March 2011

The highlight of March was, of course, my mom being able to visit:-)

One thing we did was go to the annual Kadena Wine Fest. 

I got picture happy-this is the turkey carver:-)

Some Japanese workers carrying some food. 

A random Japanese woman in the bathroom. They wear kimonos for special occasions (dressing up). I asked her if I could take a picture and she said yes:-)

One of my faves of Mom and me:-) I posted this on facebook and her comment was: "Why are our glasses empty?" Ummm...good question. Guess we were drinking em' fast!

My friend was working pouring the wine. Hers was one of the best!

Some of the food...

Wine!!

A 

A little afternoon fun at Round One

Genghis Khan: Eric told Mom this was one of his favorite places to eat, so we took her there. We love it too!!

We LOVE the Dolphin Park!!

Boys on seawall with our apartment building in the background.

My favorite!! Uroko!!!

Fresh Spring Rolls

Tuna and Avocado Sashimi

Fried Chocolate=yummy!!!

Literary Character Parade-Elijah had a Ben 10 book and Swampfire costume. 

A new little restaurant opened up right across the street from our apartment. We had to check it out and it was really good! I wrote a blog post and submitted it to Okinawa Hai. 

http://okinawahai.com/2011/05/miya-is-heart-restaurant.html

I could NEVER get enough of the sunsets:-)

While Elijah is at piano practice...

Noah would beg to explore the low tide...

Elijah's 1st grade field trip to the ice skating rink! 

Elijah and Mrs. Cribb

At Dragon for noodles-the kids favorite restaurant pick for Grandma to try!

Nago Weekend with Mom

A great get-away with Mom was to go to Nago for the weekend. It's about an hour and a half up north and there is a lot of cool stuff to do. 

A must-see is The Churaumi Aquarium

Touch pool!! 

There are a lot of displays that lead up to the big tank. We all enjoyed every part of it!

One of the best parts of the aquarium is the Kuroshio tank, one of the largest in the world. The tank takes its name from the warm Kuroshio current which plays a large part in the variety of Okinawa's marine life. The tank contains a wide variety of species, the most striking of which are the giant whale sharks and manta rays.

The shark tank and shark museum is also a very cool, must-see part of the aquarium!

Every time we visit here, we stop at the "net park" to play on the way out. It is rows and rows of interconnected nets that the kids can climb and roll down. So fun!!

I wanted to show Mom Hiji Falls. It is a short hike, a little less than 2 miles from start to finish, but there are steep steps throughout the path.

This is at the beginning...beautiful!!

             

One set of the steep stairs...                                              

                                               

View from the suspension bridge, about halfway there.

At the top-gorgeous!

 Momma and Me:-)

No visit to Nago is complete without Pizza in the Sky. It is a small, but busy pizza cafe that is way off the beaten path, but very worth the trek. The pizza is amazing and the view is another incredible one in Oki.

Mom and Noah being silly:-)

Tourist trap: Pineapple Park!! 

Pineapples have been cultivated on Okinawa as an agricultural product for around a century. However, due to the arrival of lower priced pineapples from overseas, the industry has suffered in recent decades. As a result, some farms are now promoting the fruit as a tourist attraction. The Nago Pineapple Park, a small, theme park solely about pineapples, is a result of such promotion efforts.

We took a ride through the farm in a pineapple cart.

 That was a quick in and out! But on the way out, we definitely stopped to drink some pineapple wine:-)

We discovered a small park while we waited for our tour time at the Orion Beer Factory.

 Cheers!!! Orion-For your happy time!!

Cutie pie!!

Random find while driving-a Japanese rice paddy!