Summertime!

Memorial Day has come and gone and summer is officially here!  It really does 'feel' like summer to me with Wyatt out of preschool and the warm, sticky weather that crept in mid-May.

Tommy had a "96" (96 hours off) so had Monday and Tuesday off; a welcome relief from the very long hours he has been working in his new position as the training officer for the squadron.  It poured (and I do mean poured) rain Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday, so we mostly stayed inside with our sick kiddos watching movies and having some quality family time.  By Monday I was getting antsy, so even though it was still raining we packed up the kids and went for a drive.  One of the things I've been wanting to do since arriving on island was just take a day to drive up the coast on Hwy. 58 and stop at all the cute little stores along the way, so we did just that.  When Wyatt asked where we were going, we told him we were like the bear going over the mountain... we were going to "see what we could see."

We stopped at a few different stores and shops but my favorite was the handblown glass factory where we saw some amazing works of art... beautiful glass wall art of all shapes and sizes, glass sinks for the bathroom, funky decorative bowls and lamps, light fixtures, and my personal favorite - doors with inlaid glass designs!  There were drinking glasses and other trinkets of all shapes and sizes, but at over $35 per glass I wasn't about to purchase a set of four! 

Then we saw this cute little restaurant off the beaten path - my favorite kind!  We were in for a treat... the restaurant backed to its own private beach, and the rain actually stopped for the 45 minutes we were there eating, so Wyatt played on the beach. I slurped on Japanese soba noodles, Tommy ordered the house special (fried oysters, fried white fish of some kind, Japanese french fries, rice, and what tasted like meatloaf) and Wyatt dined on "hamburger" (again... meatloaf?) and fries. Yummy!

Tuesday dawned and it was absolutely gorgeous!  Finally, no rain!!  We packed up and headed to a new beach - Zanpa Beach. It was beautiful and we had fun swimming, sunning, and relaxing in the East China Sea.  Even Miss Olivia got in on the action and tried out the waters for a few minutes! The day was topped off by a fun barbecue with friends.  So. Much. Fun!