I Slack... Therefore I Post.

Catch-up day folks! I haven't posted personal photos in a while, so bear with me there are a lot here. (Maybe that makes you happy - I'm sure it will for most of you.)

Mia loves swimming. Here she is preparing to dive into the 12-foot-deep water with her classmates. I like this shot. Even the teacher's hand coming up from the deep like she's begging their uninterested souls to pull her out.


Mia going for it. Every other kid was at the least hesitant (at the most petrified) to go head-first into the deep water in this fashion. Mia? Before they got to "three" she was halfway in. She asks to head to the deep end from the start of class.

I know, her life is so terrible. Look at that grin.

Random shot - it was SUPER dark in this little store... (ISO 6400 here for you photogs), but when Mia put on this hat it was cute and as Craig pulled the camera up to capture her she did this. Hm. Mia Ham. As if there wasn't enough pork on this island. Nice jazz hands.

The summer has arrived here and it is oppressively hot and humid. The upside is that my delicious colorful light and gorgeous clouds have returned from their winter slumber. WOW the sunsets have been incredible! This is from a couple of weeks ago; we were walking on the coral during LOW tide in the early evening. I was happy to bring my wide-angle lens along and somehow this gem showed up. Sadly, most of the other photos aren't as cool as this one; might have to do with the subject in the foreground, at least for me.

June means the beginning of PCS season here in Okinawa. (Permanent Change of Station - aka, everyone's moving.) We're busy with lots of stuff, but saying goodbye to some amazing friends is also part of the deal here, and it sucks. We just lost about 4 of our neighbors on this street, and last week the Turners moved to Hawaii. (You might remember them from the Christmas Eve dinner small world story.) Before they left, we got to grab lunch with them at Gordie's (yum yum burger joint near our house) and play at the park for a bit.


While we waited for food, Natalie, Mia & Cole were getting all "Huck Finn" with a palate. I came over to capture it and said, "Keep doing what you're doing, be super serious and concentrate." This is what I got... and I love it.

Then you know they had to break up laughing, especially Mia...

Ella, the 3-year-old of the bunch has the most attitude & character of all it seems.

Mr. Craig has a bit of a crush on her, and she might have one on him too. Look at this gorgeous face! She's so smart, and with a big brother and sister, she's speaking well beyond her 3 years.There was some swashbuckling.

And then I introduced Kanoe & John to Ramune. A wonderful refreshing soda that has an interesting twist. A marble at the top. It's what that thing is known for... well, we were bound & determined to send them home with a Ramune marble souvenir. Two hours later, with much frustration and a dull pocket knife, this was the result:
SIGH... sad. But I think they can find this stuff on Hawaii maybe.


Here's a rare appearance by ME on the blog (thanks, Craig, for snapping a photo) - with beautiful Kanoe - who is a native of Hawaii, so she's going home. I miss you already, Kanoe!!
And here's the whole lot of 'em at the end of the day. That kid under Craig's arm? Yeah. We don't know who she is, I think she just wanted to get in on all the happy lovin' going on.

We'll MISS you, Turner fam!
We are so visiting you in Hawaii... you & Edith aren't far from each other, we have TWO fabulous reasons to check out Oahu. Well... that and some amazing beaches, crazy umbrella cocktails, and the fact that I've never been there before.

I've missed you, blog & blog audience! Sorry for the slacking, I promise to be better.