Maxwell's 1st Birthday Party!

With a busy summer, planning for Maxwell's birthday didn't really start until just a few days before the event. All we knew is that we were going to go with a "bubbles" theme. Bubbles won out over a nautical theme(over it), puppy theme, and definitely a clown theme. I think everyone agrees that clowns are a bit scary. A few days before his party, we went to Virginia BBQ in Carrolton to taste their menu, their ENTIRE menu. They were really nice and gave us a sample of everything they had. Elyce and I sat there trying the different types of pulled pork. Trying to see which BBQ sauce tasted best with which type of BBQ. It was all good. Unfortunately we couldn't take everything, so we picked what we thought most people would like, ordered enough for 25 adults and checked that off the list!

 A few days before the party, Elyce worked on some decorations while I rearranged furniture in the family room to provide room for all the kids to run and play. We came up with an idea to have an inflatable swimming pool filled with plastic balls for the kids to play in. Elyce ordered the pool and balls from Amazon and when it came in, I inflated it in the family room. The first one we ordered was a bit too big. By the time we put the 200 plastic balls in the huge 8 foot plus pool, it looked more like balls on a pool table rather than the Chuck-E-Cheese ball pit we were hoping for. So we ordered a smaller pool and a lot more balls!

The night before the party, some family and friends arrived in town and helped decorate the house and get things together. Elyce's cousin, Tasha, even stopped by for a few hours, driving all the way from Pennsylvania! She and her children helped come up with some last minute ideas, blew up some balloons, and had dinner with us before driving back to Pennsylvania.

 The day of the party was great! All of the party ideas went off without a hitch. Bubbles were flowing on the front porch from the automatic bubble maker. The ball-filled inflatable pool was full and ready for the kids. The catered BBQ was hot and ready to go. Balloons were everywhere and provided just the right amount of "bubble-ness" we were looking for. The kids laughed and played together like they've know each other for years. Maxwell had such a good time. He laughed so much and tried his best to keep up with the older children. The best part of the party was singing happy birthday to Maxwell as we gave him his first piece of birthday cake! He was a little apprehensive at first and wouldn't allow Elyce to feed him any of the cake. But once he tasted the sweet green and blue frosting, his quickly began to go for more! He eventually was grabbing cake by the fistful and trying to eat as much cake and frosting as his little cheeks could hold. He even tried to eat the paper plate the cake was on! Everyone was waiting with cameras aimed to see what his reaction would be to his first piece of cake. And little Maxwell did not disappoint. He loved it. We loved it!

 Maxwell may not ever remember the day we all celebrated his first year of life. But, when he gets older, what I hope he sees in the pictures and videos is that he was surrounded by family and friends that loved him.

Happy Birthday Maxwell!

A special thank you to Uncle Fred Woodson, for taking so many great photos and putting together the video in this post.

Maxwell's Baptism and Dedication

Maxwell's First Christmas

Welcome Baby Maxwell

Reggie & Elyce's Pregnancy Announcement

Middlebrooks' Christmas 2013

Fishing in St. Augustine

Whenever our friends Marinelle and Mike invite us down to Florida to go fishing it's hard for us to say no. Even Elyce who is a self proclaimed non-fisher has become pretty fond of the trips. So on Labor Day weekend we went down to spend some time on the water.

It started off fairly mundane. A few bites here and there. But not many keepers. Mike suggested we take the boat out off shore a few miles to see what we can catch. We get about 9 miles offshore, where the water is that really pretty blue. Elyce drops a line a catches a few pretty small fish that we end up using as bait. Mike hooks one her fish onto his pole and casts it out into the water. As soon as he has it in the water, it takes off. Something big and fast took his bait. Being the gracious host that he is, he hands me the rod and reel and says "Reggie, she's all yours!". I take the rod and out from the water jumps what in my mind was a marlin or swordfish. My hearts racing as I'm trying to stay cool. Elyce pulls out her phone and begins video recording this. So I know I can't say or do anything stupid or else it will be recorded forever. After about 15 minutes of fighting with this fish I reel it in close enough to the boat for Mike to hook it and pull it into the boat. When he pulled it into the boat I admit that it wasn't the great marlin that I thought I was battling but it was a pretty big fish none the less. We guess that it's a kingfish or perhaps a great mackerel. It takes a while to get the hook out if its mouth. By this time there's a good amount of blood everywhere. I think Elyce makes her way to the front of the boat to stay clear of all the carnage. We take a few pics, perform a round of high fives and throw it in the cooler. Now I must admit, between the rocking of the boat, the massive amount of blood on the deck and a queasy stomach...I couldn't hold it in any longer. I blew chunks! I was so nauseous! Everyone just kinda turned their heads as I was heaving chum into the water. Mike decided we should probably head back to calmer waters. 

