Puppies and Trikes

Saturday morning we got up and drove down to Naha. We didn't really have any place in particular in mind.  Well, Tom did, but more on that in a minute.

We were window shopping and this nice man showed Tom how to play the sanshin.

They were playing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

And then he played (and sang!) an Okinawan folk song.

If we had had enough cash on us, we probably would have bought one.

I was checking out the wares at this stand when Tom said, "Look at those snakes." I looked up and was face to face with these guys.

I let out a yelp and the lady laughed at me. She told us they are sea snakes and that you cut them up and put them in soup. No, thank you.

I really wanted to buy this cat cup for Mom.

If it had been Ryukyu glass, I would have bout it, but there was a sticker on it that said "Made in Vietnam" so I passed.

Remember I said we had no destination in mind? Turns out that wasn't quite true. This was on Tom's agenda.

It's brand new and when I realized that's where he wanted to go, I asked him if he realized it wouldn't be like it is back home. It definitely wasn't. The people were wonderful (as usual), but we won't be back.

There was some function going on at the park near our house Saturday evening. It was getting dark so I got about five pictures.

There were several vendors set up. These blow-up animals were prizes for a game. Brendan sat on the ground with this dog for quite some time, occasionally looking up at me with pleading eyes.

So we bought it. Was there any doubt?

He loved it up.

In fact, he loved it to death. Within 24 hours.

This morning when he was supposed to be grocery shopping, Tom bought Brendan a tricycle, so after nap time we had to try it out.

Have a great week!

Quarterly Top Five

My top five favorite photos for the Click It Up A Notch Quarterly Top Five are all from our trip back home this summer.



Miss her.

He LOVES spaghetti.

Miss her, too.



Okinawa World

Saturday morning we got up and headed to Okinawa World. On our way, we saw this father/daughter duo. You probably won't see a child, strapped to her dad, on the back of a motorcycle in the U.S.

Once you purchase your ticket into Okinawa World, you start out by going through the cave. There are lots of stairs so you either have to leave your stroller behind (not an option), or carry it. Thank goodness ours is light.

I'm personally of the opinion that once you've seen one stalagmite, you've seen 'em all, and I've been to Luray Caverns.

However, I did see a couple bats.

This was the second place we've been where you could purchase a whole coconut and drink the juice.

Tom hates coconut, but for some reason he really wanted to try this stuff.

He wasn't a big fan, and since it was expensive, I drank most of it. He kept asking me if it was healthy, so today I sent him this link. And now he can't wait to get some more of it.



Throughout the day Brendan and I shared two(!) of these mango/vanilla soft serve cones. And Family, they put Rita's mango gelatti to shame.

We did do more than just eat. We watched the eisa dancers. Brendan and I had seen a similar performance (although not nearly as good) earlier this year, but Tom hadn't seen one yet at all. Although we were not allowed to photograph the show, at the end we were allowed to get up and dance with them.

Brendan was so good all day. We got to the park before 11:00 and left after 4:00. He did not nap at all, and really never pitched any fits.

On our way to catch the habu show, I walked past this without noticing, but Brendan spotted the stash of markers and had to leave his mark.

Someone drew a habu!!

We missed the first few minutes of the snake show, but were there for the most important parts. They didn't take the habu out of the cage. Thank goodness. But they did take this cobra out.

 Apparently, they can only see right in front of them, so that crazy man would lean way over and tap it on the back of its head. At the end of the show you had the chance to have your picture taken with a really big, although probably harmless, snake. We passed. Although since Tom suckered me into getting into this gator pit (three years ago), I think he should have held the snake.

When we first got our orders to Kadena, a retired man from our old base told me to "watch out for the habu." Of course, I had no idea what that was. He told me that they were extremely poisonous snakes that hang from the trees since the island is so crowded. He had me scared to even come here, thinking there would be a habu hanging from every tree I walk under. You know, kinda like this tree.

Fortunately, I've only seen them at zoos. Yuck.

I would bet money that I get an email from Mom telling me to leave off the snake pictures.

Brendan got an opportunity to play the sanshin.

And he got to dance to it, too.

We had such a good day that this is what he looked like before we ever even left our parking spot.

However, he wasn't so tired that he couldn't play the drums before bedtime.

Have a great week!