News from the Fredricks

Big 6 Months!!

2011-10-14T19:58:00.005+09:00

Sydnei has reached 6 months! And what a big day it was!! What a blessing in our lives she has been. We could never ask for a happier baby. She is always so content and willing to share her big smiles while staring at you with her big beautiful eyes.

Below is her first time trying rice cereal. Her big brother wanted to help out so he got to give her a couple spoon fulls. The next picture is the actual first time the spoon hit her mouth.

It is barely visible in the picture here but on her six month day, her first bottom tooth popped through. You can see the little white speck on the right (the left side of her mouth).

Dylan loves his little sister and always wants to be involved. And of course she adores him! She is always smiling at him, laughing at him when he is acting silly, and trying to reach for him if he is near. Here she is trying to grab on to him....

Here are some shots of her for her six month day with Kim's baby blanket wrapped around her. Below you will see two of her favorite things: those two fingers in her mouth all the time. Too cute!

And here is that beautiful smile of hers that just melts her parents hearts away!

Sydnei loves to stick out the tip of her tongue now. It is so adorable when she just stares at you with those eyes and her little tongue poking out.

Also on her six month day, Sydnei uttered out a Mama. This of course made Kim's day! She has said Dada previously though so Daddy still wins on that one!

Sydnei loves to stand now with Mom and Dad's help holding her up. She scoots around on the floor all the time. We are pretty sure she will be crawling sooner rather than later. The adventures never end in this household!!

Sydnei- 4 months

2011-08-15T05:53:00.004+09:00

A proud big brother and his little smiley cheeks sister.

This picture captures Sydnei's personality perfectly! She really is our smiley cheeks. Sydnei wakes up with a smile and goes to bed with a smile having very few tears in between times. We were told that Dylan was our sucker baby because he was so happy, content and overall a blessing. He was going to sucker us into having another child and then we would be shocked to find out what babies can be like. Praise the Lord we were "suckered" into another baby and she is just as happy, content and overall a blessing. I call her my little ray of sunshine!

This is Sydnei's preferred way of relaxing in her high chair. One leg up on the tray and her two middle fingers in her mouth. Those fingers can often be found in her mouth:) Aside from her obvious skill of sucking on her fingers, Sydnei likes to blow bubbles with her saliva and make motor boat sounds. She has conquered rolling from her tummy to her back as well as from her back to her tummy. One day her Daddy found that she had scooted herself from the center of her room to under her changing table. Being the loving Daddy that he is Rory saved her and didn't go get the camera for a picture;) Sydnei also giggles and laughs for us and it is one of the best sounds in the house along with her big brothers laugher. You can't help but laugh along with Sydnei when she gets going no matter how sad you may be. It is just perfect!

Bath time with her fingers in her mouth;)
I promise that I do pull them out to make sure they get washed.

April 10- 4 months old.

Her stats from the Doctors visit were - 13 lbs 7.5 oz (50%) 26 inches in height (90-95%)

Sydnei all dressed up for church wearing her first pair of shoes and looking concerned about being stuck in the bumbo. Though as many of you know I am more of an athletic tom boy and not much of a girly girl, I do love dressing my little lady up though still not in a barrage of pink.

(Sorry that I skipped posting Sydnei's 3 mon milestone pictures but life has been very busy here)

Our Fantastic Boy Turned Four

2011-07-24T22:18:00.002+09:00

Dylan's lego cake :)
The party favor bags, prize bucket and sign that Dylan helped me create.

Snacks and the lego racer cars that we raced to put together. Then raced on the ramp that Daddy built.

Precious children at play.

Dylan when he spotted the new pirate pool.

2 months!

2011-06-15T10:07:00.002+09:00

May 10 - 2 months old

The tail end of a smile - Sydnei smiles often and has begun cooing

Her two month stats from her Doctors appointment:

11 pounds 4.5 ounces (50-75%)

23 1/4 inches in length (75-90%)

head circumference 15 1/2 inches (50-75%)

When she got her shot baby girl scrunched her face up but never cried!!! She only got one of the three shots (since there are 7 vaccines in 3 different shots) so we will see if getting two next week will push her past the scrunched face. Sure hope not - I hate seeing my children cry in pain.

One Month

2011-06-05T08:10:00.002+09:00

Our darling girl is creeping up on two months but I wanted to post her one month pictures before June 10th gets here. Her position cracked us up:) It is amazing how babies can sleep in the craziest positions
Sydnei May 10th - one month

Dylan and Sydnei

One Month Old blessing!

Mother's Day Pictures

2011-05-23T00:33:00.002+09:00

Psalm 127:3 Behold children are a gift of the Lord. The fruit of the womb is a reward.

This verse does get to the bottom of being a parent! There may be many tough days and nights but it is all worth it. I have been so blessed to be the mother of 3 of God's gifts.

Dylan Rory, Sydnei Leighanne and our angel in heaven!

Easter 2010

2011-05-13T04:40:00.003+09:00

Our Blessings Dylan and Sydnei all dressed up for Easter to celebrate a Risen King!

Little Lady dressed up for her first Easter

We were thrilled to have Megan, Jimmy and Trey come with us to church. Don't these two cousins look handsome in their church clothes")

Our family of Four - I am still getting used to the fact that there are four of us now

Happy Easter

Sorry that the two pictures of Sydnei are side ways. I will try to do better next time but am making no promises;)
Uncle Jimmy and the boys

Family Time II

2011-05-05T22:11:00.012+09:00

The Fredrick side of the family arrived to meet sweet Sydnei. She is Nana and Papa Steve's first granddaughter. As a friend of mine said prior to Sydnei's arrival - "Go Team Pink"

The whole clan:) Always good to get together Dylan and Trey had a great time playing outside - thank goodness for pretty weather when you have two male toddlers in the house:)

Aunt Megan and Sydnei

Trey and Dylan reading magazines (lego 'magazines') in our bed.

Uncle Jimmy and Sydnei

Sydnei wasn't the only one being celebrated during this weekend visit. It was Mom and Dad Fredrick's birthdays. Nana LOVED the black candles;)

Nana with her two eldest grandboys.

Papa Steve and Sydnei

Miss Pretty in Pink [and that is how Nana plans on keeping it:)] and Nana

Love these two!!!

Family Time I

2011-05-05T20:59:00.007+09:00

Pops with his newest granddaughter - Sydnei only 3days old.
Love you Pops thanks for being here for Sydnei's arrival!

Gaugau and Sydnei

Love you Mom so glad you were here for Sydnei's arrival. Also thank you so very much for all your hard work and companionship!

My parents with my darling blessings

I do love family pictures:)

Pops, Dylan and Daddy had some great times playing outside.

Big brother Dylan holding Sydnei.

There has been nothing but love for his sister since she arrived home.

Pops and Dylan at the park the day before Sydnei arrived.

Que Pasa Pops!

Our Newest Blessing Has Arrived!

2011-04-20T00:57:00.003+09:00

Sydnei Leighanne arrived at 10:46am April 10th. She was 8 pounds 1 ounce and 19.5inches in length. A big girl but petite compared to her brother and some of the Dr's predictions.

Dylan meeting his baby sister.
We have been blessed with a son who is loving and tender with his little sister.
I always wanted a big brother. Not to replace my awesome older sister but in addition to her. Now our little angel has a big brother to look out for her.

Pops and Gau-gau meeting little Sydnei their newest granddaughter.
My dear parents were here for Sydnei's arrival and were able to spend quality time with their grandson while Mom and Dad were in the hospital. Pops was a real trooper watching me walk around the house April 10th doing my Lamaze breathing as Rory drove home from work. ;) I can only guess that he was praying Rory would make it home quickly. Thankfully Rory did because an hour after we made it to the hospital Syndei arrived. I had planned on laboring here at home for as long as possible. It worked though my honey thinks I cut it a little close;)

Our family of FOUR!!!!!
Rory and I are so grateful to our Creator for blessing us with another one of His children to raise!! Praise God for family

Getting ready for Baby

2011-03-14T06:23:00.004+09:00

Big Brother is ready for his sister or brother to come along!
Let me say sorry and please excuse the horrible scanning job I did with the pictures. Sorry not taking the time to redo them - too much to do before April:)

Today when I picked Dylan up from his Sunday school class, he brought me a baby doll all swaddled in a blanket. I found out he was showing his teacher how he was going to take care of his baby when it got here:) It isn't daily but pretty close to daily that Dylan prays for the baby to be big and strong as well as to hurry up and get here. Aww a little man after my own heart!

Mommy and Daddy again!!! So blessed to be so close to welcoming another child into our family.

Family of Four!

Around this house we are getting ready for baby to arrive!
Due Date April 14 - One month!!!

New Wheels!!

2011-02-17T05:33:00.003+09:00

Caution: this is the guy of the group blogging about my new truck. Sorry if I put in too many guy details for the lady followers of this blog!

Back to Christmas morning... my beautiful wife got super excited when I went to open my card, which was after all the other presents had been opened. I was wondering what all the anticipation was about. Little did I know, when I opened it up there would be a key chain with a little paper truck and a note saying my wife was buying me a truck for my big present! WOW!! I was shocked. When the shock wore off a little, I was so thankful that my amazing, giving, and loving wife would use some of her invested money to take care of her man. (My '98 VW Jetta is on its last leg!!) So after some research and a little looking around, we have bought the awesome Ford F-150 you see in the pictures below. I love it.... Thanks so much to my lovely wife! You are the best!!!

About the truck: 2010 Ford F-150 Super Crew, with a 5.4L V8 engine, the decked out chrome package, loaded down with extras inside, 5 1/2' bed. I am not sure how this hadn't sold off the lot through 2010 but we are very thankful it was around so we could get some awesome year end closeout deals!!

Kim talked with her dad a day before the truck was coming in from NC (the dealer located it for me and brought it in for the sterling gray color and features I wanted). Kim was talking with him about putting a bed liner in to which Pops replied that maybe we would get a nice surprise and there would be one already factory installed. Well, lo and behold, the truck showed up with a bed liner, which wasn't in the price and was an added bonus. Pops, you are good!!!

Absolutely loving the new truck and looking forward to actually getting to know what all the gadgets actually do! Thank you so much Kim for my awesome Christmas present! You are the best wife I could ever dream of having and I thank God for you each and every day!!!

Robot Dylan

2010-12-17T03:28:00.002+09:00

Our little man, Dylan, dressed up as a robot for Awana on October 31. He watched a backyardagains show where the characters were robots and since then he has loved robots. One day I asked how he was doing while in the car, from the back seat I heard "All Systems A-OK!". Recently I overhead him in his room repeating to himself "robot Dylan decorating, robot Dylan decorating" Later I went upstairs to find that he had hung hangers on ever knob possible in his room.

Our Own Good News of Great Joy!

2010-12-16T22:13:00.008+09:00

As you all know we lost our second child near the end of my first trimester this past February. This was the hardest part of life that I have yet lived through and I pray that none of you will ever experience the hurt and pain that we did. What do I pray for each person reading this blog is that you will in some way experience the true peace, comfort and contentment that comes with trusting the ONLY being who is perfectly trustworthy - Jesus Christ!

This Casting Crown's song was sung many times at church when I was in my darkest hours. Every time it brought tears to my eyes as it was so real and true in my own life.

I wanted to share the song with you:

I was sure by now

That You would have reached down

And wiped our tears away

Stepped in and saved the day

But once again, I say "Amen" and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls

I barely hear You whisper through the rain

"I'm with you"

And as Your mercy falls

I raise my hands and praise the God who gives

And takes away

Chorus:

I'll praise You in this storm

And I will lift my hands

For You are who You are

No matter where I am

Every tear I've cried

You hold in Your hand

You never left my side

And though my heart is torn

I will praise You in this storm

I will remember when

I stumbled in the wind

You heard my cry

You raised me up again

My strength is almost gone

How can I carry on

If I can't find You

I lift my eyes unto the hills

Where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord

The maker of heaven and earth

Ps 30:5b "Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning."

Guess what folks it is morning in our lives!!!

The Lord has blessed us again with a little one growing inside of me! This third baby has been giving us a strong heart beat since the first Dr. appt and is now doing "gymnastics"!

I have been expanding fast but am so thrilled to be carrying another blessing and miracle from our faithful Heavenly Father!

Our child is due April 14 -a spring baby!

Not that I need any more reasons to celebrate another winter behind us but what a joyous time to bring home our newest miracle. As with Dylan we have not found out the gender of this child. We will find out come April when they come into the world! Thank you for celebrating with us and for comforting us during our time of mourning.

North Carolina Vacation

2010-11-11T11:08:00.002+09:00

In September, we were able to head up to the NC Mountains for some wonderful family time. Thank you Mom and Aunt Patti!!! It is such a blessing to have access to the mountain house, to relive memories from my childhood and most importantly to share it all with my own little family.