We pull up to a sandbar where Elyce and Marinelle jump out of the boat to enjoy the sand and water a bit. Mike and I pull out the fish book and quickly realize that we didn't have a kingfish like we thought. We had a barracuda! I google "are barracudas edible?". And while they are, most people agree it's probably not a good idea because of all the toxins that they may have. Especially when they are big.

We kept it in the cooler overnight. Mike and Marinelle put it back in the ocean the next day. I felt a little bad about reeling him in, not knowing that I shouldn't keep it. But I'm pretty sure I'll know next time.

Remembering the Beach in Okinawa

As we prepare for our PCS from Okinawa to our new duty station, I want to capture the essence of Okinawa, Japan. One of the main reasons we decided to move 11,000 miles away from our comfort zone, for the beach! Now that we have been here for two years, there are some memories that I want to cherish.  I want to burn the images of the beach in my mind so that I will always be able to remember, reflect and rejoice over the experience. As the East China Sea tidal waves come crashing in, 2012 is gone and the new year has arrived. What will the new year bring? I am hoping for year filled with new opportunities and no limits.  I looked out into the ocean and the sun shinned through the clouds and I could almost count the sun rays hitting the water. It was as if the spotted me on the seawall and allowed me this time of reflection.

Mornings Just Got Better...

Normally I wake up around 5:30am to the sounds of Marimba on my iPhone. I have no idea what a Marimba is or where it is...or who it is. But whatever it is, it's been cheerfully waking me up for nearly two years now. No offense to this ringtone which is just doing his or her job, but I cannot let the alarm ring for more than 1 and a half seconds before I have to turn it off. It's not that the sound is bad, it's just that it rips me away from my sleep to the reality of waking up and going to work.

But today...today is different. I'm not really sure what time I woke up this morning because my watch is buried deep in my suitcase and my iPhone which is normally on my bedside table ready to wake me up has been relegated of its duties as the morning alarm and is one of the cargo pockets of the shorts I wore the night before. This morning, the sounds of light rain and chirping birds along with the sunrise peeking through the heavy linen curtains woke me up. What alarm name is this? And how can I download it so that I wake up this pleasantly everyday?! I tried to lay in bed for a little while longer but I couldn't resist it. I got out of bed and pulled the drapes back just enough to get a glimpse of what was outside without letting too much light in, because Elyce was still asleep. Looking outside I saw the most lush landscape I've ever seen. I threw on those cargo shorts, boiled a cup of coffee, grabbed some fruit from next to the daybed and stepped outside to enjoy my first morning in Bali!

Car Washes In Okinawa

I have never been to a place where the lines at the car wash is always long! If its a nice sunny day, you can fuhgettaboutit. But even on an overcast day like today the lines are about 10 cars deep. For those of you not living in Okinawa, you may be wondering what's the big deal about washing your car. Because its not like many of us have a nice new shiny car that we're trying to keep the new cat scent in. Actually I'm still trying to get this putrid moldy smell out of my 3 door SMX. If you live off base in an apartment, like we do, then chances are you don't have access to a water spigot and water hose. Another reason washing your car is a big deal here on the island is that our cars get really dirty and salty! We've had typhoons in 3 of the last 6 weekends and the cars have taken a beating! So in an effort to not have to wash the car and then sponge it off before the soap dries, you have to go to the car wash. And wait. By the way I typed all of this with plenty of time to spare while waiting in line to get the car washed!

World's Largest Tug of War Contest, Naha Okinawa

The rope is 90,000 lbs and 200 meters long!

 The world's largest tug of war contest is held annually on the island of Okinawa in the city of Naha. Approximately 25,000 people attend this event every year. We missed it last year, but now that we are on within the last few months of our tour here on the island we are trying to make sure we get in all the things that's on our bucket list. This was one of the events. The day started with Elyce and I meeting some friends at the hospital and then driving down to Naha. We started around 1030am so that we could make it in time for the parade and to avoid any traffic. The drive was quick and easy, which is unusual, because whenever we try to get to the airport in time we get stuck behind the worlds longest string of "yellow plates". Anyway, Jason had the good idea of parking at the DFS mall and then taking the monorail to Kokusai Street. Great idea! We made it to Kokusai Street just in time to see the first group march down the street in the parade.

