We've Been Busy!

I don't know where to start. We've been here in Okinawa just over a week and it's been a whirlwind. In that time, we've taken driver's test to obtain our licenses, we've attended a newcomer's brief that basically tells you what you're in for, we've bought cars, found a house out in town, and gotten the kids set up with new doctors here along with their TB shots. Again, it's been a busy week. Slowly, we're getting acclimated. The boys have been such troopers going along on all our house hunting and car shopping appointments. Yesterday, we finally had a "fun day" for the family and we headed north of Camp Foster where we've been staying to Torii Station. The beach there is beautiful! The boys loved getting to run and play. After grabbing lunch there, we swung back by the pool at Camp Foster for a quick dip before naptime. Last night, we had dinner with a sweet family at Chili's. That's right! You're never too far from home when there's a Chili's. We just found out this morning that our stuff is scheduled to arrive on Sept. 7th. Not a big deal, except that Fletcher leaves on Sept. 3rd for about 2 1/2 months. The boys and I will be busy getting the house just the way we want it while Fletcher is out at sea. We're looking forward to getting settled in and Bennett is anxious for the movers to bring his policeman suit. He asks daily for it. I'm posting some miscellaneous pictures of what we've been up to this week.

Konichiwa Okinawa!

Our trip from Seattle to Okinawa went like this....we had to be at the airport at 1:00 am for a 4:50 am flight. Our strategy was to put the kids to bed in hopes that they would get enough sleep to tide them over until our flight left. The HOPE was that they would crash when the plane took off and sleep the duration of the flight. Wishful thinking, right? Actually, it sort of worked...reiterating "sort of". We checked it and headed to the USO room for refreshments and more legos. We figured a few donuts might help them stay awake. By the time we boarded, we were all ready for some serious rest. Beau, our precious 19 month old, pulled some major R&R (not what you're thinking...it's for "refuse & require". He "refused" to sleep and "required" complete attention from Fletcher and his exhausted mommy. We spent the first few hours on the flight passing him back and forth until his little body finally crashed for a long nap. Whew! We crashed too. Bennett slept through all this madness. Gotta love that child. We landed somewhere in Japan (not our destination) only to unload for a couple of hours. We reloaded the same plane, stopped again (not at our destination), and sat on the plane while a few unboarded. The next stop would be ours! It was about 4 pm here and we had survived! Thrilled to get to the West Pac Lodge and get settled in, we headed across the street for our first dinner in Okinawa at the Macaroni Grill. Nothing says "Welcome to Japan" like a little pizza and spaghetti, right?

One Day in Seattle

We had one day in Seattle and were determined to see the sites. The boys are such great little alarm clocks rising with the sun (sometimes even before), so we got an early start. After coffee for all (we even slipped the kids a drop in their milk....don't call CPS), we headed out to Pikes Market. I'm still in awe of all the fresh produce and seafood. For a mom wanting to fill her a kids with fresh stuff, that place was heaven. Seriously! We had breakfast AND lunch at a little restaurant in the market called Lowell's and it was delicious!!! We walked along the harbor watching the ferry boat and then took the kids to see the Space Needle. I had no idea Seattle was such a kid-friendly city, but there were tons of activities for the little ones. The views from the Space Needle were beautiful and the perfect weather didn't hurt. Conveniently the coffee wore off about that time and Bennett and Beau crashed for naps, one in the stroller and one in Fletcher's arms. Not complaining about when they're awake, BUT it did allow for some peaceful exploring...at least for a couple of hours. We took the boys back to the hotel for a swim while I got to do a little shopping (for all the ladies, I have a new rec....the most comfortable leggings are at American Apparel...ignore the sales clerk with the 80's mustache and plaid shorts that are way too short). We had dinner down at Pier 55 (or 57, my memory fails me) and got back to the hotel to bath the kids and put them to bed for a quick night's sleep. We had to get back up at 11 pm to get to the airport by 12:30 am.

How Our Trip Began...

Packed and ready, tummies full from our "Thanksgiving in July" dinner CeCe prepared for us, our adventure began. I'll start from day 1 of travel. Our itinerary had us leaving Tuesday, July 13th at 9:56 am from Nashville with a layover in Minneapolis and then onto Seattle. If things had gone as planned, we would arrive in Seattle around 3 pm in time to get the boys settled in for the evening. Our intention was to have a day to explore Seattle and get pseudo acclimated before hopping our flight to Okinawa scheduled on Thursday. WELL, Delta had other plans for us. We were informed upon checking in on Tuesday that they were "having a rough day".....having said that at 8:00 am....I thought "this doesn't sound good". We were changed to a flight to New York leaving around noon. Now I'm no genuis, but even I know that NY is not on the way to Seattle. :) SO we put on our "it's all going to be okay" faces and headed to the gate. After some chicken nuggets and a baja salad from Wendy's we boarded our plane only to sit on the tarmack for another 30-45 minutes. Beau-handsome was transforming before our eyes from the sweetest little 19 month old into a caged animal. The Lord was in control and our steward, George, had an endless supply of cookies for the little man AND we survived. We made it to NY to learn that we had another 3 hour delay, BUT not to worry, we were still wearing "it's all okay" faces. At this point, so grateful for the legos Aunt Jane and CeCe gave us, we were playing and staying entertained. We made it to Seattle around midnight, took a cab/van to our hotel, and crashed for the night. We had made it and couldn't wait to see Seattle!

Happy 4th of July 2010

We've had the best weekend celebrating the 4th of July with family in Nashville. We decorated the golf cart at Pops and CeCe's for the annual neighborhood parade on the 3rd. Bennett, Beau, Trey, and Waller loved getting sprayed by the local firemen. Trey and Bennett drove the gator the entire parade and did a great job keeping up. We spent the afternoon of the 4th at the sweet Franklin square letting the kids run and watch the cloggers (I thought of Kip) and Lorie Morgan sing. We found a great little spot to watch the fireworks before the kids crashed for the night. What a wonderful time celebrating America's birthday!