A Fabulous Dive

Yep. Absent again. But I came back to show you THIS.

Turn on the sound and enjoy! Gearing up for the kiddo's birthday, I shall post pics from that, promise.

Post #2 - IN ONE DAY! BUT IT'S FOR A FREE NECKLACE!

You really need to click here. I have that necklace. It's amazing. And I love it. And the sale is a worthy reason to go also. Jib & Genoa - and Jen, the designer of the fabulousness - get my big thumb's up happy jump up and down excitement today.

Go forth and BLOG a photo and win a necklace!

Last night.

Last night I had sushi & other goodness at a fantastic restaurant with my friend Kelly and my new friend Mary. I was so very happy to eat a delicious dinner with friends, and to meet Mary because I LOVE reading her blog. She makes amazing videos too. She said, "I get a little sad when I see your stiletto heels on your blog and you haven't posted anything new." Trust me - I know that as each day passes there are a few (not many, but a FEW) folks who are very disappointed that I'm not blogging.

That's lame of me. Mia returns to school on Monday. I'd like to make it a part of my day - even if it's just to put up a photo or a quick sentence - to blog again. Because I like it. And a few of YOU like it. And I miss it!

Anyway - I did NOT have my camera with me at said fabulous restaurant (a sushi place in Hamby) but I will definitely go back there again.... but I do have a few summer photos, more specifically of the fishies we've been watching because it's so unbearably hot outside we really must be in the water at all times.

Have a great weekend! More on BACK TO SCHOOL for the next post!

LOVE this.

Thank you Creme de la Mode - for this funness...

Make your own MUPPET!

That might even be worth $90...

Because the Lizaldes Deserve Their Own Post

I linked this in the last post, but HERE is the post about the event from Edith herself.

We are always thinking about you 3 - MWAH MWAH MWAH!

This blog gets neglected...

when things get busy. Sorry.

I have photos of a pottery village trip, the incredible Naha tug-of-war, and some amazing dive shots from my trip to the keramas. But right now, I'm working on the stuff I get paid to do - and my paying clients would be less than thrilled if I didn't have their stuff done on time so that I could be posting my personal stuff.

It's coming! Promise! While you wait... 2 stories.

I just had to call the housing agency to have a maintenance person come out. He came today to fix a broken drawer and look at a couple of things. When he was finished, he commented on our piano. I asked, "Do you play?"
"Skoshi..." (a little).
"Please, sit!" I turned on our digital piano - which, I might add, even this guy agreed was pretty good for a digital jobber.

He just played me the most gorgeous song, almost without error. Wow! Now that's not something that would ONLY happen in Okinawa - but it's rather unusual to have a housing maintenance guy sit and play an intricate Japanese song for you on your piano.

The second story - Mia of course. She is miss INDEPENDENT now, and walks to the bus on her own in the morning and then home again in the afternoon. It's about 1 1/2 blocks up the road, and it's really not a big deal - but last week it was raining one day and I went to grab her. She got off the bus with a scowl, and said, "Why are you HERE?" Uh - because I figured I'd bring a raincoat for ya so you wouldn't get soaked. You're welcome! Jeez.

So a couple of nights later, Craig remembered what happened and said, "Mia - why don't you want Mommy to come to the bus stop to pick you up sometimes? You used to love that."

She thought for a minute and said, "Well - because I can do it myself. And I can do stuff I can't do with you when you walk with me."

"Like what?"

"Well.... " long pause, "Like petting the doggies and kitties on the way home." (Dogs, whatever, but the ferile cats out there?! Yikes. But hey, she was honest, right? We got a good laugh out of it.) Thankfully the cats mostly run off before she can reach them anyway.

Ok, I had enough time to edit photos from the dive trip.

And I wanted to share this story on Athena's blog. She's a photographer in Hawaii (a very talented one and you should call her if you're there because she rocks) and she helped us do something very special for a very special friend. I can't wait to hear Edith's take. Thanks, Athena!!

Have a great day - PHOTOS SOON - I'm not going to promise, because I have FOUR shoots to edit for work and my personal stuff comes last - but you know, soon. And I just planned a 3-day trip with a girlfriend to KYOTO in November for changing leaves. I can't WAIT!

Bear With Me - I Must Confess...

What a night. You get to read the story. Because I feel like it will somehow help (yep, selfish).

