White Beach Weekend

I was going to title this post "Roughing it." But we weren't really roughing it. We did go camping though! No, not in a tent, we stayed in a camper...with air and water and a bathroom...ok, so it wasn't "real" camping, but it was still fun! We went to White Beach, a Navy base not too far away. And Olivia had a blast! We went with Mike's work. Saturday we went to White Beach and met up with most of the people he works with. Most rented campers and stayed Saturday night. Oh and the best part? We camped right on the beach! Here's our weekend:

They rented a bounce house. Miss Olivia was dying to get in it, so mommy jumped in with her. I think she liked it!


She didn't care too much about jumping herself, but did like being bounced when others jumped:


Yay! Bounce more!


So Mike was just standing there talking and this random bird came and flew on his back. It landed on him and started pecking at his neck. It must have been somebody's pet, because I doubt parakeets are native to Okinawa, but nobody claimed him. He was very friendly and enjoyed crackers. One of the other spouses decided to take care of him and take him home. So don't worry, he is in good hands now.

Ok, buddy...getting a little too close:

Inside the camper-This is where Olivia slept:

And this is where Mommy and Daddy slept:

View of the camper:

Side view from our camper...Oh yeah, that's our "new" car. Honda Odyssey:

Car again:

Front view from the trailer:

Thinking she is big. MMmmm Ginger Ale...

Its not even open, but doesn't she look like she just took a swig?

Later, we watched some big boats come in and then the sun began to set.

So we watched the sunset:

Mike talking with the boss:

After the sun started going down we got ready to watch movies. Mr. Craig came prepared! He had all the kids occupied with a movie projector and a sheet...good thinking!

Then it got dark out and we roasted marshmallows. And we had another visitor...

(click on the picture, do you see it?)

Look! One of the huge bats that fly around here bunked outside our camper for the night...

Olivia did awesome and slept in her pack-n-play all night. We woke up in the morning to her leaning over the pack-n-play, looking at us and laughing. I'm sure she was thinking "why are you sleeping so close to me?"

So, she woke up at 7 am, which isn't bad, but nobody thought to bring a coffee pot and no places opened until 8 am to buy coffee. So we dragged around for an hour and then finally Daddy and Mr. Craig walked to get coffee. While they were gone, Olivia and I tried out the little play area.

Wearing her jammies and dress sandals...perfect camping morning attire!

She liked that she could climb up this whale:

The morning beach:

Morning stroll on the beach:

We walked down to get a closer shot of the big boat. It had guns on it and everything. Mike says it is a Destroyer. It turned out to be a Japanese ship, because as I was taking pictures it started playing music and then 4 Japanese flags were raised on each end.

Well, Olivia was walking, until I took out the camera and she sat down. She does it on purpose.

Another view of White Beach:

Here are where you would camp with tents:

After we checked out of White Beach, we headed to another island to go to another beach.

We stopped at this bridge to take pictures...the view was gorgeous!

And here is the beach we went to on Ikei Island. We rented a little tent area for some shade.

Mama-san Beach (see the land/mountains in the distance? That is the main island of Okinawa):

Maddie is ready to snorkel!

And so is Mic and Mike. See the yellow mask? That is Mike's new snorkel gear. Mine is pink. We saw some awesome fish and some huge fish. And then I got sick...next time I won't stay in the waves that long.

Artsy shot:

And one last view before we go: