Okinawa Aquarium

We finally made it to the Aquarium after two years on the island - we also bought year passes, so now we need (really need) to go again- or two or thee times...

Sofia only had about 30min of actual sleep on the hour+ drive to the aquarium and wasn't really happy when we first got there, but started to warm up pretty quick.

 Then it was on to the starfish and sea cucumbers.

 And of course on a warm humid Okinawa day, its always nice to relax in a mister and enjoy the cool breeze.  With that, she's off again to the next exhibit.

 Which was also Sofia's first encounter with a dolphin.  Not only did she really like getting this close, it looked like the dolphin took some time to check her out as well.

Overall it was a fun time.  We had to speed things along as we timed the trip to coincide with her napping schedule and we were fortunate enough to have her sleep the entire hour and 20 min back to the house.

More Zoo shots

Now that I've had a chance to download some of the shots from the zoo and aquarium, I can start updating more of the shots.  Here are a few from zoo -

 Some fun times feeding the guinea pigs.  I'm not really sure if she thought it was fun, or just a big rat on her lap...

 And then on to feeding the elephant.  She really liked this one, although she wasn't happy about losing the tug of way with the elephant.

Slide

We had a quick jaunt to the park today - actually prior to the library, but the ipod made it easier to post first...  Sofia really likes slides now.  The park has one with a wave in it and the second time she went down she held her arms in and went in full speed.  Then promptly flew off the slide and onto the rubberized matting.  I think it caught everyone by surprise.  She of course proceeded to go down many more times, although always managing to keep a foot or arm on the side.  She also liked going down through the tube slide and while not as fast, it was much easier to just turn around and walk back up.

At the library

Sofia making a go at some research in the latest playground tech.

Sofia and her ball

While I'm still working to get Sofia up to speed on the rules of soccer, we are starting to get across the whole "kick the ball" process. She's leaning toward goalie right now, but I think she'll come around to playing a forward.

Farewell at the zoo today!

I am really sad to see one of my friends leave the island.  We met up today at a really good Indian restaurant...the nan is to die for...then we headed to the zoo.  We had a lot of fun, and now the kids seem to enjoy it a little more now that they are bigger.  We got to feed the elephant in the pic..we fed koi, swan, and turtles in the pond/lake area, and guinea pigs and rabbits in the petting zoo area.  Sofia really liked the baby chicks....they are so fragile....I can't believe they put them out for kids to handle freely!  There are more pics coming, but here are a few!

uhh ohh!

So we recently thought our daughter had picked up a new vocabulary word..."s*&t"!  I am thinking "Great!  Of course this is all my fault...I am such a terrible mom!"  and so on.  We were relieved recently when she said "s*&t" and then sat down.  Thank god!  I think she means "sit"!   

We went to the beach by our house last week...here are the pics.  Sofia loves the ocean!  It was a little chilly, but she did not seem to care!  Thanks to Auntie Katie for the hat and swimsuit! 

Hi all! We have recently experienced a broken camera issue...so there will be a delay in photos! Sofia is such a big source of joy in my days! Her personality is emerging, and I love it! She is hysterical!! She got scratched pretty bad by 1 or our cats...she kept pulling the cats fur out...so wasn't like she had it coming. It has happened before a few times and she still goes back for more. This time though she has been pointing to her arm for about a week telling us "owww" and then pointing to the bedroom where it happened! I think she finally will stop pulling the cats hair! During my life I never expected I would utter the phrase "Sweetie...will you please stop trying to kill the cat"...yes I say this a few times a day when Sofia has "other cat" or "nigiri" in a choke hold trying to carry her somewhere! Crazy! She has recently mustered the strength to pick up black cat....he is way too old to fight...he just looks at me like "please help!" Another thing I never expected....the dreaded minivan! So long to the girl that liked fast cars and motorcycles...and guys with motorcyles of course! Anyhow...now I am having visions of a Honda Odyssey when we return. Uhhhhh...what has happened?! This all stemmed from Tom junking his old POS....thank you above for getting that thing out of our hands! hahhahh! Our friends PCS'ed and we bought their minivan...it was really clean...I had driven it before when Hiroshi and Akemi came to visit, and I figured if Tom didn't like it we can always sell it to someone coming in this summer. Well now I am really liking this thing...makes total sense...is a comfy ride and great for hauling stuff from Home Depot or maybe camping gear in the future...won't be getting any G's in a turn, but sad to say... I am OK with that because of my kid that is in the back seat. WOW! Motherhood is scary!

Awwww!

Came home the other day to this! Adorable! Sofia has a Rhinovirus (common nose clogging cold). Yes that is the new kitten! She apparently just climbed up, and Tom couldn't move her!

I love this kid!

Sofia likes to try and put this hat on...she got it once...the sunglasses she has mastered! Yeah that is blue Sharpie pen marks on her face....don't ask!

How Many Zip Ties Does A Man Need??

It's been a while!

Hello all!
So many things have happened in the past few months...I am still catching my breath! Here is a recap...

We went to California for the holidays...spent 3 weeks and had a great time! 3 days prior a stray black kitten with a missing back toe found us! Grandma came back with us to Okinawa and we have been settling in!

Sofia has grown so much, but still not too much hair! She is starting to understand the potty! We are still working on the letting me know before and getting our pants down in time, but she has totally mastered the sitting and putting toilet paper in the toilet!

She says "mommie", "daddy" and "uh oh" and is working on "kitty" and "cat". She keeps us very busy with general reorganization of the house. Found my camera yesterday in the bottom drawer in the kitchen inside my bamboo steamer baskets!

I am signing her up for day care 1-2 hours M, W, and F for some activities and socialization, and mostly for my sanity...I need to have some work out time! Daddy is going to hang with her at lunch on Tu and Th for some library and whatever else dad can come up with time!

We have decided to return to the states if we can get San Diego or Virginia for our next station. If not we will extend here a year and then come back. We are also looking at Tom's first retirement, which will be possible in about 4 years. Not sure what he will decide he wants to do, but we are checking into Harrisburg, PA as our final location. Of course Tom is going to aim for company management or other type job...trained killer is still in the air, too...ahahhaha....anyhow manager at Radioshack or Cabella's has also come up! hahahahhah! We will see what happens!

I of course will return to Microbiology in a hospital or go back into Biodefense or Public Health. Harrisburg has openings at the City Health Dept. YAY! Many options on the east coast for me! I am very excited!

As for Sofia...we will enroll her in a private school and she will have Japanese tutoring on the side. While we are here we are sending her to Japanese preschool, so she is in full immersion. We will try and continue that to the best we can in the states. We hope to open up another culture and country for her future!

Here are the latest pics....

Finally got a velcro bow on about 10 strands of hair and she kept it there!! What you will also see is that she got into gma's bar of soap and decided to rub it in here hair! Lovely!

You will also see our great parenting ...letting Sofia climb the jumper...it has since been removed!