2 Years With Our Sweet Girl

Today my baby turned  2!  I remember the first time they laid her on my chest.  She was so docile and alert.  She wasn't crying, in fact the nurses had to really agitate her to try to get her to cry to make sure she was ok! Sean  came over to us and said "Oh you have the prettiest eyes."  I never thought I could love someone so much!

Elyanna Sway
Age: 2
Favorite Books: Purplelicious, Blueberries for Sal, We're Going On a Bear Hunt, The Beach, In Case You Ever Wonder, The Going To Bed Book
Favorite Movies: Winnie the Pooh, Scooby Doo, Hotel Transylvaia 2
Favorite Foods: Noodles, Beans, French Fries, Milk, Juice, Ice Cream
Favorite Toys: Dollies & Balls
Favorite Animals: Kitties and Doggies
Favorite Songs:  Head Shoulder's Knees and Toes, If Your Happy and You Know It, Roll Your Hands, Give Said the Little Stream, The Wheels On the Bus
Favorite Activities: Gymnastics, Going to the Park, Swimming, Going to Nursery at Church

After she opened her present from Nana and Papa she HAD to wear her new Hello Kitty jammies!

Undeniably my child!  

  

Shuri Castle Harvest Moon Festival

This was one of our more unplanned activities.   I had completely forgotten about it until the day before, because we had no plans we decided to go.  I think this has been my most favorite festival I've attended on Okinawa.  I don't mind the heat and will go out and play when it's hot, but I don't mind cooler weather either.  I didn't realize how nice it was to do an activity not baking in the sunlight.  The only thing we had in hand was our camera, and that was it.  Not loads of water and sunscreen and a huge diaper bag.  That was nice!   It was also really beautiful to see the view of Okinawa from up on the castle.  I really enjoyed seeing the castle lit up and watching the traditional Japanese performances.  

Ely was really clingy this evening so wouldn't get in any of the pictures I was taking because I was holding her, so consequently Sean is the only person in this one.  

 The most beautiful performance arena under the harvest moon.  Traditional Japanese dance. 

Ely was surprisingly well behaved for at least 30 minutes of the show.   The music was mellow, and soft as was the dancing.  For a little person I can imagine it not being very entertaining for long periods of time.  It was silent in the castle courtyard.  While it is child friendly, the ushers were not shy about asking a parent of a loud child to escort them out until they could become quiet again.   We left the performance shortly after she became restless.

The view of beautiful Okinawa at night.

 I really love these pictures, they were really hard to get.  All taken by Sean.  

 The light of my world.  

 We saw another kitty as we were coming in.  She was very concerned and asked for him the whole time.  Luckily we found this guy on our way out so she could say bye.  

Ikei Island

A few weeks ago my visiting teacher, Ely, and I went out to Ikei island to explore.  It's a little island off of Okinawa, it's about one hour drive from where we live.  Here are some of the photographs from the day.  

Remake of a village

A lighthouse, look at that huge succulent on the left!

A little shrine within walking proximity to the light house.

This beach had quite a few crabs, this guy jumped out of the sand as I was walking by and startled me quite a bit.  

Several weeks ago, at a different beach, Ely was swimming right next to two huge jelly fish. They are clear so they are hard to see.  It scared me quite a bit, we pulled her out of the water immediately and didn't go back in.  It seems to be jelly fish season right now. This guy was stuck in the shallow pools on this day, I thought the purple was rather beautiful.  

The bridge leading to the island.