Last month at the OIWC meeting, the Japanese side board President invited the group to a concert being held in October. A Russian Orchestra. I was intrigued and interested. I really wanted to take Mia and Craig and also thought of my friend Annya since she is Russian, but it ended up that didn't work out (not really part of the story). Point is - YES YES I WANT TO GO! I signed up for 5 tickets. Besides - they were FREE!

Yesterday was the OIWC monthly luncheon, and a woman came and found me with an envelope with my 5 blue tickets. But Annya and her family had hopped a flight to mainland and I needed to give away two tickets. So I called my friend Elizabeth. She and her hubby are kidless, and that way we could all go without needing another ticket. She & her hubby were into it! YAY! Going to a concert, how fun. So this morning I gave her the tickets, and we talked about what to wear and when to be there - it was down in Naha at 7, so we were going to leave early. As it turns out, it was a really windy & rainy night - so it was a good thing we had that plan.

I gave her directions and we said we'd call when we were close. We left our house a little bit before 6. As we were about to get on the expressway, Ebeth called me. "We passed the exit on the expressway and now we're lost." They had a map, I had a map, and we tried to figure out the situation. But she hadn't eaten and was thinking they might need to stop for food. But they didn't want to be late. At about 6:30 we had gotten off the expressway at our exit and were in parking lot traffic. UGH.

So now Ebeth is calling me with her tales of woe about being lost. And just a little side note folks... being lost in Okinawa at night in the rain is horrendous. You don't know what direction you're going, ALL THE SIGNS ARE IN JAPANESE, and the routes aren't marked and you can't really stop and ask for directions. I took pity on her and held my map as Craig sat in the driver's seat - butt aching from sitting in traffic. Mia had a book and a new book light (thanks, Grandma!) so she was set thank goodness, but now it's 6:45 and she's getting antsy (aren't we all).

Finally things were looking up. I could tell from our map & where we were driving that we were close. Ebeth & Dean had finally FOUND 330 and were headed in almost the right direction - they'd passed their destination but they were going to turn around. We were both STILL in awful traffic, I might add. Now Mia's whining, Craig is squirming and saying things like, "This had better be awesome..." and we FINALLY see what we're looking for! The Naha Civic Hall! Like a beacon in the night.

"TURN HERE, Babe! This is IT!" I'm on the phone with Ebeth when we find it and as we can't see where to go to park, I tell her, "I'll call you back - just turn around and make a left on 222!"

Suddenly I realize. It's dark. NOBODY is driving around the hall. There's lots of traffic, but there are no people at all by this thing... what gives? Then Craig asks, "Are you sure it's tonight?" I pull my tickets from my purse.

"Yeah - tonight's the 6th!"

"It's the 7th."

Wow. I've never been quite so sorry that my daughter was in the car. Maybe it was a blessing because I would've woven a tapestry of obscenities that as far as we know would still be hanging in space over Lake Michigan. I picked up my cell phone.

"Yeesssssssss?"
"Ebeth. You're gonna hate me."
"Oh no...what?!?!"
"It was last night."
"No! You're lying! No it wasn't!"
Then Dean starts saying, no, screaming exactly what I wanted to say in the background. They have skipped dinner and spent the last hour and a half LOST for heaven's sake!

I felt awful. Still do. I am filling out an I'm Sorry ecard in addition to the mea culpa here in print. I suck. And the worst part is - besides having to drive HOME in that same traffic - that my husband and kid, dressed nicely and dealing with the forever ride for the payoff and I - we didn't get to see the show. And it's not like it's tomorrow- it's over.

So - don't shed a tear. Go ahead and laugh at me. But I am definitely bummed and sorry. And very happy that this is NOT typical of Aviva. Never ever again!

Don't Vote.

Ok - I know it's UK YouTube - but I couldn't figure out how to make the stupid thing come up in ENGLISH on my Japanese IP computer.

PLEASE VOTE. This is funny.

Hi There, I'm Aviva!

Yeah, I figured you thought I'd forgotten about this blog - but I haven't! Bear with me.

Catch up time - things are good. Busy with work. Craig's fine. Mia's working hard in school and playing piano, I'm thinking she might try out for swim team but not if she isn't into it. We're using weekends to do some exploring despite the fact that it's still hot as blazes outside. But when the typhoon winds aren't blowing, it makes for amazing skies... as you can see from our recent trip up north to Hiro's Coffee Farm!
About 1 1/2 hours' drive north is this little gem. I read about it on Okinawa Hai! and had to see for myself. What a hidden little paradise for the coffee lovers!

What.... I said farm, right? There were chickens. Mia was fascinated. This guy was just hanging out under our table. Very friendly, even when Mia decided to pet it.

