Labor Day Weekend

I wanted to share with everyone what we did over our long weekend. It was nice because Kyle got off early last Friday and did not have to be back at work until Wednesday! YAY for 4-day weekends. Ah, the blessings that come from military living.

Saturday was spent exploring and shopping all day! Didn't get pictures from our day, but we made out pretty good. :)

On Sunday, we went to church and then in the evening had a beach service where we witnessed a baptism in the ocean. It was a fun time of food and fellowship and so encouraging to see Tony (the Filipino guy baptized) excited about showing his love for the Lord!

Singing some songs before the short message...

The nice thing about international fellowship meals- there is always delicious food!!

Bystanders watching, getting ready for the baptism!

Walking out to get baptized...

On Monday, Kyle went on a 25 mile bike ride with our Pastor from his house to Okinawa World which is down south. Our Pastor is an avid biker and has done many long bike rides. Kyle is really getting into it with him. They are planning a trip to ride their bikes around the entire Island. It's still in the works, but they are getting excited about it. It might happen later on this year or next year.

As I said, Kyle and the Pastor rode to Okinawa World (a fun park filled with Okinawan culture, huge caves, snake exhibits, and a theater where traditional Okinawan dance is performed.) While they rode bikes, my pastor's wife and daughter and I went out to breakfast and bummed around town before we met the guys at Oki World. We met them for lunch at the most amazing tempura restaurant right near the park. Supposedly, people from all over the world come to the tiny restaurant just for the tempura. After lunch, we headed to the park. The park begins with a tour through an extremely large cave. It was a blast. Stalactites that had formed years ago on the ceiling were hanging everywhere! It was about a 30 minute walk through the entire thing. We then continued on and explored the rest of the park. There were villages set up where you could walk through and see how Okinawans lived at one point. We got to watch Eisa dancers perform as well. Traditionally, Eisa dancers perform to pay respect to their dead ancestors by singing and beating drums. It's really kind of eerie, but often times they do performances just as entertainment. It is pretty neat to hear them as they do everything with precise rhythm and beat and to watch them in their traditional Japanese attire. I would have pictures of their performance, but no cameras were allowed. Anyways, there were lots of little fun shops and fruit stands in the park. It was quite hot, but all in all, we had a great time!

In front of the entrance to the park...

In the cave....

Kessler Family- Mike, Mandi and Sophia. It is a blessing to be able to hang out with them!

In front of a prayer tree. Not really sure how it works, but I guess Japanese people write their prayers or wishes on paper and tie them on trees and somehow they get answered? Sorry for the vague description, I didn't quite catch how it worked...

Kyle petting the little pony. They were giving out rides. For a small fee, of course. :)

Kyle feeding a turtle in one of the exhibits...

There was a brewery in one of the exhibits and there was this tub of alcohol with all these snakes in there! Creepy!

There were some mangoes at one of the fruit stands and if you notice the price- 8,000 YEN is equivalent to about 80 American dollars. Yes, for two mangoes the price was $80!!! Some of the fruit here is sooooooo expensive!