Taste of Asia

Our last big night out was to Taste of Asia.  We enjoyed an all you can eat seafood buffet prepared Asian style with complimentary cocktails all night long.  Dinner was followed by an amazing performance of the Daiko drummers.  It was truly breathtaking at times.  It was one of the best shows I have ever seen.  The talent is amazing!  We ended the night posing with a ShiShi dog in the lobby.  Mom thought it would be funny to have the ShiShi dog eat my head! Real funny!

Gosh, mike looks really happy, huh? ;-)

There's a happy shot!

Mom and Vernon

Me and Mom with the Shishi dog

ShiShi dog eating my head :-)

Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day, all of the ladies, to include Gracie received flowers.  We decided to combine all of them since I only had one vase. ;-)  Mom spent the day playing with Gracie, and Mike and I headed off to work.  Later that night, Mom, Vernon, Mike, and I all went out for a very nice dinner at Kinser Surfside.  We enjoyed a lovely dinner and had some great entertainment.  It was one of the best Valentine's ever!

Mike, Gracie, and I in the morning

Mom, Gracie, and Snoopy going for a walk

Aww how cute!

Mom and Vernon

Our combined flower bouquet 

Pedicures, Ice Cream, & poll dancing!

What a perfect day!  Mom and I started off the weekend with a pedicure and manicure at Coco's on the sea wall.  Later that night, we all went our for dinner and TCBY ice cream.  We were then entertained at TCBY with a poll dancing lesson by the one and only Gracie Morrill!!! It was hilarious.  I have NO IDEA where she learned to do that! hmmm? Nana? 

My nail art (hand drawn!)

Mom's nail art.

Gracie wanted her toes taken as well! ;-)

Mike, Gracie, and Vernon enjoying ice cream!

Let the poll dancing begin!!!!

Churanium Aquarium

Another must see when in Okinawa is the aquarium.  It is definitely one of our favorite places, and Gracie is finally getting to the point where she enjoys it as well!    

Mike, Gracie, Mom and Vernon with Sea turtles

Mom and Gracie is shark's mouth! And you thought my mouth was big! :-)

Mom and Vernon outside Aquarium

Gracie loved the shark exhibit

Whale shark! yikes1

Okuma and Cape Hedo

Over the weekend, we headed up to Okuma Beach Resort and Cape Hedo. It was a very cold and rainy weekend, but that didn't stop us! Other than having some difficulties with a Japanese style heater, everything went really well. The rain held off just long enough to capture some good pictures at Cape Hedo. As you can tell by the pictures, it was so windy!

Gracie and Vernon at Okuma

Mommy and Gracie pooped out!

Vernon, me, and Mom and Cape Hedo

Mike and Mom at Cape Hedo

Pineapple Farm and Pizza in the Sky!

While visiting Okinawa, we decided to take Mom and Vernon to see the Pineapple Farm and eat at Pizza in the Sky.  The Pineapple Farm is always a fun place to hit because you can eat all the pineapple treats you want!  You most definitely get your pineapple fix for the duration of your trip.  

Next, we ventured off the beaten path (literally) to find this restaurant called "Pizza in the Sky".  Well, that's what the Americans call it.  It is really called something like Kongihoo.  Anyway, it is a traditional Japanese restaurant, and they serve the best pizza ever!  I still can't believe Vernon was willing to take his shoes off and sit on the floor!  Way to go Vern!  

Mom, Gracie, and Vernon and Pineapple Farm

Mom at Pineapple park 

Pizza in the Sky (Mom calls it a Slice of Heaven!) heehee!

Mike, Gracie and me at Pizza in the Sky

Pizza and chopsticks???

Pizza in the Sky

Lazy days with Nana and Biscuit

The first few days of mom and Vernon's (aka Nana and Biscuit) trip were spent hanging around the house while Mike and I were working.  Nana and Biscuit taught Gracie tons of fun stuff that mommy and daddy would later say that they regret ever having visitors.  heehee! But, really, Nana taught Gracie the fun trick of sliding the dining room chair all the way into the kitchen. Now, Gracie thinks every time the water is running, she needs to slide her chair right up to the sink and "help out."  But, unfortunately for Mike and me, "helping out" consists of filling up whatever dish she can find and dumping the water all over the floor.  So, thanks Nana! You always said paybacks would be hell!  I never doubted you for a second.  But, don't get me wrong, Gracie did a number of both of them while they were staying at the house.  Nana and biscuit were both worn out by the end of the day!

Nana, Gracie, and Snoopy

Nana and Gracie

Vernon occupying Gracie 

Gracie in action with her chair at the sink

Can't forget Snoopy!

Trip to Tokyo

We have visitors! Mom and Vernon arrived on February 4th to Tokyo, and Mike, Gracie, and I decided to meet them in Tokyo for a much needed vacation. Mom and Vernon were surprisingly ready to roll when they arrived. We hit all the major hot spots in Tokyo and had a great time touring the city and navigating the subway system :-) We visited T.G.I.F's and the Hard Rock Cafe... however, the cuisine is much different from that in the states! Overall, we had a blast, but we were all ready to head back to Okinawa.

Vernon and the mannequin

Nana and Gracie at Shrine

Kathy and Vernon in Rappongi District

Gracie at dinner

Mike, me and Gracie at Shrine

Gracie giving Nana a big kiss!

Me, Gracie, and Mike

Gracie eating some Miso soup

Mom and Vernon eating with chopsticks (hilarious!) 

  

Nago Cherry Blossom Festival January 2008

We attended the Cherry Blossom Festival in Nago about a month ago. Rain or shine, we were determined to see the Cherry Blossoms. Unfortunately, it was raining :-( No worries though... We ended up having a wonderful time! Our adventure started out with a climb up 500 steps to see the Nago castle ruins.  And that is exactly what we found!  No castle...just ruins...well, pretty much just the land the castle used to sit on!  I can't believe we made it to the top with Gracie!

After our long hike back down, we stumbled upon the Cherry Blossom Festival parade.  It was quite different than any other parade I have every seen!  The floats are all pulled manually and it definitely had an oriental flare!  Below, you can catch some photos of the festival.  I even posted some movie clips to give you a glimpse of just how different the parades are over here.  Enjoy!

Me about to eat a chocolate covered banana.  yum yum!

Part of the parade.

Gracie under the umbrella (right before she threw herself in the mud!)

Gracie telling daddy she doesn't like the drummers.

Shot of the 500 steps we climbed up and back down!

Geisha dancer in parade

One of the floats in the parade.

Daiko drummers performance

Not sure what to call them, but they are so cute!