Life with the Lokeys

Hamahiga Island, Sunabe Seawall, and Pizza!!

Sorry I haven’t posted in awhile, but life has been a little crazy with summer coming to an end! All the boys are back in school and loving all their new teachers and classes! It has also been baseball season and with three teams it has been crazy with all their practices and games!  I am thankful for all my friends that help me shuffle all the boys around.  It definitely takes a village here in Okinawa when you are so far away from family!

I did have one day with just me and Colt!  He was out of school for the day but all my other boys had school.  We decided to head straight for the beach since that is all he ever wants to do!  We went to a new island off of Okinawa that you can reach by car.  I have been wanting to visit this island for awhile.  Hamahiga Island is a really small island that is not too far from our house.  We packed up all our snorkel gear and beach toys and headed for the water!

Bridge that connects Hamahiga Island to Okinawa

 

 

 

 

 


Colt had the best time playing with his new friend he made.  They didn’t speak the same language but they swam and hunted for crabs together!  It was so cute!


Colt spent the rest of the day snorkeling around.  He is getting so good at it and had so much fun looking at the fish and bringing me shells he would find!

 

 

 


On our way home you have to cross another big bridge to get back to the main island of Okinawa!  There were a lot of cars stopped on the bridge and everyone was out taking pictures!  I looked over and saw such a beautiful sight of the ocean at low tide.

 

 

 

 

Colt and I had the best day just the two of us!  
 
Every weekend we try to explore something new on the island.  Brandon and Bryson have been doing a lot of diving and we have had a lot of baseball games on the weekends!  This past week we had a typhoon circle around Okinawa!  It didn’t actually hit us but the winds were really strong and the waves were huge. On Sunday we decided to get out and explore a little and have dinner on the seawall.  It was the perfect evening and it was fun to watch the waves that were still big from the typhoon that was making its way up to mainland Japan.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sunabe Seawall
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
After moving to Okinawa, I realized that I should have done more exploring in the United States.  When we get back we are going to explore as much of our beautiful country as we can!  So go out this weekend and find your own beautiful place to explore! 

Don’t let the fear of failure keep you from showing your children how to dream!

How many of us have big dreams inside of us that we never go after? How many have books they never finished, pieces of music that have never been written, or businesses that have never been born. Why is it that we are afraid to take a risk, take a chance, to go for something, to live a life with greater meaning?  I believe that at some point in our lives we start caring too much about what other people think.  I see my four year old son, and he doesn’t care at all what anyone thinks.  If he wants to do something he is going to do it. Even if he fails over and over again he never gives up.  He may get frustrated and upset but he keeps trying.  I have learned so much from all my boys.  I would rather show them that its ok to fail at something than to never try or to give up.  


When I first wrote Patsy Bea it was a huge piece of the healing process after I lost my grandmother.  She always told me that one day I would write a book and she would be the first one to buy a copy.  I never imagined that my first book would be about her.  I had this journal I would carry around with me that I had all my stories in.  The stories were mostly about talking animals and the things they went through.  I remember this one special story I had written just for my grandmother about a talking shark.  She was so proud of that story that she carried it around and would always mention it to her friends and show it to them.  She believed in me!  I wrote Patsy Bea almost 9 years ago and it took me that long to just go for it.  I was so afraid of what others would think, but I had to show my boys to follow their dreams.  When I got the first copies of my book, I showed my boys.  The way they looked at me was priceless.  They were so proud of me.  Even if I never sold one copy of my book, it was worth the risk of failure to show my boys that mom went for her dreams and followed her heart! I hope they learned that if mom can do it so can they.  


I am so excited to share that I will have my first book signing at The Marine Gift Shop on Camp Foster.  If you live here in Okinawa, you can stop by the week of August 15.  I will be there from 10-2 on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday and 10-3 on Saturday.  If you already own a copy, bring it by and I would be happy to sign it for you!  You can also get a copy of Patsy Bea on Amazon or Barnesandnoble.com.  


There is nothing like taking photos for your book signing in 110 degree heat at the zoo in Okinawa!  The elephant was so interested in my Patsy Bea skirt.  I think she was trying to eat it!  I hope you enjoy the pictures!  


I want to leave you with this quote from Eleanor Roosevelt…”You must do the things you think you cannot do.”



Miyakojima: Sunayama Beach, Higashi Lighthouse, a German castle, and a beautiful sunset!

Most of the tropical storm had passed over us during the night, but there were outer bands that were still coming through all morning.  We decided to continue our plans and hope that the storms passed quickly. Our first stop was to the German Culture Village.  It was strange to see a German castle built on this tiny Japanese island.  

 


It was pouring rain when we got to the castle, but we didn’t let it stop us!  The castle is a replica of the German Castle Marksburg.  The German village dates back to the 1800s when locals rescued a German crew from a shipwreck off the coast of Miyakojima.  Later a replica of the ship was built and a strong relationship between Germany and the people of Miyakojima was born.  The boys loved exploring the castle!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After exploring the castle, we decided to continue on to see the Higashi Lighthouse.  It was really pouring rain by the time we got to the lighthouse! We tried to wait it out but decided to just make a run for it through the rain!  It was crazy but we were laughing so hard at ourselves and the Japanese tourists trying to keep their umbrellas from blowing away! It stopped raining for a few minutes so I could take a couple of pictures! 

