Churaumi Aquarium

It's spring break here and we haven't done much!! I know horrible mom right??? Well, actually the truth is....I am letting the boys play hooky from school this coming Monday and Tuesday to take the kids to Okuma. Okuma is like a little getaway here on Okinawa. I will write more about it once we get back. Then the following Sunday we head up to Tokyo so the boys will miss a whole week of school then. So...in all honesty don't feel bad for them.

Back to the Aquarium,

We haven't visited the Aquarium since August of last year. Not that Okinawa is very big by any means it just takes forever to get anywhere here. Bryson and Carter asked if their friend Anthony could come along and sure enough he could yeah!!

Off we went...

We had a great time and the boys had a blast.

Here is a picture of the big tank. You can read all about our trip to the aquarium back in August HERE, there are better pictures of the main tank, and the playground.

This is a garden eel.

Carter says they are very dangerous. That they will grab your leg and pull you under the sand.

We weren't able to catch the dolphin show last year because it was way to hot for Chase to be outside, but this time the weather was perfect.

We walked down to the ocean so the kids could look around. Bryson was jumping across rocks and fell in. It was so funny.

This is a picture of the backside of the Aquarium just to show you how big this place is.

Do you want to party??

I wasn't able to attend the party last year but the year before was great and I even won a prize. I haven't had a chance to look through all the prizes yet but I am sure there are some good ones.

This blog is about my family and our life in the Air Force. I have three very active boys and we are having a blast exploring the island we live on known as Okinawa, Japan.

Happy Easter

Yesterday was the Easter egg hunt at Joe's squadron. It was actually really good. I was expecting a total failure from the lack of organization from the Christmas event but I was surprised.

Carter of course was not able to do a lot of things like the potato sack race,

duck walk and even the jumpy castles. He did get to start a minute early on the Easter egg hunt with the 0-3 year olds. After all he is only working with one good arm.

Chase did so well. He walked around and picked up eggs.

I think he had a blast.

Afterwards we came home and colored eggs. Actually the big boys colored eggs.

Chase sat down, dumped the orange all over his legs then took his egg and started taking it apart. That pretty much sums up his first egg coloring.

We had a great Easter this morning. The boys went through their Easter baskets; Chase choked on an M&M, that was scary; Joe made a wonderful breakfast and then we spent the afternoon/evening with the Salas family. It was a wonderful day.

The Broken Arm

Carter broke his arm on March 20th. Joe was in the kitchen making dinner and the boys and I went for a walk. As we were walking I decided to go a different way, a path we haven't walked before. On that path we came to a big hill and the boys were so giddy to ride their bikes down the hill.

Down goes Bryson screaming with excitement the whole way, then it was Carter's turn. Carter starts off the hill and down he goes screaming all the way. I make my way down the hill also and meet the boys at the bottom. They both shout that it was so much fun they must do it again. They head back up the hill and Bryson starts off down the hill. Once again screaming the whole way down. Carter gets on his bike and heads down the hill also. He gets almost to the bottom when the sidewalk banks right. The previous time he just kept straight on to the grass and down the remainder of the hill, this time he decides to follow the path of the sidewalk and hits the concrete hard. He starts screaming and I run over to him. The first thing I say to him is "Why did you turn, why didn't you go straight like the last time." Poor kid huh? I untangle his feet from the bike and take it off of him when I see the arm. It's bowed, and awful looking.

I send Bryson off to get Joe and he carries him back to the house. I pick up the bike and the handle bars are all twisted sideways. I pop him some Tylenol and off to the hospital he and I go. Getting x-rays was horrible.

They had to move his arm in all different ways and he screamed and cried the whole time. Finally the Loratab(liquid Vicodin) kicked in and he was much better. The splinted it that night and we were sent back on our way. Surprisingly the ER wait, three different sets of x-rays and the splinting process only took 4 hours.

(drugged up on the liquid vicodin, he was playing with his arm)

We did go back to the ER on Sunday for swelling, They said it still looked alright and just re wrapped the splint not so tight. Monday we went into have the cast put on. We were told not to give him anything to drink or eat after 12. It was a horrible experience. The doctor said he would try to reset it. I told him he hadn't had any pain medications and the doctor said they don't give them any up there. That he could give Carter a shot but that 4 year olds don't like shots. He proceeded to pull and twist Carter's broken arm. Carter of course stars screaming and finally the doctor says alright he needs to be sedated. We head back to the ER and they give Carter a medicine that is suppose to make him fall asleep. It's suppose to be a happy drug that puts you in dreamland. It starts out with the kids looking off into space and then they fall asleep. He does indeed fall asleep(with his eyes open) and the doctor from Ortho comes back down. He put Carter's arm up under a radar machine and begins to bend, pull and twist is arm back into place. All the while Carter (asleep) is screaming and moaning every time the doctor pulls, bends, or twists his poor arm. The way he was bending Carter's arm I would have thought there were no bones in his arm. Carter broke his Radius in the middle of his forearm and it's a spiral fracture.

(these are both his x-rays)

His fracture doesn't quite sit right on top of each other. While it was being casted the doctor placed his foot up on a chair and placed Carter's arm over his knee and then proceeds to bend his arm over his knee to create a bow in the cast. Carter once again starts screaming(asleep).

