Saturday, May 19, 2012

Checking into the Kise Beach Palace for the Night

On Friday Diana and I picked the kids up a little early from school and headed north to Nago and the Kise Beach Palace. We thought it would be fun to stay in a hotel for the night. We lucked out and got a great deal on a beachfront hotel. Hotels here are very expensive, but with a special military discount, our room was 10,000 yen, only about $125, which is very cheap for Okinawa. Our room was on the 7th floor. We had a wonderful view from our balcony!

We changed into swimsuits and headed down to the beach before dinner. It was a great beach with 2 lifeguards and plenty of jelly fish preventing nets.

Parker found this shiny little green beetle and played with him for 20 minutes or so. He just loved this little bug. He talked and talked to him. It was so cute!

This was so much fun. I wish Josh would have been here though. We will have to do this again sometime with Daddy!

Adventures in Japanese BBQ

The restaurant at the hotel had a BBQ option for dinner. Of course, this was Japanese BBQ and it was very expensive. However, we figured it was something we needed to experience. We didn't know what everything on the plate was nor were we given any directions. It was hilarious! The majority of the kids didn't like anything. Cooper did eat the shrimp and some of the squid. The whole experience was just too funny. Next time, we would want the guys to be with us and we would let the kids play on the beach while we ate.

Friday's Sunset in Nago, Okinawa

I took way too many sunset pictures and I love them all. These are my 4 favorites. They are all too pretty to chose a favorite. The sunsets here are truly breathtaking!


Playing and Watching the Sunset

After dinner we walked along the beach and watched the sun go down. The kids played and played. They also kept losing their shoes in the sand, especially once it started to get dark. This was such a wonderful way to spend an evening in Okinawa.


Enjoying the Early Morning Sunrise

After staying up too late talking with Diana, 5:30 came way too early. Of course Carson and Hannah were dressed and headed down to the beach. By 6:15 all the other kiddos were ready to go downstairs. It was a beautiful morning!



Emma and Addie just love each other so much. They are the best of friends!

Swimming and Playing at the Beach in the Morning

After breakfast we put on swimsuits and headed downstairs to the beach. It was beautiful morning and warmed up pretty fast. The kids had a blast, as always. Mornings swimming and playing on the beach are just perfect and should occur more often.

Busena Glass Bottom Boat Ride

After checking out of the hotel we drove 5 minutes to the Busena Terrace Resort and the Busena Glass Bottom Boat ride. We were all pretty excited for this. We have been talking for months about going on a glass bottom boat ride and finally, we did it.

We sat on the side of the boat. The big middle section was glass. You looked over the little ledge to see the reef and all the sea life. We saw so many cool things. I was enjoying the ride so much that I didn't take many pictures. It was amazing. Everyone had different favorites that we saw. Lots of fish, coral, starfish, sea snakes, even Nemo's and pufferfish.

The boat ride was only about 10-15 minutes, not long enough at all. But, it was amazing and the kids just loved it!