 

 


After leaving the lighthouse we decided to head to the famous Sunayama Beach!  By the time we reached the beach the sun had finally come back out!! We had to walk down a path to the beach.  The boys were so excited that they ran ahead of us!  When I finally got down to the beach I saw the funniest sight! My wild boys had run and jumped into the huge waves of the ocean that were left from the storm and all the Japanese tourists were just staring at them like they were crazy!  It was too funny!!

Colt loved rolling down the hill in the sand!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The boys had the most fun playing in the huge ocean waves!  It was the best day but we wanted to hurry back to our hotel beach for the sunset and sparklers! 
 
This turned out to be the best family vacation ever!  We celebrated the 4th of July on the beach with sparklers!  If you are ever in Japan, you should definitely take a trip to Miyakojima! It is one of the most beautiful islands and has amazing beaches and snorkeling!

Miyakojima: Beautiful Beaches and Swimming with Sea Turtles!

Over the 4th of July weekend, we finally got to take a much needed family vacation.  It was so nice to get away for a few days, and it turned out to be the best vacation ever even with a tropical storm that went right over us!

Miyakojima is a very small island in the Pacific that is about 300 kilometers south of Okinawa.  It was only about a 45 minute plane ride, and if you know me I hate to fly so this was perfect!  It is known for its amazing beaches, snorkeling, and diving! It is mostly covered by sugar cane fields and farms.  We decided to rent a car so that we could explore the entire island.

Goodbye Okinawa!
Hello Miyakojima!

We stayed at the Miyakojima Tokyu Resort and it was absolutely beautiful.  It was located on one of the most beautiful beaches in Japan.  

 

 

 

The first day we got there it was getting late so we decided to head into town for dinner.  There are not a lot of restaurants and most of them only take Japanese Yen.  We ended up finding a taco stand that had the most amazing tacos.  We talked with the owner and he used to live in California.  It’s such a small world.  The older boys decided they wanted a cheeseburger so they headed over to the A&W restaurant.  We met some little old Japanese ladies that loved Colt.  They let him pet their puppy and he counted to ten in Japanese for them.  They thought he was so cute!

 

 

 

 

We ended this day with a beautiful sunset on our way back to the hotel!
 


We heard that a tropical storm was going to hit us later the next day so we got up early to go to Shigira Beach to hopefully get the chance to swim with a sea turtle!  After Breakfast that morning, we went down to our beach called Maehama Beach to take a few pictures before the rain started!

 

 

 


Next we hopped in the car and headed over to Shigira Beach!  We had heard that this was the beach to find sea turtles.  As we searched for the sea turtles, we saw the most amazing fish around all the coral reefs.  It is definitely one of the best places I have ever snorkeled!  It didn’t take long to find our first sea turtle!  It was such an amazing experience to swim along side these beautiful creatures.  Brandon went back and put Colt on his back so he could see the sea turtles.  We found another one and Colt was so excited!  He would stick his head out of the water and scream sea turtle and then stick his head right back in to watch it!  This was one of the best days ever!!

 

 

 


That evening we ran back into town for dinner before the tropical storm hit.  It ended up just being a lot of rain and wind!  We had the best first two days!  To be continued….

A Season of Goodbyes!


It’s that time of year again when a lot of military families move from one duty station to the next.  My boys and I lost several of the friends we made over the last year and we will miss them dearly.  One of those friends was my next door neighbor, Erica!  

Before moving to Okinawa, I was so nervous about what kind of house I was going to get.  I know that sounds crazy, but we had been living in the wide open country for the last 8 years with a lot of land for my boys to run around on.  I knew coming to Okinawa we would be in a small townhouse connected to other townhouses.  I was so stressed out about it, but one day I put everything in God’s hands.  I remember accepting my situation and praying that God would bring me the best neighbors.  We went to the housing office on base, which is where they assign your house to you.  You only get 2 choices to pick from and that will be your home for the next 3 years.  There were 3 open units in the building we were assigned to.  We really wanted the end unit because you have the most privacy in the row of houses, but the housing office said it was just accepted by someone the day before.  I was a little sad, but what I would learn later is that God had placed that neighbor I prayed for in that unit.  

 
It was an extremely hot and humid day in July of last year when I met Erica! We were both taking out our trash cans and we introduced ourselves to each other. We ended up talking forever about the stressful move we had both just made overseas.  How her household goods still were not here after more than 2 months.  How half of my household goods was on one boat and the other half was put on another boat. How I almost died trying to drive on the opposite side of the road.  How our children are coping with another move and making friends.  This would be just the beginning of a friendship that will last a lifetime.  There is something special about military wives.  I have so many of these special friendships in my life. Some were made when we were all young and just starting this military life. Some that I have walked miles around Camp Lejeune with a baby stroller while our husbands were all gone to Iraq or Afghanistan.  Some that had husbands that were injured and trying to deal with this tragedy that changed their lives. Some that had to comfort other wives when they lost their husband. And some that made this move overseas a lot easier than I ever expected.  

 


We would usually drop by to borrow something or be taking out our trash and end up talking for hours. She is one of those friends that just listens and always knows the right thing to say.  There is something about sharing the ups and downs of military life with someone that completely understands.  I will always be thankful for all our lunches and trips to the gift shops on base.  I’m so excited for you and your sweet family for the new adventures you will have. I pray that one day we may be stationed together again!!