Thursday, March 5, 2009

I Like the Beach Now, Momma

So on the 3rd day, we finally headed out to do something fun. In the morning, Abby went with Amanda & the boys to hang out at the park by the Westpac with all the other kiddos. From what I understand, she wanted me the entire time...hmmmm, sounds just like Abby! I am SO MUCH FUN. Really.

Anyway, I was completely excited to see some of Okinawa. We headed over to see what the beach was like and check out a hotel Amanda had seen online. So, we try to take the lovely shuttle from lodging, but no such luck. They have rules. Every child must have their own seat & the little ones must be in car seats. The nerve. We called a taxi & he proceeded to get us lost & drop us off in a parking lot/alley. Really, this trip didn't cease to surprise me by what could go wrong. It was REALLY funny after a while.

The kids found this fun little spot to dip their feet in before lunch. That poor woman & her dog...not too easy to quietly read a book after we showed up! :)



We then headed over for some lunch. We took in one of the more popular local establishments--we had some delicious sushi McDonald's. At the point we were at, it was the least painful place to feed the kiddos.

Hello Kitty power

After our delightful fare at the big M, we headed over to the beach. Finally. Abby had been excited to try it all out again. See, we go to the beach at Dauphin Island, AL every year. My grandma rents a house for a month & we are blessed with the opportunity to go with her. We have been spoiled to have the chance to live on a beach for as long as we can stay during the month...needless to say, I have taken full advantage of this opportunity! I love Dauphin Island & I'm totally missing it. Okay, back to the story at hand. Abby has NEVER liked the beach. She loves to watch the first video of herself when we put her feet in the Gulf of Mexico for the first time. It's just miserable to me. See has always freaked about the sand. She promised me that this time was gonna be different; this time, she was going to love the sand and build lots of sand castles. Um, she didn't. She had her toenails all decorated & even that didn't make it fun at the beach. Guess what? Her little sister didn't like it either. So, they both ended up in the stroller moaning. Fun stuff.

Ick...sand on her hands. How will she survive?

She did manage to play in the sand for a bit...not actually touching it with her hands or feet

Beks foot with a little bit of sand on it! :)
These girls will not have wrinkles from the sun!
I don't like it in my toes!!!


We leave after Mommy has had her fill and needs a cocktail when some of the other gals need to get back, and so we can decide whether or not to try for the next Guam flight. Abby proceeds to moan about all sorts of aches and pains. Dilemma...do we try to get to Guam or do I have to go to the ER? I call Daddy & he seems to think it my be a case of DRAMA--we get those a lot around here. We have to be at the terminal at 1750 for our show time, so we had decided to leave by 1700. Hmmm, after Abby informed me that she had made a recovery, I made the decision at 1710 that we should give it a try.

So after some guy stole our original taxi & the next driver didn't want to go to Kadena, on our 3rd and final taxi, we loaded all our stuff into it. We're good. And cheap. It cost us approximately $50 round trip to try for a flight. For those of you that know me well and some even have even mocked me for having a rear-facing child until she was over 2 years old, you may not want to look at these pictures. It will make you wonder about my sanity. Please do not write me about the safety of my children or lack thereof. I'm well aware these photos won't win me any parent of the year awards.



The guy seriously took FOREVER to get to the pax terminal. Amanda was going to run with her boys in to see if we missed show time. I stood outside the taxi waiting for the signal from her. I got the thumbs up & started throwing things onto the sidewalk. Then, I look up, and there are maybe 6 people in uniform asking me what needs to go inside. Praise God! We get it all inside in less than 2 minutes & I get in line to check in. Whew. There were 10 firm seats and guess what seats the girls & I had...9, 10 & 11! Argh. So, we begged them to ask the crew if they would add one seat for my baby who was going to sit on my lap anyway. You guessed it! It was a no go. Oh well, the good news is that since we didn't make it on, a really sweet girl with her 2 kids did. That's what I keep telling myself. :)

Back to Camp Foster, Westpac & the MACARONI GRILL. We made the decision that night to not go back to the terminal the next morning for the 0600 showtime for the flight back to Osan. We wanted to have a little fun and enjoy the warm weather for one more day!

I promise, I am almost done. This is mainly so I don't forget all the little details. And because my mom reads it. And so do the other gals at the courthouse. And my GREAT Aunt Shirley in AZ. See, I have family that just LOVES all this. Right? You do love it? If not, just lie to me.

Bloggy love,

2 comments:

Ryan, Dawn, Calvin & Alayna said...

OMG! I can't believe you were even brave enough to attempt this trip. And you survived! Can't wait to hear what happens next!

Anonymous said...

I thought for sure Beks would be our sand girl. I'm very disappointed!! Maybe next time Abby will like the sand. :) We won't give up. I can't imagine what it was like to have all of you in one spot. Did look like a nice spot to rest for a while - too bad for the lady & her dog!! The logistics for travel would have been incredible! When do you go again?? Can't wait for more! Mom