Sneak Peek - Drive to Nago

We went driving today to Nago, another part of the island we haven't been yet. The drive was so pretty! We originally wanted to go up to the Cherry Blossom Festival. Well, I didn't get directions, thinking there would be signs...there wasn't, that we could tell anyway. So we didn't see the cherry blossoms. But it wasn't a wasted day, because the drive was beautiful. And we just kept driving around the whole area, pointing out all the places we plan to see some day (there is a big aquarium and Ocean Expo Park there, plus a few castle ruins). So now we at least know where we are going and how long it will take. We did stop and see a dam, I'll post those pictures later. For now, here are some teasers from the road. Most of the drive was along this coast. I finally had Mike pull over so I could get a good picture. The pictures are at a little rest area off the highway.

Interesting... (I looked, but didn't see any turtles)

Well, since we didn't see all the blossoms we wanted today, we are going back tomorrow. So stay tuned!

We've Had A Breakthrough!

Look what we caught Olivia doing!

This was right at bedtime, she decided to show us what she can do. She acts like she has been doing this for months now. :) YAY, Baby!

Cape Zanpa

We hadn't jumped in the and gone exploring in a little while, so on Sunday we decided to take a little trip. Last month I went to Torii Station by myself, and I had seen signs for Cape Zanpa. I knew that there was a light house there, but that was all I knew about it. I figured I'd wait until Mike was with me to check it out. So, for our "Sunday Driving" trip, we went to check out Cape Zanpa. It is the prettiest spot we have seen so far. See for yourself in the pictures, I took a lot of scenic shots, hope you like them. The ground was a little rough. We started out with the stroller, but had to trade it in for the baby back-pack. Daddy even volunteered to carry Olivia, since it wasn't hot out. And I think he didn't trust me not to fall with her. :) The waves were huge! And the water was a pretty blue-green. At some points while we were climbing up to see the cliffs, we could feel spray from the waves crashing below. It was a little scary at times, looking down and seeing the rough sea. The sea condition was warning, which means it is very dangerous and unless you are an expert, you need to stay out of the water. There were people surfing while we were there! I'm sure they were locals and wearing wet-suits, but I was still scared for them.
We didn't go up in the light house because it cost 200 Yen (about $2) and we left that in the car. Plus it was pretty windy. Mike was going to go up while I waited with Olivia, but like I said, we left the money in the car. Next time we'll go up. And I'm sure there will be a next time, because we loved it! Olivia loved the wind in her face!
On the other side of the cape, was Zanpa Beach. We took a walk over there before we left for the day. The had a cute little park there too, Olivia will enjoy when she is older.

Scenic Shots (click on the picture to make it bigger)


Climbing the rocks...Be careful! (Click on picture to see it bigger)

They had a small petting zoo...


Here we go!


Tried to do a self-family shot (Daddy has the baby in the back-pack):

Mommy:

See? She loves it!

Waving:

Hehehe...Pushing the lighthouse over:

YAY! We are having fun!

Awww:

I thought this was pretty...

This reminds me of Thomas Kinkade:

One of the cliffs...Don't fall!

The beach on the other side:

You can see all the way to the bottom:

A church that was beach-front property. There was a wedding going on when we first drove up...How awesome would that be?

Olivia is apparently bored of seeing the beach all the time!

Here is a video of the waves. I didn't catch the great big ones, but you can see some. And you can hear Olivia oohh and ahhh over them.

Olivia's Updates

Apparently, we have a good baby. I'm not just saying that. People tell us that all the time. She is Mommy's little tag-along. So where mommy goes, Olivia goes. When I go to lunch with the girls, Olivia goes. When I go to bunko, Olivia goes. Basically, if I do anything during the week, Olivia is in tow. And she is pretty good! She sits and plays with her toys, and once in a while lets out a scream to let us know she is still there. But mostly she sits there and looks cute and wins everyone over. Although, a recent trip to Pizza Inn (a Japanese type Cici's), left us with soda spilled all over the table. She has go go gadget arms. This was the first time anything like this happened to me. I sat my soda down on the table, turned around to get something, and noticed ice cubes coming out the bottom the high chair. I was thinking, "now, why is it doing that?" I look up to find a very frightened and chilled Olivia with an empty cup and soda all over the place. I didn't know what to do, or how to handle it. I'm sure I looked like a crazy mom, just standing there staring at her. I just couldn't believe she spilled it, and I didn't know how she reached it. Luckily, I snapped out of it quickly, and got her cleaned up. And the other experienced moms that were there helped too. And assured me it would happen again. This was after I had to dig bits of the receipt out of her mouth because she was sneaky and tried to eat it. Needless to say she is reaching and grabbing, just trying anything to get her hands on stuff. But when she isn't pouring soda all over, she is mostly quiet, apparently unusual for an 8 month old. When people comment on this, I assure them she isn't the same at home. She must get stir crazy and bored when we stay in all day, because she quite loud and demanding. I guess she must just like to sit back and take the world in when we go out.
On Tuesdays I go to a bible study class and I put Olivia in the nursery during my class. The girl that heads the nursery is the same girl that babysat Olivia during the Christmas Party (Theresa). And she swears Olivia is really good in the nursery. She says that the other helpers fight over who get to watch her since she is so easy. Also, she says the older kids (2-3 yrs) love Olivia and always tend to her. I am always shocked to hear this. I just picture Olivia screaming the whole time I leave her. But apparently she just sits there and smiles and waves her hands. Once in a while she throws in the "mean face" and wins everyone over. Get this: This week when I went to pick her up, Theresa said "Oh today we played Lets Pretend We Are Olivia, so the older kids would calm down and be quiet." What? So they played this game and the older kids just sat down and smiled with Olivia. I'll have to try to play this game at home some time!

