Crazy Busy Saturday

Last weekend was fun. Saturday was packed. I went with McKenzie to the school. As a member of the student council she was tasked to help out with some booths at the school's Fall Festival (think Carnival Night at BPS). I did my Mom duty and volunteered to help with the second grade fish pond and I manned the box maze in the music room for a spell. While we were doing that Brian took Emily to her first swim meet. She was very nervous about racing, so she only signed up for one event. She did a great job at that one event though (look at that Phelpsian intensity on her face as she swims). She placed second in her heat and 9th overall. She got a chance to see what a meet was all about and now she is looking forward to the next one. Daddy even wrote on her arm for her (remember doing that Mom and Dad???). She was in event 7 (25 kick), Heat 1, Lane 2. She got to swim right next to her buddy, Katie. Yay, Emily!

After our busy morning, we came home. Brian did homework and I baked bread. Around 3pm Dionna and Alex came over with Potato Soup...a truly nummy dish. We had a fantastic fall dinner and got ready for the evening. We went on another MCCS tour. It was called the Spooky Tour and it went from 6-10pm. We drove to the cliffs at Bolo Point, a supposedly haunted house on Kadena, and Yomitan Park. Along the way we were treated to scary stories about the island. It was mostly related to the myths/legends of the area and the stories that stem from all the warfare on the island. I always knew that Okinawa had seen a lot of action, but I was amazed at just how bloody the soil is here. It is a small island and it is unreal how many lives have been lost on it. The war history of this island is incredible. Brian is keen to go on the Tunnel Rats tour where you troup through some of the countless miles of tunnels and caves used by the Japanese in defending this island. He loves history! We brought the girls with us and they suited up in their Halloween costumes to ride the bus...er Mystery Machine. The guide thought it was cute and even warned them not to bring any dogs on the bus...you meddling kids. We made sure they had earphones and entertainment in case the stories got too intense (even though Emily assured us, "Velma and Daphne aren't scared of ghosts, only Scooby and Shaggy are."). It was a good thing we did bring the electronic diversions along. They got a little "spooked" and were happy to plug in and tune out for awhile. We learned that McKenzie has no qualms about leaving a man behind. When we were walking through the park she was determined not to be the last one in the pack. Even though we were only four or five people back in a group of 45, she refused to walk with us and insisted on shadowing the guide. Good thing he wasn't that into personal space. We could not convince her that we weren't going to be the last ones and she could walk with us. Forget that...she left us in the dust. We all had a chuckle about it...later..not right away because McKenzie did not find it funny at all that night. She did lose her, "Mom and Dad..you are so uncool" scowl by the end of the evening when the tour guide had gifts for all the kids on the tour. They each walked away with a collectible Barbie. Of course, all the spookiness had its consequences. We got home late and the girls were not keen on sleeping alone, so we all had a camp out in Mommy and Daddy's room. Everyone had a great nights sleep, no nightmares at all! Except for Daddy, who had to set his alarm clock for 4 AM to go to work on Sunday....talk about a bad nightmare come true. Poor Daddy...the rest of us didn't even stir while he trouped off to play war with his class.