Devin's Dream Car

Wow!  This is the smallest car I've ever seen.  It's a Suzuki Twin.  It is only 8 feet 11 inches long.  As you can see, it doesn't come up to my chest.  It's only 4 feet 9 inches tall.  And weighs in at a whooping 1300 pounds.  Think of it as a rolling speed-bump for a Suburban.  Behind the seat there is about 9 inches and a small shelf that will hold a few bags of groceries and your sunglasses.  Should I buy one?

Halloween 2011

Noah was so excited this year to go trick-or-treating dressed as "Daddy.

 Our little airman.

 Our little... sushi... Perhaps you can see that her white body is the rice, the orange pillow is a lovely bit of salmon (or maybe tuna), and she has a "seaweed" strip to hold everything in place.

 She was pretty upset here. I gave her the trick-or-treat bag as we set off, and it was clear she was irritated upon realizing that it did not already have candy inside.

 Moses leads the way.

 It's a long way to the front door for these cute little legs.

 Noah had it down. It was serious business. We didn't get to go last year, and I thought he might be afraid, but he knew exactly what to do. He marched right up to the doors... sometimes the wrong doors and sometimes right past the homeowners who sat out in front of their doors to pass out candy... but no matter.  He boldly ordered, "Trick-or-Treat!" and held out his bag for candy. This proud mommy even heard him say, "Thank you!" several times without being prompted. Later, when Emerie had chosen eating M&M's in her stroller over pounding the pavement, Noah was heard asking for extra candy for his little sister. How thoughtful.

 He had so much fun! He's been really coming out of his shell more lately... waving at commissary baggers, fellow churchgoers, and just random strangers. He was doing more of this Halloween night as we passed the other revelers out doing their own trick-or-treating. He was like a little politician... I thought at any moment he'd start shaking hands and kissing babies. Such a sweet, funny little guy.

 Happy Halloween, everyone!

Bios on the Hill

 We went to a beautiful place called "Bios on the Hill" in early September. Sooooo pretty! There were orchids everywhere.

Noah and Mommy... he wasn't very interested in getting his picture taken...

Getting ready to board our boat for a ride...

Noah loved the boat ride!

Emerie loved the little goats. She kept waving at them and saying, "Hi! Hi!"

This goat looks a little annoyed.

There was a great big play area with really neat wooden equipment.

Emerie just climbed right up. Then, once at the top, when she realized how far up she'd traveled, she changed her mind and had Daddy help her back down.

Fun for all ages!

Walking along, looking at the beauty, and... what's this?














Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaakkkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!!!!!!!

I almost ran right into this giant spider... with my face! I thought I was going to have a heart attack! You can't tell here, but it was about as big as Devin's palm. Yikes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Looks like Emerie's picking a good one!

Water buffalo cart ride...

This rooster kept strutting around...

A tiny truck...

Devin is dying to get one of these!

This orchid smelled like chocolate! So cool!




Naptime!

Okinawa Fruits Land

Seems I'm not the best blogger in the world... not that this news should surprise anyone. I think it's been over a month since my last post, and this particular post is about an outing that took place... well... over a month ago. I can't keep up with myself. Oh well... better late than never, right? It's doubtful that my 1 or 2 faithful readers have been on the edge of their seats awaiting news of the most recent Smith Family Adventure anyway, but if you have been eagerly anticipating our next installment... well then... here goes.



Our plan was to head to Ocean Expo Park on this toasty July day. We would end up at Emerald Beach to see what was sure to be a spectacular fireworks display. The only problem with this plan was that approximately 60,000 other people had planned the same thing. I occasionally exaggerate for effect, but I'm not kidding. I read this fact a few days later in a publication covering the event. Sheesh! If I'd known that, we never would have bothered. When we realized we'd have to park, like, 10 miles from the beach (OK, NOW I'm exaggerating), we decided to switch gears. We were not schlepping all our beach stuff, snacks, diapers, dry clothes, etc. PLUS two small people with short legs all the way to the beach from our car. In the heat. In the humidity. Can you imagine the crankiness? And I'm not even talking about the kids. So, we headed back in the direction from which we had come and arrived here... at Okinawa Fruits Land... pictured above.

These kids LOVE to feed carp any chance they get.




Noah wasn't the least bit interested, but EJ decided to feed the goat as well.



I love this little guy... er... gal?


There was a big fenced-in area where we could observe and even feed some birds.



Feeling confident after feeding fish and goats, EJ attempted to befriend a bird.


Yep, she got bit. No worries though... she was startled... but unscathed.


For a couple hundred yen, I decided to buy some sugary liquid to join in the fun.



And here's another failed attempt to get both my kids together for a cute picture. "Noah, Emerie... come sit right here and let me take your picture!" I said excitedly... like it was something so super-fun to do.


"Come on guys, smile for Mommy... look at the camera..." I said... still excited, but a bit more intense...


"Say 'Cheeeeeeese'.... please...." At this point, I'm near begging.


(Sigh) It wasn't gonna happen. So I went for single shots... and bribery... "Noah, some sit here between the shisas and let Mommy take your picture... I'll buy you some ice cream!" Works every time.


I'll admit it. I'm not above bribery.


And as I bring this post to a close, it occurs to me that we went to Okinawa FRUITS Land, and I don't believe I took a single photo of the fruits growing there. But don't worry... there were fruits... and more importantly, there were delicious desserts to buy which contained fruit. And yes, we ate some. And yes, Noah got his ice cream.