Nothing Much Happened This Week...

... except, 1) a slight parental miscommunication on who was applying the sunblock;

"Jason will you put some sunblock on McCall before we go to the pool? Sure Holly." -- Six hours later: "Jason, didn't you put sunblock on McCall before we went to the pool? I put it on her arms and legs. I didn't know you also wanted me to put it on her back." -- Please forgive me daughter!

... 2) McCall adopted a stray cat;

Actually it was more like the stray cat adopted McCall. While we were off-Base on a walk during Denver's karate lesson. This stray cat, now known as "Boots", came out of the bushes and started following McCall. After about a half mile of Boots and McCall insisting that they adopt each other, Dad gave in and we are now the proud owners of a Japanese stray cat. Boots is enjoying our food and drink, but she might be re-thinking her choice of a play partner. If anyone has suggestions on how to teach a two-year old not to carry a kitten around by its neck, we are all ears.

... 3) Denver significantly adding to his Hermit Crab collection;

The More the Merrier

Denver hasn't come up with names for the twenty or so new hermit crabs, but stay tuned. Holly thinks we own too many of them and wants to turn us in to PETHC (People for the Ethical Treatment of Hermit Crabs).

.... 4) We spent the day at a beach resort;

Renaissance Marriott Beach Resort

... 5) We attended the fourth of July "Amerifest" at Kadena Air Base;

F-15

Kadena Air Base sponsored a big 4th of July festival and had aircraft on display as part of the festivities.

McCall Piloting a C-130

I really hope they check the position of all of the switches after letting her sit in the cockpit.

E-3 AWAACS

... and, 6) We went to Maede Beach with some friends;

Beach Party

We packed up the coolers, chairs, and beach umbrellas for an exciting afternoon and evening at Maede Beach (about 30 minutes from Kadena Air Base). There were five families and the agenda for the outing included snorkeling, hermit crab hunting, cooking hobo dinners, watching the sunset, and much more.

Holly and I during our Shift Guarding the Beach from an Invasion

She Thinks She is So Sneaky

The Boys Discussing their Hermit Crab Hunting Techniques

McCall Enjoying the Sunset

The ocean sunsets here in Okinawa are beautiful. As the tide kept coming up McCall would yell at the water a few times and then give up her position and move up the shore a few feet. This process would then be repeated a few minutes later and McCall ended up doing this for over an hour. It was quite entertaining to watch.