Twinkle Twinkle

Here's what we do when we can't go outside.....we sing! Bennett informed me that he's a great singer. I agree, BUT we may need to work on learning the lyrics.

Typhoon Season

Well, I would be lying if I said that I was surprised when we experienced our first typhoon in our first 2 months on the island. That's just how we roll....we like to keep everyone on their toes. :) My poor parents! My mom said it best yesterday with "everytime I talk to you, I have something new to pray about." Seems like she is right lately. BUT on the bright side, we're now as prepared as you can be for one of these storms having run out and stocked up on all the necessary supplies. The winds are definitely a force to be reckoned with and the waves I'm sure are a surfer's dream, but for us, it was great just watching from inside. When asking the sales clerk for advice on how the locals handle typhoons, I was told the old people go to a shopping center and the young go to the beach. Nice to know they have a sense of humor about these things. Here is some video I took of the beginning of the storm.

Love these Boys

Just had a second and snapped a picture on my handsome boys before school yesterday.

Early Birthday Celebration

Fletcher gets on the ship this Thursday, so he mentioned doing an early birthday dinner for me. I got a sitter and we headed out to dinner Friday night. We took a little drive to Maeda Point and then to the Nagahama Dam before deciding where to eat. The sunset was beautiful! I have been wanting to try this little cafe literally about 50 yards from our house, so that's where we went. I would give you a cool name, but I think it's actually called The Cafe. :) And to my surprise, Fletcher had invited a few of our newly-made friends. We had a wonderful dinner with wine and champagne. Kudos to Fletcher for planning something so thoughtful! And on my actual birthday, we're "suppose" to get our furniture which will call for another celebration!

Sunday at the Renaissance Hotel

Sunday we packed our beach bag and headed out for an adventure to the beautiful Renaissance Hotel. Lucky for us, it's just a 5 minute drive up the rode. We bought passes to the pool and spent the day enjoying this amazing place. It was like a theme park with a touch pool where the kids could check out starfish. There were owls and bats in cages to look at. There were sting rays, turtles and parrots. You could even swim with the dolphins if you wanted to. Absolutely amazing (and only about 2500 yen which is about $30 for all of us)! This week there is a festival, so we got to enjoy a display of okinawaian dance. We've got one more weekend with Fletcher before he boards the ship, so we're trying to get in as much family fun as we can.

Express Shipment - Woo Hoo!!

Let me start with us getting our express shipment in on Saturday. Woo hoo! No, it's not our furniture (and to be honest, it wasn't nearly as much as I thought we had sent on that shipment), but we're thrilled to have some stuff from home. We got two big dump trucks much to the excitement of Bennett and Beau AND we got our dishes along with our pots, pans, and utensils. We got our linens and pillows...Yeah! And we got our coffee maker. Now that was what we've been waiting on. However, we did not get the pot that goes with it. Not sure who gets the blame for that one....I can't even remember the month of June much less whether the coffee pot got packed, but it's not here, so we'll tackle that one tomorrow. We're so enjoying eating off our plates from Marshall's and drinking out of our own glasses. :)

P.S. No pics of the delivery b/c I was trying to put away as fast as they were unpacking.

Ambassadors????

Bennett is so taken with his "temporary" fireman suit, that he insisted on wearing it out Saturday afternoon. He was so in character that he was waving at people just like the firemen in Marietta do in the parade. It was really funny and, of course, we just all go along with it. Even Beau goes along....he does the siren sound effect. We had dinner at a restaurant out in town called Primo Kitchen and it was the Japanese take on Italian food. Not sure if we're fans or not b/c that was about the time when Beau decided to lose his mind and start throwing food and water. Fletcher and I have come to the conclusion that we may not be the best "ambassadors" for the American family....at least not right now. Give us a few years and we promise to do better. We finished off the night with a walk on the beach and a breathtaking sunset. With our 20 month old throwing food and our 3 1/2 yr old wearing his costume to dinner, we're so blessed!

Cape Zanpa & Araha Park

We LIVE for Saturdays! Especially while Fletcher is home, so we wake up excited about what is on our agenda. This morning we had two early risers (about 6 am), so by 8:00 we were ready to head out the door. Our first stop was the lighthouse at Cape Zanpa which was beautiful. Some of the peacefulness might have been lost on the boys, but we took note as a perfect place to come read and take in the scenery. Loved it! Next we drove south to Araha Beach to check out this major pirate ship we'd heard about. It was a great spot! There was a mini-zipline for Bennett and Beau loved climbing to the top. After a dip in the ocean, we headed home for naps. As Bennett says, "I wuv family days"...Mommy says "I wuv 'em too!"...

Happy Thursday!

Just posting a few random pictures from today. Bennett and Beau are sporting a new t-shirt we got for them. It was one of two that we could make out the message, so we went with it. Bennett snapped a picture of Mommy and Beau. And last is a picture of our beautiful sunset taken from our balcony.

Summer Days....

There's not much better on a hot, summer day than a popsicle....at least not to the Tidwell boys.

1st Day of Preschool

Today was Bennett and Beau's 1st day of preschool here. There were mixed emotions, but we had a great morning leading up to the drop off. They had a good night's rest and woke up excited. After waffles and milk and some lego-time, we were ready to go. All was well until the actual drop off when Bennett decided school was not a good idea. Broke my heart, but after waiting and watching the camera of his classroom from the director's office, it was evident he was good to go. Beau, on the other hand, practically lept from my arms to play with the other kids. Their teachers were Japanese, very sweet, but very structured. If you know Bennett and Beau, a little structure is a good thing. When I picked them up, both were all smiles and said they wanted to go back. Check out the school....the website is: http://www.santamonicaokinawa.com/

Saturday Fun

Friday night Fletcher has his wedding down in celebration of getting promoted to major. It was our first time using a sitter and I was nervous...for a lot of reasons, but one big one was the language barrier. We used a lot of hand signals. :) Izumi was wonderful. The boys enjoyed her and she let me know she would like to come back sometime which is reassuring considering Bennett was hiding in the pantry when I left. Saturday after Fletcher recovered a bit, we took the boys to a playground with a pirate ship and the pool at Torii Station right up the street. Bennett loving Peter Pan and Captain Hook, so he was thrilled. And Beau is in the stage where he loves all things Bennett loves, so it was great. We made it home in time for a long nap while I got out and did some exploring. When I got home, the crew was ready to go to dinner and shop for a new costume since "those stinkin' movers are taking so long"...according to Bennett. Thanks Papa for the new costumes. Bennett chose a Star Wars and Beau picked Batman. Bennett has slept in his the last two nights. I think that's a good sign! Dinner was at the Seaside Restaurant at Kadena Marina and it is a wonderful family place. The hostesses gave the boys baggies of bread to feed the fish. We'll be going back there for sure! Why is it that the weekends just fly by???? We're gearing up for a busy week. The boys start school tomorrow, so stay tuned for more pics. :)