Spoiled in the U.S.A

We made it. After three amazing years in Okinawa Japan we left on Saturday June 18th and flew back to the U.S. for the last time. Life was really busy and we packed in tons of last minute fun while dealing with all the packing and checking out. I tried not to think things like "oh, this is my last bike ride" or my last run, last time going here or there... but it happened anyway. It was really hard to say "see you later" to our friends there because they were so much more than friends. Moving away from family is tough, moving to a foreign country is even tougher and our friends truly became our family and support network. It was hard to leave when we don't know when we'll see them again. Hopefully sooner rather than later. Everything went fairly smoothly with the packing out and prepping. I'd have loved to go on one more dive and a few other things but we left with no regrets and tons of great memories. We were spoiled by our friends there who helped us out so much as we got ready to go. Our next door neighbors, who were some of our best friends, went so far as to even move at the same time as us so we could stay in the on base hotel together! It was awesome because Hayden could still walk to school with his best friend, they would just leave from the hotel together in the morning!! Other friends spoiled us with meals, child care, cars to use, game nights and a great last night at the beach with everyone together. One of our first nights in Okinawa 3 years ago was spent at Araha Beach, so that is where we went for our last night.

Our flights went well, the kids were good and aside from the crying baby and loud flight attendant who kept waking us up it was great. Once we arrived in the U.S. we have continued to be spoiled by our great friends the Ball's who picked us up at the airport. They are some great friends we were with in Okinawa until they moved a year ago. Happily, they picked us up in our very own new (to us) car!!! We knew we wanted an Odyssey like the one we sold before moving to Okinawa and found the one we wanted on Craigslist. So they went and test drove it for us and took the check and picked it up. For three years I was dreaming that when we moved back someone would pick me up at the airport in my new Odyssey, hand me my iphone and drive me to my new house. That almost came true as Saturday afternoon we went and picked out our new iphones. We are staying here, near Seattle, with the Ball's for a few days while Tom's does his final check out from the Navy. The Ball's are the best hosts ever, truly spoiling us with great food, good company and fun. But most of all they gave us the gift of sleep, the most precious thing you can give a jet-lagged traveler. The kids slept upstairs and we were downstairs with a loud fan on so we wouldn't hear the kids in the morning. Melanie said she'd grab the girls if they had to go potty and we figured they'd sleep all night because we kept them up all day. But jetlag doesn't always work that way and they woke up at midnight and couldn't go back to sleep until 4! I had no idea until the next morning because Melanie stayed up with them getting snacks and movies and such. WAY TOO NICE TO US!!

The kids stayed jet lagged the next night but finally last night they slept through the night. Hopefully tonight they'll do the same and we'll be back on schedule. We're having a blast here on vacation with them, it's a good transition into our new "real" life in Washington. A little taste of Okinawa right here. We were freezing for the first few days but have finally warmed up and enjoyed the sunshine today!

I'll post more as our adventure in the US continues and once I get the pictures!!