Rory took some beautiful pictures of sunrises. The view from the deck and back of the house is amazing! I have added 3 Mountain posts for you all to enjoy a little of what we did while relaxing in the fresh mountain air.

Your challenge after looking at all the pictures is to guess what the next post will anounce;)

NC - Grandfather Mountain

2010-11-10T06:15:00.000+09:00

A view of the Mile High Swinging Bridge on Grandfather Mt. It is a 228 foot suspension bridge, 5,280 feet up spanning a 80 ft chasm.

Dylan and Dad standing right on the mile high line looking down. Obviously Dylan does not have a fear of heightsOn top of the world!
Ok so really that is just how Rory and I felt being able to share Our Savior's awe inspiring creation with our son!

Family picture on top of Grandfather Mt

Mr. Personality loving his minute of hands free freedom
After being blown around on top of Grandfather Mt we did some walking around at a lower elevation, thus allowing Dylan freedom to run and investigate.Yay we did it! Kings of the rock:)

NC - S'mores!!

2010-11-10T06:00:00.000+09:00

A beloved part of our mountain visits - the campfire and s'mores!

Dylan getting ready to roast his first ever marshamellow

As you can see Dylan was as excited as I remember being with the campfire and roasting marshmallows. It is amazing to be able to "go back in time" by experience life through your child's eyes.

Yummy to my Tummy!
He sure loved roasted marshmallows but really wasn't too impressed with s'mores. I am sure that will change.
So relaxing to sit around the campfire and chat with my best friend!Posing with the campfire:)

Linville Caverns and Falls

2010-11-10T05:57:00.006+09:00

Another splendid day in the NC mountains!
We headed over to Linville to let Dylan experience the inside of a mountain
as well as to do some hiking.

Dylan waiting outside the entrance to the cavern
I asked about "Tall Man's Torture" and "Fat Man's Squeeze" only to find out they don't call those zones by those names any more. Even the rocks are made to be PC! I think every visit I will bring it up just for kicks:)Peekaboo!

Even though I have been visiting Linville Caverns since I was young, I have yet to be bored on a tour. It is an amazing subterranean world, complete with blind fish and a history of civil war deserters calling it home.

On to Linville Falls.
Dylan LOVED hiking! There is so much to see, touch and learn about outdoors
Another natural spot to play peek-a-boo Running, running, running and he still didn't take a nap that day!

Enjoying the fresh air and beautiful view

Love my little crazy man!

the above picture = perseverance and determination

Dylan and Daddy

Dylan's first ever taste of rock candy compliments of our cavern tour guideOur family (of four) posing at the same spot on the deck that I remember my Gran posing my family growing up.

I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream!!

2010-10-13T04:52:00.003+09:00

As you saw Dylan had the opportunity through his playgroup to make his own ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery! Blue ice cream (which may have been cotton candy?) and gummy bears, a yummy treat for a 3 year old.

Family Time, Beach Time, the Best of Times

2010-09-30T06:45:00.000+09:00

On the way to Florida, Dylan let us know he felt about still being in the car :)

BEACH TIME
Nikki and KaelynMichael and Addi
Dylan pulling his cousin April through the "tidal pool"

The way the tides work this time of year "tidal pools" are left in the middle of the beach surrounded by sand. Which make perfect play areas for the little one meaning of course that is where we are all hanging out - no waves or undertows :)

Kaka checking out the catfish Michael and Rory brought back from boogie boarding. It was caught on a hook and in the "tidal pool". Thankfully this find was farther down the beach from where we were playing
Troy & Dylan
Addison lovin' the water
With my sweet niece, Kaelyn!

Gau-Gau & Kaelyn. Actually that should read Super Gau-Gau the fiddler crab catcher! Thanks for catching the fiddler crab for Dylan and I on Friday. We were impressed!My cousin April and I

Best Parents in the World! Yes, I am totally biased!! I love you both so very much and am beyond thankful to have you in my life.
Kaelyn and Dylan in their super duper paper towel bandannas
Lean on me...
Addi and Dylan playing Othello with Pops.
Dylan you should go there next.
Aunt Nikki, Uncle Michael and Dylan's cousins bought him a remote control hemi truck for his birthday. It was a hit with all ages!
Yes Rory did come on this trip with us thank goodness! I must admit the only picture I have of my handsome man he looks like a dot out boogie boarding - sorry honeyGod sure knows how to begin and end each day with glorious displays of His beauty!

Where is Dylan?

2010-08-31T06:42:00.003+09:00

When "nap" time was over I headed into Dylan's room to let him know he was allowed to get up. Uh mm where was my little man?
Oh my yes my little sweetie pie has stuffed himself along with his pillow into his pillow case.

He was so thrilled with himself!
See look Mom, I can do it again.
Dylan never fails to keep us on our toes. :)

First time Dylan"rode" his bike!

2010-08-31T06:29:00.002+09:00

Excited and ready to go!
Whoa Dad are you back there because it feels like I am picking up speed.

Dylan's first bike ride and many of the others since have been him coasting down the drive way and Dad/Mom pushing his feet on the pedals on the way back up.
He loves his new bike and has plenty of time to master his pedaling skills prior to racing in the tour de france :)

Dylan's Three and We visit the Sea!

2010-07-26T04:44:00.007+09:00

This year in lieu of a birthday party for our precious son we headed over to Myrtle Beach for a night at Compass Cove. We all LOVE the beach and the resort seemed very child friendly with multiple pools, including a kiddie pool (depth 1.5ft) and water slides thus making our decision of heading to the beach an easy one.
There was a "sunken" submarine among other entertaining items in the kiddie pool. Dylan loved splashing in the water, exploring the submarine, watching the large buckets spill water and being "chased" by as he described us silly parents.It has been wonderful to have Daddy home so much with his new civilian job!

Interestingly enough we would have to say that one of Dylan's favorite aspects of the resort were the two lazy rivers.

Birthday Morning!
We don't often have doughnuts as I am sure you can gather from the above two pictures documenting Dylan's excitement over his birthday breakfast. My excitement lay in the fact that we were eating breakfast listening to the sound of the waves, watching the water rise and recede over the sand and being cooled every so often by the breeze washing across our balcony!

Rory and I were thrilled and slightly surprised by the fact that Dylan LOVED the two water slides at Compass Cove. The picture above is too cute with both of my guys smiling after their wet ride together!

I am finding it hard to believe that our son is 3 years old!
We do love the beach!

We left Myrtle Beach the afternoon of the 24th, Dylan's birthday, arriving home in time for dinner, cake and presents.

Dylan's Under the Sea cake courtesy of me:)

Seeing this look of joy on his face made all the time spent on the cake worth it! Isn't that the case with all the hard work of parenting - it is always worth it!
Happy Birthday to Our Dylan
God has blessed us with an amazing three years of enjoying our precious son!

Jesus is in the business of populating Heaven

2010-02-27T20:04:00.001+09:00

A wise man once wrote: “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven. A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-4) We are currently in a time of mourning. On February 17 I went into my new OB Doctors office here in Florence with my heart full of joy. I would soon be finding out more about Baby Fredrick Number 2 who I had been carrying for close to 3 months. It was during this appointment that I was emotionally flung into the deepest darkest valley I have ever known. Our dear and beloved child is already wrapped in the loving arms of our Lord and Savior. The beauty is our dear child will never experience pain, heartache or sickness. He/She is already in Heaven.

As I mentioned this is the deepest darkest valley I have ever experienced. I have never known the gut wrenching utter pain of a shattered heart until now. Many mothers love and intimately know their children before ever “meeting” them. I am one of those mothers. With this pregnancy I was blessed to know I was pregnant earlier than I did with my first pregnancy. With the knowledge that a new life was steadily growing inside I fell in love yet again. I started every morning with a prayer for my child as I held my yet unchanged stomach. Not a day went by that I didn’t think of my second child. Dreams of holding him/her, kissing and cuddling and caring for them began immediately. Though all of these dreams are shattered I know God is in control! I hold tight to many of His promises. I believe the Lord saved my child from something. We may never know what but God, my loving Savior, would never allow His children to hurt this deeply if there wasn’t a good and just reason.

Many people may question if the Lord is really good if He allows terrible events such as this. What I know is we live in a fallen world full of sin and thus tragedy, disease, pain and terrible events like losing your child. I will still, in the midst of this darkness and pain, stand on the rooftop and proclaim He is loving and good. For one my child is in heaven! The Lord being a just God cannot condemn a child who never had the opportunity to choose to surrender to Him. Also the loving hands holding my heart in place as it heals are a testament to His love. The morning I awoke for my surgery the Lord once again told me He loved and cared for me. I awoke at 5:15am from the loveliest dream and a warm peace filled my entire being. In the dream, I was on a porch surrounded by my closest family members, the Christian Doctor and dear friend who delivered Dylan and his wife, who is one of my closest friends. (I know many others would have wanted to be there if it were real life) We were all holding hands taking turns praising God, telling of His greatness and praying. Right before I awoke one of those present in my dream said ok let’s title this next part Kim. With that I awoke ready, determined and filled with peace. Resting in the assurance that there are no coincidences I was determined to make a positive impact at the hospital. I still consider myself to be incredibly blessed. My heavenly Father has showered me with more blessings than I can count and a hundred times more than I deserve. With this in mind, I decided the best thing to do at the hospital was to verbally bless others in the name of Jesus Christ. Realizing in recovery that I had yet to bless anyone, I began blessing everyone that came by my bed. Yes, I was still very much in a stupor but that cannot weaken the Lord’s power. Every day is a struggle and thus far every day there have been tears. This will not always be the case; I know there will be “a time to dance” in our future.
Am I angry? I can honestly say no. Why would I be? Do I deserve children? No, children are a gift from God. (Psalms 127:3) Do I want and daily pray for more of the gift of children? – YES. Yet if Dylan is the only child I ever have the chance to raise, I will still be greatly blessed.

Dylan will never truly understand the supportive roll he is currently playing. His laughter and smile warm my heart as they always have. He gives me more kisses than he used to. Many times he will cover my whole head –both cheeks, neck, chin, nose, forehead, and top of my head (lips are for Daddy) – with sweet kisses. When I am crying he always comes to check on me, hug me and at time being wise beyond two years he says, “Mommy it is ok, God is in control”. I was once told years ago: “ The Lord is not in the business of populating the earth but in populating heaven.” I was so thankful I heard this. Once again there are no coincidences thus I know the Lord allowed me to hear this to prepare my heart for this dreadful time. Someday I will meet my child in glory!

I will continue to cry out to the Lord as David did in the Psalms and hope in Him for days of dancing. “To you, O Lord, I called, and to the Lord I made supplication… You have turned for me my mourning into dancing: You have loosened my sackcloth and girded me with gladness.” (Psalms 30:8&11)

Without my Lord, my amazing husband, my son and many prayers of the Savior’s faithful I could see myself not getting out of bed. Thanks be to the Lord for His goodness!

Christmas in Tampa

2010-01-29T05:53:00.006+09:00

After opening presents and eating our traditional breakfast casserole and danish, we headed down to Tampa. Our Christmas was rounded out with wonderful family time with Megan, Jimmy, Trey, Nana and Papa Steve, more presents and a delicious dinner!

Trey stylin' in his Christmas outfit
sweet boys

cousin time is great time!

Opening presents with Daddy. Check out the sweet smock Dylan got from Nana and Papa Steve. How perfect for his art projects:)relaxing with Papa Steve

trying out one of Trey's Christmas presents

Late Christmas pictures

2010-01-29T05:35:00.002+09:00

Florence, SC

2010-01-05T06:40:00.003+09:00

We are starting our new lives as working civilians. This past Saturday we arrived in Florence after a grueling holiday traffic filled 9 hour drive. Nevertheless we arrived safely:) Today was Rory's first day at Progress Energy in Hartsville, SC. As some of you may be wondering since the last blog regarding our move said we were going to live in Hartsville plans changed. We found a home in Florence for which I am grateful. Florence is larger than Hartsville though still smaller. I guess I wasn't really all that ready to live in a REALLY small town so I am relived. This does mean that my dear husband has to drive approx 45min to working in the morning. Thank you Rory!
Our closing is scheduled for the 11th of January! Until then and while we do some work in the house we are living in an apartment conveniently located across from the development. I will be sure to do my best in keeping you all updated on life here in the Palmetto State.

Christmas at the Pappas'

2009-12-25T07:05:00.006+09:00

I love family time! What a joyous occasion to be celebrating Our Lord's birth with those you hold most dear. Mom and Pops had a house full as Uncle Steve and Crystal drove up from Davie, Aunt Cary, April and Troy came over from Maitland, Nikki, Michael, Austin, Morgan, Kaelyn and Addison drove over from Deltona and Rory, Dylan and I from 5 minutes up the street.

