Neo and Busena

Well, we have added more to our scrapbook of Spring Break and headed to Neo Park & Zoo, Fruits Land, and also Busena Underwater Observatory the past few days. The weather has been acting up and not very Spring-like, but we are making the best of it. Sunday, we hit up Neo Park in Nago (the northern part of the island). It amazes me how different a zoo even is here, compared to the states. You wouldn't be caught dead in Miami Zoo doing this...

Because maybe this could happen if you're not careful!!


Seriously, walking an Alpaca?? Don't they spit and stuff? All I know is George had to go after it once Teage's grip got loose and he came back out of breath saying, "Those things can run!!"

Even this seems to be a stretch...birds are shady I tell ya! You never know when one of them's gonna get flappy on your a$$.

I was watching my back is all I'm saying...

The boys both got their pony ride on as well. Teage's first one, he was always scared...this time he was excited!

They also had a petting zoo there that had like 20 purse-size pooches and one pot-bellied pig in the mix. This picture says it all....George's face is imitating his words, "What's up with the pig, he thinks he's a dog!" Yeah he did, and he was so cute.

Then we went and visited Mr. Tortoise. He looked really tired and OLD! Poor guy! He's probably given so many kids a ride that his back must hurt. So we opted for a good old fashioned rubdown and went on our way!


Saige spent most of her time in the petting zoo with the guinea pigs or what we refer to now as a Bugsy (watch Bedtime Stories if you haven't already).


Another questionable animal prancing about....Teage & a Wallaby!!

JD wanted me to include this one. He broke out into song immediately..."I like to Move it, Move It..."

So, towards the end of the park, they had a room where you could go in and pay 600yen. They dress you in traditional kimono garb and take your picture. We were all over it...WOW I look really tall in that Japanese bonnett!

Leaving Neo Park...Good Times!


Once we left there, we hopped on over to Fuits Land. Not sure what to expect, well hopefully some fruit, right? Yeah, so the fruit was out of season. HA! But, there were two other sections: the Butterfly Garden and the Bird House (dang, more birds). Here are my biggies prettying up the flowers...

Check out the golden butterfly coccoons. They are freakishly shiny! There were hundreds of them hanging on grates. Ahh, the joys of breeding...

Oh, here's an after life shot...

Next were the birds. They were just flying around all over the place (sketchy, I tell ya). You could buy nectar to feed the rainbow ones, which all three kiddies enjoyed.

After taking a couple shots of random flowers, I came around the corner and saw this...Teage makes friends everywhere he goes. Plus, I think the Japanese ladies with the little one were really trying to get a picture of my son's saucer eyes LOL! How cute are they??

We knew it was time to head out when we saw this...Oki weather is always playing tricks on us!!


Today we went to Busena and it was a really sunny day. I wish we had planned the beach instead after driving up there and seeing this view...


Getting ready to take a long walk on a short pier...


The boys got tired I guess :o) What an awesome big sissy!!


My baby is a HAM!!!

The steps down into the observatory lead you to a 360 degree room of portholes. The fish were everywhere! I got a few good pics, but this one really felt like I was in the water with them it was so clear...


After we left the observatory...

...we headed over to the glass bottom boat to get the real experience of the coral. It was cute since the boat was shaped like a whale.

I highly suggest checking out the local touristy spots on island. They are really worth it. Next up...castles, ice skating, beaches, and shopping!? And who knows what else!!!??? Stay tuned...Love Ya!!

Kinser Fest, Ryuku Mura, a Beatdown, & a VP!

OK so I have a lot to update everyone on...I have been super busy and so I have slipped on the blogging thing. So here it goes:

Starting with last week, I got a call from the nurse at JD's school saying he'd come into her office after recess shaken and injured with what could only be described as a "beatdown". I got over there with the quickness and saw my boy laid up with a cold pack on his head, his knee and scrapes all on his face. I was mortified because all I could think was some 5th grader's gonna get their a$$ handed to them by a grown woman. But before I could really follow through with that thought, he told me that he was beat down alright...by the playground equipment. It seems he was playing tag with his buds on the play structure and ran into a pole. The shock from the pole collision caused him to topple over...right onto the ground. He got banged up pretty dang good. Cause and effect....what'd he learn? Not to run on the darn play equipment. So here's the visual...poor kid!

