Week Gone By

Some of the highlights of the past week:

Kent's Birthday

We celebrated our good buddy's birthday last weekend starting at a local bar called Baku and then headed back to Kent and Tritia's place for games and more food! 

I tried fried squid....and wasn't a big fan of it.

This gem was the topic of debate at the table.  Is it a sink or urinal?  Turns out the kanji on it states it's a urinal.  It's the nicest urinal I've ever seen.

My friend Christa and I ordered these chocolate wheat beers that seemed to be leftover from Valentine's day.  After we split two, we found out they were $15 each.  Whoops.

The tables had fish tanks in them.  It was pretty cool and I would love to have this in my house (except I wouldn't fill it with the bug-eyed gold fish they had selected).

Noa and the birthday boy, Kent.  Sorry it's blurry - the flash wasn't on!

Gunnar Recovers

Thankfully Gunnar is completely recovered from his medical issue last week.  Unfortunately, we have to take both dogs in for dental screenings this week.  In the meantime, they are content chasing bugs on the porch.  Look out guys, I think it's a stinkbug!

Heading North

Noa and some of the guys who are avid road bikers, took a ride up north to Camp Schwab.  This amounts to a 65 mile ride, which includes some pretty steep hills.  Even though Noa hasn't touched his bike in about a year (mostly due to the recent deployment), he was able to complete the ride and made it safely to Camp Schwab.  The rest of the family members met the guys up there and we all rented cabins.  It was a great mini-vacation and I've always wanted to stay up in Oura Wan (Camp Schwab).

Noa takes a pic of some of the guys during a break.  From left to right is Dan, Jason, Tom, Kent, and Noa's bike is in the foreground.

Our cabin was named "Reef" and had an underwater theme: diving photos and books awaited us inside.  The cabins were situated in a cul-de-sac so the kiddos could easily run and play freely.

In the evening we played Mad Gab and Trivial Pursuit: Millennium Edition.  I love game nights!

Laura's mom and step dad are visiting from the states and got in on the game action.

The next morning was hanging out and enjoying each other's company.   Look how much little Ella has grown!

The beach at Oura Wan.  We had visited once before when we first moved to Oki, but never got to stay and enjoy it fully. 

Jackson participates in a little slip-n-slide action.

And Mary Ann and Sophie race around the cul-de-sac.

Good times!

Poor Gunnar

You may wonder, "why the long face, Gunnar?"

Well, poor Gunnar was sitting in a warm bath with epsom salts last night because he has yet another impacted anal gland.  Noa took him to the vet to get it cleaned out (which is just not fun - for us or Gunnar).  Today Gunnar had to wear his cone again.  Now we have nightly baths, cleanings, and medication.

Poor Gunnar.

Try It! Try It! And You May!

Oh the places you'll go,

Oh the things you will do,

Boring ol' snack time is just not the same

When Dr. Seuss Week is through!

Look, I made the kiddos green eggs and ham!  Thankfully, the majority of the class liked it.  We had it for snack today.  Although a lot of work, Kindergarten brings me lots of laughs throughout the day.  Just look what a conversation today at snack time looked like:

Student: Yum!  These are really good!  I like eating green eggs.

Me: You should have your mom make you some at home.

Student: But she won't know the ingredients!

Okuma for the Day

Our church held its annual family camp weekend up at Okuma.  Since we hadn't made arrangements for the dogs and had some things to take care of at home, we decided to go up for one day only.  We spent some time in a teaching session, followed by lunch with some new friends.  One perk of family camp is meeting families and individuals you might not otherwise meet on Sunday morning.  Okuma, as always, was lovely and it was refreshing to spend some time enjoying the beauty of it all. 

We spent most of the afternoon exploring the coastline with Perry and Jennifer.  It was overcast most of the day and even a little cool (thankfully!).

Here's a view from the trail.

A little closer: a view of one of the beaches.

Noa points out the scenery.

The strange, waffle-patterned cement walls along the beach are certainly unique.

Perry decided these were for climbing.

Can you tell who is who?  Noa is on the left, Perry is on the right.

These gorgeous blue-purple flowers were growing along the trail.  How I wish I was carrying my SLR.  I only had my little point-and-shoot with me.

Team Juloa strikes a pose.

Once we were on the beach, we found all kinds of critters and shells.  Here, Jen and Noa try to figure out what creature this white, oval shell came from.

Perry found a giant hermit crab.

This guy was almost invisible against the sand.

These are all hermit crabs that were bunched together in the sand.

I found a white one!

Two cuties on the beach: Jen and me!

Another view of the beach.

This beach is on the other side of one of the lookout points.

And a final view of one of Okuma's beaches through the tall grasses.

Beautiful, simply beautiful!