 So the parade wasn't exactly like the parades back in the States. Instead of floats and balloons, this parade consisted of several groups of men who carried very ornate decorations on top of a very large bamboo pole. Each group had around 20 or so men dressed in their parade garb. They would take turns trying to balance this one tall bamboo pole with the ornate decoration at the top. I know I'm not explaining this very well, that's why I have pictures!

The parade also had a lot of children performing karate or traditional dances. Their wasn't much music but there were plenty of chants, drums, bells and the intermittent pops of firecrackers. We had no idea what they were saying but we tried to mimic them as best as we could.

Silver Lining

The saying goes that when you have clouds, look for the silver lining. Meaning that when you have trials or tribulations in your life, look for the thing that may be positive. But have you ever thought that silver linings wouldn't exist unless there were clouds in the first place!

Memorial Day Weekend on Miyako Island

View of the ocean walking through the gardens of the hotel.

Just like the name of our blog implies, we keep our bags packed, ready to jetset whenever we can. For whatever reason, Elyce and I didn't make any plans despite both of us being totally responsibility-free for the entire weekend. After Elyce got out of class on Friday, she had to run some errands so she picked me up from work and I rode with her to tie off some loose ends. While on Kadena we were talking about what things we could do this weekend....bar-b-que's, movies, road trips? All of which would have been great after the last few weeks filled with work, tests, a respiratory infection... So I asked her, how about calling the good folks over at IACE (travel agency) to see what they have going on. Well to make a long story short, we were on a plane off to Miyako Island the next morning.
So in our brief research of this place that we've never heard of before, we found that Miyako Island is about 40 minutes by plane south of Okinawa (great!). It is supposedly home to Japan's most beautiful beach (outstanding!), there are no Habu snakes on the island (perfect!).
After an extremely easy and short trek through the Naha and Miyako airports we took a taxi through tons of cornfields to our hotel on the southern coast of the island. Besides beautiful beaches, I guess Miyako is mainly farmland... We didn't waste anytime once we got to our hotel, we got some lunch, booked our kayaking/snorkeling trip for the next day and then headed out to enjoy the warm weather, quiet pool and tropical gardens.

The Miyako Island Music Festival 2012, Maehama Beach. 

It was just our luck that on this sleepy island called Miyako, was a music festival planned the day after we got there on their most famous beach, Maehama Beach. Of course we went to the music festival and although we knew we were on a Japanese Island, because we were only a couple of the few non-Japanese people there, we felt like we were at some Caribbean concert because of the mixture of music that was played, Reggae, Spanish, Japanese folk music, Japanese-pop, harmonica instrumentals, etc.
For a last minute trip, this was a great get-away.

The pool at our hotel. We were the only ones there most of the time...

Hey Elyce, what are you reading?

Me spying on Elyce. 

Sculpture in the garden.

Just a shot of some of the flowers. There were so many flowers and butterflies, it was a little weird. 

I'm not really sure what this says, or what the frog is doing to the bag...

In between all of the cornfields were rows of sunflowers.

Hiroshi-san preparing our teppanyaki. Hiroshi-san was very nice and we enjoyed our conversation with him.

Flambe!

In Japan, you buy your steak by the gram, not the ounce like in the States.

A Pampered Chef, Elyce's Birthday & Cinco de Mayo Party!

Jenny Brooks opened up her home to host a great party with tons of kitchen products, food, and good friends!

Ginoza Stawberry Farms

About 45 minutes north of Chatan is a small nursery that has the best strawberries I've ever eaten! In our household Elyce is the queen of fruit. If she could eat fruit all day, she would. And her favorite fruit are strawberries. However, if you've lived on this island long enough, you've come to realize that the strawberries in the commissary are not very good most of the time and the strawberries in the Japanese grocery stores can be pretty expensive. I remember one time Elyce paid 600 yen for 6 strawberries. At the time that was $1.25 per strawberry! 

So when Carolyn and Jenny invited us to go with them to this strawberry farm, we thought why not. I knew Elyce would love it and I figure I'd get extra credit for going strawberry picking (which is a pretty drastic deviation from the usual manly things I normally do on Saturday mornings). 

Just a little info about the place. 1)You have to set up a reservation to pick the strawberries. 2) It costs 1200 yen per adult, not sure how much for children but it's less. 3) You CAN NOT take any home with you! This was a huge disappointment for us. 4) The staff does not speak English. 

I think I ate about 30 or so strawberries! They were that good. If I would have known we couldn't take any home with us, I would've skipped breakfast!