Yeah for Daddy Dolls. CeCe and Pops got the boys these wonderful dolls as an early Easter present and I have to say, the boys have loved them. Their excitement when the saw them for the first time was awesome. Bennett plays with his taking his doll in the dumptruck, etc. Beau has conversations with his telling his daddy all kinds of fun stuff about what's going on in his little mind. I thought I had a picture of Beau with his doll, but somehow it's missing. Such a great gift!
The weekend before last we went to the aquarium.....again. We love it up there and always seem to see something new. This time we got to watch the dolphin show which was wonderful. It was all in the Japanese, so the silly Americans that didn't move back with everyone got a little soaked, to which Beau responded with a shout out calling the dolphin a "yucky, poopy dolphin". We had lunch at our favorite spot right in front of the seawater tank. The highlight of the day for the boys was probably the soda they had at lunch. Yes, soda! The drink menu is limited and.....well, I pick my battles. They paid for it. I ran them on the many playgrounds after lunch to ensure I wasn't getting into a car with caffeine-crazy toddlers. It was a wonderful day spent with two of my favorite boys. 
I admit it, I'm weak! SO sometimes I go with whatever floats their boat. Today, it was bubbles!
I haven't posted in a bit, but it's not like we haven't been busy. :) Last week's 8.9 earthquake quickly followed by a tsunami sent us all into complete panic for a while. Aside from the fact that Mom had flown into Tokyo about the time the earthquake hit, we also couldn't understand the warnings going off on the speakers around our community. I ran across the street to one of our only English-speaking neighbors quickly followed by Beau, literally naked as a jay bird (we were getting ready to start bathtime). Fortuately, he informed me of all that was going on and we were safe. And even better, after a nightmare 36 hours, Nina made it home safely too. In the meantime, we've been marines in our own fort, firemen putting out fires, two wild and crazy cowboys, and they even tried to make their own swimming pool....and, no, it's not summer here yet. 
It's not quite swimsuit weather, but it's definitely warm enough to hit the beach for some fun. Torii Beach is our favorite beach to go to because of a lot of reasons. 1) the pirate ship 2) the swings and 3) the view!!! A few sandwiches, juice boxes, dumptrucks, and a starbucks for Nina and Mommy and we're set. Starbucks actually came in extra handy considering we forgot shovels. And what's a Sunday afternoon without some ice cream?! 
We braved the zoo today! I had read the blogs, therefore, the bar for the zoo here was set pretty low I have to say. It appeared the highlight may be a raccoon, BUT that wasn't going to stop us. I'm glad we decided to check it out for ourselves because it was great. It helps to remind yourself that you're on an island and not in San Diego (again with setting the bar pretty low). I have never been so close to a tiger in all my life or an elephant. The safety regulations would never fly in the States. Beau could seriously climb through the gate to hang with the alligators, but I've come to the conclusion that Japanese kids follow the rules on the posted signs. Bennett loved the petting zoo (I had to relinquish my germ obsession for a moment) and Beau is a little more like his momma.....we love animals.....behind gates. Anything that poops on the floor and licks its rear end I prefer to keep at a distance. Even so, the Okinawa Zoo will now be on our list of frequents for family day events. :) 
