Mr. Miyagi was holding out on Danielson.

   Yes, Mr. Miyagi told Danielson about the fish in Okinawa.  But to the best I can recall, he only talked about fishing as an occupation.  Never in a recreational way.  That is because Danielson would have quit Karate, taken up snorkeling, opened a dive shop that served Americans and never gone back for college.  

     We woke up Saturday morning with nothing to do. We had plans but then they were canceled, because sometimes when you have kids, and your friends have kids, someone gets sick.  It happens.  Trust me.  So Martin went off to his class, cause he is Martin and he has found a class.  He calls later and says that Steve and Marianne have asked us to go snorkeling at  the beach.  They were going to bring boats.  OK, I like the beach.  I have sunscreen!  Even though we are not snorkelers we can make due.   So we pack up our bags: beach towels, Marshall's and Commissary clearance snorkels, bathing suits.  But I only ended up with suites for 3 out of 5 people,  which is a momma-mistake I have never actually made before, but I'm sure I will make again.  

  But it was noon, and we needed lunch.  So after yummy B-B-Q Lunch at Naps, we went to their house, borrowed swimsuits, loaded Kayaks, uploaded snacks to the cars, and left.  

Did you notice that terminology change?  Boats, which were in my mind some cool inflatable beach boats, became Kayaks.  That was like magic.

So we arrive at this secluded beach and everyone heads out to snorkel.  And they helped get us going cause they are good like that.  But we had only snorkeled in a swimming pool before and for 5 minutes at Tropical Beach before we were told it was not allowed.  So imagine our surprise when we saw these AMAZING fish.  Fish like we had only seen swimming with Nemo on the big screen, or in books.  In addition, Jill and I spent most of our time kicking around the inlet in the Kayak.  Super fun afternoon people.  Quite the three hour tour with our friend Marianne!  

   So if that is not enough, they actually invited Cece for a spend-the-night with their daughter, and sent us home with cold drinks.  Because they are good like that.  And if that is not enough, after we drove home, got food court, unloaded the sandy car, got sleeping sandy kids to bed, and grabbed more cold beverages of a different kind, there was a firework show in Naha.  And we could see this show from our back patio and enjoyed it with our cold beverages. 

And that was a pretty awesome end to a pretty awesome day.  

Here is my photo disclaimed, as my child reminded me that I will be plagiarizing if I do not include it.  I did not take these pictures.  I did not even take my camera or phone out of the car.  As I have mentioned I have a fabulous everyday camera, but in addition to not being LCDC, it also does not have underwater capabilities.  So I googled pictures of Okinawa and found these.  We saw these type fish and more and they really looked like this even though I didn't actually take these pictures myself.  So there.  I did take some fireworks pictures, but they came out bad.  I'm sure you all know how hard it is to get good fireworks pictures.  So I am leaving it to your imagination on that one.  Think big though.  

Okinawa Gonna Be's:  

I have been very happy with my Marshall's $12.99 Nerf Snorkle set.  I am glad I picked them up a few weeks before my move.  They do not have flippers though.  And closed toe beach shoes work best.  Serious gear can obviously be bought at the Scuba shops on base.  

Naps is a Southern Style BBQ place on Camp Shields.  It is Yummy BBQ served dry with your choice of sauces.  Sides are good, especially the Mac and Cheese.  My kids had not seen a plate of  chicken nuggets in a while and were happy to have them. It is Alabama themed, but they do not seem to endorse the Crimson Tide, and therefore my family can still frequent the establishment.  Camp Shields is almost adjacent to Kadena Air Force Base.