Now just MENTIONING Mia petting chickens reminded me of this:

Pardon the quality - they're screen shots from an album on Kodak gallery from October of 2004 at Bates Nut Farm in Valley Center (aka "Nate's Butt Farm"). That is Mia. Carrying a chicken. A poor defenseless small and fuzzy chicken. Who, surprisingly, did NOT peck her eyes out. Many of you reading this blog didn't know Mia when she was 3, so here she was - in all her long-haired cuteness.

Onward to Mia (and BOTH Craig and I!) in the present day! Enjoying our time at Hiro's Coffee Farm. Hiro himself took this shot - he offered, and as he took my camera he lifted it with a surprised face and said, "Whoa, big camera." No kidding.


We got macro tubes. For those who don't know, these are cylinders that attach between the camera body and the lens that extend your focal length. It allows you to focus in to details of things MUCH closer (like flowers, bugs, water droplets...) - so we experimented, and I think these are quite nice.

One of my favorite flowers - particularly for its incredibly delicious smell - the plumeria.


Of course the Hibiscus.

And some bouganvilla.
Here's the kid with her dad. She enjoyed a couple of cookies and an OJ while we downed a fantastic mug of iced coffee. (as you can see here, Craig's is already empty)
The inside ceiling was lined in burlap coffee bags.
Here's the menu. We knew to bring a cooler with lunch food because there's not much food on the menu here... but that was quite alright with us. Mmmmm...

We bought a small bag of freshly roasted beans from Hiro, and he brought it in this cute paper sack. Craig snapped this interesting shot, I'm pointing out a photo in a magazine to Mia in the background.
This is a milk canister as far as I can tell (or cream). I just thought it was cool.
Here are some young seedlings. Hiro told us that the 1000 plants he harvests from on his farm are 20 years old.
Here are some new young beans on a 10-year-old plant:
Neat, huh? And here is Hiro with Mia & Craig. What a sweet man, very appreciative - and definitely doing some good business. By the way, we tried the coffee this morning - and it's fantastic. Though the atmosphere up north while sipping iced java on a hot day is EVEN better.

A few more photos from the nearby beach to come - soon, I promise - more of Mia (for you, Mom) because I know it has been a while!

I Couldn't Forget

It's 9/12 in Okinawa now. But still 9/11 in the states - most importantly in NY and VA. I recalled my experience on 9/11 with my mother on the phone yesterday and she recalled hers. My folks live in NJ, my father works in NYC.

Seven years ago (wow... seven years) I was 9 months pregnant, living in Escondido, bummed I'd be missing my brother's wedding in NJ because I couldn't fly out for it, and waking up and making breakfast. I turned on the television and for some weird reason it was on Univision, the Spanish channel. So when it came on, I saw the image of a tower on fire - but with Spanish words & subtitles going I thought it was a new movie promo.... sadly, that was not the case.

As I changed the channel and it started to register, my phone rang. It was my mom's best friend calling from Calabasas, CA. "Your mom & dad are fine - but you won't be able to get through on the phone for a while most likely..." and it all started to register as I watched plane #2 go into the second tower live on TV. I'll never forget that moment. Neither will my poor father, who watched it from his workplace window across town in NYC.

I'm thankful that those of the people I know in my home state and in the DC area (my brother-in-law had a meeting at the Pentagon that day) are all well. There are stories, but they have happy endings. Many don't. Nobody can forget that day - that day where we all gathered around our televisions with tears in our eyes with the realization that things would never be the same. Certainly for our military family. And for my then unborn baby.

A lot of memorials and truces are called in the US today, including a day off of campaigning for our Presidential candidates. As my friend Nick aptly put it, "Some might see these yearly memorials as sappy. I sure hope not. I, for one, am still angry. It still pains me. I truly hope that we never forget. I know I never will. "

Nothing For A Year

...and today I get 5 emails and a phone call about this:

Potential category 3 on Friday... HA. Of course, on the weekend. DOH. I can't help but think my "I DON'T THINK..." in this post had something to do with this....

Hi there, Stranger.

Well - the biz has launched. And thankfully between that and some other commitments - I'm busy. But I miss blogging, dangit! So here I am. There WILL be photos of a recent trip up waaaaay north with 3 new photog friends. We had a very good time and I'm happy to say that with the 2nd of a few photog friends leaving this week (sniff), and a 3rd on her way in December - I'm VERY happy to find others I'm having fun shooting with.

So. More on that when I get to editing those photos after the paid stuff is done. (My priorities are in the right place.)

