OKC Zoo

I have a bit of catch-up to do. We have been busy enjoying the lovely weather and I just got around to getting the pictures off my camera (more than a weeks worth!). So hopefully I will get some more posts up soon!

This last Saturday we enjoyed a day at the OKC Zoo. We had been wanting to take Grace for quite some time now but just finally made time for it. She had a great time even though this wasn't the best zoo we have been to (it is hard to beat a day at the Sydney zoo!).

First we stopped by the children's zoo.
They had a barnyard where Grace got to pet the animals and she even fed a goat!

Then we went to see the birds.
Grace had a great time feeding them the nectar!

We walked around and saw lots of animals.
Grace was really looking forward to seeing the giraffes. There were several giraffes and even a baby! I think she was pretty happy.

We saw lots of other animals but I didn't get any pictures. We watched the zoo keeper feed the cheetahs, saw a couple of elephants, and flamingos, and we even saw a monkey swinging from a rope! Grace had a great time and Olivia pretty much slept through everything. After being out in the heat for so long we decided to make a stop at Cold Stone on the way home. Delicious!

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

Christmas Fantasy at the Zoo

The rain finally stopped so we were able to go see the snow, lights, and fireworks at the zoo! It was a really fun experience and we all had a good time.

{ready to go!}

{bundled up and waiting in line to see SNOW!}

{We are in an Igloo!}

{and there was a snowman}

We saw that you could pay 500 Yen to ride down a slide and we decided it wasn't worth it. But when we saw it we thought it might be fun after all. They let Grace go free too!

{Weeeee!!}

After we saw the snow it was time to eat so we went up to the pavilion we used for Grace's birthday party. We had packed a meal for Grace since most of the food at this type of thing is either noodles or fried and we are not fans of either. We ended up getting some french fries for us and hot chocolate from the vending machine! While we were eating we spotted a big inflatable Elmo and thought Dustin could win it for Grace. I am confident he would have won if we had more clear of instructions. We thought you had to throw the ball and hit the numbers and get 3 in a row. Turns out you had to throw the ball hard enough to knock the number out of the frame they were in. We didn't find this out until after he had hit a number and didn't have enough balls left for a bingo. Oh, well. Grace ended up with an inflatable wand instead!

When it got dark they lit up the entire park in Christmas lights. It was so pretty!! The pictures are not very good but you can somewhat tell what we saw.

Then we started making our way back to the entrance so we could watch the laser light show from there and then make a quick exit. Grace thoroughly enjoyed the laser lights! She was clapping and dancing to the music!

{watching the light show}

{on Daddy's shoulders}

We have taken several videos the last few days and I finally moved them to the computer so I am going to share a few.

The first 4 are from the zoo!

{checking out the snow}

{the little sled ride}

{still the King of Pop in Japan}

{this is very bad quality but I think you can get a little idea of what it like here!}

Grace had a wonderful Christmas morning! She got a new kitchen from Santa Claus and food, pots & pans, and a baking set from Mommy and Daddy. She got a lot of other things too - way too many to name them all!

{Grace playing with her new kitchen from Santa on Christmas morning}

Christmas Eve was a gorgeous day! Dustin fixed the wagon (a screw had came out) and took Grace for a ride on our balcony.

{going for a ride}

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

We went to ITT today and got tickets for the 14th Christmas Fantasy at the zoo! We are planning on going Christmas evening. There will be a laser light show, fireworks, and SNOW!! And we get to go in a japanese-style igloo!

On Christmas Eve we want to make it a tradition to go see Christmas lights so we picked up tickets to go to the Southeast Botanical Gardens marché de Noël. We went last year and they had a wonderful display of lights and a laser light show and fireworks. I think Grace is going to have a very good time both nights!

So now we have some fun plans for Christmas!!

Grace's FIRST Birthday Party!

We had Grace's birthday party yesterday and I think it turned out great! We went to the Okinawa Zoo which is just about a 10 min. drive from our house. We were able to use a covered pavilion and the picnic tables that were there for no charge! We gave a guest list to the people at the gate and they just circled everyone's name as they came in and after the party I just went and paid for everyone's admission. And we were able to take anything we wanted - cake, ice cream, snacks, drinks, party favors, etc. We got there when the zoo opened at 9:30 and it was a perfect day! We sat up all the tables and then it was time for guests to arrive.

{Grace's cute cake! One of the cars collapsed in the night so we took it off}

{snacks - animal cookies, fruit and veggie trays, chex mix, and pb&j (the were supposed to be animal shapes but I thought the bear looked more like a rat so they ended up being triangles)}

{cups, plates, napkins}

{Jungle Juice and the cute animal cups}

When the kids started showing up (a total of 5 girls) we went and played on the animal statues.

{Her cute hairbow only lasted long enough for a few pictures}

Then it was time to ride on the rides! Before everyone got there I bought tickets for the carousel and the train.

{Grace wanted to ride on my lap}

{and then she wanted to stand up when it was time to get off}

{Dustin got to ride the train with her!}

I had a little trouble figuring out how to pay to ride the cars. We stood in line I thought I would just hand the guy working there some Yen for all the kids (and adults) who wanted to ride but we kept watching little Japanese children run out and hop right on. Finally, we figured out that you have to put your coin in the car which starts it!

{Dustin and Grace rode on the tank}

After we did all the rides it was time for cake!

{We sang happy birthday and Grace got to blow out her candle with a little help from Daddy!}

It started to rain and cool off while we were eating so we broke out the jackets. We were glad to be under the tent and several Japanese families were taking shelter with us!

And then it was time for presents!

{Grace got lots of cool new toys!}

After the presents were opened everyone got to walk around and see the animals. The rain had stopped and it was warming up again. We thought they were doing an elephant show at 11:30 (that is what was posted on the sign the last time we were there) but after waiting for a while the show never happened. My guess is that they did it early and everyone just missed it. Oh well, they still got to see the animals!

Overall her first party was a success. I think everyone had a good time!!

For more pictures you can check out the album I put on facebook HERE

Or my Mom's myspace album HERE

{Grace waving bye to her guests}

A Trip to the Zoo

We had a very fun morning today. We headed out to the zoo! We have been wanting to go back and count the tables and figure out the layout of the pavilion we are using for Grace's birthday party but we were waiting for nicer weather so we could spend a little more time checking out the animals. If you remember the last time we went to the zoo it was really, really hot so we didn't stay long at all. Today there was a nice breeze which helped out a lot but it was still pretty warm and sunny. We did make it around to see most all of the animals though!

On our way to the gate. She almost fell asleep in the car on the way because she didn't nap for even 5 min. this morning so she started out a little tired but quickly got excited and was in a really good mood when it came time to leave

We went straight to the area where Grace's birthday party is going to be -the Rides Corner. We checked out the choo-choo train

And then took a ride on the carousel

We made it to the Hippos just in time to see them being fed

Yucky!! We thought this was a pretty disgusting thing to watch.

Then we saw the tigers

And the Giraffe!

When we got to the Elephants it was almost time for the elephant show

This elephant can play basketball (but uses a soccer ball)

We watched this one get a bath!

He liked to squirt water!!

And here are a few funny signs we saw at the zoo...

In case you are wondering, this was found next to the tiger cage

Sneak Peak

Here is a sneak peak at something you might see at Grace's birthday party!

Grace at the petting zoo portion of the zoo. It was HOT, HOT, HOT so we didn't stay outside for very long at all!

This is just a cute picture :-)

I think Grace is going to love playing in her birthday cake. This picture was taken last night after dinner. That is the crust part of the delicious fruit dessert I made!