Lucy turns 2

Our sweet little Lucy Joy turned 2 years old on October 25! My family sang to Lucy and I both before we flew back to Okinawa and then we waited to celebrate Lucy's birthday with friends until Duke got home. Oh my little Lucy, where do I start? She has truly been my greatest challenge in life but also my greatest joy and fulfillment. Funny how those go hand in hand. Luckily the joy is what makes the demands and challenges of motherhood so worth it. This stage she is in right now is my favorite. She is saying more words, and although it's really difficult to distinguish what she is saying at times, I still feel like, hey! we're communicating! This is awesome! She loves to smoosh her face against mine really hard and hug my neck tight. It's a little uncomfortable, but heart-meltingly sweet. She's learning her shapes and she knows her colors for the most part. When she's watching something about colors on tv or reading in a book, she goes around the room and points to everything that is the same color. She loves animals and animal noises. She's become more concerned with Winston these days, which she pronounces "nin-nin". If he is upstairs sleeping, but not on his bed, she insists that he "comes" to his bed. Or if we fill up his food or water bowl, she thinks he needs to get over there right away and eat. I'm not sure how Winston feels about it all. My favorite though is when Winston runs out the door and I raise my voice to yell, "winston!" "come!" and she does the same. Kills me every time!

I think she is going through a growth spurt right now. She's been sleeping in till about 9/930 and the other day I had to wake her up at 11!!!!! I was starting to get concerned, but today she woke up at 830. We put her down at about 8 these days. I like to think of it as her Christmas present to me!

Lucy, when you read this later on in life I hope you know how much we love you! We love you like crazy! We always try to let you beat to your own drum as you like to do and live life the way you'd like. I hope you continue your determined attitude and love for life. I'm so happy I get to be your mama! And I can't believe it's been 2 years!

 The rest of these are from her birthday party. I found this unicorn cake on pinterest and knew I had to find someone to make it! I used SugarArt here in Okinawa and I highly recommend her. The ears, eyes and horn were made with while chocolate-no fondant! Although it started getting droopy ears bc it was so hot outside. whoops. But the whole cake tasted AMAZING! 

 The bubble maker was a hit^

 My little birthday girl!

 She went to TOWN on that unicorn horn! What are birthday's for if not a sugar coma?!

 Her friend drew had just dumped out all the balls and Lucy is saying "do???" what did you do?!

 little cute friends

It was fun watching her actually unwrap her presents for the first time. She's just too much!

Zamami Island

For memorial Day weekend we finally checked off a big item on my Okinawa bucket list. We visited the Keramas! Specifically Zamami Island. The Keramas are a group of islands to the west of Okinawa, still part of Okinawa Prefecture, but the only way to get there is by ferry. It is a bit more remote and mostly just guesthouses to stay in. Sometimes I get a bit dramatic about how much I love a place, but it was one of my favorite places we've visited since we've been out here. The beaches were insanely beautiful, the snorkeling was amazing and clear, the town was small enough to bike around, the food was great. I hope I get to go back before we leave!

We had to take the slow boat to the island so it was about 2 hours I believe, but it was nice bc lucy could actually walk around and be her toddler self. The ferry ride itself was gorgeous. I could not believe how BLUE the water was.

arriving in the port-that water is totally for real!

The day we got there we rented bikes and biked over to Ama beach. Riding bikes to the beach was magical. This beach is closer to town and has sea turtles, but I sadly did not see any :( We hiked up a bit to a beautiful lookout point. I felt a tiny bit like I was in Thailand. I loved the relief of the islands against the ocean. It was gorgeous. We didn't spend much time at Ama before hopping on our bikes to see a little more of the island.

We turned a corner to see a little group of goats just hanging out. This little guy started running alongside Duke. They are just the cutest!!

Hanging out in our little apartment. We stayed at Beachcombers. It was a tiny room with futons, a kitchenette and a bathroom. Also Japanese style accommodations are kind of great with toddlers. The beds are on the floor and the tables are low, so you don't have to worry about them climbing and falling off stuff!

Our next day we spent the part of it at Furuzamami Beach which was my favorite. The water and views were incredible. Plus they had snocones! That day the water was crystal clear and the snorkeling was some of the best I have ever seen!!!!!

Furuzamami

Duke out there snorkeling

tuckered out beach babe

The rest of the day we spent at a beach way on the other side of the island. I don't know if it has a name, but our guesthouse drove us and our friends we were with over there. It was nice bc the sand was soooo soft and we were the only ones there all day. Score. Also, I didn't seem to take any pictures at this beach!

Dinner with our friends

love all the colorful shisa's around the island

Our last day we woke up and it was raining. I still really wanted to see some turtles, so we biked to Ama, but I'm a baby about being cold and I didn't want to get in the water. So obviously I didn't see any. It cleared up after a few hours and we went back to Furuzamami beach until our ferry left that afternoon.

a good example of recycling in Japan. Can't just throw something away!

After the rain the water wasn't as clear and of course the first day our camera was dead, but here's a couple pics of the critters under there.

I love them together

That's a wrap. I highly recommend taking the time to go if you are out this way. It was a beach lovers paradise.
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