Nikki and I
The younger guys - uhmm great posing:)

The younger gals - now we know how to get close:)

April with the three layer red velvet cake master piece.

She did a great job making it look as great as it tasted!

Dylan totally enjoying his couch/bed from his Aunt Nikki and family

Notice the little ones, Dylan and Addison, they have switched toys. Gau-Gau and Pops bought Dylan Handy Manny and Addi a pink wagon. Guess the kiddos decided to trade for the night:)

Daddy helping Dylan get to playing with talking Handy Manny and his tools.

Myself, My Wonderful Mom, Sweet Sister Nikki and adorable niece Addi

With My dear cousin Crystal and Uncle Steve

Addison and Austin

Kaelyn and Dylan

Morgan and Dylan

We had a wonderful time. Dylan especially LOVED being with his cousins. For days prior to family time all he can talk about are his cousins of course this lasts for days afterwards as well. Saying his prayers before bed after Christmas at Gau-Gau and Pops, he even prayed keep healthy cousins:)

Thankfully after this family gathering we are still able to tell Dylan he gets to see more cousins. As we are heading down to see Rory's side of the family on Christmas.

Family Time is Priceless!

Making Christmas Cookies

2009-12-25T06:42:00.003+09:00

Dylan and Mom had a great time making Christmas cookies this year:) As you see below we even took a break to play the drums on the refrigerator with the measuring spoons:)

I am personally a very messy cook must be part of the reason I hate the clean up;) Dylan wasn't so bad we only had a little more of the ingredients on the floor than normal:)

This is one of my favorite aspects of clean up:) Obviously Dylan was enjoying it as well

Don't ask what the front blobs are - Dylan thought they were neat so we kept them.

(excuse all the boxes on the counter we are moving in 9 days)

waiting waiting waiting - the hardest part of cookie baking!

"I like it!"

Saint Augustine's Winter Wonderland

2009-12-20T18:26:00.000+09:00

This afternoon we headed out to enjoy Christmas festivities at Saint Augustine's Winter Wonderland. It was pretty chilly for us Floridians though there wasn't any snow;) The fake snow is pumped out later in the evening. We by passed the ice slide and ice skating and instead enjoyed the scenery, Elf Village, Candy Cane Forest, The North Pole and the train.

Going in for a hugDylan had a ball at the Elf Village - the little homes were just his size. He went into the miner's cabin and I asked him what he was doing inside. He replied working. I asked what he was working on and he said a tunnel:) In another cottage, he said he was making Christmas decorations. I love an active imagination!

This was my favorite little house - so very Christmasy

Rory and Dylan entering the Candy Cane forest Dylan took a rest in Santa's comfy recliner at the North Pole

We had a wonderful time together:)

BIG Boy Bed Time

2009-12-05T23:55:00.004+09:00

Dylan was able to "help" Daddy put together the frame for his big boy bed. We are grateful to have received a twin bed for Dylan from my Aunt Cary!
The next morning after Dylan spent the whole night in his big boy bed Mom needed pictures:)
so he got to pose.

This is actually close to how we found him in the morning:)

Hey folks look at me in my big boy bed

Employment News + Happy Thanksgiving!!

2009-11-24T10:36:00.005+09:00

Believe it or not I am a live;) I say that sheepishly since I had promised to be better at getting our blog caught up.I am thrilled to be alive though:)

We have been enjoying life in Saint Augustine but that will be coming to an end shortly.
Rory was offered a position at Progress Energy in South Carolina. Though we hate to leave family, friends and the Sunshine State (a little piece of paradise), this is a great opportunity for our family. We are currently in transition yet again since Rory will begin Jan 4 in Hartsville, SC.

A not so detailed map of SC.

The nuclear plant where Rory will be working is in Hartsville, SC. This is a thriving metropolis, so large that it isn't even located on this map! Find Florence, right off I95, then imagine a teeny dot approx. 30 miles North West that's Hartsville population 11,000 or so we have heard:)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE!!

Back to April '09

2009-09-17T04:17:00.004+09:00

April in Japan bloomed magnificently with delicate cherry blossoms and splendid visits from home. Rory's parents arrived first and could not have planned their timing better, it seems Japan was at its most beautiful just for them. Just a little preview of the beauty which was spring in Japan.

I promise more pictures to come:)After giving Mom and Dad a day of relaxation as well as a tour of the base, we headed up to Tokyo. It was in the Chiyoda ward that you can find what is said to be the "most expensive square kilometer in the world". This of course is where the Imperial Palace is located. In the photo above you see a garden area which is front of the Nijubashi bridge (a part of the palace). We all found it so fascinating to see the modern skyscrapers towering over the eccentric evergreens.

The moat around the palace.

The family in front of the Nijubashi Bridge which is said to be the most photographed scene in Japan.

The inner palace gardens and buildings are only open to the public twice a year, January 2 and December 23, when the Imperial family makes a public appearance.

Another angle of the bridge with palace buildings in the background.

We did make it back:)

2009-09-13T05:51:00.002+09:00

Yes we did make it back to the United States though you wouldn't know it from the blog. Sorry about that but as you can imagine we have been busy busy busy! With a family welcome home party at the beach and a big party at the Ellis' we have been royally welcomed home. It has been a little over a month since we have arrived back in the states and life has not slowed though we have a down weekend this weekend. Ahh a little relaxing.

I do promise to finish out our Japan pictures as we keep you updated on our current adventure: Trusting our Lord as He directs us in finding a new home town, job, and abode.

Dylan is TWO!

2009-07-24T15:17:00.007+09:00

We awoke to an overcast rainy day so Mom's beach idea was out the window. Uhmm what to do? I then remember this play area at the mall near the base so we headed out with rain gear in tow. Little man was really in the mood to hear some off key singing so he continued to say more mommy more. The rain continued as the world cried listening to me sing the ABCs, I am a C, C-H, I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N, and I have the joy joy... Dylan was happy and so was I so other people could just plug their ears;) The best part is hearing D sing along. He has is own words but they seem to fit. Also during the joy song when I ask where he points to his heart! I sure am going to miss our long walks to get places - there is so much world to investigate when you walk everywhere. Dylan is sure to point everything out and ask "Whas That?"Here we are about to head in and play! You have to love Dylan's grimaces
- no more real smiles for the camera no helped needed on this electric see-saw"Whoa" and I am quoting as you can see by his expression:)
These little deals spin around in circles but not like those dreadful tea cups at Disney - much slower

The balloons were flying everywhere thanks to the four fans strategically placed around the play area.

Riding on the Road Runner - not sure if at is who it was supposed to be. It was a big road runner looking bird.

Dylan loved throwing the balls!

Developing that passing precision for his future;)

play time out to send Daddy an email

(notice the Pappas tongue he was concentrating on what to type)

An elephant on the merry go round. The elephant was the popular one for some reason.

I am just happy that Dylan decided against making the elephant sound thus saving everyone from getting a Dylan shower!

Hold on son!Looking back wondering why he didn't have any passengers in his taxi.

He loved the windshield wipers!

Mommy tried to make an Elmo cake.

No Dylan is not pointing at he cake. He is sneaking his finger into the icing.

Licking it off and saying "tasty, like that"Happy Birthday to you...
Dylan blew the candle out all by himself!

Another precious grimace!

Then on to presents!

Thank you everyone for your generosity!

Daddy we missed you but are looking forward to all the other birthdays you get to be home for!!!!!!!! Here is to our future as civilians and no more missing Daddy!

July 18 Climbing Fuji-san

2009-07-19T15:46:00.010+09:00

Here is beautiful and majestic Fuji-san known to English speakers as Mt Fuji. It is Japan's highest peak. Mt Fuji is an active composite volcano. The above photo was taken in April when my Mom was visiting. The day she and I went was a whole lot prettier than my climbing day!

1:45 A.M. with a smile on my face and a thumbs up even after being regaled with details of horror and unusual punishment on my taxi ride to the bus departure location. When the taxi driver picked me up began his tale of Fuji torture including shredded hiking boots, crashing for 13 hours after the eventful, and not being able to stand when he got out of bed. Thanks for the encouragement pal - nothing like bolstering a fellow adventurer's morale.

As you noticed I had my gator shirt on. I had grand plans for taking a picture at the top sporting my orange and blue - ha ha so much for that thought.

As we were driving up to the 5th station on Mt Fuji I was shocked to see the sky beginning to lighten at 4 A.M.! Of course since I have the curse of not being able to sleep unless laying down, I was awake for the approximately 3 hour drive.

Now let me give you a tidbit of background info. My grandparents built a home in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. Almost every summer growing up, we spent time up there hiking and enjoying the outdoors. I say up there since I was raised in flat Florida. Prior to the climb I thought uh mm I wonder if I will suffer from altitude sickness. It was something that had not occurred to until the safety briefing. Oh naw I will be fine; Hey I have hiked Grandfather Mountain were two of my brilliant thoughts. At least I took the time to look up the altitudes of the two mountains. Grandfather Mountain which for a Florida Girl is a BIG mountain is approx. 5,964 feet and Fuji is approx. 12,388 feet.

Oh my look at the challenge that I had waiting for me!Our climb (please notice my choice of wording CLIMB not hike) was to take place on the North side of Mt Fuji in the Yamanashi prefecture. Fuji is actually located in two different prefectures. Fuji is behind the building hiding behind a cloud that I will learn soon enough was ominous! As we exited the bus most of us donned our rain jackets and pants. I was being hopeful and left the rain pants in my backpack for the moment.The entrance to the trailOh look at this great hike on a nice trail of lava stone and dustAn awesome view from the beginning of the hike.

As I mentioned we arrived at the 5th station to begin our climb. Fuji's 5th station at 7,700 feet had already surpassed Grandfather Mts total height! Looking back at the 5th stationTwo more pictures of hiking Fuji - deceivingly easy looking

This is crazy and wrong and you will understand why as the pictures continue. Yet it is not uncommon for the Japanese to bring along their young children as they climb Fuji-san.

Flashing the standard Japanese picture pose peace sign at the first of many markers.

Most of which didn't help a woman who reads English and struggles with converting the metric system.

The whole experience was breath taking for one reason or another. At the beginning it was the awesome views taking my breath away later it will be the terrain and lack of oxygen.

My Fuji buddy Dawn.

She and I were on the same bus and friendless. I came alone which is what we military spouses have to do a lot but her friend was a no show. She asked if we could hike together - sure sounds like a plan.

Looking up to where we were headed. Little did I know that this is where it all really began......

Climbing Fuji-san

2009-07-19T15:33:00.000+09:00

No. 7 station approx 8,858 feet. The weather was getting nastier as we went and as you will see in later pictures I stopped to put on my rain pants:( Not that the rain gear really helped since I was soaked to the bone by the end of the climb! At least at the moment I was dry and thought it was going to help me out.

These men are branding our Fuji sticks.

This was our first stop for getting out Fuji sticks branded. The Japanese call them stamps. Most stations you come to which are really just shanty huts have brands. A different one saying something in Japanese. Plus they usually have the height you made it to and a symbol or picture. A really awesome souvenir and one that helped you accomplish your feat!

Ok this picture shows you why I refer to the day as climbing! As a precaution the day before the climb I cut all my finger nails down. I did not want to deal with one being shredded back to the quick. Looking at this lava rock formation, I was thrilled I had done so. It was a hands, feet and Fuji stick process getting up!

Two random resting Japanese Fuji climbers.

One book I read said that Fuji is the most climbed mountain in the world. Many sites online as well as the book say that 200,000 people climb Fuji a year with 30% being foreigners. I only spoke with two groups of foreigners who both ended up being French. Believe me there wasn't much talking as you continued to ascend the inhospitable Fuji-san.

Looking back down the way we had come.

As you look at these pathways think about ferocious gusts of wind that threaten to end your visit to dear Ms Fuji. I am not kidding at all! At times I found myself crouching down as quickly as I could while tightening all my muscles making myself a smaller tighter target. Even climbing in a crouch at times with my upper body horizontal to the ground feeling safer that way than standing. There was one time in particular when I thought I was heading over the chain and down down down... I have not been able to find a record of how strong the wind is on Fuji but have no fear I will keep looking.

An opening in the clouds allowed for an neat shot down.

I still have not made it very far up the mountain when this picture was taken which you can tell becasue there is still vegetation. Notice the rocks on the huts roof in the far left corner. Every hut/building on the mountain had to have massive rocks on the roof to keep in from blowing away.Yes that is ice on the top right corner of the picture! I was lead to believe that the snow and ice was gone during open season July and August. Not so much on July 18, 2009!This is my Japanese chocolate friend and I at a rest station.

