Flying Around Okinawa

I've been begging for Duke to take me flying before we leave Okinawa. I mean, hello, my husband is a pilot and he's never taken me flying! That just seemed wrong to me. It's a lengthy process to be able to check out your own plane, so we ended up tagging along with his co-worker who has already done the whole deal. It was fun to see him flying to get a tiny taste of what he does and I even got to do a little flying myself!! We flew up the east side of Okinawa to Yuron-the island just to the north of Okinawa. Then back down the west coast to Kadena. My only job when I was flying was to keep us flying straight and at 1500 ft. It was cool, but I'm happier just looking out the window and being along for the ride haha. I was a little bummed it was an overcast day bc the water is never as pretty as on a nice sunny day, but it was still so beautiful. I feel so lucky to have called this little island home for 3+ years.

 That's Miyagi and Ikei Island^

Yuron Island^

 Landed in Yuron, then flew back

 The ocean is my favorite color

 This is me flying-but looking over at the altitude. 

 The aqaurium and Expo Park! A dolphin show was going on lol

 Flying over the island made me wish I had time to explore all the beaches I saw. I love the beach!

 maeda point-with all the boat divers

 Zanpa lighthouse!

 I love how much farmland there is in Okinawa.

Landing back at Kadena.

Kyoto, again

Ah, Kyoto. Love this place. It can be crowded and overwhelming and yet you can find places to escape all the people and be alone in the same city. This was Duke's first visit and I loved seeing this place in the summer...even though I sweated my face off everyday. Since I took a million pictures I'll break down the posts by day. We arrived in Kyoto in the evening and spent a while wandering around the Imperial Palace grounds. We stayed a couple blocks away from here and we took turns running here each morning for some exercise. It was so nice. Our first day we visited: Otagi Nenbutsu-ji, Adashino Nenbutsu-ji (where we visited the bamboo grove),  and Monkey Mountain. 

a few pictures from running around the Imperial Gardens

 Our Airbnb-I think the only one we stayed in with an actual bed. It was nice.

This is Otagi Nenbutsu-ji. It was such a cool and unique temple. It has 1200 of these little statues called "rakan" or Buddah's disciples. Each has a different facial expression and poses and some of them are entertaining. The other thing I really loved about this temple is that it is not a popular temple by any means. We were the only people there the whole time. Kyoto is a very touristy, busy city and it's nice to be away from the crowds for a bit. We loved exploring this place.

I hate it when the pictures you love turn out blurry! Still love it anyways :)

Lucy pointed out all the statue's noses. :)

This place looks the same-but it's actually a different temple! This is Adashino Nenbutsu-ji. Another Buddhist Temple, where a statue is placed in memory of those who died without family. There's about 8,000 statues. At the end of August the whole place is lit with candles in a ceremony to remember them. The pictures looked beautiful.

Finally made our way up monkey mountain. It was so hot and Lucy insisted on me carrying her, so it was a slow hike up the mountain. At the top are all these monkeys roaming around and you can go in a cage and feed them peanuts and apples. Lucy liked looking but did NOT want to get down. There were signs everywhere saying not to make eye contact with the monkey's lol, my friends had told me they freak out if you make eye contact. Monkey's are freaky!

view from the top

Lucy loved putting on all my clothes in my suitcase haha. After posting and looking at all these pictures 6 months later it looks like it was such a pleasant vacation with a toddler and I have to laugh inside because this was one of more trying trips with her. They definitely have their moments and traveling with babies and toddlers is never as easy as it looks I have learned.