Olivia's latest adventure is Alligator Steps. http://www.alligatorsteps.com/
It is a developmental play group program. Olivia is in the Inchers (6mo-12mo). We go each Monday for an hour. It is basically structured play time. There is a leader who tells us what to do and how it will help. Olivia loves it and just laughs the whole time. She is the youngest baby and the only one not crawling. But she sees the other babies crawling, and that has caught her attention. All week she has been trying really hard to crawl, and she is getting really close! She just can't keep her legs under her. I bet a couple more trips to Alligator Steps, and she'll be there! She isn't having these other babies doing something she can't. Here are some pictures of our crazy baby! You can see in some of the pictures her hair is growing and getting curly at the ends.

Brrr. It got cold here for a week, and we had to break out Grandma's jacket!

Look at those teeth (still just two):

Bedtime Story with Mommy:

Twins...?

Maxin' and relaxin' at a nice restaurant in town. Olivia that isn't very polite:

That's better, read your book:

"I'm sooo big"

Read the bib, its the truth:

Her "I'm not doing anything..." look:

Aunt Kelly made the Taggie!!

Playtime:

All dressed and ready for Alligator Steps!

Izabella Ann

Have you met our littlest niece yet? In case you haven't, she is adorable! Although I've met her on the webcam, I can't wait to finally meet her in person! She was born October 10th, 2008. So Olivia and her are 5 months apart. How exciting! I can't wait for them to meet each other either. Little Izzie will be 4 months soon, and from what I hear she isn't so little. I thought I might share some photos with everyone. Meet my beautiful niece Izzie!!

Sweet Baby!

So Cute!

Love this look:

Awww!

Big Smiles!

Izzie and her Daddy:

She is deep in the conversation here:





I love this shot of Izabella and her mommy. Its so sweet!

Izzie took a trip to see her Aunt Dandy (my sister Mandy) graduate! Congrats Dandy!

What Have I Been up to?

I have been taking art classes offered at the Arts and Crafts Center on base. For the month of December I took an Oil Pastels class. I loved it! My instructor was Naomi Hodawanus. She is an Air Force spouse and she is so sweet and talented. You can see her work at http://splashgraphicsdesign.com/new.html.

I completed two projects in that class. Here they are:

Do you see what it is?

It's a Christmas bow, up-close!

This is my favorite:


It is of a flower from botanical gardens. You might remember it from an older post, click here.
What do you think?
For January, I am taking a Painting with Mixed Media class, with the same instructor. We are doing two more projects, they are somewhat abstract. I'll post them once they are completed!

Alpha Gamms in Oki

We've had our first visitor! Amanda, one of my sorority sisters, and her husband are stationed at a base in Tokyo. Amanda works for the University of Maryland Asia College and there is a office here on Kadena. So she she was sent here to Okinawa for a few days for work. Of course we had to meet up for dinner. I had not yet met her husband...turns out Mike used to work with him at Moody! So everyone did a little catching up! I hadn't seen Amanda since she left Valdosta a few years ago, it was great to catch up, and so funny that we crossed paths on the other side of the world! Guess it really is a small world!

Playing, Creeping, Screaming

Since it has been a little while since you have seen a clip of Olivia, here are two! The first is of her playing on her belly. The second one is of her finding her string on her pants...and screaming. Enjoy!







I'm going to get your tail!


Playing with her blocks from Nana:

You can kind of see the teeth here: (click on picture)

Being Cute:

And the "mean face":