No Like First Day of School

The first day of school is really not my favorite. I'd go so far as to say I actually hate it. It means that summer is coming to an end. It means that I have to be more scheduled. It means life speeds up. It means Landon is closer to being one year older. One more year I don't get to see him as much. One more year closer to him leaving our home. It means one more transition. And as much as I love change, I don't love it. And that's how I felt this first day of school. I cried the whole night before. I cried when Landon waved bye to me from the window as he took his first bus ride to school. I cried as I thought of him all day. I cried when he told me he cried at lunch time because he missed me. Maybe that's more crying than normal because there's a baby growing in my womb, but either way, I still don't like the first day of school. I even forgot my camera to take pictures of his first day. I forgot it last year too and had to take pictures of his second day of school. Maybe I'll post a picture of his third day of school since today school was cancelled due to the typhoon.

House Guests

The other day we went to a park and I saw my first cockroach. It was gigantic and pretty slow. I was still impressed and watched it as it waddled around the bench. The following evening we came home and I was going to put my bag in the hall closet (which is still empty except for a few shoes) and something moved. My first thought was cockroach, then I thought gecko, then I saw it. It WAS a hug cockroach and this sucker was FAST. Erin decided to take over while me and the kids watched on. He grabbed my church shoe (why mine?) and went to hit it, but missed. All the kids jumped, screamed and started running around like crazy and Erin started jumping around swatting in between jumps. Kind of reminded me of Erin killing our "carnivorous" crickets in Maryland. In the end, he killed the huge cockroach and two little ones. I didn't see him kill the big one, but I heard it. It was the sickest thing ever. Guts were all over my floor (and shoe) and it made a really loud crunch sound. It's been 3 days since the attack of the giant cockroach, and we thoroughly check that closet at least 10 times a day. No other cockroach has been brave enough to make itself known, thank goodness. For now, the ants are experiencing the wrath of Dr. Palmer and his ant spray.

My new love

Dear Mr. Snorkel
O snorkel....how do I love thee? I love the way you smell all plasticky and how you make my lips look like Angelina Jolie's. I love how tightly suctioned your mask fits on my face, causing my skin to protrude around my eyes so they can barely open. I love how you pinch my nose and cause me to breath like Darth Vader while under water. I love that I get to wear ankle high scuba booties that not only look cool, but keep my feet from getting scratched up on the coral. But mostly and definitely above all, I love that I get to see so much amazing sea life (and other scuba divers) under water--which I've never done before--because of you. And I love you because my entire family (minus the 2 year old) got to experience this altogether. It was a day in Heaven. Thank you Mr. snorkel.

P.S. When I get my own snorkel, it will be a Mrs.

Some AWESOME friends took us to Maeda point

last weekend.

This was maybe a 20 minute window of no torrential downpours.

Our friends said the visibility wasn't very good that day.

We thought it was awesome. And you didn't even

need a life jacket to float.

Here's Taylor on Erin's back. She was able to stick her face

in for a little bit to see the little blue fish.

I didn't get a picture of Landon, but boy he LOVED it.

He can't stop talking about it or dreaming about it.

This is when he is happiest.

Here's Taylor's new friend A. She actually has a friend her

age now!!

There's the fam (minus the 2 year old): Megan, Taylor on Erin's back, and Landon.

The scuba divers are not part of our family, but I wish they

were so they could teach me Japanese.

Sweet Ride

I finally got my first minivan!!! It's not quite what I had envisioned, but hey it's a van! We bought this sight unseen before we moved here, and being able to have a something to drive us around has been great. Some people arrive and have to wait a week to get their license and then need people to drive them around to find cars, so it could have been weeks with out freedom. We are grateful to the family that sold us their brown egg.

As much as we love the shape and color and size and moon roof (that is now broken), there are some things we don't love about it. I don't love that there is only one sliding door conveniently located on the wrong side of the van. I don't love the curtains (although Tay does) that slide around every turn you make. I don't love that wecan't hook our iPod up and there are only two choices of radio--talk or some other random station. I used to love the seats that could turn around, but my children have been seeing too much of eachother and it would be nice to have them face the other way. I could change them, but it would make it more difficult to get kids in and out. So end of story: we are getting a new van. And new means 10 years old

Torii Beach

Torii Beach is part of an army base a little north of us. We went here two Saturdays ago and spent from lunch until sunset with just our family. It was the first sunset I had actually seen in over a year. The beach was almost completely empty and we were all in Heaven. We spent the day looking for sea life, coral, shells, swimming in the warmer than bath water ocean, digging in the sand, going down the water slide, playing on the spray deck, eating dinner, watching the sunset, and playing at the park.

Taylor's first "big" water slide

Landon shows Audra the little rainbow

Dinner at CJ's on the beach. It

was just us and the flies.

Landon makes it to the top!

Taylor makes it to the top--with some help.

