candice mclean

remember this moment 06.27.11

my girls roan and tate are on the ODST - okinawa dolphin swim team. they participated in their first swim meet for the summer season. this is tate's first experience with the swim team and her first swim meet. both of my girls did well, had fun and i'm so proud of them.

remember this moment. roan helped tate with the checkin process. she guided her through this new adventure and cheered her on when she competed. and tate too cheered on roan. love to see my girls sharing knowledge and encouraging each other.

here are a few photographs to remember this day.

 

beautiful okinawa

one year ago today, my family and i moved to okinawa. it is without a doubt, the most beautiful tropical destination i've visited and lived. summer vacation is upon us and we plan to explore and experience more of okinawa. the culture. the land. the people. the beauty. enjoy the video.

(press pause on the music before viewing the video).

Okinawa : The Other Japan from Dennis Tortona on Vimeo.

thailand & gordon ramsay

we are loving and enjoying our experience here in okinawa. the island is gorgeous. the people are endearing. the culture is educational. we've seen quite a bit, but there is so much more we yearn to see and experience.

since arriving to okinawa, we've been anxious to travel. to experience. to see all that we can. unfortunately, the cost to travel off this beautiful island is shocking. it ain't cheap! however, we are saving for a great family adventure. we're planning to travel to thailand and cambodia this december with the kiddos. our christmas gift to each other. a lifetime experience.

a friend posted one of gordon ramsay's great escape videos on fb and it was perfect timing. thank you kathleen for putting a smile on my face. i can't wait to get on a plane and travel to this beautiful country. and i'm thinking... i need to look up yui for a cooking lesson.

okinawa egg shop & zoo

egg shop + zoo = fun. what a combo!  the zukeran egg shop & zoo is located in chibana off of the 329. you'll find fresh eggs, delicious baked cream puffs and an assortment of animals. to name a few... monkeys, birds, lizards, snakes, a llama, an ostrich, donkeys, miniature ponies, goats, pigs and even more. great for little kiddos. and it's free to visit.

within the egg shop, you're able to see the ladies behind a huge glass window making all of the various pastries. they are oh so yummy! we purchased some huge puffs for 100Y each. amazing! and we of course purchased some fresh eggs. by far the best eggs... yummy bright golden egg yolks.

songda

may 28th - songda hit okinawa. CAT2 typhoon. here are a few images i snapped the morning after.

our side yard (between our yard and the nixon's).

part of our backyard.

another view of our backyard looking onto our neighbors the nixon's. many tree limbs, a trampoline cover, a rubbermaid bin, some shed parts and a huge trashcan were blown into our yard. crazy.

carys and connor checking out the damage in their pjs. tate and roan were snug as a bug in bed sleeping away.

after a quick walkabout, i snapped this shot of chip in front of our house post clean-up.

parts of the AFN roof (armed forces network - our radio station).

most of the treetops look similar to this. we feel blessed that this was the extent of the damage. our neighborhood took some losses mostly sheds and the AFN rooftop but every bunker stood her ground.

the night of the typhoon, the wind was crazy loud and very eery - howling winds whipping around the house. we lost power around 9:30pm and we remained without power for approximately 14 hours. once we lost power, we lit all the candles... that was fun! then we played with the coleman lantern, the flashlights, pulled out the yahtzee and ate ice cream! eventually, the kiddos settled down and we all fell asleep.