Let me explain: At many of the stations if not all there is a small area to rest (outside) and a vendor usually has snacks for sale in a small hut. The width of these stations can be anywhere from a person and half to 3 people - not large. But as you know Japanese people can pack it in to small spaces. As Dawn and I arrived one of the stations, for the life of me I can't remember which one, this Japanese man offered us chocolate. Of course I will accept chocolate there aren't a lot of woman who will pass up an offer of free chocolate! It was as you can imagine very tasty - strawberry and chocolate combined.

Later at another station I saw he and his buddy again. This time I was taking a quick break to refuel. I offered the two men some trail mix a normal snack for Americans. The version I had with me included banana chips, cranberries, pineapple, papaya, honey roasted peanuts, cashews, coconut and dark chocolate m&ms. I poured some into each mans hands. My chocolate buddy was wowed big time. The grin on his face after eating some of my trail mix was like a little boy getting a special treat at the candy store. It was too awesome to experience. Then in broken English he told me "New never have, ohh so taste good". I of course then took his hands pulled them flat and poured a second helping. His whole face lit up once again - a nice thing to see when the world around me was gray and menacing. We finally introduced ourselves but for the life of me I can't remember his name. Off we went to continue pushing up the mountain in the driving rain, sleet and occasional hail. We did see him again but that part of the story will come later in the posts just don't forget my chocolate friend. Many of you know that my brain never stops churning, the gears just don't stop turning unless I am asleep. So obviously I was thinking the whole time I was hiking. During the easier terrain I was trying to think of what I was going to say on the blog but as the terrain and weather got more difficult and at times down right dreadful my thoughts were far from blogging.

More than once I looked down at my fingers sticking out of my workout gloves like tiny little white popsicles and wondered what the signs of frostbite were. My finger nails were a strange light blue shade a rather nice color if it weren't for the fact it was my finger nails. I realize this means I wasn't getting enough oxygen but did it also show how cold I was? My right hand seem to be curled into a permanent Fuji stick holding grip. Uh mm frostbite? Thankfully no but I did wonder.

I also thought if Rory even considers asking me to go on vacation where it is cold I would say no. Forget skiing or hiking I am thinking tropical islands and the beach. No more cold!!! I was freezing and the ice felt like bee stings all over my face as it came pelting in sideways under my visor. Yeah that visor was packed for the sun by the way as were the sunglasses that were never removed from my pack!

A couple times my thoughts came out as comments to Dawn my climbing buddy. I thought some were appropriate like: "If we did this every weekend we wouldn't have any cellulite on our glutes!" At that point in time my glutes were on fire. Hey I was really having fun! The challenge and muscle burn was right up my alley! Dawn didn't think it was so cute or funny. I think she even made some comment back about how did she end up climbing with a personal trainer! Ok come on personal trainer and climbing a mountain - I don't train mountain climbers.

Showing the rest area of one of the stations. Almost everyone was a walking, scrambling, climbing rain suit with only a little bit of their face showing

Another view of the same stationOh look they were reassuring us we weren't on the Lost Route - how kind.

So what do you think of the view?

I sound crazy but I was having a great time though really the rain/stinging ice could have been missing! There were times that the ice and cold rain felt like cruel and unusual punishment as my muscles burned from the intense workout and my skin and organs screamed from the cold! I am grateful for the rain for one reason - my sinuses. I heard that one lady a blonde ened up with black hair when she was climbing. It took her two days to scrub the lava ash out of her hair and scalp. That would have done a number on my sinuses.

I am sorry to say that as Fuji-san got 'grumpier and grumpier weather wise' I took less pictures. My fear was the rain and sleet/hail would damage the new camera my honey bought me before sailing away. No worries their are plenty more pictures but the quality isn't always there due to rain drops or due to how quick I tried to take the picture.

Still smiling:)-What a once in a lifetime experience! Do you see the stamps on our Fuji sticks?

Fuji-san Summit

2009-07-19T15:00:00.000+09:00

As I mentioned early I was having a great time. My face would quickly break into a smile even in the worst of the conditions that is when I was not focused on finding a stable foot and hand hold. This was all until one Japanese man almost ruined it. Dawn had this habit of trying to ask everyone how far we had to go. She even busted out with the are we there yet a couple of times. Anyways one man answer back with a smile only a little bit more to go. I was thinking sweet I will be at the summit eating my ramen feeling like a million bucks for arriving at the top very soon. Obviously my frame of reference for a little bit isn't his which made the last 30minutes tougher than any other part of the trek! After every twist turn and bend, I was expecting to see the grand finale - streamers, confetti, the band you know the whole works (for those of you who don't know I am so teasing) That made it tough. Prior to hearing a little bit I was just thinking one more step, find a spot for one more step, flex those fingers they aren't that cold, wow you are climbing Fuji, etc... The last 30 minutes I was focused on that toddler phrase are we there yet that Dawn had mentioned one too many times. To her credit I think she was kidding and only said it twice.
Earlier in our climbing we had arrived at a Torii gate which really got me excited! I figured there had to be something special about that stop - aside from the shrine. Oh no we were no where near the summit. So the next Torii gate I spotted with less glee than the first but still a glimmer of hope that we were close. When we came to the third Torii gate I didn't even blink much less get excited I was drudging along for a "little bit" to get to the summit. Besides hadn't I learned Torii gates aren't that special.

Standing under the unexciting Torii gate, I took these two pictures looking back at the lion-dogs protecting the entrance. After the quick pictures, we continued up a few more steps and rounded a little corner. It was there that I saw my chocolate friend again in a circle of men all with huge grins are their faces. In the instant of seeing that many Japanese people smiling at once, knowing I had been climbing for a "little bit" too long I went straight to chocolate man and we hugged with massive grins are our faces. I then started over to the closest hut but wait why did I hug chocolate friend? I went back to him and said "are we at the summit?" Of course I had to do some charades and rephrase a couple times before he says "yes top, the top" My only guess is that subconsciously I knew I was at the summit a few seconds prior to consciencely wonder if I had arrived??? I am sure that my chocolate friend found it ironic and funny that we gave each other a celebratory hug then I asked if I was there yet. Hey it was cold and I was tired - no more excuses needed.

July 18th 10:19 a.m.

- after 5 hours and 5 minutes which included, water breaks, bathroom breaks, and stick stamping breaks we had arrived!!!!

Here is the large hut that dominated the man made aspect of the summit. Do you see the band, confetti and streamers? Me either but this was the best looking thing at the moment! It blocked the wind, sheltered me from the rain and offered warm food. Do you see the man in red in the above picture? I would have loved to shout hooray with my hands over my head but I was too tired and cold.

New camera issue the lens fogged up. I am just thrilled that one my camera didn't die because it got water logged like Ingrid's (you will meet her later) nor two did my batter die like Dawn's! You know how I love my pictures those to options would have been awful! a view looking from the back of the hut to the frontHad to show the gator shirt even if it wasn't outside by the crater or ledge.

Boxes upon boxes of supplies lined the wall of the hut - who had to pack this stuff up?

Ah hot ramen.

The best ramen I have had in Japan. It had nothing to do with taste and everything to do with temperature! Once I had stopped climbing my body began to shake horribly! My back muscles were so tense and I was shaking so hard I had a fleeting thought that I may snap my own spine! When I was given my ramen my arms and hands were shaking so violently that I spilled it all over my legs. At first I was disgusted with myself for spilling but within 10 seconds my thoughts changed to aahhh that feels really good- so warm! There was an instant where I thought about pouring my bowl of ramen over my head and letting it warm my body but thankfully that lasted even less than 10 seconds! Some how I shook my way through the ramen and drank my canned coffee. The shaking never did cease before we decided to leave:(The kitchen in the back of the hut

These cauldrons where full of steaming hot water and housed coffee, tea, hot chocolate and the like. This beautiful warm sight greets you as you enter the hut.

Getting our sticks branded with TOP of FUJI!!!!

Go America - whats with our Flag being so little?

Someone needs to hike a larger one up there
All too soon we decided to head out into this...

If the weather had permitted I would have walked around the circumference of the summits crater. Being that is was miserable out to put it kindly and the wind was a ferocious beast I was not walking another 90min around the crater. In all honestly I would more than likely been blown in and I have no intention of missing that plane on August 8.

After stopping at the worst bathroom yet we started our decent at 12:37pm.

Speaking of bathrooms yes there were a few on the mountain. I was pleasantly surprised about their state except for the one on the summit. We used two on the way up. Paying 100 yen you went into a hut that separate left and right. On the woman's side they had western toilets!!! This was a huge shock. Now there is NO water on Fuji so anything aside from bodily wastes was to be place in the waste basket beside the toilet. :( Overall lovely considering where I was. Now the summit bathroom was appalling. Ingrid a lady from our bus who we meet at the summit hut warned us. I guess my brain was too frozen or I thought I understood her warning. I DID NOT but didn't realize it. She said you could see the men. Well in a lot of areas of Japan including the other two bathrooms if you look the opposite way of the woman's as you walk in you may see a man using the restroom. I have learned to keep my eyes focused on heading to the correct side. As I headed into the bathroom I paid the attendant 200 yen this time and almost ran out - not exaggerating. I was taken back because I was literally walking into a line of urinals being used. Since there are no bathrooms on the way down, instead of rushing out I burnt holes in my boots staring at them so hard. I prayed that I would not run into anyone as I memorized the dirt patterns etched into my boots.

Dawn and I had met Ingrid whose friend quit and turned around early on the climb and Chrissy whose three friends quit at least half way up. Once that nasty bathroom experience was over our group of four woman started to descend.

Descending Fuji

2009-07-19T14:00:00.000+09:00

This is a picture of my three companions heading down the trail into a swirling mist of cold and fog. It was so delightfully strange and unpleasant to see the wind rushing past. I realize it wasn't the wind but clouds yet it was still fantastic.

As you can tell from this picture our descent was tough due to the lack of visibility. Plus anyone with bad knees, or injured knees will tell you descending is murder compared to ascending! My knees were killing me and I had taken perscription painkillers especially made for joint issues. I continued to do my best at walking side ways down the slope to relieve the pressure from my dear knees. At one point my left knee gave out and I slipped. I had to stop but only for an instant. I was NOT going to be that person who had to descend Fuji on horseback! Looks like the sun is trying to cut through the cold gloom

Oh yes ice and snow. We saw it on the way up but were never this closeDawn, Kim, Chrissy and Ingrid.

These ladies were lovely and made the descent a true pleasure. We chatted about Our Heavenly Father, our Honey's, the Navy etc...

A little side note Chrissy's husband is a conventional (non nuke) mechanic who works with the nukes on the GW. I will have to see if Rory knows him.

Dawn that's nasty!

My thoughts were the truth she said it was pretty bitter.

Yes the snow was mixed with lava ash!

Here comes a bulldozer.

The path down was wide and bulldozed relatively smooth in most areas.

I know that they use bulldozers as rescue machines since there is no where that is safe enough to land a helicopter for an air evacuation. I wonder if they also use them to pack some supplies up to the huts? For rescues they also use horses as I mentioned before which are generally corralled at the 5th station.

Though the path was "smooth" you had to be careful not to slide down the lava stones plus you didn't want to slide off the side -look behind me about waist high.

The ascending route can be see in the distance on the edge of the sloop.

It green wwwaaayy down there!

Still above the clouds

I thought this shot was breathtaking.

Stick to the path and be careful! Do you see the dots on the trail - people just starting to climb Fuji!

A closer view of people just starting what we were thrilled to be finishing!

No your eyes are not deceiving you these are Japanese school children. I heard from our Japanese guide that they climbed up to the 7th station. Remember that one, 8,858 feet approx a two hour hike for an adult. It was after the 7th station that things started to get hairy. Yet still the hike from the 5th to the 7th station was no piece of cake. The little hiking boots were adorable as were the matching hats that said Buddy across the front!I made it!!!!!

We were back at the 5th station around 3:15pm

There is a popular Japanese saying, "Only a fool would never climb Fuji and only a fool would climb her twice". I am currently in the non fool category! Once at the top I would have told you I would do it again IF I was guaranteed sunshine. Now a day later, I will tell you if I had the opportunity to do it again I would! Especially with my husband who would have loved to be with me! It was glorious, horrific, challenging, rewarding, cruel, ferociously cold, amazing...

The pictures and my commentary can't even come close to explaining the emotion and the journey that is climbing Fuji-san!

The good news is I am feeling great today. My legs are sore but nothing unusually so. More like from a killer lower body workout. No blisters, scraps or anything of that nature!

Next once in a lifetime adventure is with you honey!

We have gone skydiving, snorkling at the Great Barrier Reef, Elephant Trekking in the Thai jungle... What are we doing next?

