Brek and I spent a wonderful week in Okinawa with Scott and Josh. We went to visit our friends the Days, who we love! It was so good to see them again!
For the first couple of days we traveled to the opposite end of the island (a whopping 60 miles or so) to Okuma. We spent a couple of days enjoying the beautiful beaches there. Just outside of our room, there were huge pine trees, and then the beach. It was like nothing I've ever seen before....very beautiful.
Scott and Josh went snorkeling for their first time! Brandon showed them all the tricks of the trade.
The kids had fun exploring, finding shells and sea glass, riding around on kayaks, snorkeling, playing in the sand, and going for tube rides.
Savannah was the one and only girl, and didn't like being left behind. Not being old enough for kayaking, she chose to ride around on this "sea bike" with her mom.
One afternoon, we caught a boat, which took us a few miles away from shore to snorkel at a reef. There were tons of fish. It was a little bit chilly, but once we finally jumped in, we were OK. Josh said this was one of his favorite things!
Jasmine, Brek, and I found a fun little restaurant nearby. Luckily we had Brek along (Brek served his mission in Japan), because everything was written in Japanese, and the waiters spoke no English. We sat on the floor in the traditional Japanese way, and cooked our own food on a grill right in the middle of the table!
One morning, the kids all rented these bikes (?) or whatever they may be, and rode around.
After leaving Okuma, we found another restaurant sortof hidden in the countryside. The surroundings were gorgeous. The restaurant was very open with waterfalls, and ponds filled with fish all over. They served the Okinawan specialty.....soba. Soba is a type of soup with noodles and usually some type of meat, and of course a big hunk of seaweed. Yuck! Actually the soup was pretty good, minus the seaweed. Once again, we got to sit on the floor. AND, for dessert, the kids all had huge bowls of shaved ice!
For the record, Scott did not actually end up eating that big slimy piece of seaweed. He chickened out. And, for the record, we all got quite good at eating with chopsticks!
After lunch, we headed to Neo Park, which was basically a zoo. 
And here we found these two wild animals caged up! Oh wait, those are MY two wild animals!
We quite enjoyed reading the signs, T-shirts, and billboards around Okinawa. The Japanese didn't quite get their translations correct. This sign we saw at NeoPark is just one example. It was pretty funny. 
One morning, we took the kids to an Okinawan park. Something tells me their playground equipment probably wouldn't pass safety inspections in the good ol' US of A. This is called a drop slide, perhaps because you reach out, grab onto a bar, and then literally "drop" straight down until the slide levels out! The kids loved it.
Brek loved the Japanese cuisine. I, however, am not exactly an adventurous eater when it comes to sushi and seaweed. Not my cup o' tea! But there were lots of other tasty things. I enjoyed lots of edamame!
On Saturday morning, Shane and Jas took us to a place called Kokusai Street. It is a street lined with stores, vendors, restaurants, etc. Josh was excited to find himself a "frolet"....or a frog wallet. After shopping around a bit, we headed for the beach (again!) 
Hmmm, looks tasty boys. Rice wrapped in seaweed with some sort of "hidden treasure" in the middle. Count me out!
We ended the trip with an afternoon at the beach, and then dinner at The Garlic House (very yummy). The beach was gorgeous. It was more primitive than the other beaches where we had been. Brek and Shane went scuba diving while the kids snorkeled around and played in the sand. We, of course, did our usual sweep for sea glass and sea shells. And then the kids decided we were in need of a fire. They scavenged up enough kindling and managed to get a fire going. Yes, they had matches, but only a few. After their first couple of attempts failed, Jas and I suggested they wait for their dads to return. They looked at us as though we were idiots and said, "Why?"
And much to our surprise, they soon had a flame going. Way to go boy scouts!
Finally, the day came when it was time for us to go home. Time flies when you are having fun. We were, however, anxious to get home to see our other kids. Shane had to fly to California and was able to get a ticket on the same flight as us. The only downside of the trip was that Shane, who is worked to the bone over there, wasn't able to get any time off work. So, he didn't always get to join us on our adventures. It was nice we got to spend a few extra hours with him. 
Once we reached San Francisco, we were officially exhausted. And much to our dismay, our flight to SLC was delayed for several hours! Scott and Josh crashed. I didn't dare go to sleep, considering the fact that Josh slept walked while we were in the Tokyo airport and it took us a good ten minutes or more to find him asleep underneath some chairs a few gates down from ours. Yes, we were quite paniced!
Thank you SO much Shane and Jas for showing us such a great time! We love you guys! 
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