Sunday

So I was planning on blogging about our weekend this morning but life got in the way. Or rather glass shattering around Grace's feet put a stop to my blogging. There was a piece of paper that she wanted and when she got it she also pulled my little baby cup off the desk that was sitting on top of it. I spent a good while picking up glass, sweeping, wiping the area down with a microfiber towel, and then I vacuumed and then finally mopped. I had to pick up all of

Grace's toys before I could do the vacuuming and mopping. I also had to put her in a safe spot - her crib - while I cleaned up the mess. I really didn't want her to try to eat glass again!

So now back to where I left off this morning... as you can see I had nothing written!

Sunday morning we went to the zoo and the wonder museum they have there.

(For pictures click HERE)

Grace had a great time looking at all of the pictures and playing with everything inside the museum. She didn't want to leave the crocodiles!!

After the zoo we decided to stop at one of the fruit stands that we pass by almost everyday but had never stopped at before. It was closed. So we decided to go to one of our favorites that we have only visited once and that was while my parents were here in August. It was closed. I guess fruit stands are closed on Sundays here. I saw a MaxValue (Japanese grocery store) and knew they would have what we were looking for so we stopped. Produce can be very expensive here. The last few apples we had cost almost $1.50 EACH, potatoes can be more than $1 for 1, and we know someone who actually paid around $24 for a cantaloupe when they first arrived on island! So we try to occasionally go off-base to buy locally. One of Grace's FAVORITE fruits right now are Japanese oranges. I think they may be tangerines but our mamasan calls them oranges (they have brought us some before.. this is where we learned how yummy they are!).

We found the tangerines and we also found lots of other goodies. We ended up with some fresh broccoli, tomato, tangerines, strawberries, and ice cream! At the commissary strawberries have been about $6 for a little package but here they were 342 Yen (around $3.50)!! On the way home I started thinking... what are we going to do with the strawberries? I happened to remember the toy chocolate fountain I bought around Christmas that we have not had a chance to try out yet. So after dinner last night I set everything up and we had a yummy (and fun) dessert!!

For more Chocolate Fountain Fun pictures click HERE

Whale Watching

We ended up being able to go whale watching yesterday. On Friday we were not to sure if we would be able to go or not because the weather has been quite rainy lately. We had two calls from the tour company telling us "bad weather" and "baby" and "cancel" then finally someone else who spoke just a little more English called and said they would tell us at the port if it would be OK to take a baby. It turned out to be a really nice day!

We got to the port early and were told where to park. Then we had to write our names on a waiver then told to wait. As it turns out, the lady didn't speak any English and that was the only thing she knew to tell us. So we waited while everyone else went to get on the boat until someone who spoke more English could try and translate.

{our boat in the background}

We had a short ride out to the place where the whales were. The waves were pretty big and the boat was rocking a LOT. While we were just watching we pretty much had to hold onto the boat all of the time. We saw several whales - more than I thought we would!

There were about 10 boats in this area watching for whales. They would get so close to each other too!

After seeing the whales for about an hour it was time to come back to land. It was another fun day!

I think we are going to head over to the zoo in about an hour for some more fun!

I am going to try and get some videos on here but that is a different camera and different computer. The video camera software isn't Mac compatible so I have to dig the HP out.

Little Princesses

Yesterday morning Maggie came over to play. Grace always gets so excited when Maggie comes over! We played tea party (Maggie ALWAYS wants to play tea party as soon as she gets here), play dough (Grace thought it tasted yummy... maybe I should make play dough with them again?), read books, told riddles, and were little princesses!

I think Maggie liked the tiara a lot more than Grace did!

Weekend Plans

Before Grace and I left for the states we had planned on going Whale Watching. Well, we got a flight out the day before we had planned to go. So yesterday we went and booked our trip for this Saturday! Hopefully the weather will be nice and we will see some whales.

We are also thinking about taking Grace to the science museum at the zoo. We have a year pass to the zoo and several admission tickets to the museum and I want to use them all up before our zoo pass expires.

I like having things to do on the weekends!

Ready for Summer!?!

The weather is absolutely gorgeous today! Yesterday was almost just as nice. It has been a bit hazy the last few days due to a dust storm in China but today is warm and sunny with clear blue skies. On days like today I normally let Grace play outside on the balcony after her nap. And when it is warm enough we fill the water table (I got it for FREE last year and have been waiting for her to be big enough to play with it) and put her bathing suit on her and she has a blast.

The little sunhat she is wearing she picked out all by herself. While we were shopping at Babies R Us during our visit to Oklahoma she pulled it off the shelf and put it on. She wore it the rest of the time we were in the store until it was time to pay. Her Grandma picked out the matching bathing suit!

She loves to play in the wagon too! We bought this when we moved to our new house since we would be having to carry groceries up the elevator. We thought with a wagon we could get everything in one trip. Well, we don't even use it for that anymore but Grace LOVES it!

I think this afternoon we will go sit out on the balcony and enjoy looking at the blue ocean!

Bowling

On Saturday we decided we needed to get out of the house. We had a coupon for 3 free games of bowling so we figured it was as good of time as any to use it. This was Grace's first time to bowl! She really had a good time. She got to pick out her ball and push it down the ramp. And she had fun cheering for everyone! Her final score was a whopping 66!

Home Sweet Home!

