How windy was it?!

Delaney brought her hammock to Okuma and by golly, she wanted to use it!  Despite the wind, she was determined to get some use out of her hammock.  So off she went to do so.  

If it hadn't been tied down, it would have sailed away like a kite!

She did manage to beat it into submission. 

She made it into the hammock! 

 And snuggled in to stay warm and out of the wind!  Success!

Welcome to Okuma!

 Okuma is the military owned and run beach resort on the northern end of the island.  It is kind of THE thing to do, and it books up pretty quickly.  Way back when Josh and Dan wanted to go camping, this was the only place that they could go.  While up there, Dan checked on openings and made reservations for the week after Christmas.  It seemed like a great idea.... back on October!

Suddenly, it was Christmas, and the idea of going to a beach resort the day after Christmas was a lot less appealing.  Plus, Dan couldn't take the time off work to go with us.   So it may not have been such a great idea.  Still.  For $65 a night for a nice suite, we decided to go.

I took the kids and we left shortly after returning home from ice skating.  It was about a 90 minute drive in the rain, which was stinky, but not terrible. The rain was pretty awful though!  And it was pouring and windy when we arrived, so that was no fun.  But we got settled in and the kids enjoyed watching tv and staying up late somewhere other than home.

Thursday morning I got up and went for a lovely walk on the beach.  It was glorious!  The water is SO pretty!  The picture really do not do it justice.

Literally, this is the view from the room. Worth the trip, yes?!

The tide was out and it was lovely.

I saw this awesome dead fish on the shore and was impressed. 

Sigh.  So pretty! 

Kind of pretty, but much less desirable!

 The shore was littered with these dead jellyfish.  So I guess it was good that it was too cold to swim. 

 But it sure was gorgeous!

Unfortunately, it was also windy.  And I mean WINDY! Once I got up from the beach, where the sand was not damp from the sea, the wind just picked up the sand and pelted you with it.  It was not fun.  It hurt.  And it got everywhere and into everything.

Ice Skating

The day after Christmas was a youth activity to go ice skating.  I know, ice skating on a tropical island?  Yep!  There is!  And we went.  I paid the exorbitant fee for myself and the 2 non-YW girls, and the YW paid for the older two.  Since I paid a lot,  I put on skates and made a few wobbly circuits around the rink myself.  And I did not even fall! I even enjoyed myself.

The girls had an absolute blast and keep asking when we can go back.

Delaney and her friend, Allie.

Callie and her friend Sofia.

Callie did great!  I don't think she fell at all.

Delaney loved it! And she may or may not have slipped a time or two.

The lighting was dreadful for photos.  But Callie blew me a kiss, so I had to include this!

Rylee did a great job.  I was impressed.

And she posed for me outside the rink as well.

Marian was too speedy and active for me to get a photo of while she was skating!  She had a good time and laughed at all the boys who cling to the wall and inched around while she skimmed by them.

Merry Christmas!

We had a great Christmas! It was nice and quiet and comfortable and fun.  The kids did a great job shopping for each other and were excited to see their gifts received.  It was a good time.

The tree, in all it's glory.

Dan was happy with his Dive Oki shirt.

Marian had asked for footie pajamas and was pleased to receive these.

Rylee and her stuffies!

Callie did a good job as the loot-passer-outer.

New sheets!  Pro tip- make sure you love a fabric of sheets that your husband hates, and the bedsheets will get changed twice as often!

A squishy dig pillow.

And another animal stuffie.  Ryle was in love with them all!

Josh felt so clever with his gift to Marian.  She appreciated it properly and many giggles were had.

I made Delaney a new blanket and she immediately snuggled in it.

Marian made this for me! Isn't it AMAZING?!! Marian stayed after school for wood shop club and secretly created this cutting board for me.  

Dan opened Levi's gift of doggie treats. Levi was thrilled.

Marian's Christmas list was a fun.  She had written "something ridiculous" and so I got her the most ridiculous thing I could find! Chicken feet socks.

Callie and Dan brought this back from Cambodia for me. I do love art from the places we have visited!

Callie loved Just Dance and got more than one.  She was delighted (and there have been many afternoons with all the girls playing it!).

Hee hee hee!  Who doesn't need a Zombies coloring book?!

Josh got a good haul of electronic parts and has had a marvelous time putting them together in different ways.

Giant banana pillow?  Uh, doesn't EVERYONE need one?

After all the loot-opening, I think we all felt like Levi - in need of a nap!

A Bunny?!!

Ha ha, no, we didn't lose our minds!  My friend asked if we would be willing to hide a bunny for a few days.  They decided to buy their 6 year old a bunny fr Christmas and needed a hiding place until then.  Of course we were delighted to assist!  But it also reminded me why a bunny would not be a good idea for us.  (Namely, Levi was fascinated and didn't know what to do with it and really really wanted to lay with it.  And, we have no room to keep one.)

The bunny spent most of it's time like this.  Callie was in heaven.

There were a LOT of selfies like this on my phone! Rylee was in love.

It was a very sweet little bunny.  Very mellow and content to be carted around.

And many many photos were taken of it.  I have spared you the majority.

The kids very much enjoyed the experience, and I'm glad they got to do it.  But no.  I will not be getting a rabbit any time soon, no matter how darling it is.

PS.... Tyler, the little boy who received the bunny, named it "Fluffy", much to the girls' disgust.