January 2024

NEW YEAR'S AT THE RYUKYU LANTERN FESTIVAL AT MURASAKI MURA

Audrey and her pandas

Brooklyn and her tiger

Mary and her little lamb

Year of the Dragon!

Abby and Avery

Beautiful lanterns

Making lanterns

Flowers!

NEW YEAR'S SUNRISE

We decided to try the Japanese tradition of watching the sunrise on New Year’s morning. It was beautiful!

PEACE MEMORIAL PARK

Peace Memorial park was beautiful and sobering. It’s hard to ponder on all the suffering that took place at the Battle of Okinawa. One in four Okinawans died in that battle. The high casualties on both sides led to the difficult decision to drop the atomic bomb. I loved the monuments, the artwork, and the colorful paper crane creations to symbolize peace. A nice Japanese man saw us walking by a pond and stopped to give us bread so the kids could feed the ducks and fish. There is definitely still more progress to make, but this man’s kind gesture made me think about how far we’ve come in our path of peace.

Large spider in the squatty potty bathroom

Beautiful butterfly garden

Stones of peace from around the world

Colorful crane collections

Making paper cranes. They are a symbol of peace. You are supposed to say a little prayer with each fold you make. 

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

There is a large staircase near our house that is a fun workout to do. 

It's even harder with a kid on your back. 

Nice view from the top

GET AWAY!

Jared and I took a 2 day get away to Sesoko island. 

Yummy vegan pizza

Beautiful pools

Nice quiet beach

Lion rock

Green star fish

Fox rock

We had fun exploring a bunch of little caves and coves along the shore

SISTERS 

My red heads all happened to wear matching clothes one day.

CAPE MANZAMO
 

Elephant Rock

NAGO CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL

We had fun meeting friends at the Nago cherry blossom festival. 

It was nice to listen to some traditional Okinawa music.

Potato tornado

The beni-imo dumplings were delicious!

The girls performing on the piano

There weren’t many blossoms out yet, but it was still beautiful and we had a great time. 

Cherry blossom dance

OKINAWA PREFECTURAL MUSEUM

We had learning about Okinawan history and appreciating its art at the museum.

Shisa!

ESIA MUSEUM

The kids had fun dancing and playing drums at the Esia museum

SO MANY QUESTIONS

We saw this in when we walked by the kid's room one night. So many questions!

WONDER MUSEUM

Looking classic

Fun children's museum

Too big!

Too small!

Net climbing