We've done nothing fun.

They just did the flumist for Josh's unit....which means they're ALL sick. He said the barracks looks like a zombie dorm.

So now Thomas is sick. He's also teething.

I think there may be a dent in the desk from my head hitting it multiple times a day.


Here is how my days are going lately.

Thomas hands me the box of graham crackers, so I offer him some. He doesn't want it. Starts crying. So I put them back. Crying louder now. He hands them back to me...umm okay. He never did eat any of them, but I wasn't allowed to put them back. Was I supposed to just hold them?

Now trade the graham crackers for anything else, crayons, diapers, toys, whatever...
I have no idea what he wants, and honestly I don't think he does either.

So I'm channeling all the patience I can muster and hoping my miserable child gets well soon.

Oh and Josh is on duty tomorrow which essentially kills our weekend.

On the plus side we got T's birthday card from his Grandpa. It had Nemo on it and he's been carrying it around showing me the "sheshees".

Here's hoping the sheshees get us through the next few days. And maybe a glass of wine on Sunday night. And a bubble bath.

Our favorite farmer's market

This flower has nothing to do with the farmer's market, but my baby picked it for me and I think it's really pretty.



Anyway, we took a trip to our current favorite farmer's market this morning. I remember reading the directions for it, there were phrases like "gorgeous ocean vista" and I figured even if we got lost it would be worth it!
Turns out it's super easy to find, once you see the Okinawa Hollywood sign you know you're getting close!

And then....tadaa! I wonder if I can request a reincarnation to be a mermaid in my next life. That way I can satisfy my urge to spend my life in that beautiful blue water.

After you get to the great view you turn right and you're at the farmer's market. Under the awning are a bunch of hot food stands that smell really good and they play Okinawan traditional music...it's just so different from an American market that it feels new and exciting. Yes, exciting. Produce is the new adrenaline in my world.

Thomas was being a little rambunctious today so I didn't get any good pictures of the inside...not that hard to imagine, lots of produce, exotic plants, and our favorite part...candy! There was also a guy emptying a huge barrel of sprouts and yelling about something...he was entertaining. We went through and picked out the fruit and veggies we wanted and even snagged a new kit kat flavor. At the checkout the cashier tried to hold Thomas but he was NOT having it. If I was in the states I would be seriously wigged out about a stranger trying to hold my baby...but there's just nothing creepy about it here. Strange.
Would you like some sesame seed covered tiny fish? They're pretty cheap!

Now as much as we love fresh, local, produce....we also love fresh, local baked goods. This little bakery is right above the market and we aren't capable of resisting it.

We haven't been disappointed with a single thing we've picked here. Isn't it pretty?

These are the napkin holders at the bakery...why buy? There are perfectly good tomato cans we could use!

We ate our pastries, grabbed our groceries (in a cloth bag...it's required here and I like them, they're so strong!) and headed home. As soon as we got in the door Thomas was begging at the bag...he knew there were kit kats in it. Beni imo flavored, it was a light purple and probably the best weird kit kat we've had. Not that I'll be craving it or anything. We bought the five pack so we can start our "send fun candy back home" box.

Sam's by the sea

Josh got home a little early from work today and we wanted out of the house so we went to our list. I made a long list of all the things we want to do, see, eat, try etc while we're here. We decided to try out Sam's by the sea. The only negative I've heard about it is that it's expensive, but because we spent last weekend indoors we had enough to splurge a little.

We cut through base to get there quicker, this is what the roads look like on base.


And offbase.

About two minutes after we thought we had misread the directions we found it. On the way we passed a huge king kong statue with a sign about prohibition on it. I'll have to get a picture of him someday.

It's a Hawaii themed restaurant where all the waitresses wear sailor outfits. They have signature drinks and cups and we might be planning to go back often enough to get all the cups. Thomas was over the moon about this skull cup.

The bread basket had three different kinds of bread...why this one was pink I don't know, but I claimed it for myself and put some butter on it. Surprise, it was pineapple butter. I didn't even know that existed. It was actually pretty good especially since I had a pineapple drink to go with it. You can see my festive cup in this picture, that's the one we took home today.
T's salad came with a fish toothpick, again he was thrilled by this and proceeded to eat anything he could by poking it with his fish. They also give you some curry soup to start that was actually pretty good...but hot creamy soup just isn't on my list of favorites in this weather.

