Space A attempt number 2

     Well, our second attempt to fly "space a" ended in yet another fail.  Looked pretty good, but the closed the flight with just 9 people ahead of me.  So, we will try again, and hope for the best.  Main goal at this point is just to make it to the states.  Then we will deal with getting "home". So tomorrow we will try yet again. Wish us luck!

Space A flight attempt #1

     As I am sure you can tell from the title of this we did not make it out.  We found a flight going to Alaska, then on to Oklahoma that had about 30 seats available.  We arrived early and signed in, and things looked pretty good.  They actually called our name for a flight.  Only problem was it wasn't the flight that we wanted to go on.  So they put us back in the correct folder.  Then it seemed like everyone and their dog came in. Needless to say the seats went fast, and now we have to wait a few more days to see what opens up next.  Guess it's better luck next time!

Cakes that I have made

    

     Since coming to Okinawa I have spent some time making cakes for friends of mine, then friends of friends, and then people I don't know.  Basically I am self taught.  When I was growing up my Memaw use to decorate cakes, and I got a basic knowledge from her, but everything else I have learned from experience and or online.  So here are some of the cakes that I have done so far.  Will be updating as time goes by.

Baby shower quilt using a cream cheese BC

Baby boy blocks using BC

Baby girl blocks using fondant

Batman using BC and BC transfer

Ben 10 design with BC, my 7 yr old drew up

Black and white with BC, cream cheese  BC, and gum paste bow 

XL roller derby with BC, rice transfer, and helmet covered with fondant

First attempt at Topsy Turvy, Dr. Suess Birthday, fondant with royal icing figures

Dragon boat covered with fondant, head and tail formed from RCT, then coated with candy melts, BC accents

Roller derby helmet covered with marshmallow fondant

Baby rump jungle iced with BC, using fondant accents

Jungle theme with BC, figures are cake toppers customer purchased 

Roller derby track with BC, piping gel, and fondant figures

Lighthouse with BC, gum paste figures, RCT house and light house

Lion smash cake

Lorax covered with fondant and BC accents

Pac-Man with BC

Penguin cupcakes

Announcement cupcakes with BC

Promotion with cream cheese frosting

R2D2 done in BC

Baby shower quilt with BC

Skatepark with BC, piping gel, and rails in gum paste 

Thomas with BC, train was a lego toy

Tron covered in BC, light cycles are gum paste

Winter party cupcakes with BC and glitter

Bee, covered with fondant and BC accents

Owl with poppy flower covered with fondant cutouts 

Purple scrolls done in BC and gum paste scroll

Skateboard deck with BC and BC transfer

Under the sea covered with fondant, and using fondant/gum paste mix for accents

Attempting Space A travel

     So, yesterday I came up with this "brilliant" idea of trying to "HOP" home for part of the summer.  For those of you who don't know what a "HOP" is, basically some military bases allow you to catch a ride to a location the base is going if there is space.  So with that being said, things can change at a drop of a hat.  Basically when you see a flight that you would like to catch you show up and sign in, and if they have room for you they let you on.  Did I mention they only give info 72 hrs out?  So you pretty much have to have a bag packed and ready to go pretty much at all times.  You continue this process until you get where you want to be, or where you get on a commercial flight.

Basically we would fly like this. (Photo from Google Images)

     Today we turned in our paperwork to start the process.  Hopefully we get that back and can turn it in to the terminal soon.  I have a plan that will get me pretty close to home, and then I have a backup plan incase the first one doesn't work out.  Now lets just hope that they work out, and that I don't go crazy flying over 7,000 miles with 2 kids.

     I will try to update as I found out more.  Hope to see my family soon...

     Well as of today, June 15th, our plans have already changed a few times.  Still waiting on the first flight to be confirmed.  Hope to know more soon.  We are all getting a bit excited and ready to go.  More updates as I have them.

IE Trip

     So, I have just transferred previous posts to this blog, and I am just going to start again.

     Over Memorial Day weekend my friend, Cherry, set up a weekend camping trip to IE island, which is located about 6km NW from the Motobu Peninsula.  In Japanese, it is called "Iejima".

Photo via Google Images.

     It was about a 30 minute ferry ride from the Motobu Port to IE Port.  We had never been on a ferry, so that was a new experience for our family.  The weather on the way out there was slightly rainy, but still pretty enjoyable.

 Here is our ferry.

Pretty sure they loved it.

Hubby and kids getting in the car while on the ferry.

     So once we arrived we found the perfect camp site, and began setting up.  I could pretty much build a house right where our camp was, and never leave.  It was absolutely beautiful!

Our camp site.

View back towards Okinawa.

Another view of Okinawa.

Our beach.

     On our second day we went on a little adventure to explore the island.  Turns out this island is not built up, it's pretty much two resorts, the camp grounds, and farmland.  

Every year the island has a Lily Festival in April.  We didn't come for that, but we were able to see a few flowers that were still bloomed.  

     There was also a pretty cool cave, Nyatiya, that is located about 3.5 km west of Ie Port.

View looking down toward the cave.

Walking down toward the cave.

 In the cave there was a "Chikara-ishi" stone.  If infertile women lift the stone it is said that she shall have a baby.   

     Here is the mountain you could see from the ferry, Mount Gusuku, which is about 172 meters high.  We didn't climb it this time, but maybe the next time we go.

     Our last stop was the Wajii, which means "Spring" in the Okinawa dialect, the steep cliffs along with NW coast. 

Absolutely breath taking view.

     That day, three of us went SCUBA diving, and were able to see lots of beautiful fish and coral.  Sadly, I didn't take a picture of the actual beach we went diving at, but I did take pictures under water.  I won't post all of them here, but here are just a few.  We also did a night dive just off our camp site, but my camera died at the end of our first dive.  Maybe my dive buddy will post some soon so I can share those as well.

Nemo!

Well, hello there.

Pretty cool Nudie Branch

Pretty awesome coral.

    The rest of the trip we pretty much stayed in the water.  Lots of swimming and snorkeling.  The kids loved every bit of it, in fact as soon as the woke up (with the sun) they were ready to head back to the water.

Wyatt ready to go.

He loved it!

Lion fish we found.

Trigger fish.

Eel.

Star fish.

   Over all we had a blast, and are going to be planning another trip sometime.  Hopefully soon, because this was amazing!!!