Happy 4th of July

2009-07-04T21:33:00.007+09:00

We are wishing you all a wonderful 4th of July!

Dylan and I had a great day and want to share it with you. We started the morning off participating too slowly in the Paul Revere 5k. With my bum knee which was diagnoses as over worked (probably due to Fred Flinstoning it), we had to stay low key no high impact. I am ashamed to say that I did not enjoy the first half of the race. My competitive juices were ruining my mood. All I could think about was who could I possibly pass while speed walking. Right as I came up on the halfway turn around, I was hit hard with a blow to my heart. There running towards me was a boy who could not be any older than 10 years and my mood instantly changed to one of gratitude! The little boy was running full of courage and determination and without any arms. The rest of the race, I greeted everyone with smile and prayed that the Lord continue to give that boy courage, steadfastness and determination as he faces life. After the race, we cleaned up and headed to the beach! Not your typical trip to the beach. We walk for 30-40minutes, take a train as you see above for 10-15minutes and then walk another 10-15 minutes.

Loving the sun, sand and waves!

I had to take pictures of the Zushi Beach Lifeguards. Check out the hats!

Back home Dylan went down for a nap

before we continued to celebrate America's Independence Day. We had a not so tasty dinner out at the open base event. An open base event is when the Japanese nationals are allowed on. They joined in our July 4th party - strange but why not share the fun.

Then Dylan has an absolute blast in one of those moon walk/jumpy things.

It was his first experience and he was hooked so was mom since the joy on his face was priceless!

After jumping Dylan and I spent some time listening to a Beatles Tribute Band.

I had one of those moments: Dylan was standing in front of me enthralled by the music, I was playing with his strawberry blond hair thinking these are the times that make life worth living. The small yet priceless moments! To top it off my boy turned around and kissed my knee!!

I am a blessed mommy that's for sure.

Last but not least we watched fireworks before heading home.

We sure did enjoy our 4th of July hope you do was well.

Ps. I would love to promise to get caught up on our posts as well as to post more regularly but I won't. I only make promises when I know I can keep them. Considering we are moving back to the states August 8th (wow one month and four days) there is a lot to get done! I will try to post because we had some amazing family time with Rory's parents, my Mom and sister Joanna which I would love to share.

Hiroshima -Miyajima Island (1)

2009-06-12T21:39:00.006+09:00

After a wonderful nights rest at the ANA Crown Plaza Hiroshima we were off to Miyajima Island. It is said to be one of Japan's three most scenic spots and I think Rory and I would agree.

A picture of a fishing boat with traps in the background. We took a ferry out to Miyajima Island because to the best of my knowledge there are no bridges.

The famous floating O-Torri (Grand Gate) gate of Miyajima.

Doesn't Dylan look thrilled:( I promise we were having a great time.

A side view of the o-torii gate from the island.

You could pay to take a boat ride out to the torii gate. Ok it is not that exciting people!

Not only was the torii gate floating but so was the whole Itsukushima Shrine!

Pretty fascinating

The shrine was built in the latter half of the 6th century and was remodeled in 1168. Wow it really makes you realize how young the United States of America is.There was a Shinto wedding taking place when we visited. No we are not the crazy tourist taking pictures of someone elses wedding. OK so maybe we are but we weren't the only ones. Almost everyone who was visiting the shrine that day was taking pictures Japanese and tourists a like. In the above picture the woman on the far left is the Bride with the white headdress. The wedding party:)

You can see the bride and the groom in the center dressed in traditional garb.

A couple of interesting facts - the two fathers had white gloves clenched in their right hands. This is significant though I have no idea why. I saw the photographer arrange the men's hands with the gloves - um makes you wonder.

I have also heard in my time here that happy occasions are held at the Shinto Shrines for example weddings. Sad events for example funerals are held at Buddhist temples.

Hiroshima - Okonomiyaki

2009-05-28T15:11:00.005+09:00

Okonomiyaki has become a food symbol of Hiroshima.

Its origins date back to the 1920s when it was called "Issen Yoshoku" literally meaning "one cent western meal". I am not exactly sure why these cabbage pancakes are considered a western meal? I have never had anything like it my life. The current name is derived from the word okonomi meaning "what you like" or "what you want" and yaki meaning "grilled" or "cooked".

As I am sure you could tell those were a couple of pictures of the ladies making our Okonomiyaki. There is a batter layer spread out on the grill then cabbage, noodles, pork and bean sprouts. Of course you can customize this part but we got the traditional one which I just listed. After all the goodies "the gu" are piled on top of the cabbage an egg is cracked over top. Once the dish is ready to go then the a sauce is drizzled over the top. You are expected to eat it all with chopsticks!:)

No matter how it sounded Hiroshima okonomiyaki was delicious. Okonomiyaki is now made through out Japan but slightly different everywhere. We were told by our MWR guide that Hiroshima's okonomiyaki is very popular. I can understand why.

Yes that is a Gerber toddler meal beside me because no Dylan didn't eat any okonomuyaki:)

Hiroshima and the A-bomb

2009-05-22T21:11:00.006+09:00

This is a tough post for me! I feel as though I need to accurately explain my feels, thoughts, the truth of history and so much more. I know that I will not be able to do so in this forum but I will do my best.

Also please note that I have withheld information but yet there are still some ghastly details in my writings.

After visiting Iwakuni, we drove on into the heart of Hiroshima and the Hiroshima Peace Park. Our first stop was the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.

When we arrived at the museum we were told there was only about an hour and a half (if I remember correctly) before closing. As we entered many emotions enveloped me before I even read a single word. Walking into the main exhibition hall, I was surrounded by Japanese people, as is the case everywhere here in Japan. Yet instantly, I began to wonder if they were looking at me differently. Did they see me as ‘the evil’ that destroyed their city? Pushing the feelings to the side the best I could I continued into the room. I love history and I was here to learn besides the simplified childish thought of you started it came to mind. With so many people packed into the museum, not unlike the rest of Japan, it was hard to read the different exhibits. I was shocked and pleasantly surprise to read that Japan admitted they had engaged in erroneous diplomatic actions. No kidding don’t bomb a neutral country and wake the sleeping tiger!!
The destruction was horrific as you see in the picture above after the bomb was dropped there effectively was no Hiroshima. Walking through this first section I felt as though I had to make an effort to keep my jaw from falling on the floor.
We all have an idea in our heads how destructive an Atomic bomb is but until you experience the reconstructions, diagrams and real photographs/video you will never grasp the destructive power. “ At the instant of detonation, the temperature at the center exceeded a million degrees Celsius (180032 degrees Fahrenheit) generating an enormous fireball. Within 1 second of detonation it had extended to its maximum diameter of 280meters (918.635 feet). Temperatures on the surface reached 5000 degrees Celsius (9032 degrees Fahrenheit)”
“At the moment of the explosion, an extremely high pressure of several hundred thousand atmospheres was created. The surrounding air was thrust violently outwards and produced an intensely strong blast. The blast pressure 500 meter (1640.419 feet) from the hypocenter was 19 tons per square meter”
The images of the before and after of Hiroshima didn’t seem real! Why Hiroshima? It was the political and economic heart of the Chugoku Region and was a vital military base. Hiroshima was one of the last major cities left untouched by bombing. Here is an interesting fact that few people teach – Kyoto the historical capital of Japan, a city of 1600 temples and 300-400 shrines was purposely preserved by us. Our leaders made the conscience decision not to bomb the city so that Japan could preserve their heritage. Why isn’t that in the textbooks????

The exhibits were about to change from being “impersonal” to extremely personal. In a display case before we reached the next section of the museum was a wristwatch. The watch was stopped at 8:15am which was the time the world’s first atomic bombing took place. The man said that he had been about to catch a butterfly….
When we rounded the corner, I was greeted by horrific wax figures of a-bomb victims and instantly my hand flew to my throat as tears came to my eyes. Through out the next exhibition hall the sick feeling in my stomach grew as I read about the victims of the bombing. Holding most of my tears in my sheer will my hand stayed on my throat as though I was keeping my heart to beat regularly and forcing my stomach to stay in place. Once again I felt as though every eye in the area was on me. I know for a fact that many people were looking at the Americans on my tour to gauge our reactions. Eventually I could take no more and told Rory I needed to leave – it was all too much. Not only were there the graphic wax figures and photos of real victims but also the victim’s personal items were in display cases including some people’s skin and hair.

Once outside Rory and I regrouped and began to walk through the Peace Park.

Here we have a shot of the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims lined up with the Flame of Peace and A-bomb dome.A shot looking back at the flame of peace with the museum behind it. The flame has burned continuously since it was lit on August 1, 1964.Children's Peace Memorial. Including paper cranes in memory of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who tried to make 1,000 origami cranes so that she would be granted her wish. The story is that she was unable to finish the cranes before she died of Leukemia. Therefore her friends finished folding the cranes and buried them with her. Ever since children have brought origami cranes to the children's memorial here in the peace park. Inside all of the booth above are the origami cranes

Here is an up close picture of the origami cranes hanging and used to create words and pictures.

The plaque in front of the trees states "This tree was exposed to the radiation of the atomic bomb at a distance of 1,300 meter (4265.091 feet) away from the hypocenter. Half of the trunk on the hypocenter side was burnt to a hollow by heat rays and blast from the explosion. The tree is still growing today as if it were protecting the burns on the trunk. It was transplanted here in May of 1973"

A-Bomb Dome

"When the atomic bomb exploded, it ravaged the building instantly. Heat blazing from above consumed the entire building, killing everyone in it. Because the blast attacked the building from virtually straight overhead, some walls escaped total collapse. Along with the wire framework of the dome, these form the shape that has become a symbol. At some point it became known as the "A-bomb Dome.""

Though I am deeply sorrowful for the tragic ghastly deaths of so many I agree with our actions on August 6, 1945. Before you make your decision on whether it was right to use an atomic bomb I ask you to please research the atrocities that took place on Iwo Jima. Do you really think America should have sent her sons into mainland Japan?
I pray that there never comes a day where another nuclear weapon is used. Unfortunately, I do not have the hope that will be the case there are too many selfish God rejecting humans on this earth.

Hiroshima - Iwakuni

2009-05-14T15:57:00.004+09:00

Prior to all of our April/May visitors Rory, Dylan and I went on yet another Japanese adventure. Yes we are very good at packing them in since we had only arrived back from Thailand 7 days earlier:) We went on a 3 day and 3 night sight seeing trip around Hiroshima. If you were paying attention you just wondered how in the world we did that 3 days/3 night. Ah that is the fun - we left base on a tour bus at 10pm and drove through the night to Iwakuni arriving around 9:30am. The miserable part of that overnight bus trip (aside from the seats) was we stopped every two hours and the lights popped on inside! Aarghh. Hey if rotating the bus drivers was going to get us there alive so be it:)

Iwakuni is known for its unique bridge and castle.

Enjoy the picturesA view from the bus parking (the river rock) of Iwakuni Kintai Bridge.

" Many bridges have been constructed over the Nishiki Rover which flows through the castle town. However, thanks to the fast-moving current during rainstorms, the bridges were often swept away. "I want to build a bridge that will never be washed away" was the ardent wish of the third feudal lord, Hiroyoshi Kikkawa. The only way to realize his dream was to build a bridge without piers or to devise much stronger piers than those on previous bridges. Hiroyoshi who was interested in the culture of the Chinese Ming dynasty happened to see a picture of the stone bridges in a sightseeing book of the West Lake... He came upon the idea of building bridge piers like islets in the Nishiki River and constructing strong arches between them. In 1673, after repeated trial constructions and failures the unique bridge in which castle construction technology effectively incorporating wooden framework techniques was completed"

The family heading over the bridge. If you look really closely you can see the castle on top of the hill right over Rory's shoulder.

Looking back on the bridge.

If measured in a straight line the bridge is over 193.3 meters (634.18 feet) in length and is 5 meters (16.4 feet) wide.

The feudal lords wish of making a bridge that would never bewashed away was lost in a violent typhoon on September 14, 1950 when the bridge was destroyed.

One week later, the city council proposed that the bridge be rebuilt and the project was started. "The design of the original bridge was so good that the engineers in charge of research remarked, 'The techniques used were in perfect accordance with modern dynamical principles. Modern engineering cannot improve it". After two year the Kinatai Bridge reopened.

View from under the bridge. Amazingly it looked a lot like Lincoln Logs.
Iwakuni Castle as we were heading up the cable way.

The castle was built in 1608 by Hiroie Kikkawa the first Lord of Iwakuni Domain. The four story white donjon was built in the architectural style of the Momoyama era, reflecting European influences. In 1615, the "Law of One Castle per Province" was passed and strictly enforced therefore Iwakuni Castle was destroyed. In 1957 a group organized the Association of Reconstruction of the Iwakuni Castle and in 1962 the reconstruction was complete.