This is me--maybe in 2011

Room Service

Taylor sat on the potty for a pretty long time yesterday. I smelled something funny and found that the toilet was clogged with nastiness. We talked to the front desk to get a plunger before any big mishap occurred, but instead, they sent the Japanese room service. And they didn't have a plunger. They came in with buckets and gloves. I was a little scared to see exactly what they were doing and how they were un-clogging it. I never did find out. They just came out and said "Done!" A little embarrassing. I really must say, the people here are sooo nice--they pick up Landon's lego's that he's left out, they fold Taylor's underwear and clothes that are on the floor and I'm sure they'd change Audra's diaper if I asked, and they'll even go so far as to un-clog a poopy toilet. Now that's service!

The first two weeks in Okinawa

We will have lived at the Westpac Hotel for 4 weeks by the time we move into our new home next Thursday. I would be lying if I said that everything has been sunny and happy. We've had sunny, happy moments for sure, but I find it interesting how this move has affected everyone in the family. We are all a bit off. I've tried to figure it out, but I think maybe it's the summation of the move--no home, no old friends, no schedule, sleep deprivation, no room, not having all of our stuff...Ok, I'm done complaining.

Our home is on Camp Lester--only a couple of blocks from the hospital that Erin works at. HGTV would seriously have issues with the curbside appeal of the houses here. They look like bomb shelters, which I guess is good since there are Tsunami's.

We bought a sweet ride from the dentist Erin is replacing at the hospital. It is a VAN and fully equipped with 2 moon roofs (although, Landon already broke one), second row seats that turn around and face the third row seats and curtains. Yes, curtains--and Taylor is in love with them. Oh, and only one sliding door that is NOT on the drivers side, which means I unlock and turn on the car to get AC flowin', then I race around to the other side to buckle kids, then run around again to get in. I might be buying a different van just to have a sliding door on my side...

So, some of our sunny, happy moments have included Landon and Audra's birthdays, new friends, beaches, parks, new fruit, rain storms, swimming, Japanese Market, funny tasting lettuce, Yen, driving on the wrong side of the road and a little hotel craziness.

After 14 hours of flying

View From Our Hotel Room

Jet Lag

Only jet lag will cause a 7 year old boy to take a nap

Hotel Super Heroes

(aka Landon and Taylor--if it was hard to tell by their super hero costumes)

The first few days at the Westpac were exciting and new...

the super heroes have turned to the dark side.

Landon's 7th Birthday

(All he wanted was a day at the beach. He was an angel

the entire day--it was a really good day)

Some friends brought us "just add water and cook in microwave"

cake. They loved it.

We took him to Araha Beach (aka Pirate Ship Beach)--it

took 2 minutes to drive here.

This ship is the playground at the beach. You can see Tay

walking across the rope bridge.

Attached to the ship on the other side is a sweet zip line.

All the kids had their turn. I would have, but adults

aren't allowed.

July: Pre-move

What it's like to move overseas with the military

Pile #1--Ocean shipment. We should get this stuff in October. What could you

live with out for 3 months?

Pile #2--Air shipment. This is supposedly "express." We should get this

at the end of August.

Pile #3--Storage Stuff. What can you live without for 3 years?

(We had Pile #4--stuff to pack in suitcases AND Pile #5--stuff we needed for carry-on the plane

to entertain 3 kids for 24 hours of traveling).

Living at Hotel de Sorensenito

We were going to camp at our little white house for a week after the movers took away all of our stuff, but some awesome friends made the mistake of inviting us over for dinner. Dinner turned into a week long stay. THANK YOU!! My kids still talk about living there. And I wish I could sleep in that king size bed and stay up and talk and laugh well past my bedtime.

One of my favorite place near our home in Maryland--Brookside Gardens.

This last time we came, Erin's parents were in town.

Pre-birthdays for Landon and Audra

Virginia Beach Vacation

Finally a break from packing and making piles and tying up loose ends.

I hadn't seen our kids this happy to be with us in weeks.

Landon "bowling" at Jamestown settlement

Audra attempting to bowl.

Taylor loved being domestic. Here she is sweeping the old

school house.

In these next 3 shots, she's doing the laundry. She could have

done laundry all day...hmmm...maybe I should set up

a big pot over a fire in my back yard...wait, I don't have a back yard.

Landon's favorite part was the armor room.

Hey look! There I am with my kids.

The cool chapel at Jamestown settlement.

The little soldiers (those things were pretty heavy).

Things I won't miss about moving from our little white house:

mice in my kitchen, black ant raids, human size crickets, mosquitoes, stinky tree, no A/C, flooding in the basement, bugs biting me at night, and clogged pipes.

This is the reason our bathtub wouldn't

drain (remember Erin Pug?). Clogged solid. Thank goodness Grandpa P. was

in town. Nasty.

Things I will miss about Maryland:

People, people, people, the temple so close, school so close,

trails, a basement for storage, and people.

Ah, I'm going to miss this one--amazing pianist AND she has a sweet name.