Lunch with the Ladies

 Okay, it was lunch with all the kids, but that didn't sound as fun.  We discovered that there is an Udon shop at the mall that is the same kind as the one we left behind in Iwakuni.  So off we went to enjoy delicious Udon and tempura.

Not thrilled to have her photo taken.

Slurping her yummy noodles. 

Enjoying her tasty lunch.

Forced Family Fun

We decided we needed to get the kids out of the house and we needed to explore something on Okinawa.  So after Christmas, we did.  We dragged them out to the Okinawa Peace Memorial Museum for a good time.  The kids were adamant that they were NOT going to have a good time, and they refused to.

Heading into the Museum.  It was interesting and depressing. 

They perked up a little when we went outside, but they pretended they were still not having fun. 

Josh wasn't helpful about when he was taking this photo for me, so I was busy being silly. 

 And Dan was trying not to laugh at me.

 This part was a little reminiscent of the Viet Nam Memorial.  It has 200,000 names on all these stones, for all the people who died.  It was nicely done.

Up a hill were a bunch of other specific memorial things, like these stones. 

They agreed to a group shot, but not to looks of delight.

These two were happy to climb the rock though. 

 And at the end, I bought everyone ice cream for their cooperation, if not their enthusiasm.  Check out all the cool choices! I kind of wanted to try the "Mango Tango" but I didn't.

 Rylee tried the pineapple ice cream.  Yummy!

 Marian tried out the Sugar Cane flavor and proclaimed it delicious.

Delaney sampled the Cookies-n-Cream flavor and liked it.

There are three kids in this tree.  Can you spot them?! 

We had sandwich fixings in the car so we ate lunch while the girls climbed the tree. 

There's Rylee. 

And Callie... who beat a hasty retreat once she disturbed an ant nest and they came after her.

 Ad Marian is on her way down so we can go home.

It ended up being a really good trip, considering all the resistance to it.

Christmas Part 2

Josh is helping with Callie's rooster. 

And here she is with the awesome rooster marionette. 

Best shirt ever for her!  I don't know if she will wear it, but it is awesome! 

She loves her squishy cat pillow. 

Big boy legos for my big boy.

Levi got a bone and Percy wants it so badly.  He managed to steal it, but it didn't last long. 

Josh thought this was fantastic.  I agree. 

Art stuff makes her happy. 

She wanted a fitbit so badly.  Now she has one, but doesn't want me to see her stats because she doesn't want me to know how late she's staying up! 

This was the reigning best gift for a while. 

Excellent gift choice from his girlfriend. 

A clarinet from her aunt and uncle!  So fun!

 Best gift ever.  It totally made Christmas!  There is a series on Netflix called "The Haunting Hour" and it is a series of scary stories.  One of them is called "Big Yellow" and features a hideous mascot called Big Yellow.  Callie thinks it is the scariest story out of them all.  Marian hid in her room and had sewed this amazing replica of Big Yellow.  This was Callie's face when she pulled it out.  She is terrified of this thing.  It was awesome.  Best gift ever! 

The details are fabulous.  And SO accurate.  Google Big Yellow and compare.

The kids made her hide it because it freaks them out so badly!

 Percy had a good first Christmas.

Christmas Part 1

Percy is ready for Christmas!

The tree is ready and the loot is prepped! 

Levi is ready. 

Percy and Levi can't wait. 

Rylee is ready! 

And the loot-fest begins with cinnamon rolls and hot cocoa for breakfast.  Grand and Grandpa's box is opened first. 

I'm not sure Dan thinks his shirt is as funny as Miranda and I do! 

Loot for Delaney. 

Legos for Rylee. 

She loves lemurs and this is her favorite thing. 

I love a happy Callie. 

Dragon for Marian. 

He is definitely happy with all the awesome boot socks. 

Fine, she gets more photos because she is cute and cooperative!

Marvelous Marian

Marian will sit at the table some evenings, hunched over her sketchbook doing something.  she strongly discourages peeking and hides her work if she thinks someone might be looking her direction.  I have respected her privacy there and it paid off.  She was finally ready to show her sketch book, because she was finally done with it.  She had filled most of the pages over this past year and only now was she willing to let us see. And it was utterly worth the wait.  She is SO detail oriented and had so many fun things to look at.  I snuck photos of my favorites so I could share, and the pictures do not do them justice.

She used sparkly gem stickers for the stars and it was pretty cool.

This insect museum was a hoot.  Someone commented that it was like a "Far Side" comic. It is!

ALL THOSE FLOWERS!  I don't even know how long it took her to draw and color them.

I don't know if she made up the beasties or read something that inspired her to draw them.  And the sparkly gem stickers on this one don't photograph well either.