Sunday, August 28, 2011

1st Day of School- 1st and 2nd Grade!

The boys were up early and very excited for their first day of school at Bob Hope Primary School. It was pouring this morning, so my pictures are not the best. They looked so cute. They giggled in the car the whole way there. I can't wait to pick them up in an hour to hear how their first day was!

My 2nd & 1st Grader
Carson is starting the 2nd grade in Mrs. Clophia's class.
Cooper is starting 1st grade in Mrs. Williamson's class.
One quick picture before they got too soaked.

'Twas the Night Before School

These 4 are always making me laugh. They really are the goofiest little kids. Tonight we walked downstairs to take a few pictures. They were being so funny! The last 10 weeks have had their ups and downs. However, we have had so much fun together. I am really going to miss having the big boys here during the day. It's going to be so quiet with half the team gone.


Lunches are packed. Cooper: grapes, chips, his famous ketchup and mustard sandwich, and a special capri sun, something that really is a treat around here. Carson: his usual school lunch of grapes, applesauce, chips and goldfish. Clothes are all laid out. Backpacks are packed. Teeth are brushed. Now we are watching "Oceans" before going to bed. The boys are very excited!

An Interview with Parker


1. Favorites- Color, Food, Toy, Game, Movie, Treat, Animal, Book: Blue, yogurt, Legos, batman guys, toy story guys, Toy Story 3 & all the Batman movies, mint chocolate chip ice cream, penguins, and Go Dog Go
2. What do you miss from back home? Grandma & Grandpa
3. What do you like here? going to the beach
4. What do you not like here? big bugs
5. What was your most favorite adventure this summer? going to the waterpark
6. What do you enjoy doing? playing Legos, playing with his "girls" (barbies), playing with his Batman guys, riding my tractor
7. What do you want to do when the boys are at school? play Legos all by myself
8. Do you like going to the beach or waterpark better? waterpark
9. What do you like helping Mommy do? make cookies
10. What are you scared of? bats

Parker, my little Parker. He is just the most adorable little boy. He is full of energy and the silliest faces ever. He has really started talking so much better, not always nice words, but hey, he is talking more in sentences. He loves playing with his brothers and sister. He is willing to help out clean if everyone else helps out. Parker still loves his blue blankie and will not go to bed without it. He also goes to bed with his Lego guys, Batman guys, Toy Story guys, and his girls. Yes, he calls them his girls and if he can't find them, watch out. Parker really is the cutest little thing ever!

An Interview wtih Emma


1. Favorites- Color, Food, Toy, Game, Movie, Treat, Animal, Book: Pink, Grapes & Noodles, Barbies, Pretty Pretty Princess, Tinkerbell, Cinderella & Tangled, Milkshakes, Dogs
2. What do you miss from back home? Grandma & Grandpa, her old room
3. What do you like here? the Toys R Us here, beaches
4. What do you not like here? Bugs
5. What was your most favorite adventure this summer? Going to the Aquarium, going to the market with the crazy fish
6. What do you enjoy doing? playing Barbies, coloring, cleaning up
7. What do you want to do while the boys are at school? go places without them, make cupcakes
8. What are your favorite craft supplies? crayons, glitter glue, stickers
9. Would you rather go to the beach or waterpark? beach
10. What are you scared of? bugs and lizards

Emma is such a funny little girl. She is getting so tall. Her hair is always crazy, especially here with all the humidity. She loves playing barbies and loves to color. Emma always helps clean up and will ask for things to help out with. Emma makes the funniest faces and says some things so funny. I am so blessed to have a little girl amongst all these boys!

An Interview with Cooper


1. Favorites- Color, Food, Toy, Game, Movie, Treat, Animal, Book: Green, Cereal, Legos, Pirates of the Caribbean wii game, Rio & Transformers, Sharks, Whales & Elephants, ocean books
2. What do you miss from back home? Cam & his other friends
3. What do you like here? All the beaches and how close they are to us.
4. What do you not like here? The storms, not because they are scary, but because we have to stay home.
5. What was your most favorite adventure this summer? Going to the Aquarium
6. What do you enjoy doing? Playing Legos, playing with his sharks, going to the beach
7. What is the weirdest/coolest thing in Japan? The bugs are weird and the beaches are the coolest
8. What is your favorite subject? Least favorite? Math is his favorite, reading his least favorite
9. What do you want to learn this year at school? Learn about sea creatures
10. Why are you excited to start school? Eating lunch there, meeting new friends

Cooper is such a sweet little boy. He is quiet but has the most amazing imagination. He is a string bean, tall and skinny. Cooper will still cuddle with us. Carson talks over him often, so he really has to speak up to say what he wants. He really loves sharks, whales, and other sea creatures. Cooper is always making silly faces and he loves to pose in crazy ways. Cooper also loves to copy Josh. He is very sweet with Parker, gets annoyed easily by Emma and loves playing with Carson.