I saw something on Jasmine Star's blog that made me want to give it a shot. Humor me. (The stuff in caps is there, but I fill in the rest.)

I AM … a thirty-something mom, wife, daughter, and friend.
I WANT… a healthy family and an endless supply of sushi.
I HAVE … an adoring amazing hubby and a kid, parents, and friends that support me and love me. I'm lucky.
I KEEP … sentimental crap that I should probably throw away. Sigh.
I WISH I COULD … fly. Wouldn't that be cool? Or just put more hours in a day - or make it so that eating everything you wanted wouldn't make you gain a pound. I'm working on that.
I HATE … mean people.
I FEAR … large hairy spiders and death. I don't want to die before I can enjoy every bit of this life.
I HEAR … my husband playing the drums with his fingers and my daughter reading out loud.
I DON’T THINK … we're going to get a typhoon this year. (HA, see? I want one so I figured I'd make that prediction.)
I REGRET … not having more time with my grandparents.
I LOVE …so many things... the smell of Mia's hair and how it feels to hug her, being in my husbands arms, going out to eat with my family or friends and laughing and talking and laughing. And I love taking pictures.
I AM NOT … a reader. I want to be. But I'm a skimmer now - I don't have the patience. I miss books.
I DANCE … when great 80's or 90's music comes on and makes me think of high school and college days.
I SING … in the car. All the time. And every other chance I get.
I NEVER … thought I'd be living in Okinawa!
I RARELY … exercise. But that's about to change (more on that later).
I CRY WHEN I WATCH … ok, this list is very long - any sad movie, long distance commercial, my kid do something grown-up, weddings, babies being born....
I AM NOT ALWAYS … good at being politically correct and sensitive. I have strong opinions.
I HATE THAT … time is going by so fast I feel like it's zooming. Stop!
I’M CONFUSED ABOUT … investments. I want to be a grown-up, but I don't know anything about the stock market or mutual funds or any of that. Thankfully Craig does.
I NEED … (technically food, water, sleep and that's it... but, it's ME we're talking about) a Canon fisheye lens, about 5 more hours in a day, more live music, a bigger external hard drive, and a clothes shopping spree.
I SHOULD … spend more time playing with Mia. When I do it - I love it.

Well, that was fun. Try it if you like.

In other news, Craig shaved his head. He said he'll let me take a picture tomorrow. I'm NOT used to it, and I hope he'll grow back what little there was. It's surprising that shaving off a small amount of hair makes that much of a difference in the way he looks.

He told me over the phone, and I didn't tell Mia - so when he walked in the door from work and took off his cover I heard, (........silence) "What happened to your hair, buddy?!?" Who IS this kid?!

Keramas Dive

What a great holiday weekend topped off with a trip to the Keramas for three dives. WOW. There's really not much more to say.

Just some to SHOW....

There are more, but I MUST SLEEP.

Anne being zen at the bottom of the ocean.

I borrowed my new buddy Val's Canon PowerShot with its dive case, and had a bit of photographer fun under the water today! (I'm SO getting one now. With a flash diffuser - that would've made a huge difference.) Here are some clown fish protecting their anemone. (LOTS of that going on down there...)

Lots of giant clams to see.
How many clown fish do you count?
Do you see it? look closely and you can see its EYE.....
It was a really large octopus! I was rather impressed with myself for spotting this one.

One of my buddies, Kicker, found this little moray and played with him for a moment.
But - on the 3rd and last dive, I had one of my dreams come true. I swam with CRUSH! (aka, a giant sea turtle) Here's Anne having a look and a pet - they were so docile and really didn't care that we were there.

Anne's camera (the new waterproof to 10m Olympus point & shoot with a case that has a flash diffuser) is amazing and she got some mind-blowing shots today!

Not the least of which was this one. Which will definitely be framed on my wall. THANKS, Anne! And thanks for an amaaaaaaazing dive day, Kicker, Snuff, Brandon, Karen, Anne & Derek.

The Okinawa International Women's Club

I hope you'll check out the post I contributed at Okinawa Hai concerning the amazing local group, the OIWC. Please consider coming to the welcome coffee this Wednesday if you're here and looking for a way to donate a little time and have a lot of fun! I hope to see or meet you there.

In Response to Ernie

So I just saw this bit of hilarity and it reminded me to write about something (this coincidence is a pretty good one too by the way... I can't believe I hadn't blogged this yet and Ernie made a parody of this particular song).

