Family Vacation Time

We went on a family vacation this past weekend. We were able to go to several places I have been dying to go to since we arrived on island including the Churaumi Aquarium, a restaurant called Ufuya ("Big House") where you eat amongst waterfalls, and a local resort called Okuma.

The Aquarium was AMAZING!! The entire thing overlooks the ocean. Gwen was so excited to watch the dolphin show. She even started making fish faces. What a cutie!







Ufuya serves various kinds of Soba, one of the main dishes in Okinawa. My mom didn't like the food, but she liked the atmosphere. Soba is basically big, thick noodles in a broth that has a very, very mild fish flavor. I DO NOT like any seafood or fish and I will definitely eat Soba because the flavor is so mild. Trying to find this restaurant was quite an adventure and I think really showed my mom and Chris what our life is like almost daily with the language barrier. We stopped for directions several times and the local Japanese kept throwing their hands up in the air trying to make gestures to help me with directions. Finally someone drew a Kanji symbol I had seen while driving past a nearby street so I figured out that was the street I needed to take. Once we arrived at the restaurant, the menu was in Japanese as usual. My mom kept asking me what meat was on the various dishes and I told her time and time again that I did not know. She just had to pick a picture on the menu that looked appealing and point to it when the waiter came. :)

Gwen went to her first birthday party- a carnival. It was for Steven's Gunny's 2 year old daughter. Gwen got her face painted with a little heart and all, but it quickly came off when it started raining.