Earth Week and Adoption

As I'm sure all of our environmentally-minded friends and family already know, April 22nd was Earth Day. One day just wasn't enough time for us here at Kadena Air Base so we extended the fun and celebrated Earth Week. On Friday evening there was an Earth Week Family Fun Night at the community center and our family volunteered to help out...

How Many Aluminum Cans are in the Block?

The recycling center at Kadena Air Base has a machine that crushes the aluminum cans into blocks. We used one of these blocks for a guessing game. There was a prize for the person who came closest and believe it or not someone actually guessed the exact number. What's your guess? (see the bottom of the post for the answer)

Recycling Mania

The highlight of the evening was when the extraordinary 'Mr. Jason' played a recycling game with the kids. After a short lesson on recycling, Mr. Jason split the group into four teams and instigated mass chaos by seeing which team could segregate their recyclable material into the appropriate recycle bins the fastest.

The Earth Week fun continued for the Dalpias family when we volunteered at cleanup of Toguchi beach on Saturday morning...

Feeding Our Faces

You can't pick up trash on an empty stomach. Holly really loves this cute picture of Jason and the kids eating donuts.

The Haul
It's amazing how much trash you can find when 180 people spend three hours looking for it. In addition to the truck above, there were also eight large garbage containers filled with trash.

After the beach cleanup we went to have some fun at the Opening Weekend celebration at the Torii Station Water Park. They just completed some extensive remodeling and even though it was windy and temps were down to the mid 60s, the kids didn't seem to care...

Water Fountain Fun

Despite ingesting several gallons of water into her lungs through her nose, McCall really loved the new water fountains.

Lastly, the BIGGEST news of the week: We adopted a new member of the family. Towards the end of the family fun night we lost Denver in the crowd, but we met a delightful young boy named Steve. Steve agreed to come home with us in Denver's stead and we really enjoyed getting to know him over the weekend. In fact, we love Steve so much that we drafted up some adoption paperwork and signed it this morning. We are so glad to have Steve as the newest member of our family...

Steve Dalpias

Crushed Aluminum Can Block Answer: 600

Bios on the Hill

This Saturday we visited a place called 'Bios on the Hill', which ended up being a mix between a nature park, petting zoo, swing park, botanical garden, and historical ruins...

Little Shrub Houses

We don't know how they grew them, but these little homes made entirely of live shrubs were pretty amazing. First mentioned in the year 1229 on the ancient scrolls of the 7th Ryukyu King Wass-upp-wit-tat, these shrub houses are believed to be the world's oldest known remains of a colony of little people.

Denver, McCall and Holly Brave the Treacherous Dragon Pond Boardwalk

Chillin'

Log Swings

These technological marvels feature a large pole platform, a log and two ropes. Log swings are much less forgiving than a plastic swing if you happen to wander in front of someone while they are in mid-swing. Consequently, log swings have been outlawed in the United States by the SSSSS (Society of Swing Safety Standard Specialists).

Goats and Water Buffalo

What else could make a little girl so happy? The water buffalo were pretty mellow and McCall had fun petting them. Interacting with the water buffalo made Jason realize that he was not meant to be one of them. He just couldn't imagine himself being content with others leading him around by a rope that has been threaded through his nose. Not to mention that pulling around a wagon full of tourists all day would be a real drag.

Spring Break Trip to IE Island

This past weekend we went on an awesome camping trip to nearby IE Island...

Sugar Plum Ferrys

To get too IE Island we loaded are car and are badselves onto a fairy. We realised on the boat ride that it was the first time since are arival that we have ben out on the open see.

Hibiscus the Size of a Child's Heed

The brochure we had about IE Island claimed that it was the "Island of Flowers and Sunsets". This proved to be very true. Almost every yard had beatifully tended flower gardens and there were also many Flower Gardens. This picture was taken at the Hibiscus Gardens where they had over 1,000 varieties of Hibiscus on display. In case you are wondering, McCall is smelling the flower.

The Summit View from Mt. Gusuku

The highest (and only) mountain on IE Island is Mt. Gusuku. Towering above the surrounding landscape at a phenomal 565 ft above mean sea level, the summit of Mt Gusuku is not a place for the faint of heart or those who are susceptible to High Altitude Pulmonary Edema.

Japanese Stairs

One thing that makes any hike in Japan a fun adventure, is the lack of set standards for the spacing of stairs. You have to pay attention with each step because you never know large your next step will be.

Our Triumphant Return to Camping

After more than a year without a family tent campout, to say that Denver was slightly excited would be a gross understatement. We added a little adventure to this trip, when Jason pulled out the camping tote at the campground and realized that we had only shipped one (not two) of our tents to Okinawa. After spending two nights together in this tent, I can safely say that we are a close family.

Lily Field Park

IE Island is known for its Annual Lily Festival which officially begins next weekend and lasts for a few weeks. At Lily Field Park there are over one million lilies displayed.

Wajee Viewpoint and Blue Steel

Japanese Factoid of the Week

If you are a faithful blog follower, you may have read previous comments about the abundance of soda machines in Japan. There are at least 2.6 soda machines for every resident of Japan. We are not exaggerating when we say that you can find them EVERYWHERE. We thought that this picture helped demonstrate this point. There is nothing quite like sipping down an ice cold soda while you look at the cows and take in the fresh country air.

Denver didn't Quite Know What to Think of the Nice Farmer that Pleaded with Him to Pet his Poultrous Pal

Niya-thiya Cave

Over 1,000 locals used this cave as a bomb shelter during WWII.

Playing with Fire

In an extreme act of defiance, Holly decided to test her resistance to mythical powers by lifting the rock in this cave. There is a legend that any woman who lifts this rock will soon bear a child. We really had fun teasing Denver after he lifted this rock. We told him that the rock was very powerful and told him to let us know if he ever starts experiencing funny feelings in his stomach.

McCall on Pot

The View from Our Campground

Like we always say: "Life's a Beach and then you Die"

Does Anyone Ever Get Sick of Getting Buried in the Sand?

I know I don't.

The Before-Church Show-Off-Your-Easter-Outfit Picture

Denver was really excited to hold McCall's hand for this picture.

A Kite, A Rose Bush, A Bunny and Four Parks

The week started with some family night kite-flying fun...

Let's Go Fly A Kite

Although it just happens to be March, one nice thing about living here is that, unless there is a typhoon in progress, there is almost always a nice steady sea breeze that is perfect for kite flying.

Not What You Might Think

When you look at this picture you may think that we were using rose pedals as props to try and and create an artistic photographic moment, Unfortunately, the truth is that McCall had sneakily decided to pick all of the pedals off of the rose bush for her "Birthday Party". Ever since her birthday celebration last month, every mess that she creates is for her "Birthday Party".

We started our Saturday festivities by attending the Civil Engineer Group's Spring Fest which featured...

Games,

Face Painting,

An Easter Bunny,

There's nothing quite as exciting as pranking the Easter Bunny with some bunny ears in the photo.

And an Easter Egg Hunt.

We spent the rest of our Saturday park exploring...

Slightly More Privacy than Peeing on a Tree

One thing that we have noticed about the restrooms at Japanese parks is that privacy for men's urination needs is NOT a top priority. Luckily, so far all of the squatters have had doors.

Globe Net and Slide

Denver, McCall and Holly on Top of the World

Concrete Slide Mania

The parks this week has some fun concrete slides. Concrete slides are lots of fun for the kids, but it is not recommended to wear your best clothes for this activity (click on the video above if you don't believe me).