Denver Derby and Tickling the Ivories

What do the Pinewood Derby and Piano Recitals have in common? The answer: Saturday, January 29th, 2011. After Denver's amazing last place finish last year, he set the lofty goal to not finish in last place this year...

Introducing the Denver Dragster

Complete with custom flames paint job.

Before the Weigh-In

At the Weigh-In

The weight limit is 5 ounces. After building his car, it weighed 4.9 ounces. Denver really wanted to get right up to exactly 5 ounces, so he weighed a bunch of items around the house until he found that a dime weighs 0.1 ounces. He then decided to tape a dime to the bottom.

The Pinewood Miracle

To our amazement, the first heat began and Denver's came in front. The pattern continued and he finished first or second in almost every race. Believe it or not, a kid who actually designed and built his own car won second place overall.

The Proud Cub Displaying his Bling

The Proud Mother Very Sad that Pinewood Derby is Over

Denver with His Pack 108 Mates

The Denver Dragster in Action

Click above for some sweet live-action footage of the Denver Dragster.

Saturday afternoon, Denver had a piano recital...

The Master and the Student

Denver's piano teacher, Kim, is great.

The Recital Piece

Click above for a stirring and much more difficult arrangement of the first, and only, recital number that his Dad performed 25 years earlier.

The Petting Zoo Bakery

Last weekend we had our second visit to what we have named the "Petting Zoo Bakery." Okinawa is an island full of oddities and none is more fascinating than combining a bakery and a petting zoo. Their custard puffs are to die for, if you don't mind brushing off the donkey hair before you eat it.

Akemashite omedetougozaimusu

In other words, Happy New Year! 2011, the Year of the Rabbit, came at us faster than Thumper on crack. We celebrated the New Year by...

Ringing in the New Year

After midnight we began 2011 by ringing a bell at a Buddhist temple just behind the Futenma Shrine in Ginowan. We were joined by some friends who dared brave the Arctic temperatures in the low 50s.

Zipping in the New Year

Jason's coworker, John Vidic, and his family invited a bunch of families over for New Year's day brunch. The food was awesome, but Denver and McCall's favorite part was definitely the zipline they built in their backyard beach.

Eating in the New Year

Finally on the day after New Year's day (New Year's in Japan is a multi-day affair), we joined the Pinnau Family to celebrate in traditional Japanese style with the Hodeku family. The Pinnau's have known the Hodeku family for many years and we were very honored to be invited into their home. Jason was also honored to partake of goat sashimi (raw goat). The goat sashimi tasted mostly like wasabi and soy sauce. We are convinced that you can eat virtually anything in the world, if it is accompanied with ample quantities of wasabi and soy sauce.

Christmas 2010...

Christmas here in Okinawa was pretty good to the Dalpias family in 2010. If Christmas can be measured in terms of the amount of sugar consumed, number of events attended and presents received, this Christmas would definitely be considered a success for the kids. If Christmas can be measured in terms of quiet reflection on the deeper meaning of life and the importance of the birth of Jesus, there is always next year. Christmas this year consisted of...

Cake Decorating,

Caroling,

Lunch with Santa,

Yomitan Christmas Lights,

An Awesome Christmas Eve Party,

Christmas Morning Presents Galore,

A Vanishing Christmas Cat,

Juniper's First Christmas Morning Omelette,

A Marshmallow Crossbow,

And, Juniper's Favorite Present

After all of the wonderful presents received, Juniper most enjoyed this beautiful green decorative plastic bag, which she carried around all of Christmas day. Unfortunately, the Grinch and the Safety Police stole the bag that night after she went to bed.