Cypress Resort Kumejima Kumejima-cho

... the scale of this tank. Truly extraordinary.

Our last stop of the day was at the Nago Pineapple farm. Pineapple and sugar cane used to be a couple of important cash crops here in Okinawa but, due to competition from lower cost suppliers in the 3rd world, are primarily grown today for the benefit of the tourism industry. It was interesting to learn more about pineapple (I guess that I could have simply looked this up on Wikipedia but definitely more interesting ...

... rooms. It was fascinating to be walking through an area that was central to major World War 2 battles nearly 70 years ago.

We also took in Shurijyo Castle which is a reconstruction of the primary castle that served as the main administrative centre when Okinawa was still a feudal fiefdom under the Tokugawa Shogunate. The castle had been destroyed several times, the latest of which was during the Battle of Okinawa during World War 2. This latest ...

... next couple of days as we go on two guided tours. One will be up to the north end of the island to an aquarium and a pineapple farm. I am sure that once we get outside of Naha City that we will see the true tropical paradise aspects of this island. We will also be spending some time outside of the city on the south of the island. There is a lot of World War Two history here as this south end of the island is ...

... a walk to the playground in her extreme stroller. She and another very little girl played on the slides as we and the girl's parents raced around trying to keep them from falling. It was actually not a very toddler-friendly playground, as we had to scale a hill to get up there and navigate the stroller down a staircase to leave. Back at the house, we packed up everything, getting ready to say goodbye to Okinawa in the morning.

... handled this very gracefully and eventually ended up running back and forth through it in her diaper screaming. If only we'd just skipped all the museum stuff and brought her right to the fountain!

FOr dinner we tried Obbligato, a Mexican restaurant as imagined by the Japanese. It was pretty good; I got chimichangas for the first time and they reminded me of eggrolls. We also had a pitcher of margaritas, so a good time was had.

... of my still-tender toe, but I just pointed to it and tried to explain, and so the lady doing my feet avoided it except to paint it. It was extremely relaxing- the little girl across from us completely conked out. I chose jasmine oil to help me recover from my fatigue, and opted for some nail art to try to blend in more in Asia.

Unfortunately when we left the nail salon, it was pouring, so we slipped along the road in our massage oil-covered flip flops. Then when we ...

... with about one hour to go before my flight was set to depart, let alone board. I sprinted to the check-in gate, which was empty because everyone else had gone through. Yikes! But for some reason the airport was deserted, and I was sitting at the gate, bored, within 15 minutes of arriving. I've had really good luck with being on time so far this trip (knock on wood).

One thing I did not turn out to be lucky with for this ...

So, I thought that April was busy. May was our first month on our own with Trevor deployed. Though I hate to explore without him. We (me and the kids) needed some distractions. I signed Ava up for a gymnastics class and a ballet class. Of course I forgot my camera most classes I did get a few pictures. The kids made some nice presents for me for Mother's Day, thanks to their provider Jen! We made a trip to my schools' Luau and the kids ...

... routes in the forest were paved with stones and surrounded by attractive tropical trees, but some parts of the routes were slippery and it is better to use a cane sometimes which you can borrow for free at the starting point. In the most important site, two large rocks were naturally put together to make a route to the altar, where we can see the Pacific Sea through the bush. Seifa-Utaki had less visitors than the other attractions in ...

... was a lot of stuff that was just left there- like toliets and everything electrical. Most of the rooms were pretty beat up, and one had a small fire started in it. It didn`t quite feel right and Chiye was definitely feeling spooked so we mostly stuck to the outside. It was really grungy looking, and there was junk laying everywhere. It was kind of interesting to wander around. But now that I have done some more research, I`m not sure if I`ll go back. Especially- not in ...