Feeding the birds!

After we went to Pineapple Park we headed over to Neo Park to feed the "birdies."

It's always a good laugh for me to watch all these birds flock around the kids. Hunter got a little too close and the bird nipped his finger. He is showing me that the birdie bit him.

I swear the birds see the blue bags and just attack hoping for some food. It is funny to watch my kids run around dumping food all the while.

Here is little Ryker checking out the pelican. I'm pretty sure he would have gotten even closer, but I made him wait for a picture.

He is very much my baby and is usually found right by my side so it's fun when he ventures out a little more.

He loves to watch his brothers and after assessing the situation will usually join in. Hunter is the opposite. He jumps right in before making sure he won't get hurt.

Taylor is getting so big and has been such a sweet boy lately. He sure gives a lot of kisses!

Then, we took turns riding harassing this poor tortoise-

And lastly, we watched Ryker and Hunter pointing to EVERYTHING and yelling, "Mommy listen to me!"

Pineapple Park~

We needed to get out of the house BAD! I feel like between potty training and life we have been stuck in the house this whole month. We all needed a break! I let the kids decide where they wanted to head and of course the answer was pineapple park. I think it's so funny that they love this place so much.

 When we got there they gave the kids the adorable little pineapples and then we set off on the fun little golf cart ride through the pineapple fields. They all gave me their cheesiest smiles to document the day!

I especially found Taylor's very handsome. lol. Lately to get a smile from him is so difficult. It's always so pushed with teeth grinding. Come on, just give me one nice smile. I guess I will have to do better job of sneaking up when he isn't expecting me. He has the cutest little smile while he is just playing. 

I love so much that these two little are the best of friends. You would think that I stage these hugs, BUT they just naturally do them. They love to hold hands and hug each other. It just melts my heart. It is so fun to see the connection between twins. They are so worried if I take one and leave one with Rhett. They other day we went to the grocery store and I took Taylor and Hunter. Hunter kept asking me, "Where's my Ryke?" I guess it was even worse at home. Rhett finally called me so that Ryker could talk to Hunter. They were both very worried about the other. We don't separate them very often and I'm sure it was weird for them.

Our favorite part of pineapple park is when you walk through the store with all the samples. My kids eat their weight in samples. It is the closest thing to a costco I guess. They LOVE pineapple and the little Japanese ladies LOVE them so it works out to their favor. They just keep dishing out samples and telling them how cute they are.

We had cake, cookies, chocolate, juice, and fresh pineapple. It was so good! We also loved walking through the seashell museum that they have there. They have an amazing variety!

We even splurged and bought a pineapple ice cream cone to share on the way out. Carter was in Heaven. It has been so hot here that is was the perfect treat to cool us down a little. The little boys were so great there. They said please and thank you and were very polite. They walked with their arms folded, (We have been working on this.) and stayed together as a group. I love getting out of the house!

Derby Race

They always have such fun little activities going on during the weekends. Several weeks ago they had a derby race. We loved all the different cars that they had made for it. Different units were all able to make and participate. We went to cheer on the 18th medical groups cart. I unfortunately don't have a picture of that one.

We took of few pictures of the little boys favorites though. The only downfall of the day was that it way too hot and sunny. We all had to get a snowcone after the race so we wouldn't melt. :) They had all these fun bouncers set up for the kids, but it was brutally warm that day so I only let them bounce for a couple minutes before heading them toward air conditioning.

It was still a ton of fun though. Carter wanted to ride in one so bad. :)

Guess who's SCUBA certified?

This GIRL is!

When we first moved here the FIRST thing I wanted to do was get SCUBA certified. Well, one year later and I've finally done it. Hurray!

I was actually really nervous and had a ton of anxiety about the class. I thought I would get claustrophobic and freak out under the water.

The course was a week long starting on Sunday and going through the next week ending again on Sunday. The first two days we met at 3:00 p.m. and did bookwork until 9:00. I felt like they were shoving so much information down my throat and they used this line about twenty times, "This is super important because if you don't know this you can get decompression sickness or even die." By the second night I felt like I was actually starting to absorb some of the information but instead of studying for the final test I was in the hospital snuggling my sweet Hunter who was really sick.