Has anyone ever heard of a bowed cast or banana cast? After it was casted another set of x-rays was taken and then Carter started waking up from his medicine. He was not happy, it wasn't dreamland for him. I kept asking them what they were giving him for pain and they just kept saying he won't remember, he won't remember. They never gave him anything for the pain. After all the bending, pulling and twisting the Ortho nurse had to cut the cast the whole length to allow for all the swelling of Carter's arm.

(coming back from dreamland, yeah right, more like a nightmare)

We had to go back on Tuesday because of the swelling also but they said it was acceptable.

(his fingers look like little sausages, he is also drugged up)

We just got back from his appointment today. The main concern was for the fracture to see if it has lined up or not. After all he went through on Monday his fracture had slid back to it's original start. The Ortho doc says it's acceptable that with his age the bone will bridge itself, but we have to come back on the 12th. If it has slid anymore or if it's not aligning itself up he will have to have surgery to have a pin place. He now has an orange cast and doing much better. Say a prayer for no surgery.

(He said the sun was in his eyes, and it hasn't been signed yet. He says I get to put Mommy and I asked about Joe and he just gets Dad.)

A new life

I did my first birth photo shoot on Thursday and it was amazing. I did my best to stay out of the way and capture all the precious moments that you seem to miss during labor. The pictures were tasteful and beautiful. The next day I made a DVD of the photos for them and they loved it.

Today I had my first of many photo sessions with this precious little girl. Aaliyah Rose was very good and liked to pee on all the blankets. She wore her mom out and I had a blast taking photos of this cute little girl. Here she is at 6 days old.

11 Months

This past month was a busy one for you.

• You learned how to walk at 10 1/2 months and you are on the go. You choose to walk over crawling even if you are a bit slower.
• You don't want to sit in your high chair to eat, you want to graze.
• You now have 8 teeth in your mouth.
• You finally got your six month shots.
• You flew back across the big ocean and were so happy to see Daddy.
• Mommy left you for a whole week, and you did awesome. You and daddy are now best buds and I have moved into second place.
• You love to go for walks in your car.
• You wear 18-2t shirts and depending on the length and waist 12-2t shorts.

Chase you are such a joy to be around. You are a pistol and very stubborn but you make us laugh each and every day. I can't believe next month you will be turning 1. The time flies when you are having fun and Chase, we are having a blast with you.

What does a 10 month old eat?

I'm not sure what your 10 month old eats but this is what mine eats for lunch.....and he eats the whole meal.

Okinawa World

We took a little trip to Okinawa World with the Salas family today and had lots of fun. We walked around the caves. Looked at the shops and glass making. We saw an Eisa performance. Which are the drums and dancing. We then watched the Habu snake show. My battery died at the snake show but I have some video of it.





The yellow ballon has cold water which the snake is not interested in and the pink balloon has warm water.

Mt. Fuji

Today was the day I ended my vacation from Tokyo. So sad!! On our flight back to Okinawa we flew by Mt. Fuji. I am coming back in August to climb Mt. Fuji and I am looking forward to it. Here she is in all her glory!!


If you're wondering if I missed my boys....I did!! I am happy to be back and I think they are happy to see me.

Toyko-Ginza-Tawaramachi-Asakusa-Roppongi

I didn't do a whole lot today. My feet hurt!! I have done so much walking that when I am walking around my room without my shoes I almost hobble. Though as I just typed that I also have to laugh although it didn't seem like I did much I actually did a whole lot of walking.

I first Jumped on the Train and headed to Ginza. I went to the Mac store which was awesome and then I went to the Sony store. The Sony store was amazing. There were floors and floors of electronics for you to try out.

After Ginza and jumped on the train and went to the Edo/Tokyo Museum. I defiantly would not bring the boys here. It's one of those things that is nice to do once but probably won't be headed back. It was nice though.

After the museum I headed to the Imperial Gardens to check out the Nijubashi Bridge. It is said that the Nijubashi Bridge is the most photographed scene in Japan. I would have liked to walk around the gardens but, 1. My feet were hurting and 2. All the cherry blossoms weren't in full bloom yet.

I jumped back on the train and went to check out the Tokyo Tower. I didn't go up into the tower because its actually quite expensive. It cost roughly around 16 American dollars. Maybe another time.

When I was done with my photos I wasn't sure what to do next. It was still pretty early in the day but I didn't have anything planned. I thought for a bit and decided to jump on the JR train and take a detour by Tokyo Disney. I can't wait until next month when we take the kids to Disney and was a little excited. I was so excited in fact that I forgot to take a photo as we passed. You can see most of the park form the train and of course the famous castle. You will just have to wait until next month for photos. I got off the JR and went back underground to the subway line and traveled back to Asakusa.

Like I wrote the other day Asakusa really is beautiful and I felt like I hadn't captured that the first go around so I walked the streets for a few hours on my very sore feet. Here are just a few photos.

When I left Asakusa I went to Roppongi and had dinner at T.G.I.F. It was awesome, and cheaper than the Rock!!