This picture gives you a better idea of the castle's height.

There Rory and Dylan are at the base of the structure.

Looking out from the castle to the Nishiki River.

Rory and Dylan, who doesn't know what to think, posing with a samurai suit of armor.

OK I realize that I am by no means a cat person. I am allergic to them and prefer dogs therefore I may not be the best judge but oh my goodness. We saw this man doing the typical Asian Squat while on his cell phone. That is nothing unusual until you see the two cats hanging out on his shoulders - very strange and to me unpleasant. He is obviously a cat person though! Just had to add this picture it was taken in Iwakuni after we came down from the castle.

Combi Mini Modeling

2009-05-10T17:02:00.008+09:00

As you all know from a previous blog Dylan had the opportunity to model here in Japan. Many of you asked for pictures but until now I was unable to post any. We were under contract not to show pictures nor talk about the clothes and venue until the catalog came out. The catalog is out:) The website is at the bottom of the post if you care to check it out.

Both days of shooting were held in Tokyo.

Here is a small view of the building used for the first day of shooting. The picture was taken off the balcony when we were not sure if we were allowed to take pictures

Mommy with the model in the pjs from the catalogA family picture outside of the first venue.Daddy and Dylan leaving Sweet Basil Studio after the second day of shooting. The dressing room at Sweet Basil
Our star getting ready
There were plenty of assistants around working on getting the children to pay attention and smile.
Whoa Buddy:)

Not sure what to think about the shirt bib
Melting his Mommy's heart with that smile!
Looks a little mischievous in this picture

***

If you would like please check Dylan out in Combi Mini's Babywear 2009 catalog.

Go to http://CombiMini.jp

Midway down the page you will see four circles with the words new. These are the new catalogs. The second circle in from the left should have a picture of a baby sitting on the front of the catalog. Please click on this catalog. Once the catalog comes up look up at the top right. You will see a box/109p then the word go in a circle. To go directly to the pages where you can spot Dylan enter the page number in the box and hit go.

Dylan is on the following pages of the catalog 65, 70, 71 and 80

Hope you enjoy :)

Last day in Thailand

2009-04-20T17:55:00.003+09:00

After the tour through southern Thailand, we stayed one final night in Phuket at the Deevana Patong Resort and Spa. It was a beautiful resort with nice gardens and three different pools.

Upon entering our room, we found these swans awaiting us on the bed. A very nice touch! As you can see below, Dylan thought it was pretty cool.

The view from our balcony showing our private jacuzzi. A little secret though... when tourist season is not at its peak and tourism is down in Thailand anyway, many hotels like to cut corners to save some money. One of those happened to be our jacuzzi was not heated haha! Oh well, what can you do?!

They surely wanted to make sure our stay was fantastic and it really was. The food at the hotel itself was wonderful and the staff was very pleasant.

This is the entrance to the hotel.

One pool had these elephants which Dylan thought were pretty neat.

This pool was more Dylan's speed though as you can see he made yet another girlfriend. This one was German. (And yes, her dad is wearing a speedo, yuck.) They pushed the ball back and forth with each other for quite some time.

Walking in town we spotted this woman with the pole and baskets on either end. We saw this all over Thailand and finally got the photo of it. This is how many of the local workers carry around their goods. Pretty interesting.

Well I hope you have enjoyed the Thailand blogs. Soon to come will be more adventures from Japan!

Last Day of Thai Tour

2009-04-19T21:05:00.005+09:00

Well you know, when Kim and Dylan are gone I guess I am just extremely bored and out of things to do. Just so all the ladies know, I have laundry going and the kitchen is already clean. So here is another post to help Kim out.

We started the the day out with breakfast and a gorgeous view over the resort compound.

After breakfast, we headed back towards Phuket and stopped at one of Thailand's first China Towns. Forgive me for not remembering the name of the town. I know Kim has it somewhere but I could not find her notes. Anyway, it seems like this family cannot get away from Chinatown. Every country we have been to we end up in one. This one was very cool though.
You can surely buy whatever meat you want here!

In the states, Kim fell in love with Thai food and soon introduced me to it. One of her favorites is Thai Tea. Even though we were in a Chinatown, they still had the Thai Tea. And this was the real deal! Above is the lady making it for us. Below we are each holding our plastic bag full of Thai Tea. Yes, a plastic bag with a straw. Very interesting. That is the way the Thai people enjoy their tea and it was the best I have ever had!

There were fresh veggies as far as the eyes could see. Our guide told us there are many things they have in Thailand that there is no name for in English. Kim and I soon realized we would never be able to cook some of the dishes we had in Thailand because we will never be able to get the ingredients. That is heart breaking!

On the street just before leaving China Town with our goodies. Our guide Suphot was so generous and bought us many of the local treats to taste them. We were stuffed but how can you turn down all the delicious food?!

On the drive back, we stopped to look at this police boat. This was actually made for the Prince of Thailand and used for his entourage. When the tsunami hit, it was thrown several hundred meters inland and ended up in this resting spot. Now it has been made in to a memorial. Very sad to still see lots of the devastation and memorials that are all over coastline.

In the states you get to see cows or pigs in trucks on the highway, but how often do you get to see an elephant being moved around in a truck?

The last attraction we went to on the tour was Lampi Waterfall. It was a pretty waterfall but not much water at this time of the year. We climbed up a little higher and I gave Kim the scare of her life. I slipped on a wet rock while holding Dylan and went down hard. No worries, I twisted and saved Dylan from harm and only had a knot and scrape on my back for the next two weeks!

Our last lunch on the tour was at a wonderful garden restaurant with more yummy Thai food. As you can see below, Dylan was quite happy. He actually ate a Thai dish for lunch with us.

As I still have another 48 hours before my lovely family gets back home, stay tuned for more blogs! However, the bed is calling now since work will be coming shortly in the morning.

Thailand again... finally!

2009-04-19T18:44:00.004+09:00

Kim and Dylan are off touring Japan with Mom Pappas and I am at home lonely so I figured I would try to get us caught up a bit on our blogs. So here is another Thailand blog finally. Sorry if my writing is not as great as Kim's, but hey, the pictures are the most important anyway.

So our next adventure took us to Tarnboke Koranee National Park. There we went on another long-tail boat ride out to go through and explore the inside of some caves.

Here we are cruising the river.

Navigating through the first cave. It was quite dark!

This is known as Skull Cave, which we actually walked through. It is known as Skull Cave because there were skulls in it once it was rediscovered many years back. There are several paintings in the caves with one being quite famous. It can be seen below.

See the little red animal looking thing. That was way up in the overhead of the cave. We aren't sure what it is but they think it is quite special. The other paintings aren't quite blog worthy.

The family once we had climbed up out of the cave to an outlook point. What an awesome view once we got up there!

After the boat ride, we started making our way to the next destination, Kuraburi. However, we had the chance to take quite the adventure along the way.

This is our pimped out ride for the jungle trek. He is also known as Numcho and was quite the nice elephant. We trekked through the jungle for just under two hours on Numcho and Dylan loved it at first. Then the bumpy ride put him right to sleep in Daddy's arms.

Dylan wasn't quite sure what to think after he petted him before getting on.

Numcho was nice enough to let us rest our feet for the ride.

Part of the terrain we navigated. We went right through the water and up several small waterfalls.

This shot was taken while we were being rained on. We got the whole experience in the jungle!

Numcho's handler had to pamper him after the ride. He was worn out!

After the ride, we drove a little further to the Kuraburi Greenview Resort. We were supposed to get a bungalow to ourselves, but when they saw Dylan, they were worried about him sleeping up on the loft with us. You actually had to use a ladder to get up to the loft. So we were moved to a regular room which was still quite nice!

The nice view from the balcony. See the bungalows across the water. That would have been cool! The best part of our room is below. The shower was all rock and it was actually like a waterfall for the water. Needless to say, Dylan loved getting his shower that night.

I hope you enjoyed these pictures. I will try to post another one before Kim is back to help her in her ever increasing list of things to do!

Easter 2009

2009-04-13T15:05:00.003+09:00

Happy Easter everyone!

Oh what a blessed day to celebrate the fact that Jesus conquered death!

Matthew 28:6

"He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said.

Come, see the place where He was lying."

The following are a couple pictures what we took after church on our walk home.

We have many more Thailand pictures to share with you all, but we have been very busy. As you know this means we have even more pictures to share with you.

Rory's parents came to visit April 1 and left today (April 13).

My mom will be arriving on the 17th.

Needless to say blogging has not been a top priority, but eventually you will get to see more pictures from our adventures!

Krabi

2009-03-28T15:14:00.008+09:00

Starting the day off at Maritime Park and Spa ResortHere is Dylan with his plastic Mickey waiting for breakfastA view of the pool from the evening before.The morning of day two we headed out to Koh Poda island and Pranang Cave Beach.

Above you see our longtail boat captain leading the way.

On the choppy ride out to the island Dylan decided he wasn't a big fan of all the waves soaking him. Rory and I on the other hand were laughing as we enjoyed the sun, wind and salt water. Sweet relief from cold Japan that we had left behind.

Once again we loved the beautiful scenery

Our first stop was Thale Waek.

During low tide three islands are attached by beaches. The clear turquoise water, warm sun and white sand made this a little piece of paradise only accessible by boat.When we arrived it would have been possible to walk between the islands but not on dry beach as you can tell. Rory with our sleeping boy on the watery path between two of the three islands.

Can you see the turtle? We were also taken to see the chicken rock as well Arriving at the idyllic island of Koh Poda and Pranang Cave Beach
Dylan and I before our swim at Pranang Cave Beach.

Do you see the dark area to the left of Dylan and I? The three of us went in through that opening to find a fascinating water cave area.

My mind went off into the golden age of pirates:) It seemed to be a wonderful area to climb farther back and bury my treasure.

Dylan enjoyed swimming around in the warm tropical water around the island

On to Wat Tham Suea, a cliff monastery in a jungle valley surrounded by limestone rocks

This is a statue of an entertaining monk. Can't you see him dancing a jig with feathers?Two (non-entertaining) monks

Suphot, our guide, Rory and Dylan before we headed up and over into the jungle. check out the massive tree trunk! A monks cliff home.

More monk living quarters

In this area you could hear chants being continuously repeated over a speaker.

This is a monk waiting for the monk only bathrooms. The two doors on the right say for monks and the two on the left say for people - Interesting

You can buy a care package for a monk. If you look closely you can see lays version of pringles, coffeemate creamer, ivory dish soap and other items we see at the grocery store in America.

Day One of our Tour

2009-03-26T22:00:00.004+09:00

Our Southern Highlights Tour begins:)

A pleasant surprise awaited us when we were picked up by Asian Trails for the 4 day 3 night tour we had booked. When we scheduled our trip we had to decide between paying for a private tour or join in. Obviously it was less expensive to join in with a group so that was our choice. I guess the Lord has different plans for His children. We were the only people on the tour. Meaning we had a private tour guide, driver, and were told we could make timing changes depending on what suited our needs. Suphot, our tour guide, did an amazing job fielding all of our questions. Being on a private tour was great!

***

Our first stop was Suwan Ku Ha Cave

Here is the entrance to the Cave.

See the monkeys "guarding" the gateway. They were scampering around everywhere.

The Suwan Ku Ha Cave once housed monks.

Currently it is full of standing, sleeping and sitting buddha statues. Oh yeah and bats! Let me tell you the section they lived in smelled pretty nasty!

The family inside Suwan Ku Ha Cave.
You will notice we have tons of family pictures which is another benefit of having a private tour guide!

No he isn't real.
As we were walking up the steps to this part of the cave you really had to do a double take. This statue of who knows who really looked human

This is a temple across from the cave. The intricate detail in the decoration was exquisite!

Our next stop was a boat ride out to Phang Nga Bay

A picture of the long tail boats along the pier. The engines are massive diesel engines taken out of trucks!

Dylan and Daddy getting ready for the ride in our very own Long tail Thai boat. Our tour guide Suphot is in the background.
The limestone formations jutting out of the bay were magnificent. As you can imagine we took numerous pictures but have decided to keep it to a minimum here on the blog.

Slicing through the bay in and around the strange yet fantastic limestone formations

Ah ha time to get up close and personal with one of the limestone formations.

Oh yes folks we are heading in are you ready?

Going in ...

Inside the cave:)

Turning around and heading back through.

No we didn't get a chance to stand on top of our boat as we went through the cave like the folks in front of us. James Bond island is behind us. This is the island area where Man with a Golden Gun was filmed. Of course this past weekend Rory and I decided to rent the 007 film to see the island but they didn't have it. Being that we only have the small video store here on base, I guess when we get back to the states we can rent it. Does any one remember the island in the movie?