So that song, "I Kissed a Girl" (by Katy Perry - not the much more harmless 1995 Jill Sobule version) is popular right now. It's catchy as all heck and once it's in your head you're singing it for days. Here's the problem.... when you have a 6 1/2-year-old DAUGHTER who's singing it for days, it suddenly becomes horrendously inappropriate. HOW do you explain this? "The taste of her cherry Chapstick," grrr..... I do not need Mia singing this to the masses in her new 1st grade class. At least I was in junior high when "Like a Virgin" came out, and I can't imagine how happy the parents were with Madonna's choices.

We just finished watching So You Think You Can Dance (aforementioned big favorite in this house) and on a recent episode, Katy Perry was on the show singing this song. That was the first time Mia had heard it, and she LOVED it. She has a good musical ear, so within minutes she's jumping around the house singing it "I KISSED A GIRL AND I LIKED IT!" AAAAAAAAAAAARGH.

Every so often, hubby has a stroke of genius in the parenting department. Suddenly he decided that if they got creative with the lyrics it would be really funny. Thus ensued, "Mommy kissed a horse and she liked it!" And, "Mia ate a cicada and she liked it!" (Yeah, 3 syllables, so what? We made it work.) Whew. Crisis averted. And her creativity is pretty good really.

I think Craig was quite proud of himeslf. Until her retort was, "Daddy kissed a boy and he liked it..."

This Is So Cool!

Thanks, Mom.... This is so amazing!

I'm slacking again, I know. The time I get in front of the computer is being used to put together MANY things for the biz. I'll be back soon, I promise!

Mia's last day of swim is tomorrow - sniff - and we're getting haircuts. We'll definitely share some photos of that.

And this week is Obon - a very big deal Okinawan holiday. (you may remember last year's festivities) So I'm certain there will be more interesting things to photograph this year! We will seek it out.

RIP

We lost two great entertainers this weekend.

Bernie Mac was one very funny guy; I think it's tragic that he died so young at a mere 50 years of age. George Clooney, one of my few boyfriends on the side, was quoted as saying, "The world just got a little less funny. He will be dearly missed."

Isaac Hayes. Wow. 65. Again, too young! I was born in 1971 when Shaft came out; I remember my dad playing that soundtrack on his reel-to-reel TEAC tape player. From the NY Times:
"At the Oscar ceremony in 1972, Hayes performed the song wearing an eye-popping amount of gold and received a standing ovation." (Hey! Bling before bling was COOL!) "TV Guide later chose it as No. 18 in its list of television's 25 most memorable moments. He won an Academy Award for the song and was nominated for another one for the score. The song and score also won him two Grammys."

My memories of Hayes' buttery deep voice go much farther back than his days as Chef on South Park, but what a great comeback that was for him! Rest in peace, Bernie & Isaac. Heaven just got a lot groovier and funnier.

Hi. I LIVE Here.

First... tonight's lovely rainbow. This is a lousy shot of it - when we got in the car it was the brightest most amazing rainbow I've ever seen. Mia asked what made rainbows... I explained to her about the water droplets and the sun, but realized I should have just said, "It's magic, baby."

Recently I went to Sesoko Island with some girls... It's about an hour & 20 minute drive north, and the whole drive was just so beautiful - I knew it wouldn't disappoint. It WAS hot as blazes out there....and this was taken from the parking spot.

Somehow when you look at THIS:
heat isn't such a huge factor. Besides, my feet were in the water. That felt pretty good (though if it weren't for my camera, I'd have jumped in).

We were walking, and this guy showed up with an octopus ("tako") on a hook! It was still alive, and all of us got to walk up and feel what it was like to have little tentacles suck onto your fingers (it feels rather strange, but very interesting). I like this portrait very much.


On the way back, Anne stopped the van just one more time so I could snap this:
Oh yes - we will be back. In swim suits. With snorkel gear.

This is Mia with her friend (fellow only child and smarty-pants), Grace.


They were swim buds last session, and still will be buddies past the swim class thing as I will be in touch with Grace's mom. Her dad leaves for a YEAR in Afghanistan, and I think we need to be doing girl things together like tea parties and such. Especially since Grace's mom is from England. And I very much enjoy listening to her speak with that crumpets and rubbish accent.

My kid. How did she end up being this cute big girl?
She now swims in the deep end, treads water, "pencil dives" to touch the bottom, and is learning the butterfly stroke, side stroke, and breast stroke. Soon she'll be driving. (NOT)

We love it here. We've been busy, but enjoying our craziness. Friends are leaving, that's not a part we love. But I'm thrilled to have made them and I know we'll see each other very soon. As I live in a time warp on this little island.

