The weather forecast for Barbara's 14 day visit was literally 81 and thunderstorms. Every. single. day. Granted, it was overcast most days, and the rain typically held off long enough for us to do some fun outdoor activities. Thursday was the perfect example- it rained all morning, so we were going to ditch our plans of visiting the aquarium and do some indoor fun at Round 1 instead. We stopped on base to get gas and a visitor's pass, and when we were done it looked like things were clearing up. On a whim, we decided to go for our original plan, and we were so glad we did! It ended up being a really fun day.
Checking out the grounds.
The sun was starting to peek out when we were heading into the aquarium.
This tank was just as impressive seeing it for the second time!
Duh-duh, duh-duh.
We also saw the dolphin show, then had lunch and ice cream (Sydney's favorite treat, and Grandma was always willing to indulge her!).
Shawn got his first taste- I think he was sold on mint chocolate chip just like the rest of us.
Before heading out, we walked through one of the houses in the traditional Okinawan village on the grounds of the Ocean Expo Park.
Going sans shoes on the tatami mats.
We let Shawn crawl around for a good 10 minutes. He was so excited to get to move around!
On our way home, we stopped at an awesome hydrangea garden. It seems like flower festivals are a big deal here in the spring (azaleas, lilies), and then there are huge private gardens like this one that you can pay to visit. Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers, so I'm so glad we were able to find this! It was so incredibly beautiful, hence our one billion pictures:
Almost a good family picture. Almost.
Grandma and Sydney enjoying the view from the top of the hill.
Spencer and Shawn (still smiling despite missing his naps).
It was so magnificent, I've looked at these pictures over and over again. Our final destination of the day, Pineapple Park, was already closed when we got there. Spencer and Syd were bummed, to me it was no big loss. Besides, the hydrangeas would have been hard to beat!
3 comments:
This is amazing! Those flowers are crazy! Mark this on your list of places to take us :)
Most beauteous.
I can't believe that tank at the aquarium! I have never seen a tank that held whale sharks! Every time I read one of your posts I think to myself that I really need to move to Japan, there are so many amazing things to see and do there!
Post a Comment