Standing together on James Bond Island:) Loving how many family pictures we have from our Thailand trip. Suphot was so generous and kind. He would offer to take pictures before we would even ask!

Day One of our Tour

2009-03-26T21:39:00.010+09:00

After visiting James Bond Island we had worked up an appetite. Off to the Muslim Village of Koh Panyi which is built on stilts in the open sea.Only 10% of the village is on solid ground, the sea being filled up to make ground that is.

This 10% is the cemetery This is where our long tail boat Captian pulled us in. The buildings you see to the right of the pier are seafood restaurants that cater to the numerous tourists who stop in.

Wow, we did not have this much of an appetite!
This was the lunch the two of us were served at the Muslim village. Originally the village was started by a couple of families not of Thai descent. There are now 800 people in the fishing village which is also a tourist attraction. Hence the huge meal we were served at the relatively new restaurant. You will be much relieved to find out that the water used for cooking is piped in from the main land. That did cause me to stop and think - who paid for that? I know there is no way that was an inexpensive endeavor

In the foreground are all the tourists I was just talking about.

In the background you can see the mosque with the green minarets. Only Muslims are allowed to live in the village. If you aren't Muslim out you go or don't even think about living here. In all honestly I am not sure why anyone would want to live there.

For your education I am going to be completely honest about the village. It was complete third world poverty and filth. Above is an alley way. You can't really see him maybe only his arms but there is a man leaning out the window at the end of the alley. He is peeling an apple letting the peel fall into the water. This is someones living room. The homes were open right onto the alley way. Some with doors some without. As you walked by you couldn't help but see people in their homes. Most of the people we saw were either laying around or sitting next to a table of souvenirs to sell.
In this picture you can see the homes on stilts and the singing birds. All throughout Southern Thailand we saw these bird cages, in front of stores, on porches, on motorcycles and with specially made covers. Suphot told us that they are singing birds. The Thai people love the sound of the birds song and most are treated as a child. Don't laugh, you know how many people in America act like their dog or cat is a child. These birds are also entered into singing competitions - uhmm that would have been a cultural experience.

Another home with a singing bird
A view of the village as we pulled away.

I must say it was a cultural experience but a sad one. I found the village to be dirty and depressing.

Our Last stop before calling it a day was Tharn Bokkorani National Park in Krabi

The National Park was a lush, green jungle with waterfalls and pools of turquoise water around every bend.

Here are some local boys taking a break from swimming.

We ended the day at the Maritime Park and Spa Resort

This was the view from our balcony!

A shot looking off to the side from our balcony. The resort grounds were gorgeous as you can attest to looking at these photos.

Patong Beach

2009-03-20T20:43:00.006+09:00

Our first full day in Thailand we took it easy. It was a day dedicated to the beach and relaxing. The night before we were wowed with an amazing authentic Thai dinner for two under $10. It was a multiple course meal which we could not finish. Soup, "egg rolls" (for lack of a better term), a cashew chicken dish, mushrooms and veggie dish, rice (of course) and fresh tropical fruit for dessert. I was introduced to Thai food when we lived in Virginia. A friend from college took me to a Thai restaurant in Richmond and I fell in love. Loving the food I knew I had to share my 'new find' with Rory. As we dined at our local Thai restaurant in Newport News, I never imagined we would one day be sitting on Patong Beach eating Thai! I would love to learn to cook Thai but.... The biggest problem would be they have spices that there aren't even English names for. So what do you want to bet the local Publix won't have what I need. Anyways we will get back to talking about delicious Thai food in later posts on to the beach. Before Breakfast the three of us took a short stroll along the beach.

Here Dylan is posing with the Long Tail Boats.
After Breakfast it was back to the room to lather up. We are all very pale and were in much need of sunscreen. Sweet Dylan gets to have his head covered in sunscreen as well since he has such light fine hair. Instead of leaving it a sticky mess, Mom gave him a mohawk
Family Beach fun!

Views down Patong Beach, Phuket, Thailand.

After spending time at the beach we strolled around the shopping areas nearby.Tuk Tuk (taxi) - taxis lined up along the street

OK look at the motorbike with side cart.

We saw these get ups everywhere. Some one would ride their job to where ever they decided to work that day. Many were 'roadside diners'. You could get full meals, smoothies, dessert waffles and much more at these carts. Very interesting to see how other cultures work with what they have.

This is a very large and ornate spirit house. Not all are so large nor adorned with so many offerings and decorations. These structures can be found everywhere in front of homes and businesses alike. The idea or purpose of the spirit house is to provide shelter for spirits which could cause problems for the people if not appeased. Offerings are to be brought to the spirit house regularly. We saw many different types of offerings. I must say that seeing a half drunk bottle of Pepsi on the spirit house had me wondering .

Many times the color of the spirit house is the lucky color of the elder - i.e. the President of the company or Head of the Household. I don't remember all the lucky colors but they correspond with the day of the week you were born. For example Friday is blue so anyone born on a Friday should have a blue car, plant blue flowers around their home, and paint their spirit house blue.

That evening a storm rolled in - here it is coming in over the water

Avantika Boutique in Phuket Thailand

2009-03-17T15:20:00.006+09:00

We were blessed to be able to schedule another overseas trip. This time we headed to Southern Thailand Feb 28-March 6. As you can imagine we took numerous pictures of our time in the the tropical paradise so stay posted for the many blog posts to come.

After our uneventful 8 hour flight from Tokyo, we arrived in warm sunny Phuket Thailand.
Ready to head to our hotel in Patong Beach.
One of the many popular beaches in Phuket.A night shot of our first hotel. Staying at Avantika spoiled us for sure.
We were treated like royalty plus check out the room & view from the balcony.Our room with ...

a gorgeous view of Patong BeachThe pool area
As you all know Dylan tends to make friends easily:)
The following are two pictures of him with his new friends

Valentines Day 2008

2009-03-08T15:24:00.006+09:00

We were up bright and early on Valentines Day 4:10am to be exact:) Our V-day celebration included monkeys, puppy cookies and a castle. Above you see the puppy cookies that I made for our trip.
Dylan LOVED his valentines Day cookies!

Wild Snow Monkey Park

The wild snow monkey park is located at the Jigoku-dani valley in the Nagano prefecture. At 2,834 feet in elevation the harsh environment where snow covers the ground for 1/3 of the year is a paradise for these monkeys. Not my version of a paradise that is for sure!!! Just goes to show that I don't have any monkeys as ancestors:)

We walked up the the rest of the way to the Park on a winding path surrounded by snow. It was a beautiful walk. If you are going to be cold you just as well have snow to make everything beautiful! This geyser was located just at the base of the main park area and was where we began to see the monkeys.

There are around 270 wild monkeys at the park. This little guy is very adept at tight rope walking and decided to show off for us.

Rory got an excellent shot of this red faced snow monkey hanging out on the edge of the admissions building. You were told not to look the monkeys in the eye! We were literally inches away from them at times. There was one monkey who did hiss and spit at us when we got a little too close but not this guy. He was very popular and will be in many families photo albums.

This may be the only place in the world that you can see the snow monkeys bathing in the natural hot springs.
Doesn't he look like a scary lion monkey being all wet. Not so cute in my opinion.

Matsumoto Castle

The castle is located in the center of Nagano prefecture surrounded by the Japanese Alps. Matsumoto Castle's original name was Fukashi Castle. It was originally built in 1504 at the beginning of the Eisho Era, in the civil war period. In 1582 the Lord of the Castle changed the name to Matsumoto. The castle is the oldest castle in Japan and considered a national treasure.

As you can see the outside walls of the castle are black earning the place the nickname Karasu-jo or Crow Castle.

Samurai armor dating back to the mid-16th century

You can see the Japanese Alps to the left of the castle.

33rd Grand Sumo Tournament

2009-02-23T07:11:00.009+09:00

On February 8th we headed up to Tokyo to experience sumo. Sumo (Japanese wrestling) is the national sport. It is considered a professional sport and is a combination of ancient ceremony and the powerful wrestlers. Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan where the sumo tournament was held.
Shrine at the back of the stadium

The family ready to see sumo

A view of the Shin-kokugikan (sumo stadium) from our seats. We were in the balcony with a great view of the Dohyo (ring)

Each corner of the Dohyo was represented by a color which corresponded to a season of the year. Starting in the far left and circling clock wise you have Aka-busa: red corner - Shiro-busa: white corner - Kuro-busa: black corner and Ao-busa: blue corner. The hanging roof is made to look like the roof of a shinto shrine.
We went down for a closer look before the matches started

Above you see the Box Seats. Another obvious example that our two cultures are so very different. These maroon mats on the floor inside of the metal railings were box seats for which you paid quite a bit for. We were happy to be in the balcony where there were actual chairs:)
Dylan was such a sweet young man during the hours and hours of sumo we watched.

Before the tournament began, we had a taste of the ceremonial aspects of sumo. Throughout the whole tournament be it between the two wrestlers, amongst the judges, the broom boys (maybe like ball boys but guys who sweep the ring) or any other time the affair was steeped in ceremony.

Introduction of the Juryo Division. During the tournament we watched two different divisions wrestle: the Juryo then later the Makuuchi Division. There are six total divisions.
Ceremony before the wrestling began.

Stomping down the evil spirits before they began to wrestle. Here they go...

During the intermission: A few sumo wrestlers got into the Dohyo with little boys to wrestle. It was really cute. There was also a slap stick bout of fake sumo fighting where the wrestlers used many of the illegal moves to "win". It would have been funnier had we known what they were saying.

There was also the Yokozuna (Grand Champion) presentation between divisions. He is wearing the Kesho-mawashi (ceremonial apron)
Introducing the Makuuchi Division

The sumo wrestler above was the largest one we saw the whole tournament.

He lost his bout - he charged and the other guy only had to side step. Then he gave him a little shove and big guy here was out of the ring (mostly on his own momentum)

Dylan excited about sumo:)Yumitori: The bow dance is performed at the end of the tournament. It is done to purify the ring and is usually performed by a wrestler from the makushita division or lower. The winner of the whole tournament was the sumo on the right in the brown mawashi (belt) and the runner up is on the left in the blue mawashi. Both are foreigners (winner = Mongolian and the runner up = Bulgarian) The arena after the tournament was over. We thoroughly enjoyed the sumo tournament. Sumo truly is so much more than massive men wrestling each other.

Nikko Part One

2009-02-19T22:00:00.000+09:00

Another Adventure: This time we headed 4 hours north to Nikko, Japan to stay at a Ryokan and experience Edo Mura Village (Edo Wonderland)

Reading through the Japanese Inn booklet trying to find a traditional ryokan, we were both apprehensive and excited about the experience. The apprehension came in when I read the how to use the bath section of the book. I will type up all the directions at the end of the blog for those of you who are interested. Needless to say I was thinking, I may not take a bath during the weekend since it was going to be a shared hot spring! Good thing it was supposed to be super cold - i.e. 10 degrees at night time.Above is the Annex Turtle Hotori-An that we stayed at in Nikko.

The inn was located on the banks of the Daiya River and had it's own hot spring. We stayed in a traditional Japanese style room. Meaning the floor was tatami (straw mats) and our beds were not up off the ground. You had a shikibuton (or mattress on the floor), then a mofu (or blanket) along with a kakebuton (or quilt) and makura (pillow). All the padding that you see if for on top of you! Not the most comfortable beds ever.

Good news - we had a bathroom attached to our room!!! It included a western style toilet, sink and shower!!Here we are in the Turtle Inn Yukatas that were provided.

Yukata is a robe but some people use them as pjsThe Daiya River next to which our Inn was located.The Red Shinkyo (snake) Sacred Bridge

The bridge was built in 1636.

The legend behind the bridge is as follows:

"The legend said that the hermit - Priest Shodo could not cross over the Daiya river for his mission to climb Mount Nantai, and implored the gods for help. The God of snake - Jinjaou, appeared from the clouds when Shodo burned a holy fire to ask help and cast down a snake from bank to bank which formed a bridge."

I had also heard that for a long time only the Emperor was allowed to use the Shinkyo bridge. Currently anyone that wants to pay can cross over the river using the bridge. Statue of a monk across from the bridge

One of the roads we walked from the train station to get to our ryokan.

The mountains in Nikko were glorious!
outside of Nikko station

more pictures of the Daiya river

Rory and I on the train heading to Kinugawa-onsen.Dylan and MommyOutside of the Nikko train station, we found this area. The sign above says Delicious Nikko water please help yourself (I could read the sign -just kidding the white paper hanging down is in English). Through out Nikko, we saw numerous little wells and drinking areas which were all natural springs. We saw numerous hikers filling their water bottles with Nikko mountain spring water here at the station.We thought we would try some of the delicious Nikko water as well:)

This monster greeted us as we exited the at the Kinugawa-onsen station. We stayed in Nikko but Edo Wonderland was actually located closer to the Kinugawa-onsen area. Staying at one of the hot spring resorts was going to cost more than we cared to spend thus we stayed in Nikko.

