Quick Updates

We went to a branch party on Friday night and the kids got to wear costumes. We tried to get Alyssa to be a witch but she insisted on being a princess like Danica...cute girls!

It rained every day for the last week. It rained A LOT! We still needed to our long run, 15 miles, on Thursday, so I wrapped my iPod in Glad Press n’ Seal to keep it dry. We were soaked but it worked great!! Sadly the run didn’t go well for me. My knee has been acting up and it was extremely painful during the run, causing me even to walk some. I feel like an idiot because from what I have self diagnosed it is my own fault for not cross training well. It seems I have standard "runners knee." I got so into the running and was so busy that I didn’t worry much about the cross training. As the miles went up my time for cross training went down...the opposite of what I should have been doing. I knew better, but didn’t really realize what I was doing and I felt great so I figured it didn't matter. Now I’m paying for it...I have just less than 2 weeks and my knee hurts all the time. My plan is to quit running and just spend my time on the exercise bike, elliptical, and in the pool. Instead of getting up early to run this morning I got up early and hit the exercise bike at the gym...not very satisfying but hopefully it will help.

Lastly, saw this huge snake, dead, on the road while we were driving home the other day...ugh...I like to pretend the snakes aren’t really nearby but we saw a snake skin on our driveway last week, and then this...I really do like it here...mostly...

Okinawa World

What do you get when you mix caves, snakes and drums? A great day off! Last Monday was Columbus Day so there was no school or work. We decided to take the day and go to “Okinawa World.” It was our first time and it was a unique experience. They have three main venues, you can pay for each separately or do a package deal. We opted for all three and it started with a 35 minute walk through a really cool cave. The cave seemed to be never ending with the trail just winding its way through. The kids were a bit leery and kept saying it was “too spooky,” I had to carry Alyssa most of the time but it was also really neat and overall they enjoyed it. Tom took advantage of the rare opportunity and got some great shots.
After the cave you ride a HUGE escalator back to the surface and walk through some gardens before coming into a replica of an old Okinawa village. We watched glass blowing, shisa making and traditional dancing with really loud drums! Lastly we went to the Habu Museum. Habu are very dangerous poisonous snakes that inhabit Okinawa. We have to constantly warn the kids to stay out of bushes and secluded areas in the summer. The museum was fascinating, I only wish I could have understood more of it since it was all in Japanese. The kids enjoyed looking at the all the snakes and they even had an area where you could touch turtles. Danica says that touching the turtles was her favorite part. We went with some new friends who have three kids and all around had a good day!

Haircuts!

The girls both got haircuts recently. It’s so humid that we have to keep their hair short or it’s always just a sweaty mess!!! They were really good during the cuts and loved the results! When Tom got home from work Alyssa instantly ran to him and turned around so he could see her hair!

Alyssa before:


Alyssa after:

Round 1- Japanese Super Fun

We went to this awesome Japanese recreation center on Friday as part of a family fun day for Tom’s work. It's called Round 1 and is this huge indoor facility with a little bit of everything to do. It had ball pits and bike tracks for the kids, basketball, tennis, ping pong, darts, etc. for the adults, a roller skating rink, huge arcade with free games and much more. In the kids play area they had 8 nice big massage chairs for the adults to sit in while they watched their kids play, it felt really nice! Sadly, I didn’t have my camera but it was a lot of fun and nice to be out in town again. We’ve been spending far too much time stuck on base! My favorite two Japanese observations were these:

1. We went to the snack bar and found that we had two main choices, chicken nuggets or octopus dumplings. (I wish I could say I had tried the dumplings but a las we just got a sno cone.)

2. The main kids play area was didn’t allow you to wear shoes. When I took the girls to the bathroom they had plastic slippers laid out at the door for you to wear into the bathroom. It was so perfect. They had adult sizes that said "toilet" and kid sizes with Mickey Mouse, the girls loved it! The Japanese are really onto something here...I searched online and discovered this is normal and in most houses you would remove your house slippers and put on the toilet slippers when entering the bathroom. It makes perfect sense! I love it and just may buy myself a pair!

Priceless

Nike shoes, $90
Waterpack, $50
Sports shorts and tank, $35
Babysitter, $15
Sportsbeans, $4
Running 17+ miles with Tom, priceless.

We're on our way to 20...

Ahhhh!!!!!!

What can ruin a perfect evening of spending time with my kids? Let me tell you...there we were, relishing the fact that it had actually cooled off enough to make us want to go jump on the trampoline to kill time after dinner. It was Saturday and Tom was at a church meeting. I was chasing the kids in circles and playing a new zombie game that Hayden made up. Then it was Hayden's turn to be the zombie, he laid down on the trampoline, closed his eyes and when he opened them he just froze, pointed his finger and started stammering "ummm...mom...ummmm....mom..." I looked at where he was pointing and found this, dangling above my head!!!

Danica yelled "Kill it mom!" I yelled "Run!" and we all scrambled off the tramp as quick as we could. Luckily, Tom walked in the front door as we ran in the back. He came to our rescue, took pictures of it (you can see the top off the trampoline net enclosure in the second picture to give perspective) and then killed it for us. He sprayed it with spider killer then knocked it out of it's web onto the trampoline, you should have heard the THUD it made! It was still alive so he flicked it off the trampoline and told me to step on it. Yeah right! I was in flip flops!!! But I had the spider spray in my hand so I coated him with it and that was the end! I ran in the house and didn't look back! Tom informs me I need to go clean the guts off the trampoline before I let the kids jump again...hmmmm....when will that be? We've been out there a lot lately and that spider and his web were so big he's been around a while, I wonder how long he's been watching us and we just didn't notice because we never looked up! You can guarantee I will always check from now on!

15 Miles and Counting...

We've had another great week. Nothing major going on. I've been busy pulling weeds all along the flower bed that runs the length of the front of my house. Then I laid down plastic and rocks to keep them from coming back so quick, the results look really nice and were worth all the work. Tom and I ran 15+ miles on Thursday night, my farthest run ever and we actually felt pretty good. We've been building up to it and we go 17-18 this week. I've been getting bored of running circles around the base and dreading the fatigue of the marathon so I have been working to have an attitude shift. I'm focusing on looking forward to my runs and tell myself I just can't wait for the marathon. It's actually working because as any runner knows, running is mostly mental. Tom and I are training for a marathon on Halloween this year. It is on a small island off the northwestern coast of Okinawa. It is a 2 hour boat ride from a port up north and it should be awesome. Here are some pictures of the course and the port.



Anyway, it should be a beautiful course and looks to be fairly flat with elevation changes no greater than 20 m at any point. Everything is in Japanese and after the race we will sleep in a gymnasium because there are no hotels on the little island and no fairies available after the race. The race doesn't start until 3:30pm... should be an adventure!

Well I'm off to figure out the book order for Hayden's class, I get to be in charge of it this year!!

Tracey