Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Churaumi Aquarium

So we went to the Churaumi Aquarium this past weekend. It was a lot of fun - we saw a lot of cool stuff. All of the things we saw at the aquarium have been seen at one time or another in the oceans surrounding the island of Japan - can I say I can't wait to go diving!! So we drove to the aquarium it is about 1 1/2 hours from Kadena AFB - it was a very nice ride....beaches and we went through different cities on okinawa. If ever you come to Oki I would recommend the aquarium.This is the entrance
They have Adventure Land - this is Logan inside what appeared to be a huge bee hive
They have these rope bridges for like a mile all around the little area - Logan was a little too scared to go any further than this right here - the ropes were really meant for a little older kids I think!



That mat that he is standing on is squishy, he liked that because he could bounce a little on it!

This is just a little entrance to a sitting area, it had the Shi-sa dogs in the entry way - I thought you might like to see how they have these things everywhere. Almost every single house has these in some form or another. Businesses have them, and retaurants too.
Daddy and Logan
Mommy and Logan
Boo-Boo being a sting ray
This view was really breathtaking, my camera doesn't do it justice. Behind Keith and Logan is the East China Sea - the water was aqua in color and clear as a piece of glass!
There is a little better view of the sea
Starfish in the touch pool

These two pictures are of the touch pool, right when you walk in the entrance. Logan would not touch anything inside the pool (LOL) I tried to get him to touch the sea cucumbers and starfish but he was not even going there

Nurse Shark - there were a lot of these on the floors of most of the big aquariums. That is the most common type of shark you will see when diving here - but I asked one of the guys and there are also tiger sharks and hammer heads on occasion! NO THANK YOU!!
Logan looking at a HUGE fish - he could not believe how big it was! Said fish is below!

Fish that I mentioned before - right here!
Ok this was a really big tank with really HUGE lobsters. These guys were ginormous!

Ok so this was a stone fish - I could not even tell it was a fish at first. Amazing
This picture does not show you how big this shell was that this crab was carrying around - trust me when I tell you it was a big house~
Sea horse
Ok this is the coolest part - there was this HUGE tank with whale sharks and manta rays and tons of sharks. This is the head of the whale shark
Manta Ray coming at me!
There he goes - these guys were the size of a VW bug! They were so big - I would LOVE to see one of them in the ocean!
There is the whale shark - so freakin cool!! There were 3 of these guys in there


Logan inside a Great White Shark mouth
They also had a dolphin show - they had a couple spotted dolphins, spinner dolphins and 3 False killer whales. They did a really good job - This is one of the false killer whales
Ok this thing sprays mist out - and the kids love it!! The following picture are of Logan playing! When we first came in the aquarium he wanted nothing to do with the misty thing - then on the way out we could not get him away from it. Not sure what changed his mind - but he loved it!!!



We had a really good time!! I can't wait for to see what else Oki has in store!!! More pics coming soon~!

Monday, November 10, 2008

More from Oki

You can't really see this - but at the seawall when the tide is low - there are a ton of little tide pools. They are so cool - there are starfish, and this picture is of a brittle star. There are sea cucumbers, and lots of little fish. Lots of sea anemones - and coral.
This is the marina again - this is where we go to rent our SCUBA gear
Ok - remember when I told you about Jusco? Well this is a little bakery inside Jusco - they make these fresh pastries and this awesome sweet bread!
This is a view of the seawall on the boardwalk right behind our house.
This is part of the same bakery in Jusco!
Here is Jusco again - this store is the bomb - but they have some weird stuff. This is an octopus right in the cooler next to the Ground beef and pork chops! (eeeww!)
This is what the milky way package looks like I only put this in here cuz you can relate since we have milky ways in the states...plus its my favorite candy bar! LOL
Ok - this is dried squid, I am assuming its supposed to be eaten like beef jerky....I wanna vom!
Here is Logan - after eating an ice cream cone - he wanted to show you he can make even bigger messes now!
These are called Shi-sa dogs. They are everywhere here in Japan - they are placed usually in the entryway outside the front door, or on posts on either side of the driveway - the one with the mouth closed is the one with the peace spirit, it keeps the peace within the home
This one has the warrior spirit and it wards of all evil and enemies from the home!
Logan - he was sourcerer Mickey for Halloween - this is before school
This is after school when we were picking him up - they had just finished the little parade!
The teachers made homeade applesauce for the kids for snacktime - Logan loved it!