An Interview with Carson


1. Favorites- Color, Food, Toy, Game, Movie, Treat, Animal, Book: Purple & Orange, Pizza, Legos, Yahtzee, Beetlejuice & Shrek, S'mores Ice Cream, Giraffes, Green Eggs & Ham
2. What do you miss from back home? Cam & Abbie
3. What do you like here in Okinawa? All the fun places to go on an adventure.
4. What do you not like here in Okinawa? Bugs.
5. What was your most favorite adventure this summer? Okinawa World because he loved walking through the cave, watching the Eisa dance & snake show and eating the dried strawberries.
6. What do you enjoy doing? Playing Legos, making videos, playing the Wii, going to the beach
7. What is the weirdest/coolest thing in Japan? The market with the pig head was so weird, the coolest thing are all the beaches.
8. What is your favorite subject? Least favorite? Favorite is math, least favorite is spelling
9. What do you want to learn this year at school? More math
10. Why are you excited to start school? To meet new friends

Carson is growing up so fast. He is getting so tall. He can be the sweetest little boy in the whole world, but boy does he have a temper at times. He is strong-willed but so silly. Carson is still the pickiest eater ever. He loves to copy Josh and the two of them together are so goofy. Lately he has perfected the task of putting groceries away. He doesn't mind picking up, as long as something good comes out of it. Carson is very sweet with Parker and will play Barbies with Emma. Cooper is his best friend.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Last Pages of our Feb. 2010 Disneyland Trip

This week was full of exploring. So once we got home the kids were tired. They were happy to just play quietly and hang out. I have watched all our movies that I like. I hate when Josh is gone. It is so boring, especially at night. But, I did get a lot of scrapbooking done!

"Meeting the Big Guy"
"Royal Court"
"A Castle of Their Own"
"Tiggerific"
"Cooper's Birthday @ Disneyland"
"This Princess found her Froggy"
"For the Record"
I have to say this is one of my most favorite
pages I have done in a long time. I'm so happy
I recorded info about each of them on the blog.
It's okay if I don't remember all the details
because I can always look up what I wrote at the time.

Now, to clean up the house before Josh gets home tomorrow. The boys already packed their backpacks. We just need to lay out their clothes and make lunches. The first day of school is tomorrow! I have a very excited 1st grader and 2nd grader!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Today's Adventure- Comprehensive Water Park

We planned on going to the water park right when it opened, however mother nature decided to send some thunderstorms our way. After lunch it looked like it was clearly up a little. I made the mistake of telling the kids last night what today's adventure would be, so we were going rain or shine. We got there and it was perfect. The clouds cooled things off a little, still sticky but no blazing hot sun. The last hour we were there the sun broke through and it was hot! We had so much fun! The boys loved going down the slides. Emma tried once, but hated it. Parker went down 2 times, he is so brave. They played and played. We went around the lazy river 7 times. Parker really loved the lazy river because you go through a waterfall. It was a great afternoon and only 5 minutes from our house!

Carson going down the slide
Cooper going down the slide
Parker going down the slide
Carson helping Parker up the stairs, All 3 Boys
Being silly
Parker was too scared to jump, although it was only up to his knees.
Scared of the slide, but she loved being in the water.
They always pretend there are sharks in the water.
My sweet Carson, always wants his picture taken.
The two silly goofballs.
Yay, a great picture of Cooper!
What adventure would be complete without a video.

Our 1st Dragonfruit

The kids and I have wanted to try dragonfruit ever since we got to Japan. They are expensive but we bought one at the market yesterday. It is a really beautiful fruit. I guess the inside could be white, pink, or yellowish. We all tried it. It had the texture of kiwi but wasn't very sweet. We didn't really like it. I don't know if we got a bad one, or if they just are not really sweet. Still, its the coolest fruit I have seen!

Lighting Storm

Last night there was a huge lighting storm. It was beautiful and lasted a really long time. I was so bummed Josh missed it. We both love lighting. At least I got a few pictures, which isn't easy, and a video.


Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Our Adventure Today- Exploring Naha

Today we headed south to Naha, about a 25-35 minute drive depending on traffic. Naha is the capital and largest city in Okinawa, about 300,000 people. The kids wanted to go on the monorail, so I picked a station and parked. It took a little figuring out, but I finally figured out how to buy our tickets. We rode the monorail 2 stops then hopped off at Kokusai Dori, the main street in Naha. We walked around for an hour, looking at all the different vendors and trying to find the hidden gem, Makishi Public Market. We were hot, so we stopped and had lunch, their pick of course, McDonalds. After we ate and cooled off a bit, we decided not to give up on our search for the market. You could easily get lost going down all the side streets and alleys. Finally, we found the market. We saw so many amazing things. It was smelly but the kids loved the experience! After checking out the market we walked back to the monorail. We rode the monorail to the very end, the airport then rode back to our car. It was about a 45 minute trip but it was great. We got to see the whole city of Naha, pretty cool. The kids loved the monorail, of course. We had another great day of exploring.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Makishi Public Market

Finally, after searching and searching we found the Makishi Public Market. The kids were amazed by all the different things we saw. The smell was not great, especially for Parker. However, the kids were oohing and awwing around every corner.

Cooper and the pig head
Dried beans, seaweed and ???

More mystery items
Pork is very popular here in Okinawa.

This Japanese man was so nice to the kids. He took all sorts of
live creatures out of the water for the kids to see and touch.
He even let them hold this huge live crab.
Big fish and little fish
Pufferfish skined and Japanese lobster
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
All these fish are swimming around Okinawa.

Giant Fish Eyes, Fish Chart of local Okinawa fish