I traded with Rhett so I wouldn't miss the final test and was pleasantly surprised that I remembered everything and got a 98 on the test. It was pretty easy! :)

Anyway, we got a night off and then the next three days met at the pool. I got so COLD the first night. The pool was great and felt so nice, but being in there for four plus hours SUCKED. We had a pretty big class so it took a long time to teach everyone the skills that they need. By the third night I felt pretty good at doing everything from buoyancy, to clearing my mask, to even taking off all my gear under the water and putting everything back on. I even felt pretty confidant with the compass. Amazing I know! :)

We had the next day off to hydrate and after that we headed to the Ocean. Our instructor's boat broke in the process so we were all a little bummed that we would be doing shore dives instead of boat dives. The first dive was AWESOME. I was able to equalize my ears great and all the skills were easy enough to remember. We saw a stonefish and he pointed out lots of cool coral formations with thousands of bright colored fish.

We went back to shore and changed out the tanks and headed in for a second dive. This dive was a little hard for me. My nose was a little plugged and made it really hard to equalize my ears. I FINALLY made it to the bottom and got all the skills checked off. We headed home for the day and I was so tired of being in the water.

The next morning we headed out for our third dive and it was RAD. We did all the necessary skills required and were given plenty of play time. It is so amazing to be right next to all these cool creatures. To see them up close.

We went in and changed out gear and headed out for our fourth and final dive. The water was perfect. I could see a good 30ft in all directions. We did our last two skills. Taking off the complete mask under water and hovering for 1 minute. Then, we all followed Ed around the Ocean bottom. I was near the front of the pack with lots of air to play around with. We saw so many really cool things. We saw another stonefish, some striped catfish (Super Poisonous), and 5 sea snakes playing on the bottom. We followed closely just watching them slither through the water. Then we came around a bend and saw the shark. It was right above a coral reef. We were about 20 feet from him and he was so graceful in the water. We excitedly gave the shark sign to one another and then it took off. It was a white tip reef shark about 6 feet long. What a perfect end to a great week!

I can now say I AM SCUBA CERTIFIED. I have wanted to get it for so long and I can't wait to go out with my best friend, Rhett, and check out the water and creatures below. Stay tuned for "Diving with the Whale Sharks." That is my next fun and exciting goal while here in Okinawa. :)

Family Night Fun

A couple weeks ago for family night we went with some friends to a new fun beach. They found it and have been going there for a long time. It was awesome because it is really private. We were the only ones there.

We went in the evening and my little boys did what they do best. They caught a TON of hermit crabs. Or as Taylor calls them "Kermit Crabs." They combed the beach and found some really big ones. They really wanted to bring them home so I caved. We let them bring them home for 2 nights and then we dropped them off at the Kadena Marina to live.

It was such a great time. We will definitely have to go back there with them again. In fact, we could never find it without them. ;) Thanks for a good time guys. What a fun family night activity! We also had a really great time swimming and splashing in the water.

Here is the stash they brought home that night. Check out those big ones. They are good little finders. :)

The other side of the ZOO-

There are kind of three parts to the zoo here in Okinawa. The first part is the Wonder Museum. The second is the zoo, and the third is the carnival?!? They have this little carousel and little go carts for the kids to ride. They also have a train and a 3D Dinosaur movie. I always quickly steer my children away from this because it all costs money.

Well, our zoo pass is about to expire soon and I thought I would treat my kids to a day of fun. We started by walking through the zoo.

Look how strong Taylor is to bend that metal. ;)

I had to get a picture of this adorable lady. I love how they are completely covered up. It is hard to descibe how different Americans are. We are sun worshippers, while the Japanese stay clear of sunlight and if they are outside they make sure they are covered up. That is why they look so great when they are older I'm sure. :) Oh, and check out that broom. That is legit!

We always make sure to hydrate when we are outside. It has really been hot lately. I smiled to see Ryker after washing his hands lean in for a quick drink. They have places to wash your hands throughout the zoo. I thinks it's a great idea, although my kids usually just play in the water and get soaked!

We also stopped and had an American Dog. Yummy!

Poor little Taylor was in the petting zoo and went to pick up a tiny turtle, but stuck his hand in front of the bigger one. It took a little bite and Taylor was so mad that the turtle bit his finger!

2011 is the year of the Rabbit so they have some fun little signs everywhere. The kids think they are so fun! We have seen them at quite a few places around the island.

We then went over to the Dinosaur 3D movie. I was cracking up watching the little boys trying to touch the stuff coming towards them. I mean look at Taylor's face. Priceless!

These were the little go carts that they had. You just put in 100Y and they turn on for you. Taylor and Carter loved being able to drive them by themselves. We only had one crash. Taylor was laughing so hard as he passed Carter that he hit the wall. Which caused me to die laughing.... after I checked on him and Ryker, of course!

