Hi, readers!

Hello, readers! 

I just wanted to check in after such a long absence. We've had a busy summer, and lots has been going on since I last updated. The girls and I did a lot of traveling to South Dakota, Minnesota, and back again. We even went down to Nebraska and spent a long weekend at my aunt's house to see my dad's side of the family.

Evelyn has had a busy spring and summer. She graduated from her balance bike to a bicycle with wheels, and even started rollerskating towards the end of summer. She enjoyed picking tomatoes at my grandma's house, playing in her "house" at Nana and Papa's, and helping my mom water her plants in the front yard. She really started to enjoy the show "Peppa Pig".  She caught her first fish with the help of her dad, and really enjoys playing with the worms. She graduated from her toddler bed to a big girl bunk bed at the end of August. She started preschool at the beginning of the month, and recently got her first pet. He's a red betta and his name was Joey but it recently changed to a girl fish, according to Evelyn, and now her name is Buttons.

Cora has become mobile since my last update. First crawling, and now last week she took her first steps. She'll be one in just a couple weeks. She loves to hear and see her sister laugh, and cries when Evelyn cries. She loves trying to be a big girl like her sister at the play place in the mall. she gets really excited when she sees any type of animal. She now has four teeth, and she has the cutest little gap between her top two. She recently started giving kisses. She's a sweet baby with a big temper while she feels slighted.

I started training for a half marathon at the end of June. This is the third half marathon I've signed up for but the first I have adequately trained for. This past week I ran a 10 mile race that was put on by the local Army National Guard unit and I look forward to sharing photos, with a recap of the race, later. My half is on September 20th, and I am feeling confident.

A friend and I started a mom's running club and it has grown to over 80 members on the Facebook group. We just had a run tonight and while we only had one other person show up besides the chapter leaders, I have a feeling it will continue to grow. I am excited to be leading the group, and I hope to inspire others the same way that my first running group (Stroller Warriors Okinawa) inspired me.

Dan has been busy at work, nothing has changed in his realm. He competed in a cycling event in August and has enjoyed fishing on the few opportunities he has had to do so. On the nights when he is home and it isn't too late, we have enjoyed watching a few different TV shows together. Right now we are watching Sons of Anarchy. We initially tried to watch it in Okinawa before he deployed but I couldn't stand to watch it due to the gore. I guess I am better with the gore now because we are on the fourth season.

Oh! I applied to a graduate program (Master of Social Work) at the University of North Dakota this spring. I heard back a couple weeks ago and I wasn't accepted. That was a hard pill to swallow because I thought I would be. They accepted less than 20% of applications, though. Now I am deciding on a couple other programs to apply to, and let's cross our fingers that I am accepted to at least one of them. I should've applied to more than one school to begin with but I thought I was a shoo-in at UND.

Thanks for reading! (Hi Mrs. N!)

Inviting zombies to tea.

Last week I was sitting on our newly-arrived couch when Evelyn came hustling out of her room, screaming as if something was chasing her. When I say screaming it wasn't a "Raechel just saw a huge spider" scream but more of a "open your mouth and say ahhhhh" with a little extra volume type of scream.

She turned the corner of the hallway and ran into the living room, running past me. She twirled around and her eyes were wide. "There's a zombie!" she screeched.

"Oh no, a pretend zom--" I started

"No, a REAL zombie. Right there!" she says as she points to the wall behind me.

I took a few seconds to pause and think it through. First I wondered why she was talking about zombies and then realized duh, she's been watching Scooby Doo. Second, I didn't want her to think zombies were real or anything to be afraid of.

"Maybe the zombie is hungry or thirsty?" I suggested.

Indeed the zombie did end up being hungry...for some hay. She also invited him to a tea party and during the party, four or five other zombies showed up. She counted five but I was sure if that was including the one sitting with her, sipping on tea and eating hay. Later the zombie and Evelyn played hide-and-seek. Evelyn lowered her voice and made it somewhat choppy sounding when it was the zombie's turn to count, or respond to any of her questions.

