Day 357

The botanical gardens had an a great light display.  Some girls and I devised a wonderful plan, we would go at 5:15pm without the kids.  Sun would set at 5:30pm.  We would take pictures for 20 minutes or so just us.  Then the guys would bring the kids and we could just enjoy their joy of seeing the lights without worrying about photographing the lights.  Turns out, the people who are in charge of turning the lights on did not get my memo.  They didn't end up turning the lights on until 6pm which is when the guys and the kids showed up.  Therefore, we tried to enjoy the kids and take pictures.  It was a bit more hectic then we wanted but oh well.  The girls had fun seeing all the lights!

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Day 331

We hiked Hiji Falls today! It wasn't nearly as bad as we thought but after about 30 minutes of stair climbing Kate informed us she was done and ready to go home. We hadn't even made it to the falls yet :O) Luckily, we brought snacks and they recharged while I played around with my shutter speed. Win win situation!

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Day 308

While Kate was at school today, my sister and I headed to a new fabric store that just opened up by an American! Whoo hoo!! This means American fabrics like Michael Miller and Amy Butler. This makes the quilter in me very excited :O)

This food truck was parked out front. I think it sells traditional Japanese food. I just don't think I would want to buy anything from a truck that has "boogie" on it :O)

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Day 297

I second shot my first wedding and had a great time!! Here is my favorite from the wedding :O) There is something about the father walking his daughter down the aisle that gets me teary eyed each time!! If you want to see a few more of the pictures, check them out on my Click It Up a Notch blog :O)

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Day 284

We headed to the Botanical Gardens today to get some fresh air. Emma had a blast walking all over the place and Kate brought her "binoculars" she made at school so she could see the "flora and fauna" (Thanks Fancy Nancy: Explorers Extraordinaire!) After looks at all the amazing flowers, finding a bee on a flower, and this ugly butterfly, I think you guys may be right....maybe I do need a macro lens :O) he he

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Day 262

I love trying new restaurants (as long as it was recommended so I have a small idea of what I'm getting into :O) We joined some friends tonight at a new Indian restaurant. I realized if we didn't live here I probably wouldn't have tried as many different types of food as I have. It was super yummy and we had a great time laughing. As we were leaving we noticed a large window where you could watch the cook make the naan bread. I asked if it was okay if we took pictures and they approved. What is funny is the man wanted to keep posing for the pictures :O) I wanted a more natural shot. I'm sure he thought I was crazy!

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Day 255

We went out tonight to practice some more photos and God blessed us with the most beautiful sunset!

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Day 254

Today, Ian and I enjoyed 60 minute massages (Thanks for booking that Sweetie :O) It was so nice to have some time for ourselves and get pampered. Some Japanese massages are different then the ones in the States. They give you a set of clothes to wear and cover you with a blanket or towel. Then you get a massage over the blanket and towel :O) It was still extremely relaxing. These were the stairs leading up to the place. I would like to believe that the signs say "Come on up and enjoy 60 minutes of peace and relaxation" :O)

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Day 247

I find it extremely interesting to see how the local Japanese react to situations so differently then we do. Today, we were suppose to get hit by a Tropical Depression so the code for water activities was a "red", basically meaning Americans are not allowed in the water because it is too dangerous. As I was walking to my hair appointment, I couldn't help but giggle as just about all the Japanese people were out scuba diving and there were even several boats that drove over to enjoy in the scuba fun! Ha!!

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Day 240

We crossed over a bridge after dinner and I had to stop in the drizzling rain to try this shot. I had seen it many times but never had the chance to give it a try :O) I think next time I will leave my shutter speed open longer for more lines :O)

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Day 239

I feel like I'm learning about a whole new world of editing and blogging :O) Lightroom and upload my pictures to flickr.com for me and then flickr will post them on my blog. Why have I been making this so much harder for myself for the past 238 days :O) Hopefully, I can smooth out the kinks and get an easy work flow.

Tonight, I went out to practice some pictures for my RYC 201 class. I think I may have gotten one I like. Looks like we will be going out again soon (if it doesn't rain) On our way back we walked past this adorable couple getting their pictures done. Hope they and their professional photographer didn't mind me snapping a few of my own. The sunset was beautiful!!

