Chris and Kelly's Okinawa Adventures: The Steins Visit!!

Chris' sister Jenny and her family (Tim, Hannah and Chris) came out for about 10 days at the beginning of April. We had a great time with all of them...and despite a couple days of jet lag and funky stomachs, I think I can speak for everyone to say that everyone had a fun filled week. :)

We checked out the Peace Prayer Park... a very somber yet 'peaceful' place to remember all of the Okinawans lost during WWII. There's a lot more history here than I ever realized...I didn't truely understand the Okinawan role in WWII until moving here. Okinawans did not speak mainland Japanese until after WWII. They spoke their own dialect. They were not part of the Japanese forces. Just got stuck in the middle...fun fact: In the 1970's Okinawa was turned over from US rule back to Japanese rule. At a particular time on July 30, 1978, all of the traffic changed direction from driving on the right side of the road to driving on the left side of the road. Can you imagine that mess?!?

Butterfly cocoon

Found a cool frog on the wall :)

Snorkeling time!! Chris x2 and Hannah were in the water for several days for snorkeling and rafting adventures :)

Chris and his waterlogged wetsuit!

Octopus!! Hannah was brave enough to pick it up and put it back in the tide pool.

Dinner then a walk along the seawall.

Renassaince Hotel Room: notice anything funny about Chris' outfit?!?

They had Japanese 'robes' to wear. Aka 'really small whites that tall people like Chris don't fit into' haha

Taking out the raft...

Chris ran a 1/2 marathon on IE island the day before the Steins left. We took a ferry over to the island in the morning and rented bikes! So much fun! We rode to the beach and Chris x2 and Hannah did some more snorkeling while Jenny, Tim and I hung out on the beach. Then we rode back to the starting area and Chris ran his 1/2 marathon and did fantastic!! He was a true triathlete that day...snorkeling, Japanese bicycling and running!