People were right, it was expensive and you don't really have a cheap option so Josh got some sort of chicken and filet combo, which he devoured. I ordered ribs and filet...it seems filet came with everything. The food was worth what we paid though, all of it was delicious. These places make me wish I liked fish because they had quite a selection for fish lovers.
T's kid meal came with this little dessert which he ate entirely by himself saying "mmmmmm" the whole time. I guess it must have been good!

On the way out I stopped in the bathroom, mostly because I was curious as to what it would look like, I love this shell sink, how fun! Notice the cloth hand towels...no throw away paper towels here!

We had had such a great dinner, Thomas was patient and happy through the entire meal which is such a rarity and so we were all in a goofy mood afterwards. We took this picture and I said I didn't like it because our noses were all squished.

And then he did this. This is why I married him. Sometimes I laugh so hard I get worried I might pee my pants. (a very legitimate fear)

Happy 2nd Birthday baby boy!!! Although I guess you aren't a baby anymore, you're officially in toddler hood. I was feeling a little bummed that we weren't having a "real" party. It's a little difficult to get the family together when plane tickets are over a grand. Then my mom brought up a good point....Some people plan small family parties on purpose! It was actually pretty awesome. We scheduled the day around when family could Skype in so they could see him on his birthday but other than that we just went with the flow and had a nice family day.
Josh and I spent Saturday night blowing up 214 balloons. It was so fun to watch him wake up and come out to a balloon paradise.



We played with those balloons for hours, and spent the last few hours before bed popping them! Cheapest all day entertainment we've had in awhile!

Then we hopped on Skype and video chatted with Grandpa Honn. We brought out his Wonderpets cake and before we could even start singing he blew out two of the candles. But he left the big 2 candle until we were done singing.

Then we gave him a fork, but he wasn't very interested in the cake. He was kinda shy because he was right in front of the webcam.

Then we had Thomas open two presents, his fridge phonics (which he loved and played with on and off all day) and a farm animal matching game.

We didn't get to talk to Grandma until after T woke up from his nap, we held off on the rest of the presents until she could be there. He showed her every present he got.

It was so fun to watch him open presents this year because he understands the concept. Every gift he opened was "OH!" "WOW" or some other excited noise. Once they were all open he brought them one by one to his daddy so he could open them up.

All in all, a very laid back and happy birthday!

Meat tenderizer=happy toddler

I'd read about this a few times and was just waiting for T to be old enough to do it. Basically you freeze a few toys in a big block of ice and then he is supposed to excavate them.


He loved it. He's always trying to get the hammer or the meat tenderizer so he can play with them and finally we encouraged him to go for it.

Daddy had to give him an example or two but then he was a pro.

A very fun activity for a hot day.

Japan is spoiling me...

The garbage company was supposed to give us an estimate for throwing away half of our couch. There was a misunderstanding and they just took it, they also took our stroller. Then they tried to charge us 11,000 yen...that's $130.
When I got upset about the charge and asked if they had taken our stroller on accident, they admitted it was a misunderstanding and the stroller was a mistake as well so they dropped all the charges.

We never would have known if they had taken our stroller, the garage door is almost always open and anyone could have taken it. It's kind of sad how surprised I was that they admitted it and took responsibility for it.

I'm really glad we never bought a fancy stroller.


Back when we still had our stroller and used it often people would help us all the time. They didn't offer, they would just grab the front and help you down the stairs, bow and smile and walk away. There's usually a good amount of Americans there who saw you struggling and they just kept walking.

The gas stations are full service here. They literally sprint to your door to ask what you need today. Then they sprint to fill your tank, and sprint back to your window to give you your receipt, again with a bow and smile. And usually a very enthusiastic "arigato gozaimasu!"

There are a lot of other little things that they do too...like the service at a fast food restaurant is better than fancy restaurant I've ever been to in the states.


The kindness is contagious.

Really glad we bought the talc free powder....

This is what happens when Mom and Dad are watching a movie.