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Day 213

Technically not the best picture but sometimes we just have to throw that out the window to capture the moment :O) We went to dinner with friends to a restaurant that has an Eisa drum show with a Shisa dog. Oh my! It was so neat and my favorite part was when the Shisa dog scared the girls to the point of tears. he he I know, we are terrible. It was a great time with lot of laughs.

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Day 211

We are very fortunate to live on this island with my sister, who is always more then willing to babysit for us. But last week, I found a babysitter and thought Ian and I needed a date night. There is something about getting a babysitter that takes away the guilt of having your family watch your kiddos. I have to say I'm in love with our babysitter. Anyone who knows me, knows I go a little overboard with organization. Our coffee table doubles as a toy box, but inside the toy box are separate bins for "puzzles, dress-up clothes, etc". The coffee table has two sections so one for Kate's toys and one for Emma's. All of that being said, our babysitter but the toys away in the proper bins! Ian can't even achieve that most nights :O) Plus she did the dishes, which I always did when I babysat but never realized how much of a treat that is until now. If our children didn't scare her off, we will definitely be calling her again.

After dinner, we walked around a small neighborhood with shops and restaurants before we went to a movie (our first movie together in over a year). On our walk, we found these fun lamps! What a wonderful evening we had!

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Day 198

What an interesting morning! We made salt :O) Yup, we went to a local salt factory and in a building with no fans or AC, sat over buckets of coal and stirred salt water for 20 minutes. Eventually, it turned into salt but we definitely have a new appreciation for the way they used to make salt. Holy moly! :O) We were able to take our hard earned salt home with us. The only probably is, we worked so hard to make it I'm not sure I want anyone to use it :O)

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Day 197

Unfortunately, we had to say good bye to my parents today. It is always sad when family leaves especially since we live in a foreign country and have no idea when we will get to see them again. I am not sure if I have mentioned it before but when the Japanese try to tell Americans no or not to do something and we don't understand what they are saying, they give us "the big X" with their arms. I found it humorous that at the airport today they had a man doing it on this sign :O)

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Day 194

They have these "bikes" you can rent that have seats for 2 adults to pedal and "basket" type seats for the kids to sit in front. Emma LOVED it!! I was super bummed that my camera lens fogged up from the humidity and for the hour we rode bikes would not defog. I tried using my camera lens cleaner. Anyone have any tricks to help this?? I love this photo of the pure joy, I just wish there wasn't fog on the lens. Oh well!!

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Day 191

Even after almost a year of living here I am still amazed every time the Japanese go crazy over our kiddos. I have a sweet friend, Jana, (check out her website) who is a photographer and offered to trade our skills while our families were in town. So, we headed to the beach to take some family photos. After the photo shoot we had subway and enjoyed our time at the beach. I was taking a few pics of Emma when 3 Japanese girls came over and asked if they could take pictures with her. She didn't mind that but when they asked to be in the picture with her she make a bolt for it. he he

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Day 186

Lost in translation :O) We went to this new park today which had a water park attached. I asked the guy for a mint chocolate chip ice cream. This is what I got...mmm...not exactly what I had in mind. Then I thought maybe they don't have "normal" ice cream. I saw someone get some so I went back to try again and asked for a "mint chocolate chip ice cream cone" and I got a chocolate ice cream cone. So, I rephrased and said "the green one". That was the ticket :O)

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Day 170

Tonight is the last night the Slazinik's are in town so we headed to the beach to take some photos. Tonight was one of those reasons I will never be a professional :O) We got stuck in traffic for 30 minutes so there went most of my lighting. Once we got there my camera lens fogged up big time due to the humidity. Luckily, my brother-in-law, Tim brought his camera. What a life saver!!! Turns out positioning 6 people is hard work. So with massive lighting issues, using a camera I haven't used in 6 months, and not really know what I was doing I think I found a handful that I like even though most are blurry. Tim actually took some of Ian, Kate, Emma and I that I LOVE :O) If only I had taken one of those to post :O) I guess these are all things that I still need to learn!

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Day 169

We had a nice windy day at the beach with the Slazinik's. Kate loved throwing the ball with everyone :O)

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