Jay's 28th Birthday- June 5th

If you noticed, Jay is wearing one of the funny shirts that he got here. We love finding shirts or hats with silly sayings on them. They don't make sense and that's what makes them so awesome.

Jay had a fun birthday. He got his big present before his birthday, so there wasn't much to open. Jay got a new skateboard and we went to the skatepark to try them out. Too bad I forgot the camera. Tayson was practicing on his too. I gave it a try and showed them both a trick or two. Like being able to ride and turn corners and flip my board off my toes and land on top (I'm really good). After that, we went to dinner and Jay ordered some steak and lobster. Always nice to have a special treat. We then took the kids to a neighbors house and went to the movies. We saw Terminator, Salvation. It was pretty good. All in all it was a nice day and I think Jay enjoyed it.

Tayson's 6th Birthday May 19th

We can't believe our little Tayson is now a big 6 year old.  Tayson had a really fun birthday.  When he woke up I cuddled with him and told him about the day he was born and what a wonderful blessing he is in our lives.  Then we let him open 2 presents because we knew he'd want to wear them to school.  It was a skateboarder t-shirt and shoes.  He was convinced that he was getting a skateboard but we told him that skateboards were too dangerous and so maybe in a few years.  He was actually quite understanding and sadly said, "okay".  We're horrible parents huh?  But we really wanted him to be surprised later.  Tayson then went to school.  He was in a great mood and so excited for what the day had in store for him.  Jay and I brought some cupcakes to his class and he was able to wear the special birthday hat during school.  After school we went to pick up his friend CJ.  He was able to bring one friend since we weren't doing a big party this year.  We went to our house to finish preparations while Tayson did his homework.  Then Tayson opened his presents.  We of course got him a skateboard and pads, legos, clothes and a lot of books.  Then we headed to Round 1.  It is this great place where you pay once and get to do all sorts of fun things.  Pretty much anything you can imagine.  I couldn't post all the pictures of the fun things we did.  It was nice that it was a weeknight too because the place was pretty empty and we could go wild.  We rode the mechanical bull, played virtual sports, rollerskated, played arcade games, played in the kids zone,  hit the batting cages, played soccer, miniature golf, ect......  Too bad we only had 3 hours and the kids had school the next day or we could have gone for a couple more hours.  When we got home we sang happy birthday and had cake and ice cream.  Sadly when we were singing I accidentally called him Tatum.  Hey in my own defense their names are really close and second Tatum loves me to sing happy birthday to her all the time.  It is one of her favorite songs.  Tayson didn't seem phased about my slip up and enjoyed the rest of the evening.  We love our sweet Tayson and what a great kid he is and how much he is learning and growing all the time.  Of course the next day Tayson says, "I can't wait 'til I turn 7".  Isn't that just like all kids.  Trying to grow up too fast.  In hind sight I think we would've all relaxed a little and enjoyed the time more.  

Kimono and Yukata (summer kimono) Class

This is Mashiko playing with Tayson and Tatum.  She was great with the kids and I was so happy she could help out with them while I was trying on kimonos.

The is a picture of Jeanne Downing and I with our new friends from the Naha District.  The sisters were so sweet to us and we loved every minute of learning about this part of their traditions.

This is an obi.  It is worn around the waist and tied in various bows in the back of a kimono.  This particular one was hand woven with real gold and cost 300,000 yen or around $3000.  This is partly why they are passed from generation to generation.

Here I am putting on the Yukata (summer kimono).  It is made of a lighter fabric and you only wear the one layer.  The yukata is worn shorter so you can move around easier.  Kimonos are all made to be one size fits all, so the sisters showed us how to adjust it to fit us correctly.

This obi (I'm not sure if that's what it's called on a yukata) is tied into the butterfly shape.  They also showed us another tie that looks just like a shell.  The shell is worn by more mature women and the butterfly by younger women and children.

Here I am putting on the first layer of a traditional kimono.  You don't wear anything underneath this including a bra.  You want to make your figure as unshapely as possibly so that the kimono and obi do not shift.  Obviously I am wearing all my clothes but you get the idea.  These undergarments are made to wick away the moisture.

This is the second layer to a kimono.  It is usually a lighter color that accents one of the colors in the obi.  If you can tell the collar is kind of hanging in the back and not right against the neck.  The japanese find the neck to be very beautiful and they sometimes paint white down the neck so accentuate it.   Also a piece of stiff cardboard like stuff is pushed into the collar fabric so it stays nice and stiff.

This the the third layer and the actual kimono.  Kimonos are made very well and can last 200 years.  A 200 year old kimono can be worth $100,000.  The kimono color is chosen to accent the obi as well.  Once the kimono was on they put a flat cardboard piece at my waist with a tie around it to make me as flat as possible.  It got really late so we were not able to tie the obi because it takes quite a bit of time.  I was kind of sad.  I would love to do this again and have all the makeup and hair done too.  It would be so much fun.

Scuba Diving at Bolo Point

On May 15th, Jay and I got to go scuba diving for the first time together.  We had a wonderful time.  The entry/exit area was pretty rough.  We had to put on our gear which ways probably around 50 pounds and walk across evil rocks that were jutting out of the ground.  I fell once and my leg got cutup a little bit.  Thankfully it didn't do anything to my wetsuit.  Once we got to the water though, it was gorgeous.  The day was perfect and the water was very clear.  I don't think we could've asked for a better day.  Once we were in the water it reminded me of the drop-off on Finding Nemo.  A lot of coral and small fish and then it dropped to around 80 feet.  The fish were really big and we saw some crazy looking sea-stars and a lionfish.  We tried to get some good underwater pictures but they didn't turn out very well and they didn't do any of the fish justice.    We've got to get better at the picture taking.  They do have a class on how to do that, so maybe we need to check it out.