Glorious Friday

How quickly this week flew by! Hubby was actually "off." He officially ditched his computer and the handed over his blackberry last evening, so, we were free enjoy the beautiful day. Seeing as this was our last day on Okinawa, we solicited the munchkins for suggestions as to what to see and do. Big Sister, spent the morning at school, the last for the school year. We retrieved her around noon and headed out on our afternoon adventures.

After a few errands and a picnic lunch, we headed to one of our favorite parks, the Dolphin Park. The playground apparatus/jungle gym and roller slide were under construction, however, the adjacent beach was was deserted and the tide low. We spent an hour walking along the beach and out into the ocean looking for critters, shells, and crabs. The Little Dudes walked out with cargo pockets full of shells and actual pinchers from deceased crabs and Big Sister was looking for exotic coral pieces and clam shells to take to Hawaii.


With our trip to a beach checked off, we headed down the road to the Ferris Wheel. It has been a favorite spot since our arrival and we have multitudes of photos of the family on various occasions. Not only is it a favorite spot, but, a landmark that we will always associate with Okinawa's skyline and "American Village."

As we were headed back to the Westpac, we decided to drive through the neighborhood for one last whirl. We saw that Aki's car (mamasan/babysitter) was at the home of her current employment (family friends). Our timing could not have been better. It was moments before she was to get off of work and we were able to say goodbye to our friends and invite her to dinner. We were headed to the Macaroni Grill for the first time in ages and it was going to be a first time adventure for her. Aki, being an Okinawan native, was blown away by the sheer size of the restaurant and the decor. Her comment to me was, "you Americans do everything big!" She quickly asked the waitress in Japanese "What do Japanese people eat here?" Once she had her first bite of the rosemary bread, tasted the balsamic vinegar, and finally took her first bite of the seafood linguine, she was hooked. She told me that she is going to bring her friends back and now wants to go to Italy. It was wonderful spending our last dinner with such a great lady and the kids were just tickled! It was definitely a perfect ending to our glorious Friday!