Halloween is fast approaching and we are having fun getting ready. Hayden is currently digging through the boxes of decorations I unearthed from behind the dryer and is running around setting them up everywhere. I kicked off October by hiking through a pitch black BAT CAVE on the first! A few of the women at church decided they were tired of the men always having the fun so they planned a river hike and cave excursion. It was a lot of fun and very spooky. I know first hand the kind of “critters” that live around here (spiders, snakes, and bugs so huge it seems they are all on steroids!) Luckily, it all went well with just enough fear and excitement but no major incidents. The cave was literally pitch black and if you turned your light up to the top you could see it covered in bats. But you didn’t leave it pointed up there for long because they would fly toward the light. At parts we had to duck down low and trudge through murky water but we made it! What an adventure!
On Oct. 6th we went out snorkeling and exploring at Maeda Flatts because Hayden had the day off school. The girls were at preschool so I got to enjoy some fun time with just him! I took a friend who had relatives visiting so they got a taste of Okinawa fun as well. Hayden and the other boys found a dark brown jellyfish stuck in a tide pool, it was very fascinating!
We enjoyed watching Conference. We watch it a week late due to the time difference. It was very nice and peaceful for a lot of it and afterward I went to check on the girls and discovered why. I told Hayden I would title this picture "The Price of a Peaceful Conference Session."
A few weeks ago Tom killed a habu snake in front of our house. He was out stretching after a run and a car drove by and saw the snake in its headlights. Tom, being the awesome, courageous man of action he is, ran for his ax and cut it’s head off. They are very poisonous! Afterwards I was all freaked out thinking of the danger he was in but so grateful knowing it was not going to be around to threaten the kids!! So, in the spirit of getting rid of snake habitat we spent Columbus Day weekend tearing down a bit of the jungle that has grown in the backyard. It was beginning to grow over the kids playground and was just scary.... long, grass and weeds everywhere. So we braved the spiders and snakes and got busy. We cut down and hauled out 2 HUGE piles of stuff. The mounds we left by the curb for pick up were the size of a car. It was crazy. Luckily, we saw no snakes, many spiders and lots of insects on steroids, like huge grasshopper and praying mantis. The yard looks much better, if it will stop raining we will go out to enjoy it.
We did do a few fun things over the holiday weekend as well. We took some new families out to one of our favorite parks and we had so much fun we put one of our friends into labor! As we were leaving the park she called and asked if we could get the kids because they were headed to the hospital! So we had a fun time with their kids sleeping over.
I went to school with Danica and Alyssa one day, just to sit in on their classes and had a great time! They both have such wonderful teachers and their classes were calm, and relaxing with a lot of singing and dancing. Alyssa knew all the moves to the songs, it was awesome! Hayden has grown to really love his class. He says he doesn’t love all the kids in his class but his teacher is good and it’s a great environment. I’ve been able to start helping out in there and enjoy seeing how smoothly she runs things.
We’ve had a great time with parties. We helped run the branch Halloween party which turned out well. My apple cream pie even won an award! Last Saturday we enjoyed a birthday party/welcome home party for our good friend Scott who just returned from 7 months in Afghanistan. The rented this huge double water slide for the kids but we had more fun on it! The competition was fierce and we raced to slide up and down the muddy track! It was nice to feel like a kid again! That afternoon we got a babysitter and Tom and I set out on our longest bike ride yet. We mapped a route that was 67 miles! We started in a terrible head wind and I was getting really discouraged but about half way through that lightened. It had tons of hills and my knee was sore but overall I was feeling good and excited that I was able to do it at a good pace. The only bad part was that we left a bit late and ended the ride in the dark, with tons of traffic. Not ideal!
Okay, I think that brings us up to today. The big thing about today is that Tom is running a Marathon in just two days!!! He has been training so hard! He is so dedicated and goes out there every evening and on Saturdays for long runs. It’s been hot, and rainy and he has done it all anyway. He’s going to do so well. It’s the same marathon we both ran last year. It’s on an island that is a 2 hour ferry ride. Since I”m not running it this year we are taking the kids. Today I am busy packing for a 4 day camping trip. We leave early Friday morning and couldn’t get a ferry coming back until Monday. The arrangements have all been very complicated because it’s a fairly rural, small island with everything in Japanese but as far as we know we have reservations to take our cars on the ferry, then we have a reservation at a beach campsite.... let’s hope it’s all true and that it doesn’t rain all weekend like predicted! I’m excited for the adventure and will bring my “Survival Japanese” book! We will post pictures of all the fun when we return!!! Wish us all luck!
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