Adventures in Wellonsland: Gone in a flash!

If April flew by in an instant, then May didn't happen at all. Except it did and there is quite a bit to cover. Let's begin.

After last month's Far East soccer tournament, Lucy was named Best Defensive Player, and boy did she earn it! We are so proud of the effort that Lucy and Lilly put in for their soccer season this year, they both gave 110% and the results were really impressive!

May is Military Appreciation Month, and our base organized a Spouse flight on a C130. I had heard horror stories from the boy scout flight back in February (lots of air sickness going on). So I was a little concerned as I boarded. The flight, however was GREAT!! We flew over downtown Tokyo and then down the coast, with flyby of Mount Fuji just for good measure. The crew flew with the back open the whole time so we were treated to incredible views!

The first weekend of the month was Prom! Lucy and her friends all decided to go in a large group with everyone teaming up as dates so the underclassmen could attend. We were able to head down to a scenic spot on base and try to wrangle them all together for a few shots before they headed off.

Lilly, on the other hand went off base with her friends. Of course she did. Lucky for me, her date's mom and I are besties and Stacey shared the photos with me!

While Ben's Prom days are still at least a year away, he busied himself with not only baseball but also basketball. I guess that is what I am getting for Mother's day - an afternoon sitting on a bleacher. Thanks Ben! It is also Jim's birthday weekend, but his trip to DC got extended for another week, so we will just wait to celebrate with him.

Good thing Ben had a full weekend of sports, because his seasons hit a pause the very next day. I recently acquired a basketball hoop and about 5 minutes after we got it out of the car and set it up Ben split his knee open. Off to the Urgent Care we go!

Jim finally got home and we were able to do a little belated birthday celebration. Better late then never I suppose! We didn't really get to do the typical birthday dinner/cake option this year but we showered him with presents and hopefully he felt the love! Unfortunately no pics, which is pretty sad.

May is just flying by! Yokota Air Base has traditionally hosted a Japanese-American Friendship Festival in the fall of the year with a static display of various American and Japanese aircraft, bands, and food stalls along with fireworks. It is a great opportunity to strengthen the relationship between the two countries. Due to the pandemic it hasn't be held for 3 years so this one has been highly anticipated, especially by us since we had yet to experience one. The projections of attendance was upwards of 110,000 people! Prior to the festivities, another spouse flight was offered, this time on an Osprey! It was essentially the same flight path as the C-130 flight and just as exhilarating but with less people puking 😳

The Friendship Festival is also a time for the base organizations to make some money for their various activities by selling food/beverages/items. Ben signed up to work the Boy Scout Booth and selling Shaved Ice. Lucy spent her time volunteering at the Semper Fi booth selling cheesecakes, MRE's and other USMC shirts/canteens. Lilly helped out with the YHS PTO booth as well. It felt good to contribute to our "community" in such a way.

POTUS had also scheduled a visit to Japan and it happened to coincide with the last evening of the Festival. In preparation for his visit, quite a bit of "gear" had be brought over for his use including Marine One, the helicopter that flies him around. We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to get a quick tour of the aircraft and a brief history of HMX-1 (the squadron whose mission it is to fly the President/Vice President). Even the kids were impressed!

According to Jim, very few people outside of Yokota Air Base, knew the President was landing during the last evening of the Festival. Somehow the word got out, however, because about 20 minutes before he was due to arrive everyone started migrating over to the flight line with about a million huge cameras. Nobody does cameras like our Japanese friends.

School is winding down for the kids, and they really only have about a week left before exams and graduation. All three kids will be attending the same school next year, a feat that hasn't happened since 2014 and our Gowan Science Academy days! Both girls decided to throw their names in the ring for the elections for their class officers. Sadly, neither won but they did get on the SGA council so they will still be able to represent!

Ben's stitches are finally out and so he is able to play in his last baseball game of the season! Even though he missed a few games due to his injury, he enjoyed himself and improved his level of play. What more can you ask for right?

Lucy was inducted into National Honor Society! She has worked so hard and it is nice to see it paying off. We were excited to be able to attend it in person, although I hope next year they change the setup a bit so we aren't just looking at their backs. Last year it was all virtual for Lilly's induction so I guess I shouldn't complain!

We spent the last few days of May on Ishigaki down in Okinawa Prefecture (but closer to Taiwan than Okinawa). The weather forecast was iffy, but we were determined to enjoy ourselves as much as possible. We went with our friends the Taylor's (we are going to be hard pressed to find a family that is up for ALL THE THINGS when they move late this summer 😔)! But I don't want to think about that right now. We arrived late on Friday and the first order was to get some dinner before arriving at the hotel. We were a group of 8, so we were anticipating an issue of finding someplace that could accommodate us. Luckily we found a pizza place that was happy to serve us! The pizza was delicious!

The next morning we awoke to clear skies and a double rainbow!! Off to a great start!

First up was a morning snorkeling trip with Blue Space Ishigaki. Our friends had used him when they visited the island earlier and couldn't say enough good things about him. Andy arrived promptly at 8:00am and we caravanned to the Blue Cave, a popular dive/snorkel spot nearby. After accessing our comfort level in the water he proceeded to show us pretty much everything that spot had to offer. We saw tons of fish, some sea snakes, a few turtles and even a tiny jellyfish! I really want to come back in November during Manta Ray season. Fingers crossed.

The next day we decided to hit up Yaima Village which is a re-created traditional Okinawan village that offers glimpses into how people spent their every day lives in the pre-modern world. It also is home to a colony of friendly squirrel monkeys. They are the real reason we visited the village. Who doesn't want to spend a hour with squirrel monkeys crawling all over you. Several of them were hanging off of our arms, necks, and pockets. The kids were in heaven!

We rounded out our visit to Ishigaki by visiting a local area that is known for its glass bottom boats. Lilly decided to stay at the hotel but Lucy and Ben were game to check it out. The area is gorgeous! The tours were extremely close to shore and I was surprised at the abundance and diversity of the marine life we saw on the short boat ride. I doubt we were ever in water deeper than 15 feet of water!

Another fun fact about Japanese hotels is they provide pjs for when you are lounging around in the hotel. On our first morning we were the only guests at breakfast that weren’t in at least one part of it. So we decided to all wear them on our last breakfast during our stay. I must say they were surprisingly comfortable! And we blended in quite a bit more with our fellow Japanese guests.