Taylor's car was faster than Carter's was so he rubbed that in the whole day or maybe it's because Carter weighs about twice as much as Taylor does.

We then headed over and rode the carousel together. It was too fun! The kids had such a great day. We spent way more than a normal zoo day, but we got our money's worth. We rode the train and they let the babies ride everything for free. :)

It's good that our passes are almost expired because I'm sure the kids would be way disappointed to just skip past this now that we tried everything out!

These are a few of my favorite things-

Cool colored sky and hot humid weather.

Pick ups and Pulls ups and flowers like Heather.

Cool Hermit Crabs that crawl into the rocks.

We love adventure and dirt in our socks.

Boys in white sunscreen with sand in their hair.

Berries on my face that make people stare.

Silver foam waters that melt in the sand.

These are a few from our favorite land.

Roller slides and zip lines that whoosh when we ride.

Old castle ruins and a park with a slide.

Bright plastic packages filled with dried fish.

This is a very fantastic new dish.

When the spider gets in.

When the grasshoppers get away.

When I'm feeling sad ( and missing family.)

I simply remember my favorite things

And then I don't feel so BAD!

Well, this is the babies newest favorite snack. When in Japan... do as they do!

I love the fish tails hanging out of his mouth. :)

Yummy! This all started when we went to the farmer's market and they got to pick out a treat. This was what they picked. They both quickly downed their packages and ate Carter's and Taylor's the next day. Don't worry though. Carter and Taylor were totally okay with it! :)

Pure Randomness but total Awesomeness!

We are walking through Neo Park and Taylor spots this cow!

"Hey Mom, he has bigger boobs than you." (Yes, he was yelling that. Loud and proud!)

"Wow Taylor, he sure does and twice as many too. That's awesome!"

"Can you take my picture with his big boobs?"

Another cute conversation was with Carter this week. We bought all the kids new toothbrushes. I figured since Rhett is a dentist they should have more than one to share amongst each other. Plus, Hunter got a cold sore. Gross!!

Anyway, we just bought some cheap crayon one. For the record... Rhett says it doesn't matter which brand you choose. It's all in your technique. I double checked before buying the cheap ones!

Anywho... Carter is trying to tell me who's are who's and he says, "Taylor's is the orange, like his hair. Hunter's is the yellow, like his hair. Ryker's is the baby blue and mine's the Daddy blue?!?"

Makes sense!

I did ask him if he meant light blue and dark blue... to which he said, "Oh yeah. That works too!" :)

Happy 4th of July-

We had a great 4th of July this year. We had a big BBQ out in our circle and had a blast meeting all the new neighbors. We have had 8 new families move in in the last 2 weeks and it was a great way to get to meet everyone. We had a couple grills out there, lots of games, and a big bouncer for all the kids to play on. We also played a mean game of volleyball in the backyard when we finished munching on all that delicious food!

We were babysitting and Rhett and the babies weren't feeling too hot so we kind of bounced in and out of the house checking to make sure everyone was feeling okay. It was still such a fun time.

On Saturday we went to America Fest. It is a fun little 4th of July festival complete with fireworks that night. We only stayed a couple minutes. I am so tired of little carnival booth type events that you have to pay for everything. When we lived at Nellis... they had all these companies that actually support the military and they had a big BBQ. They had bouncers, and bags of cookies, and snowcones. Everything was free for the military in a way to show that they love and care about what you are doing. Then, they had a HUGE firework show. I'm not going to lie. I was a little disappointed by America Fest. It just made me miss America! :(

Anyway, I tried to distract the kids since we left WAY before the fireworks were due to start. We took them to the toy store and let them spend their allowance on some toys. Rhett had already planned to go to "The Green Lantern" with his friends that night. Well, on the way back to the house the kids all asked what happened to the fireworks. I felt bad so we dropped Rhett off and headed over the hill to watch the fireworks. I am so glad that we did. It made their night. They kept hugging me and telling me which ones were their favorites. It made for a good mommy moment. I love those sweet little ones!

Here are a few pictures to show our day and night.

Repeat picture, but when I look at it it just screams Independence Day!

Waiting for the fireworks to start- Taylor wasn't feeling too great as you can tell by his picture. Poor bug!

It was another fun memory. I miss the states though so much on holidays. I guess it didn't matter how fun they made it it still wouldn't have our families in it. That is why I miss them so much. The holidays are just so different being so far away!