Grace and I made it back home last night a little before midnight. She did SO good on the plane! I think this was the smoothest and easiest plane ride we have ever had. We had 3 seats for the two of us so Grace got to sit in a seat and read, color, eat a snack, etc. And then she got to use two of the seats for a nice little bed! I am surprised she slept as much as she did last night considering she slept all of the last flight (3 hours) and the last 3 hours of our long flight. Now we are trying to adjust to the big time difference!

What a wonderful night!

Sesame Street Live was so much fun! It was like sitting in on the TV show. We even got to see Elmo's World!! I think we will probably take Grace again next year if they are back in this area.

We got there and had to find the gift shop. Grace got a t-shirt and an Elmo hat!

{Holding hands with Elmo}

Then we found our seats and waited for the show to start. It was called 123 Imagine! and we imagined all sorts of places we wanted to go.

{The start of the show}

Grace LOVED watching all of the characters. She just clapped and danced all night!

The show started at 7:oo and after about 40 min. we had a short intermission. The entire program lasted for about 1 1/2 hours!

{imagining a beach!}

{Elmo's World}

{All of the characters on stage}

We had a really good time!!

Sesame Street Live!

We missed Sesame Street coming to Okinawa while we were on the cruise and I was a bit bummed. Elmo is Grace's FAVORITE character. Well, I found out that Elmo & Friends will be about an hour from my parents house this weekend!! We are going tomorrow night!! Grace will be SO excited!!!

New Pictures!!!

Anytime my Mom visits us or we visit her Grace gets new pictures made. We are going to have so many wonderful pictures of her cute little face! One day I need to actually get some large prints and frame them. Maybe when we have a house that we won't be charged for putting nails in the wall.

This visit we are doing 15 month and Easter pictures. We started with a short "play" session. I think some of these may end up on the walls in my Moms front room that now has a play theme because of the HUGE outdoor climber/slide that she put in there. We will probably get around to the Easter pictures this next week. Here is a little peak at the newest pictures though. If you want to see all of them you can either see them on my facebook (if we are facebook friends) or you can visit my Moms website: www.aiportraits.com, click on "clients" and then select "Grace - Spring 2010" in the drop down box. You will have to enter your email address to login.

Deep Sea Adventures

Today I, (Dustin) went on a deep sea fishing trip with some folks from work. Heather and Grace are in the states visiting family, so I took someone up on going fishing. It is something that I have always wanted to do while I was here. We had to all meet at 4:30 in the morning and we drove to the port where we loaded up our coolers and headed out into the Pacific. I couldn't believe it--it was 3 hours out from Okinawa before we stopped. I had no clue what I was doing, but the boat captain was pretty helpful. He showed me how to bait the hook with a minnow and then just let out the line below the boat. There was no casting necessary. Pretty soon someone got a fish, and I was pretty jealous. Finally, I felt a HUGE tug on my line and I had snagged the 2nd fish of the day! I was so excited--it was a tuna, and it looked like an 8 lb fish or so. I did so well the first half of the day--I think it was beginner's luck. In the end I hauled in 7 large tuna fish. Around 2 we started to head back with a huge bin full of saltwater tuna. I attempted to clean my fish (yeah that didn't work too well) and we all split the fillets at the end of the day. It was a good trip--but I think I would rather have my Honey and my Gracie poo.

Up bright and early--the wind was colder than I expected!

The sunrise from the boat was nice

My first two fish--small, but they put up a good fight

Smooches

The guys

Just havin' a good time

We almost got pulled over by the Navy for getting too close to the Destroyer

Shop, shop, shop!!!

One of the great things about visiting the states is the chance to SHOP! I think Grace loves to shop just as much as her Mommy. Today we set out for the mall looking for Grace a pair of summer shoes. In the entire mall we were only able to find one pair in her size that was what I was looking for. So, what did I do? I bought 2 pairs! One that will fit now and one that she can grow into later this summer. Grace also got several pairs of shorts and some cute t-shirts for this summer. Since Grace has leveled off on her growing the clothes I had bought on the after summer clearance last year still have plenty of growing room so she needed a few things a size smaller.

Another nice thing about going to the mall is Chick-Fil-A. Grace finally got to eat some good chicken. She had 7 nuggets yesterday!! And, yes, we may have ate at Chick-Fil-A two days in a row. It IS that good!!

New Words..

It seems that Grace has been saying quite a few new words since we have been in Oklahoma.

• Strawberry
• Papa
• Abby
• Up
• Zip it (talking about the bag of dog treats she wants to be unzipped)
• Whiskers

Those are just the ones I can remember right now. I think having people other than her Mommy and Daddy around makes her need to talk more. We just know her little cues so I think she feels she can get by with just pointing and saying "that."

She is also becoming pretty sneaky. We have been working on breaking the pacifier habit and have limited to only naps, bedtime, and while travelling (planes, airports, etc). So today she has tricked people into letting her have her pacis TWICE. The first time she told my Mom she wanted to climb the stairs. When she got to the top she went straight to her bedroom and found the three pacis she had thrown out of her bed so she would be able to get to them later. Then this afternoon she got Papa Bill to climb the stairs with her and she told him she wanted in her bed so he just thought she was tired. She searched the corners until she found her paci then asked to get out. She is one smart little cookie!!!