Halloween

Halloween is not my favorite holiday. In fact, if I didn't have kids, I'd probably do absolutely nothing to celebrate the day. How boring would I be? Thankfully, I do have kids, and therefore we celebrate the holiday over here. Thanks to my mom for supplying Preston's costume, otherwise, he'd probably be a boring ghost with a sheet thrown over his head.

His request was to be a monster this year. I relayed the information to my mom, and in an effort to not make him scary, she found inspiration from one of my favorite children's books, Tickle Monster. So, Tickle Monster he was and he was the cutest Tickle Monster to ever exist, I'm sure of it. 

We just throw the Panda hat on Gwen and called it good. We figured Preston was a panda for his first Halloween, Gwen could be the same...and, the Giants won the World Series a few days prior, so, it worked. 

Also, I'll have you know we "entered" them into a costume contest at the commissary and, thanks to a poor showing, these two cuties scored us $50!! Boom!

Happy Halloween...a few weeks late. 

Off the beaten path

Sometimes we just drive down random streets to see where they take us. Random streets, narrow roads, and a little off roading can lead to some amazing locations. Oh, beach life, I think you suit us well.

Park Hopping

If there's one thing the Japanese do right, it's the parks...ok, and their bakeries, but we'll just stick to the parks for now.

We LOVE the parks here. I'm pretty sure I get just as excited as Preston every time we discover a new park. Mostly, we love the roller slides. They're fast. You fly. And it's a blast at any age. Seriously,  they're amazing. I flew off of one over a month ago, and my backside is still hurting from the landing.  But it was fun regardless. 

It's pure joy at these parks. America really needs to catch on to the awesomeness that is Japanese parks. 

A taste of Okinawa

I remember way back during our dental school days reminiscing about where we'd eventually be stationed for awhile, and talking about the likelihood of Japan. John was convinced Japan wouldn't be a good fit, if for nothing more than the food alone. His idea of good "Chinese" food is Panda Express, and the mere thought of Japanese food sounded anything but appealing

Or so he/we thought.

And then we came here, and within a few days of being on the island, we had already devoured some the goodness that this place has to offer and were left craving more. John's in love with their ramen. I'm obsessed with their dumplings and chili shrimp. And then we're told they have amazing bakeries, and who can do wrong living in a place with amazing bakeries?. Those are still to be discovered, I'm holding off as long as I can before I can't stop myself from running to one nearly everyday. It won't be good for my waistline, I'm sure of it.

Good food is just addicting. Thank goodness we're living in one of, if not THE healthiest place in the world.

Sesoko Beach

We're doing our best to discover all of the good beaches around here, so, if/when we finally have visitors, we'll know just where to take you.

Enter Sesoko Beach, oh goodness gracious, this place was gorgeous. Before even moving out here, everyone warned us that the prettiest beaches are up north. I like to think every beach is gorgeous, but, there was definitely something pristine about heading north and visiting Sesoko island.

We started out at the main swimming area, but thanks to the lack of shade, and the hot hot weather, we went seeking some coverage from the baking sun. Thank goodness for that to, because we discovered all sorts of goodness that we probably would have missed otherwise. Like caves, and gorgeous rock formations, and tide pools, and an isolated beach all to ourselves.

Just look how gorgeous this place is:

Cape Zanpa

We try to get out and explore a new part of the island every weekend. Whether it's a new beach, a park, or just some yummy new food. I suppose being new to a place makes everything we do a new adventure, and I have a feeling, we'll have lots of new adventures over the next three years. This island may not be that big, but it's full of so many things to do, I bet we'll barely scratch the surface before it's time to leave.

A few weekends back we went exploring out near Cape Zanpa, unfortunately the area surrounding the light house was under construction so we couldn't go up into it, but we had fun wondering the cliffs and taking in the gorgeous views regardless.

Seriously, this island is breathtaking. 

Sunsets

Sometimes we don't leave ourselves much daylight for exploring, and sometimes we like it that way. Sunsets at the beach are pretty gorgeous.