Have I mentioned... I'm starting a business? With ITS OWN BLOG too? Yeah. That's insane! I'm excited and petrified all in the same breath. I'm realizing this tiny island grows smaller in the photog community. At Mia's swim lessons I've been speaking to Tara (who is a complete character and I can see that friendship working out very nicely) - and now to other folks who are recognizing me! My 15 minutes has started, everyone! Set your clocks, I hope it can last!

Spottings In Hawaii In the Small World Category

So the Turner family moved to Hawaii. As you may know. I'm in touch with Kanoe of course via email as my plan is to go visit. Definitely. More than one family to visit (HI, Edith!)

I got an email from Kanoe yesterday. The house they're renting in Hawaii? It belongs to my neighbor Maggie's aunt.

Kanoe headed to the landlady's house to pay the rent and Maggie happens to be there visiting with Chuck (her hubby) and her two daughters and spotted Ella and recognized her from my photos!

Craig and I about died when we got that email. The world keeps shrinking.

In other news - I'm busy! DUH.

Mia is loving t-ball and swimming, and is also playing piano begrudgingly. I hope she starts getting it soon, I'm tired of being the bad guy when I say, "Time to practice!"

This weekend is full with not one but TWO photo shoots and I can't wait! More to come on that on my photography blog (which I WILL update soon, promise!).

I went snorkeling yesterday with Anne and had such an amazing time we're bringing the kids today! (Wonderful Derek took the kids ALL FIVE OF THEM to t-ball practice, so we had a couple of hours to go play..... oh it was heaven!) Today we'll take their camera that we can use underwater and hopefully I can hook you up with some local snorkeling scenery. Let's just say there were plenty of moorish idols, parrot fish, tangs, clown fish, butterfly fish, wrasses, giant clams, and triggers to name a few. And the coral.... wow.

For The Web Geeks, TV Geeks & Resort Freaks

If you have no clue what this means, it's ok. I only sort of do. It's our download and upload speeds on fiberoptic cable Internet. Basically... blazin'. Craig said it's yet another reason we're happy to be living here.

I love: So You Think You Can Dance, Swingtown, Mad Men (STARTING UP SOON), and Burn Notice. Please begin watching at least the latter three shows so that they stay on TV. Take my word for it, they're fantastic.

Now - about a 15-minute ride up the road from us starts the "resort" area of Onna. It's gorgeous at this time of year - the sea has jewel tones you never thought existed in nature. But wow, don't get out of the car or you might melt. Unless you're in the water.

We went to the Renaissance Hotel up in Onna this past weekend. Mia and I had been once, we took Craig to show him. he was just as impressed.

In the lobby, there were several resident tropical birds hanging out. This is Pinkie (their names are on plates for us to read in English or Japanese):
Craig calls him the Buckeye Bird now as he is donning Ohio State colors. I think that's cool.

This is Oscar. He has a friend, Charmie who's orange - but I didn't get a good picture of him as he was preening.. very busily. Behind Oscar there's a stairway in the lobby, the bottom is turquoise and has those cool circles underneath it. It's a very pretty and tropical-looking lobby. Occasionally they have a woman on staff making balloon animals for the kids! It's a very happy place.

Mia made a friend, and they insisted in trying to give Pinkie back his feathers. He played along though, it was sweet. The other girl's parents were smiling at them too.... they were cute together.

This is the INDOOR pool. With water slides. Kid heaven. I could just leave Mia there to grow gills, she'd be fine with that.

Outside we wandered around for as long as we could stand it. Those cone-topped buildings sort of reminded me of the Hotel Del...right? To the right of this bridge were enclosures where the dolphins swam. The dolphins you could swim with if you paid enough. They're rescued, and it's an amazing program actually - I hope to do that before I leave Okinawa. (Yes, Mia was going bananas over them.)

We took the glass elevator to the top floor (12th I think?) and at the end of the hall was this. The reflection is unfortunate, but you understand why I'd put this up here. I mean... wow.

Not a postcard. A photo I took from the top floor lounge on the balcony. I hate it here. It's not like being on vacation every day or anything... I mean really. Sigh.
This is the area past the swimming beach where they give sailing lessons, scuba lessons, and they snorkel and dive. It's gorgeous, I'm dying to get out there!

Ok, more soon - I have too many photos and not enough time! nothing new. And many cool stories to share regarding my new friend, Robin. Stay tuned!