Beach Time

Due to the typhoons warnings and stormy weather, we haven't been to the  beach for awhile. We have had a very slow typhoon season here in Okinawa, last summer we had several typhoons, but this season they have all passed us. Lucky for us, not so lucky for poor Taiwan and coast of China that has been slammed lately, with the last couple of typhoons bashing in on them.

We were thinking the whole weekend that we would see more of tyhoon Malakas, that has been back and forth in the radar and making it very unclear if it was supposed to hit Okinawa or not. As far as the predictions were, we weren't going to have school for the kids today on September 19, as it would be the strongest winds and rain coming over us then. During the weekend, we went back to Storm watch meaning that the typhoon more or less have missed us again. We do see some winds and it's dangerous to be close to the coast line as the waves are strong and easily can swipe you out to sea. I saw a videoclip from someone that was out walking his dogs by the seawall, and he was filming waves that were reaching higher than 10 meter reaching in and over the seawall and over to the streets! So it will be no beachtime for us the next couple of days that's for sure!

But, as I haven't shared any beach pictures lately, and I've been too busy this weekend with everything going on to go through my pictures from school etc, so I'm posting these from August, when the sun was shining and no dangerous waves were in sight!

Playtime At Araha Beach

Last weekend, we went to Araha beach for a few hours of play. We didn't even bring swim wear, as the rain was lingering in the air, but to get out of the house, we wanted to do something. The kids have been wanting to go back to this beach/playground for awhile, as there is a big ship there to play in and a zip line, which both of the kids enjoyed!

Isabella high up on the ship!

Both of them needed some help getting on the zipline!

Ohoy!

"On August 14th 1840, The Indian Oak, an English ship owned by the East India Company, ran aground at the reef of Chatan because of typhoon. At that time, stealing hte remains of a wreck was common in Asia and Europe. However, the Chatan villagers rescued all 67 members of the crew, who lost their ship, and cared them with great hospitality for 15 days until they left the island. Besides, the villagers made an estimated 180-ton junk ship for the crew. The story above is recorded in Nautical Bulletin and Naval record that is in a possession of the British Museum. 
The investigation proved that the stranding point to be 250 meter down the reef that is located 1,050 meter west from the mouth of the Shirahi River. 
In this park, we established the playground equipment just like The Indian Oak, based on historical facts. 2000/07/21"

My beautiful girl on a beautiful beach!

American Village with the Ferris Wheel in the background.

 

It was hot and humid, even if it was cloudy, and the kids were hot and needed a lot of drink breaks!

Didn't want to be in the picture!

Soon it started to rain, and we rushed off to not get drenched. Driving away from the beach, it was lots and lots of traffic, and it took forever to reach the closest base Foster, to cut across to make it faster to go home. When we stood in line to get on base, I was going to get my ID card out of my phone case, and realized that my military ID was gone! It's a big deal, as one can't get on base without! Big drama, having to turn around and drive back in the terrible slow traffic, back to the park at the beach to try to find it. Not just my ID, but also my yearly pass to the Zoo. As it was still raining, Cassie stayed with the kids in the car and me and Chris rushed out to try to find them.

Luckily, we did! They were laying under the tree where we took shelter before running to the car. I was so relieved as it would have been pretty difficult to get on the base down south, so we would have had to drive around for a longer route to get to our base, where Chris could have gotten me signed in on base as his Marines would be working there. Still, it would have been troublesome to get a new one, and not being able to get on and off base, not being able to go shopping at the Commissary or the PX. Plus, I wouldn't want my ID out there, not knowing who would find it, who would maybe "use" it..

Beach Lovers

On Sunday morning, Chris went to work, as he normally does half of the days on Sundays, followed by some golf. Cassie was home doing some homework and I took Isabella shopping for a few things in a nearby Japanese store. We walked out with new plastic swim rings for the kids! After having lunch, we had planned to meet up with our friends on the beach, but they were done for the day with the sun, going to the pool in the morning, so we decided to just have them over for BBQ in the evening.

As it was beautiful weather, and the kids were excited to try out their new swim rings, I took them to the beach on my own in the afternoon. Chris took on the grocery shopping and getting the things ready for our BBQ, and Cassandra was still working hard on a US history presentation so she was responsible to choose work before beach. As I didn't want to spend to much time in the car, we went to the nearby Uken Beach again, which is very kid friendly. The beach was the busiest that we have ever experienced here. A lot of Japanese families and teens were there, as it was Sunday and they were off work. We have gotten so spoiled that most beaches we go to don't have a lot of visitors, so it was almost strange to see it being so busy.

Ready to hop into the water!!

Back again from the water, on the blanket for some snacks and drinks!

It was a slight wind going, but I put the umbrella very low, just so we barely could fit under it, and it gave us enough shade while we were back on the blanket. When we were in the water, I folded it down, not risking it flying off hitting someone. Lessen learned from the other day with a bump still on my head..!

 Busier than usual!

 Beach girl enjoying herself!

 I enjoyed some shade too while the kids were snacking away!

Later in the afternoon though, the weather started to change, and clouds came in fast. The turquoise water turned gray and it looks a bit chilly in the pictures, but really it was very warm.

The kids built a sandcastle and worked hard to get lots of buckets of water in a pool...

Around 5pm it was time to pack everything up, as I wanted to have the kids showered and hopefully myself before our guest were planning to come between 5.30-6pm. We had a nice evening together, we had not seen them in a while, so it was good to catch up.