Okinawa World

Since it was Spring Break and the boys were gone, I figured we needed to get out and do some things.  I lack motivation to go out and do these things most of the time, so I really needed to give myself a push to overcome the inertia.  Saturday we started with something small.  Well, smallish.   I went to Okinawa World  with Rylee on her field trip, so I felt a little more comfortable doing that again and taking all the girls.

It was a 35 minute drive south towards Naha and we took the Expressway to the airport exit, so it was 280 in yen each way.  Totally worth using the expressway.

Admission was 1650 yen for adults and 830 for the kids to get the 3 way ticket.  It included the cave, the snake museum, and the kingdom village. We had a really good day and the girls all agreed that it was worth doing and they had fun.

Going on our Girls-Only Adventure! We are loaded up and on our way!

I don't know why I bother.  The camera cannot do justice to the amazing cave.

Check it out!  I got all 4 girls in a picture together!  They were impressed with the cave. Rylee was not as afraid this time, and had a good time showing her sisters around. 

I thought this was amazing.  1mm in 3 years!  So this cave has been growing for thousands of years!

Selfie in the cool cave!

They were so excited to get pictures in this and the lighting was so dreadful, you can't tell how fun it is. (Insert sad face.)

These kids crack me up!  Check out their poses.

Walking on the (ouch!) reflexology glass.

We fund yummy chicken-on-a-stick and had a little snack.

We posed with the white boa constrictor.  I think they said that's what she was.  It was a really pretty snake.

Petting the iguana before going into the snake museum.

This giant turtle (tortoise?) came over to be friends.

The girls were happy to pet his head.  He was so big and so cool!

Obligatory posing photo.  although we should have gotten our ice cream afterwards or eaten it first.  Their focus was on their ice cream!

Easter Fun

While I was hiking with the older kids, Dan hung out with the 2 younger ones at an Easter Activity.  They had an egg hunt and various other things for them to do.  Dan said it was well run, well done, and he even took pictures to send me while it was going on!  Such a good man.

Delaney waiting her turn.  She's a cutie pie!

Delaney dashing out on the egg hunt with her age group.

Rylee was happy with her haul and had a good time.

The girls also enjoyed the group activities and games they played.

We did do some egg-dying at home.  Typically it falls by the wayside because it requires planning ahead, but this year I managed to have eggs boiled and ready.

Rylee was disgruntled that the colors were not very dark.  I mentioned that reading the instructions would have been a good start.  Between a little too much water and color tablets that didn't get dissolved, some of the colors were pretty pale. 

Delaney very much enjoyed the process and had a great time, despite the light colors.

Nakagusku Park

We needed something fun to do on Tuesday.  The girls agreed that they wanted to go to a park.  There are TONS of parks.  So I looked for the closest one.  Nakagusku Park seemed to fit the bill.  It was about 3km away from us and looked pretty easy to find.  It also was purported to have three different playground areas, to include fun jumping areas.

So off we went.  I have a lame GPS and I really need to figure out how to set it to NOT take the most direct route.  My van is not really of a size to be driving up and down tiny back alley mountain roads!  And when I make a wrong turn, it just replots to the destination without taking into account that it would be much easier to turn around than to drive an extra 5 miles up and around a mountain.  I guess getting there was half the fun?!  I did just input "Nakagusku Park" into the GPS and it did know where to go.   It did have bathrooms and it had lots of vending machines, so of course we had to get ice creams!

The girls had fun.  The place was teaming with small children and I think a Japanese school (or two) had a field trip there.  It was also really sunny and hot, so that sucked away some of the fun. But overall we had a good time and it was a good day.

Not the roads I was expecting on the way to a large and well known park!

Funnily enough, these are not the roads most people use to get there.  My GPS must be set to "Adventure" mode.

This was the top park.  You can't tell from here, but the top of that is not a shade.  Well, it is, but it is also a plastic bouncy material and you can jump on it like a bounce house. And underneath it is a rope net network to scramble around.  The girls enjoyed this the most.

Behold, the bouncy top.

Delaney bounced to the peak and had to take a break. It was pretty warm.

Rylee bounced to her heart's content.  she was like the energizer bunny, bounce-bounce-bounce.

She leaped for me to get a photo though. 

Marian tumbling through the nets.

Once they got a good perch, they needed to rest a minute.  Apparently it is hard work.

And it was hot.  Delaney joined them for a bit.  Then they crawled and tumbled away.

This was the middle park (No photos of the bottom one, because it was for little kids and we didn't go there).  Lots t climb on and there was a short roller slide.

Rylee posed for me.

This was a kind of obstacle course.  There were different things to climb over or under or to do. I think Callie cheated by just walking on the rope.

Marian did try to Over-Under, but then just walked on top too.

Hiking with the Youth

The Youth had a hike planned for Saturday and needed some drivers to carpool them over. I volunteered because I thought it would be fun.  I was a little less enthusiastic when the kids said it was only 1.5 miles.  Not of the boys said he thought it was going to be a lame concrete path kind of hike.  That sounded quite dull to me.  But I had committed.

And I am so glad I did commit to go!  It was awesome!  It was a fabulous hike up and down a ravine. There was some path, some hiking up a creek (and trying to keep your feet dry!), some steep muddy path and trails requiring a rope to help haul yourself along. So much fun!  And it ended up being about 2 miles and it took close to 2 hours (including a snack break).

2 minutes into the hike on wide trail and we found this!  What the heck?!  A little castle?  Yes, please.  We had to climb and check it out. That is Josh up there, wearing my sweet hat.

This was the view from where the castle was.  Pretty spectacular and the picture does it no justice.

Another Castle picture where you can see Josh and his hat a little better. 

The steep down trail with the support ropes.  That's Marian and Josh is in front of her.

Over logs and more downhill.  I had a marvelous time.  Marian and Josh had fun too.

This portion was steep and slippery enough that we went down one at a time so one fall wouldn't drop everyone.  

Negotiating the slippery rocks in the water as we hiked up the stream.  No path on the side, it was right up the creek!

Pretty waterfall.  The hike really was gorgeous.  I felt very jungle explorer!

Me!  In the jungle!  By the little waterfall!  And I am having a wonderful time, and wondering why I never do this on my own.

See, it was a very pretty path to hike.  

My brave and conquering heros!  

We took a short break here and this rope was the source of much fun.

That's my Marian!

Callie also climbed across the rope.

Then she had to climb up the vertical rope. 

Which she successfully managed.

What goes down must go up.  So there was a bit of uphill that left my legs and calves crying.  But t was a god time and I am really glad I went.

For future reference, we hiked at Ishikawadake.  If I type that into my gps, it brings up the parking lot at the foot of the trail. It was less than 30 minutes from Kadena Gate 3.