Something else Dramatic!!

Marian wanted cute braided buns and this was my best effort.  I guess down on brown does not show up well.  Sigh. They were super cute, I promise!

And then..... this girl decided it was time to cut her hair. She talked about it for weeks before I finally called my haircutting friend and made an appointment for her to come over and snip-snip it. 

This is the "Before" shot. Look how long it is!  And it is SO thick and heavy.

This is how short she wanted it!

She absolutely loves it. 

And it is really cute.

Rylee also needed  haircut.  She was getting a bit scraggly.  But I couldn't cut her hair and do the layering properly. 

 And somehow Rylee only got a "Before" picture and not an "after"  I'll have to download the pictures on my phone and see if we got one. Oops!  We trimmed maybe 2 inches and it looks so much neater. 

Adventure Time

Our Adventure this week was to walk across the island.  Sort of.  We drove across the island, the short way, and parked by the beach, then walked the scenic route back to the base. It was somewhere around 5+ miles.

The beach we parked at had this random mermaid in the water.  What the heck?!

Of course I needed a selfie!

And there was this random pirate figure as well.  So fun.

This was why we had parked there.  It is a memorial of some sort.  I didn't research this adventure, so I'm not sure what it is for, and I feel bad about that.

We had to walk across a mountain, and off the road were these stairs.  Lots of stairs.  (Full disclosure, my awesome photographer friend Anna took this shot!)

View from the top of the stairs.

This also was at the op of the stairs.   

(Another Anna Photo!) This is the oldest tomb on the island, I think, from 1400's? And someone important is buried here. 

We walked on windy little roads, saw the ocean, walked over a mountain and wandered picturesque streets.

Did I mention ocean views?!

Amy and Brook, two of the awesome ladies I got to hang out with.

 I love Japan!  Look at these adorable plants.....

The flowers were growing out of large shells.  So kawaii!! 

We stopped by Nakamura House- the only still-standing Japanese house from a long time ago.  It was very cool.

And it had awesome landscaping.

Then we went to lunch at this foodie  place. You know, the kid of place where they only serve 5 things and they are weird?

This is my "raw ham, fig and blue cheese" sandwich.  Thankfully raw ham only meant not treated and cooked like ham usually is.  And thankfully it was really tasty.

We left at 9am and I got home a bit after noon, with a bit of sunburn.  It was a great morning!

Callie's Play

At Christmastime, Callie tried out for the Far East Drama Team.  She just wanted the experience, and had no thought that she would make it.  But she did!  She was a little distressed by that as she hadn't really expected to be chosen. But the Drama director assured me that Callie won her spot on her own merits and she deserved to be there.

Callie worked very hard for the next weeks, learning her part and perfecting it.  The 40 minute play was called "Women and War" and was presented mainly through letters written (and read by the actors).  Callie played a "donut gal" from one of the wars, and also played the part of an elderly woman remembering her role as a telegraph operator in WW2.

Showtime finally arrived and we took the family to see the play.  Callie BLEW me away!  The play was pretty intense and not for kids, and Callie played her part so well. I honestly had no idea she could do that!  I may have shed a tear or two or three at her part.  It was really great.

Sadly, Far East was not to be.  All the Dodea Drama Teams in the Asia area were suppose to go to Iwakuni to perform and compete the last week of February.  Unfortunately, the covid 19 corona virus blew up in Korea the week before, and all Far East competitions were cancelled thru April.  It was so sad.   Callie did not get to fly out to compete.  However, the drama teacher was able to set it up so that Kadena HS came over that Wednesday and both schools were able to perform for each other, and they held some hour long acting workshops for them. So Callie didn't get the whole week off school, just one day, but she did enjoy that immensely.

I know that photos can't really convey how awesome she was and how good the play was, but here are photos of Callie from it!

Yes, there's more

I do appreciate having kids who work hard in school.  Really, I do!  But the award assemblies.... sigh.  I spent two hours at the high school clapping for all the award recipients. But I only really cared about these two:

Random Photos

Levi does love going on car rides.  I try to let him come for short trips to pick up kids.   

But this day was a trip to the vet.

He was a bit less excited about that. 

 Mt friend Amy introduced me to Family Mart Ice Cream Cones.  Oh my! So amazing!!

The girls were rather silly at the Exchange. They wanted to see how many has they could put on their heads before they fell off.  Little goobers.

We have been working on our french braiding around here.

I love finding pictures like this on my phone!

And we tried a sort of sideways french braid on Callie.  It came out nicely.

And then there was a birthday

Delaney had a birthday and it was lovely.  She was a bit indecisive about what day she wanted to celebrate and what food and cake she wanted, but I was able to do the dinner she requested, and she had a lemon cake. She was pleased with her loot and had a good evening.  Here's to my new for-reals Teenager!