Azalea Festival March 2012

We went to the Azalea Festival. I must admit, I had no idea what an azalea was. Thank goodness for Google. They turned out to be quite pretty.

Isaac thought they looked good enough to eat. And he tried. Several times.

Of course, no Okinawan festival would be complete without the typical food booths...

And a downhill skier giant blow-up slide.

The Ikester

Santa Isaac...

Laughing Isaac...

Floating Isaac...

Cute Isaac...

Close Issac...

Show me angry face Isaac...

Little brother Isaac...

Waiting Isaac...

Nakey Isaac...

This is usually how a diaper change ends up. The kid is quite impossible. I have to put one of those 50 lb. bags of salt on top of his chest so we can change his diaper. It's usually a 2-man operation... minimum.

Erin's first science fair project

For Erin's project, she compared the strength for columns with different shapes. She must have a nerdy engineer-type for a dad. We built different shaped columns and then stacked cans on top of them until they failed.

Can you guess which shape held the most weight?

Thanksgiving 2011

We decided to leave all the Thanksgiving preparation and clean-up in the capable hands of the Okuma restaurant staff, and spend the weekend enjoying the beautiful weather and atmosphere. The Thanksgiving buffet included all of the traditional American cuisine, but also added some not-so-typical South Pacific dishes. As you can see we had some crab legs, sushi, and other foods from around the Pacific rim. One thing that was not different, I stuffed myself silly.


Instead of the traditional football events, we participated in NASCAR...


And buggy racing...


The weather was quite nice. The water was just a bit on the cool side, about 75.


Beautiful women, er... woman, and amazing sunsets...


Erin and Brianna spent plenty of time playing here...

Halloween 2011

It's that time of year again when all the scary creatures come out and give you such a fright. Take this one for example, enough to make you wet yourself if you ran into him on a dark, eerie night... Well, he's probably one of the cuter, less-scary cows that you'll run into.


Here's a motley crue... aka the Baileys and the Kendricks.


This is a cute little pumpkin made out of sweet bean paste. Not all that good, unless you like sweet bean paste. Kind of an acquired taste. I don't find it too offensive. But they made it into a nice looking jack-o-lantern. Apparently, there's some American influence on the Japanese wares around this area.

I fly!

How lucky am I that I know someone here with a pilot's license, and that he took me flying? Kadena has an aero club and so we rented this 4-seater Cessna and took a little trip to a neighboring island for lunch. Sweet.


I'm flying! I'm a pilot. I fly! Didn't I tell you I flew on my first try? I just let the plane do all the work. That was my secret.


After landing we went and had some noodles for lunch at one of the local joints (I think there was only one). Me, Angel Vasquez (the pilot), and Clint Kendrick.


This is the airport. I don't believe it's at international status yet...


View looking back at Yoron Island after take off.


View of Cape Zanpa lighthouse, Okinawa.

Isaac's first trip to Okuma (October 2011)

Isaac enjoying some quality beach time with mom, or maybe it's the other way around...

Isaac enjoying his first buggy ride. He didn't really contribute a whole lot to the pedalling, frankly.

Nice view.

Erin and Brianna enjoying the surf.

For whatever reason, it was difficult keeping Holly out of the soup bowls.

Ikey... Cute pics...

You can easily see where he gets his good looks...


From his mother, of course!


Check out "The Smolder" (for those who enjoy "Tangled")


Cute, or what?! Big sister reads to her little brother.

The Blessing of Isaac Brian Bailey

The Ikester on his blessing day. Doesn't he look sharp?!

Little man's spent. He managed somehow to not puke on himself the entire time he was wearing the tux, which is no small miracle considering...

First day of school...ever!

With Holly's newly added responsibility at home, she felt she could no longer give the required time to home-school Erin and Brianna. So, on August 29, 2011, Erin and Brianna had their first experience of public school. They were both pretty nervous I think on the morning that they left for school. But they came home that day and have never stopped talking about how awesome it is. Here they are on the first day of school. They have to walk about a half mile to the bus stop, and then the bus takes them to school on Kadena Air Base. Erin attends Amelia Earhart Intermediate School (The Firebirds) and Brianna goes to Bob Hope Primary School (The Pandas).