The monster wasn't the only thing that greeted us in Kinugawa-onsen. Japan's national tourist agency had a booth set up in the station! Thankfully we asked for directions and were blessed greatly! That weekend Kinugawa-onsen was being highlighted. Foreigners received free bus passes. Not only did we get the free bus pass but with the flyer we were given we got into Edo Wonderland for free!! The Lord worked the timing out perfect because the only free day was the day we were heading there!!

This shelter was outside of the station. Upon closer inspection we realized it was a hot spring for anyone to use - Interesting. No we did not share in the experience with our Japanese brothers.

"How to Use the Bath at a Ryokan

Do not use soap in the tub. Please remember that the tub water is not for one person only but used repeatedly, therefore, do not pull out the drain plug.

1) place all of your clothing in the basket or shelf in the changing room. (nothing is to be worn inside the bathroom except your small towel)

2) cleanse your body with soap outside the bath tub

3) after thoroughly washing off the soap step into the bath tub

4) when you immerse yourself in a tub of water that is a little on the hot side you will be able to relax you strained nerves and muscles. When the water is too hot you can adjust it by running cold water into the tub but be sure not to overdo it

5) please do not unplug the drain in the tub when getting out.

* in regards to use of the bathroom (for taking baths) there will be those that will be used together with other guests in case of large bathrooms and there will be those in which certain times are set for use by different families and groups"

Now I think you can understand why I thought I would not be showering/bathing!! I promise that I typed those directions word for word like they have them here in the book!

Nikko Part Two

2009-02-19T21:00:00.000+09:00

Edo Wonderland is a theme park where you can experience the Edo period of Japan. The park reenacts life back in the Shogun days roughly 1603 to 1867.

Come to find out not only were we getting in free but this was the last day of the season. Edo Wonderland was closing down the next day until April. Wow thank you Lord for the awesome timing!Hatago Inn

- until this era travelers had to sleep outdoors or at the local shrine

Nyan Mage the Edo Mura's beloved mascot. I believe he is supposed to be a ninja cat Dylan absolutely loved him!!! Later in the day, we saw the cat again and Dylan wouldn't stop playing with him.

I saw this in one of the wax museums. Are you kidding?!?!

I didn't realize that pet strollers was not a new thing Here I am totally slaughtering the ninja hand pose before the ninja show.

We couldn't get good pictures from the ninja show since it was dark. Dylan loved the show and would sit on the edge of his seat in eager anticipation of the next act.

The Oiran Dochu Parade.

The point of the parade to show off the glamour and flamboyance of the Oiran Dochu or Ultimate Geisha

How in the world did they walk in these shoes? I wonder if they always had an assistant to hold on to as in the picture you see above this shoe shot?

Mizugei an the ancient art was a water magic show. Kimono-clad ladies would manipulate small water widgets hidden in their fans. Mizugei was enjoyed at resorts and spas in the Edo period. 2009 it wasn't that fascinating, but interesting to see more of the Japanese culture.

The Great Battle: The Ninja versus the Jubei (sword master). This show was performed on an outdoor stage in the center of the theme park. It was enjoyable but not understanding what people are saying in these different shows does make it tough.
The Ninja winners with Rory and Dylan after the show
Trying to stand up straight (whatever that meant) in the Ninja Kai Kai Tei House of Illusion.

The pictures don't do the place justice - the house really messed with my mind!! Not only was there one floor of this crazy mind altering illusion house but two. By the time we made it to the second floor I was ready to get out!

Rory really has the standing up straight thing down pat:) hee hee

Nikko Part Three

2009-02-19T20:00:00.001+09:00

Did you know that Nikko, Japan is really the gateway to the world? Before heading back to Yokosuka we thought we would add to our adventure by going to see many of the world's unique sights. For example...The Great Wall of ChinaBig Ben in LondonSaint Peters BasilicaGreat Pyramids of EgyptOk Ok no we didn't fly off to multiple different countries, we visited Tobu World Square. Tobu World Square exhibits world-famous architectural works and ancient monuments all scaled down to 1/25. There were a total of 102 structures from 21 countries including 45 inscribed as World Heritages by UNESCO. Guess what we got in here for free was well with the flyer!!! It is great being a foreigner:)Dylan love Tokyo Station in the modern day Japan zone. He would walk back and forth, back and forth as he followed the trains in and out of the station:)Here we have King Kong at the airport - oh wait that is my honey towering over the planes:)Mom this one is for you!

The Palace guard and your daughter posing as the Japanese always do - with a peace sign.Our 100% American Smiley CheeksArc de Triomphe
When we came into the American zone we were greeted with a bitter sweet view of the World Trade Towers. When I saw the towers, I was hit pretty hard with the memories and emotions of 9/11. I had to take a step back to process everything as well as dry my tears. We knew that they were a part of the exhibit but I never realized how hard it would be to see them. Prayers were said for our country as well as the families who lost loved ones.

Posing with the semi-bullet train.

Ok so I was posing with the train and Dylan was trying to run away!

This train sure did save us some time on the way home. We had to buy an extra ticket which gave you your seat assignment. It was all very much like getting a plane ticket.

Once back in Yokosuka we realized there was a welcome parade for us. Ok not so much.

Obviously we didn't understand a word of the chanting we heard, the lyrics to the music being played or read everything on the signs. We most certainly did understand the point of the march.
No CVN! They don't want the USS George Washington to be here. Everyone has the right to their opinions and I have the right to take pictures. I doubt they really liked me taking pictures or the other Americans we passed by on Blue Street - oh well. You have to have these pictures for the scrapbook from Japan.

My red, white and blue blood didn't boil this time around. We saw this group again after going to Kawagoe for the day that is when they got my blood boiling. But that is for another blog.

Dylan's 25 Random Things List

2009-02-03T11:06:00.005+09:00

On Facebook there is a 25 Random Facts list going around lately. I have found it fascinating to read friends and family's random facts. So I thought Dylan could fill one out as well to share with all the blog followers.

25 Random things

ShareRules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you.

Here is goes for Dylan:

1) I love throwing away trash and will search for the tiniest speck to throw away

2) I have started to ask daily to watch sports by pointing at the television and saying ball. Football or Basketball works for me

3) My favorite shape is a tar (star)

4) I have a ready smile that I hope brings joy to others - I know it does for mama and dada!

5) Errands can be fun. Since we walk we can point out trees vs bushes, birds, letters on signs, trash cans, cars, trucks, bus and vans.

6) I love elmo which makes my parents marvel at sesame streets marketing. See I loved elmo and could say his name when I had only seen him on my diapers and one show

7) When I fall I say boom. Sometimes I ask for a kiss, show you where I fell then I am on my way.

8) When dada is at work I ask where he is. When mama replies that he is at work, I associate that he went out the door. I tell mama door with a nod of my head.

9) I love playing in the bath but hate getting my face washed

10) Kisses are great! I need to kiss both your cheeks and will blow kisses as I leave you. Mom and Dad don't understand why but I also kiss my toys, the couch and pretty much anything I love at the moment.

11) I am working on my manners along with please and thank you I am working on maam maam maam (oh yes it must be multiple times) and tir (sir)

12) Mu (music) makes me dance, clap, run and request more especially "The wheels on the bus", "itsy bitsy spider" and "Amazing Grace"

13) I know my limits - I go up to the nos in the house, hover my hands over them saying no. Just to keep my parents on my toes I still test the limits every now and again.

14) Slides are so much fun - the taller the better

15) I can gator chomp and do every time I see a alligator. It looks like I am clapping but I promise it is chomping.

16) Letters are amazing! I point them out everywhere I go and can correctly identify the majority of the capital letters. Y, F and M are my current favorites.

17) Trucks!! What isn't to love about trucks. I like to hear them outside, point to them as they drive by, read about them, play with them and have clothes with pictures of trucks on them.

18) Sleep is a huge necessity in my life. I take daily naps that range from 2-4 hours and sleep 11-12 hours a night.

19) Every time I sneeze I think I need a tissue and ask for one regardless of if I truly need one.

20) I want almost everything put away where it belongs. My dirty clothes go in the laundry basket, all shoes must be in the closet, the remotes must be on top of the tv, but my toys can be everywhere!

21) You can find me reading a lot with or without my parents

22)Even though I was named Dylan by my parents I call myself baby

23) I earned my first dollar, which was actually yen, at the ripe old age of 17months (modeling in Japan)

24) I help Dada take out the trash by carrying the recycling. It always elicits an aww from my mama!

25) Eating well if you could make a formula using the phases of the moon, day of the week, ancient agricultural calendar of Japan, and the number of hours since my birth, you would know if I was going to eat the food set before me. When I do eat I will eat anything beans, squash, bread!!, asparagus it really doesn't matter as long as I am in an eating stage I won't refuse it.

Gators at Tokyo Tower

2009-01-31T15:58:00.005+09:00

Still in a celebratory mood due to the Gators winning the National Championship game, we headed up to Tokyo. Our plan for this trip was to take in the sights of the city from Tokyo Tower which you see behind us.Tokyo Tower is essentially a huge antenna with observation decks which have commanding views of the city. The tower at its peak is 333meters or a 1,092 plus feet.
"Since its opening in 1958, the Tokyo Tower has been the world's tallest self-supporting steel tower. The Eiffel Tower in Paris is 320 m high."

We went to both the main observatory and the special observatory during out visit. The main observatory is 150m (about 492 feet) above the ground and the special observatory is 250m (about 820 feet) both giving you a 360 degree view of the Kanto area surrounding Tokyo
The buildings seemed to go on forever! No wonder space is such a luxury in Japan.

In this photo you can see the Rainbow Bridge and a fascinating sphere structure in the background.

Can you see it?

Mt Fuji is the very dim white mass at the top of the picture. I was thrilled to finally be able to see Mt Fuji! I have traveled to the fifth station on Fuji and hiked to multiple lookouts just to see Fuji, however due to the weather I was never able to see it. Then Rory emails me from the ship one day to say he saw Mt Fuji from the flight deck. The ship was here in port! Aarghh I really think Fuji was hiding from me but alas I saw her!

Dylan enjoyed part of the experience but was ready to leave for lunch.

Dada Gator and future Gator (maybe).

We are hoping to find/invent a 4th Generation Gator scholarship for Dylan.
Trying to get a picture with the elusive Mt Fuji

Enoshima Island

2009-01-27T16:10:00.007+09:00

Back to share with you the experiences and adventures we are having here in our host country, Japan. In late December we took a trip over to Enoshima Island in Sagami Bay.

Above is a picture of Enoshima Island (meaning Bay Island) that was on a tiles under the overpass before you arrived at the Benten bridge. Heading onto the Benten Bridge

We are almost to Enoshima Island Directly down a narrow street crammed with souvenir shops and restaurants, was the Enoshima-jinja (jinja is Japanese for shrine)., Imagine that, another shrine! Japan is covered in shrines or so it seems to us Gaijin. The Enoshima-jinja was built in 1182 and dedicated to Benten the goddess of fortune.

A view back to the beach over top the torii gate from a second shrine. There are shrines within shrines thus it is hard for me to keep them all straight.

Another shrine or part of the same shrine? There are three goddess sisters worshipped on Enoshima Island making it that much more confusing.
Here you are witnessing worshipers doing some type of ritual. If we were to wager a guess it would be a good luck ritual. People would weave in and out of this large "twine" circle. Obviously people saw us watching and taking pictures which caused a few people to laugh. - uhmm

There were dragon statues all over the island and in the caves.

I believe that there was an ancient belief that a dragon god lived in the caves.

Oh yeah and as your faucet in the bathroom sinks

Heading down to the caves. The first cave is almost 500 feet long and the second is 367 feet long. It is said that one of the caves leads to Mt Fuji if you feel the cool wind... We aren't sure how that could be possible and have to take into account it may be a case of Engrish:)

These stones were found in the second cave. The seas around Enoshima used to be the home for countless numbers of floating phosphorescent hence the crazy neon colors that are emitted under the black light.

Inside the caves were many historic stone sculptures and monuments

We were given candles as we headed deeper into the cave to view the strange sculptures that line the walls. A couple times we had to stoop down to continue through the cave. A very fascinating experience.

Yea, Look it's Dada!

The bridge connecting the two caves.

On our way back on the monorail and trains we saw this pennant. Fujisawa is the city from which you access Enoshima Island. Interestingly enough one of the beaches in this area is called Miami beach and some part of Enoshima has been compared to South Beach.