It can be really fun to watch a three year old's imagination at work. The zombie ended up being grouchy because he was hungry but once served some hay and tea, he was ready to play hide-and-seek. Whodathunkit.

Evelyn's third birthday.

This November Evelyn turned three. She had a joint birthday party with her Daddy before he left for his school in October, and then on her actual birthday, we trekked up to the Churaumi Aquarium after her 3 year well visit.

She wanted to see the "dolphin show" right away but I was able to explain that it wasn't for another hour and a half, so we took our time, meandering from tank to tank, admiring the fishes in all different colors. When Jackie came to visit in July, we went on a hunt to find Dory and Nemo, so that hunt continued again during our October visit as a whole family and yet again during her birthday visit. Nemo wasn't where we was last time though...hopefully he's okay and just chillin' in a tank behind the scenes somewhere.

We ate at the cafe next to their magnificent whale shark tank for lunch. We shared a serving of taco rice, and then I went back and got her a cupcake to celebrate her big day. Thank goodness I spotted a woman seated at the table next to us eating a cupcake otherwise I never would've thought to get her a sweet treat at the cafe. I sang "Happy Birthday" to her, and then she ate her little cupcake with the whale shark on top.

After our lunch, we looked at the sharks, the whale shark tank, and then headed for the exit. We stopped in one of the gift shops (there is no choice - you have to exit through the giftshop. Sneaky, sneaky!) and we were on the hunt for a pink whale shark stuffed animal. Evelyn had remembered seeing a pink whale shark during Jackie's visit, and we told her "maybe next time" during our October visit. Unfortunately the big giftshop at the exit of the aquarium did not have what we were looking for.

After making a pit-stop at a vending machine for a drink, we took the escalator down to see the other exhibits. They have the dolphins, turtles, and manatees down close to the ocean, and the main aquarium sits up on a hill, looking out over the ocean. Anyway. We browsed the turtles for a bit and then it was getting close to the dolphin show's start time, so we walked over there. Their dolphin show reminds me of Shamu's show at Sea World, just on a smaller scale and with dolphins instead of whales.

One neat thing that the Churaumi Aquarium does with their dolphin show that, in my opinion, blows Sea World out of the water is that they have their dolphins whistle along to traditional Okinawan music. The whistling heard in this video is similar to what the dolphin's replicated. They played music that featured the Taiko drums and singing and during the whistling parts, the dolphins sang their own tune.

All in all, Evelyn seemed to have a good birthday even though we were unable to locate Nemo and the pink whale shark. Below are just a few pictures from our day.

Take note of the pony in her pocket in the photo above. She wanted to bring the whole set that Grandma Mary sent her for her birthday (barn included) but I told her she could bring only one. She tucked it in her pocket for safe keeping.

Toddlers and locks: a combination that should strike fear in all parents, everywhere.

When Evelyn gets out of her carseat, she's often the first one to go into the house while I finish up various things in the carport. Taking her sister out of her seat, shutting the carport door, grabbing groceries or shopping bags...you get the picture. While I do all this, Evelyn likes to practice locking and unlocking the door. Every time she does this my mind flashes to a time when we were living in South Dakota and I locked my friend in the house, and she couldn't get the door unlocked. My mind quickly flashes away from that memory, and then all is well.

All was not well yesterday, let me tell you. We had went on a walk up to our housing agency to pay December's rent, and I had the back of the van opened up so I could store my big Cadillac of a double stroller. Evelyn helped herself through the door, and then I heard the loud click. Momentarily paused, listened for the second click which could either mean she unlocked it or she locked the other side as well. Not hearing the second click, I went about my business emptying the stroller, and unbuckling Cora.

Half a minute later, I hear Evelyn's voice through our tempered glass sliding door saying, "I can't do it." I can hear her little hand against the metal of the lock because while she's trying to push it up, it won't go all the way up but does make a clanging noise when it does settle back down into its locked position. Sighing and rolling my eyes, I abandon my unloading area at the rear of the carport and make my way up to the door.