Of course he's all better now and only has a nasty bruise on his knee and a leftover scar next to his eye. What a tough guy!

This past weekend was the Kinser Fest (it's another base and basically a money pit o' fun). So I ventured out with them and a friend of Saige's . Let me first say...IT WAS SCORCHY!! I mean I was sweating in places nobody needs to sweat. AND, the stroller was in the other car which is parked at the airoprt still, thanks George! So there was mild chasing of a runaway two year old and nothing to cart the obscene amount of blow-up prizes the kids won. Saige was the first to get her hands on a game...

Teage got in on the action, too!

This was his winnings...

All JD cared about was the bungee trampoline. That boy had so much fun, he kept saying "I'm flying Mom...look at me". The bungee worker guy came over and catapulted his little butt even higher a couple of times. He eventually started doing flips.

By the end of it, I was ready to get on that thing, but I had THIS looking at me...so we moved on to the next thing.

Once we were done with all the game action and a little lunch, Teage wanted to go check out the military vehicles and copters. This is where the chasing began...

He did manage a pose for me with his Stitch doll that JD won for him. Cutie!!

Finally, I did my good parent volunteering for the week by chaperoning a field trip to Ryuku Mura. Here I am with my group of seven...

You pretty much walk around and they have little areas set up where you can see authentic scenarios of the Japanese culture. Inside this building is the replica of a rope used in the annual "tug of war" they do in the streets here, where thousands of people come out to play an old fashioned game. It was so huge!

We started following the path guided by these weird looking pink elves. One of the kids in my group (who is Japanese American) told me that there's a legend that if you play on these statues, they come and kill you at night. NICE!! I'm just wondering why they're cross-eyed.

Then we came upon a vending machine that had a fish on the box...a few steps later I see what was really going on. Freaky...there were like hundreds of fish up in there.

Why was this thing right next to where we stopped for a snack break?? We quickly left. The boys wanted to "capture it and pet it". Uh NO!

There was a pottery factory that you could walk through and see them actually making the shisa dogs. It was pretty neat. Check this guy out..hard at work!

And the finished product...

JD wanted to get the coconut drink and I was about to buy one...until I got closer and noticed it had gnats all over it. It was still cool-looking though.

Oh and I think I will do this whenever the whole fam can come back...for $10 your whole group can dress up in kimonos and get a picture taken just like these chicks did.

Next we headed inside and waited for the first show. They performed traditional Ryuku dancing...it was neat!

These guys were funny. Were they making fun of us all taking pictures of them I wonder...

Next thing I knew, some white-face painted dancer came up to me and tried to pull me on the floor. I told everybody around me they better get up with me. They did and had us doing this...again, were they clowning us??

After the show was over, JD wanted to go up there and throw some yen in the moat looking thing and make a wish for an Indiana Jones adventure...and yes I bought that hat there because he said it was an Indy hat and he needed it for his cub scouts camping adventures coming up soon. (He is officially going to be a boy scout now, more on that later).

So we continued to walk around and saw these makeshift Japanese homes. It was cool to see how the traditional homes would look inside. I wish someone would invite me over to their Japanese home so I could experience a traditional sit-down ritual. That would be awesome!

We had a little more time to kill before we saw the last performance...so JD found this little fountain to sit next to...and then he screams out loud "Mom, look, that dog is peeing...ewww gross!". The kids started cracking up!

He also came across this throne and decided it was meant for meditation...whatever works!

And lastly, we watched the Eisa dancers and Taiko drummers. They were a perfect finale to a long day. Great times!

One last Isla info...Saige is running for Vice President of her school. I am so proud of her taking the initiative and stepping out of her comfort zone. I know she would do an ab fab job. I can see myself already making buttons and posters for her in the very near future. You never know...she could be the next....uh Sarah Palin????

Uh no...she's got nothing on my baby girl!!! Vote for SAIGE!!!