Brand for the day.

Here Comes The Humidity!!!

When we woke up this morning the outside of our windows were all steamed up. Here comes the humidity after magically disappearing all winter. The humidity mixed with the heat in the summertime here is completely stifling. The only way it is bearable to be outside is if you are near water, thank goodness for the beaches and pools. I wonder if growing up in the desert has anything to do with my inability to handle completely stifling humidity. It looks as if living in humid Michigan the last 7 years didn't prepare me at all for Okinawa. The saddest part of all is we are banished to running on treadmills for the next 5 months. Crazy how it is backwards here, you run outside in the winter not the summer!

Favorite Running Spot

One of Josh and my favorite things to do is go running along the seawall on the East China Sea. From our front door it is a 5 minute run to the water. How lucky are we. The pictures say it all.

Just outside the base we live on.

Beginning of the run along the water.



This is the view at the end of the seawall.
Now we turn around and run back home.

Gated Community?

How many of you can say you have watched your 3 year old child be removed from your vehicle and walked across the street holding hands with a Marine who was also holding a gigantic M16 while you were told to remain in your vehicle with both hands on the steering wheel. Then, after your child was safely across the street being guarded by the Marine with the large gun and bullet proof vest, you were ordered to open and close all compartments and doors to your vehicle and subjected to a full vehicle search. Well, I can now say it has happened to me. Even though I had been warned "Safety Training Exercise" were going to occur this week I didn't know exactly what to expect so it was quite a nerve racking few minutes. The Marines were all business, far from friendly. It happened to me on the first day of the training exercises so I hadn't seen anyone else searched making it a real surprise when it happened. Of course I passed the search, no illegal contraband in my vehicle. I guess it is nice to know the gates to our bases have guards that take our safety seriously. How many other gated communities are guarded by military personnel with M16's and bullet proof vests!