She says she "can't" do it again, and I become irritated because I do not like when she says she can't do something. When she has a hard time doing something, she gets frustrated very easily and sometimes is quick to surrender to the task, saying she "can't" do it. I tell her that yes, she can do it, and she will do it. She's done it in the past. It's okay, you can do it. While still trying, she says she can't.

I tell her to try the other side of the door. Our door locks in two spots -- one in the middle where the two sliding doors meet, and then on the left hand side. The right hand side has a lock too but we never move that door. She goes over, tries to fiddle with it, and says she can't again.

Now I'm irritated because I feel like this is baloney, and I tell her she'll be in Big Trouble if she doesn't open the door right now. This is not the right thing to say because her sniffles that had just recently started turned into sobs. Rolling my eyes again but also starting to feel a bit panicky myself, I decide to see if I've left any doors open.

I'll let everyone in on a little secret, since we are moving soon anyway, and no one will be able to come sneak in. When Dan is home, I usually leave one of the sliding doors unlocked for easy open-and-shut access to let Toby outside. Since he's been gone, though, I've been locking it every night. I did not unlock it yesterday morning before we left. Remembering that at one time, I left one of the doors in the back unlocked in case I lose the keys while out and about, I go back to try that door. Apparently after I let a gecko be free through that door, I locked it -- as if that would keep geckos out of our house.

Then I thought I remembered that maybe I left the sliding glass door unlocked in the office. It is like a jungle back there, and I am hesitant to subject myself to spiders or anything creepy crawly. I take a good look around, deem it spider-free, and go try to open the back sliding door. No. Dangit. On my way back around to the front of the house I can hear Evelyn, still at the door, crying loudly.

Trying a new tactic now as I realized I cannot even call our housing agency (my phone was in the house), I get down at her level on the opposite side of the door, and talk to her sweetly. Threatening her with a consequence was not the way to go about things and it made her emotions escalate quickly. Note to self: remember that in the future.

I tell her it is okay, and that she can do it. I believe in her, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, you don't have to be scared, it's okay. Just try a couple more times for Mommy. This is how you do it. Can you try, please? It's okay, it's okay, it's okay. She rises from her defeated slump on the floor, and gives it a few more tries, crying loudly all the while. Not only is she crying, but Cora has started crying too, and I am feeling as if tears are right around the corner too because I let my own kid lock herself in the house, and I can't help her.

Finally I hear a loud click and attempt to open the door so fast, feeling like if I open it as fast as possible, it will somehow unlock the other side if that side is still locked. Thankfully the door glides open quickly, and I give Evelyn a big hug. Repeat it's okay several more times, and tell her that from now on, we just will not play with the locks, okay? Okay. It's okay, Mommy isn't mad, you aren't in trouble. Then I go retrieve Cora who is crying in her seat, and all is well in our world again. Whew, crisis averted.

Of course we agreed that she wouldn't play with the locks any longer but I've also decided that I need to bring my phone out with me all the time if I go out and she stays in the house and I need to bring the house key, too. Also maybe leaving one of the sliding doors unlocked for good measure.

I may be remembering this incorrectly but when I was little and had convinced my friend to lock the door with her inside and me outside, I think my Dad and some of the guys from his work had to come and get through the backdoor somehow. I want to say they had to break in but maybe that is just my exaggerated memory. Maybe they had a key, who knows.

Evelyn meets Elmo.

The week Cora was born and the week after, the USO had Sesame Street doing shows on a few of the bases on island. We missed the first couple shows but right when Cora was around a week old, we managed to get to one of the shows. We didn't tell Evelyn where we were going because we wanted to surprise her.

We went to the movie theater on the Marine Corps base near our home and thankfully the Exchange New Car Sales people had a bouncy house set up. We got there at least thirty minutes early because we figured things would be packed. As time went on, only one other mother with her three girls was there with us. We kept checking our watches (or rather, Dan kept checking his when I'd ask him because I didn't have one) as it grew closer to showtime. It didn't seem right that there were only two families there and there were no signs, nor were they opening the doors to the theater.

I decided I had better go to the car and get my iPad to check to make sure I had the place and time right. I was thanking myself that we hadn't told Evelyn who she was seeing because I had definitely messed this up and we were going to end up missing Elmo. When I brought the iPad back to the bouncy house, I realized it was at the community center. Oops. If we would've went to the show on the air base and I took us to the theater, I would've been at the right spot. Buuuut we weren't. We decided we'd drive down to the community center and I'd run in to see if there was room for us.

We coaxed Evelyn from the bouncy house and went down to the community theater. I went in as quickly as I could and there was plenty of room. Yay! I went back out, we got the girls out of the car, and we brought Evelyn in to see Elmo.

Her first reaction was not what we were expecting. She was scared and holding her ears. I think it was sensory overload for her because it was very, very loud but they also had a strobe-light thing going on. I took a seat with Cora in the Ergo, and we tried to convince Evelyn that this was so cool and that she should sit by me. She started to cry, so Dan took her back out into the vestibule. I felt bad so I joined them in under a minute. From up on his shoulders, she was content as could be and seemed to be enjoying the show. We decided to try to go in again.

Once we tried a second time, she seemed to have adjusted to the extreme volume, and she began dancing along to the songs. She really enjoyed herself. Then she wanted to go up closer -- not in the chairs, but up in front of the stage like many of the other kiddos. Dan accompanied her up there and I stayed in the back with the camera.

Towards the end of the show, Elmo and his friends did some interacting with the crowd. Dan was able to get up close enough so Evelyn could meet Elmo. Here are just a few of the photos I took. She was talking about "Big Elmo" for daaaaaays afterward and wanted to go see him again. It was such great timing that we were able to take her to the show right after her sister was born so that she had something that helped make her feel special and like it was all about her. Cora slept through it all, ha.

Jackie's visit to Okinawa.

This summer, several days after she finished her first year as a medical student, our friend Jackie flew out to Okinawa to spend time with us. We were super grateful that she came to see us. It isn't a short flight nor are the tickets inexpensive.

We tried to show Jackie a lot of Okinawa; we brought her to places where we have brought our other visitors -- the aquarium and the glass bottom boat tour. We also brought her a couple other places that our other guests did not get to see -- the Ryukyu glass factory, the mini-zoo / egg farm, and Kokusai street.

We all really enjoyed having her here with us but Evelyn really had a good time with her. She was sad for days after we dropped Jackie off at the airport and she still calls the guest room "Jackie's room". When Evelyn was going through her phase of giving us names from Monsters Inc, Jackie was her partner in crime. Evelyn was Mike, Jackie was Sully, and I was...Randall. You can read more about my nickname here, if you are unfamiliar with the story.

Jackie was visiting over Independence day but unfortunately Dan had duty that day so he wasn't able to spend the day with us. On the way up to the aquarium, we stopped by to say "hi" to him. After the aquarium, we were debating what to do for supper when Evelyn fell asleep in the car (she missed her much needed nap time). We drove to Yoshihachi's, and ordered out. We drove back to our house, ate the sushi, and then started on our way to Torii Station for fireworks. We were able to get pretty close to the show but Evelyn was afraid so we started walking back to the car as the show continued.

Let's see, what else did we do...We took her to one of our favorite sushi places, Kami Sushi, in American Village. She also tried Japanese curry for the first time at Coco's Curry. Coco Ichibanya ("Coco's") is a chain restaurant on Okinawa but also on mainland. Apparently there is even a Coco's in California! We got ice cream at Blue Seal, and she was able to experience a Japanese rollerslide. We spent a couple hours at Araha beach and also showed her a sunset at the Sunabe seawall. I took her to one of my favorite yen stores (like a dollar store but so much better) and we also took her to FamilyMart (convenience store) to try some different Japanese candies.

I took over one hundred pictures while Jackie was here and she took quite a few, too. I realized after we dropped her off at the airport that we hadn't taken a single picture where she and I were both in the frame. Oops! Getting many cute photos of Jackie and Evelyn makes up for the photos we didn't get together.