The Blair Chronicles

Who needs Disneyland when you've got a box

2012-01-30T13:29:00.001+09:00

Last summer the kids got a swing set that we set up in the backyard. As much as they love it I think they love the boxes that it came in just as much, if not more.

On rainy days or super hot days we would set them up in the living room and they could play house. Soon that got old.

Next we built them a super fort in the playroom. They talked us into letting them sleep in there but it was too exciting and cool and they couldn't go to sleep and got sent to their beds....

...then Rick took one of the boxes to a whole new level. Last weekend he took the kids outside so I could try to get the house clean (which will never fully happen) and this is the activity he came up with.
What could be more epic than a huge fort?......The Spinning Vortex of Doom!!!

Really, who needs Disneyland when they've got a huge box and a super dad?

It looked so fun I wanted to have a ride too but I could just see the bottom of the box rip open mid swing and me flying out into the road. I guess I will just have to live this one through the kids :)

2011 Catch-Up

2012-01-17T13:44:00.001+09:00

We had a wonderful year here in Pensacola! Here's my attempt at catching up on some of the events I was suppose to blog and didn't : )

Evelyn and Will played soccer this fall. Their team was The Gators!! Evelyn enjoyed running around not knowing what was going on and Will...he just looked forward to the snack after the game :)

Halloween this year was awesome. It still amazes the kids that they really get to dress up and get loads of free candy from complete strangers. We went to our ward's Halloween Festival and hit a local neighborhood. (Alien Evelyn, Optimus Prime Will , and Ninja Eddie)

We went to a local pumpkin patch/peanut farm to pick out our pumpkins and enjoy a hayride. (btw I love boiled peanuts!)

Super Pumpkins!!

We thought it wasn't possible but we actually got a decent picture for our Christmas Card this year. Thanks to our friend Shanna!

We had a quiet Christmas at home. Here are the kiddos Christmas Morning in their new jammies :)

Happy as can be with their gifts. Thanks family for all of the wonderful stuff.

To celebrate New Years we went up to Alabama and spent it with my sister Heidi and her family. Being in Alabama (no need to explain) we could buy and set off super fireworks. The ones worthy of your annual city firework shows. I think us adults had way more fun then the kids.

Here is Rick holding the grande finale, Cats in the Cupboard!!! It was epic!!!

One of my New Years Resolutions is to blog more so I hope to keep them coming.
We hope your 2011 was as great as ours. We love and miss all of you :)

It's hot. Real hot.

2011-07-20T05:36:00.001+09:00

When it's roasting hot and super humid there's only one thing to do........go to the beach!!!

We've spent a lot of time at the beach this summer. Here are a few of our pics.

The beach is fun with Eddie now that he is walking and has stopped eating sand :)

The kiddos with crazy Daddy.

I love the beach!!!

A beach trip wouldn't be a beach trip without digging a big ol hole.....

......then burying Daddy in it :)

Merry Christmas!!

2010-12-13T11:31:00.001+09:00

Hello family and friends.

We've had a wonderful year full of blessings. In 2010 we've seen the addition of a new family member, Edward Richard Blair. We enjoy being back in the states, even though Pensacola is about as far away from family as Okinawa :)

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a fabulous new year.

Rick, Wendy, Evelyn, Will, and Eddie.

This free greeting card customized with Smilebox

All Hallows Eve

2010-11-01T12:13:00.007+09:00

Halloween is so much fun with kids!!

Upon returning home from the "Trunk-or Treat" I stuck my head in the kids Halloween bags and took in a big whiff of their candy. The smell instantly brought me back to the glory days of Trick-or Treating at Grandma Hart's house. We would bring in our full pillow cases and poor them out all over the floor to examine our loot. After running from house to house for two hours we deserved the pig out session that followed. It's fun reliving the excitement of the holidays through your children.

Earlier in the month we went up to see Heidi and Donnie. In October the Birmingham Zoo hosts "Boo at the Zoo"!! You get to go to the Zoo at night. It was super fun with games, candy, a haunted carousel, and train ride.

Because of Halloween being on Sunday this year (too bad) we went to the "Trunk-or-Treat" at the church Saturday night. Rick made the kids stick their hands in the boxes and feel the "eyeballs and brains" before he would give them candy. No treat for you without a trick. Ha Ha Ha!!

The kids had just as much fun passing out candy on Halloween as they did "trick or treating" the night before. Here are two little videos we shot.

Goodbye Okinawa, Hello Pensacola!!

2010-10-03T09:54:00.010+09:00

The day we left Okinawa was day of mixed emotions. We were so sad to be leaving but excited to get back to the states. On our way to Florida we got to spend time in California and Alabama visiting all of the family that we missed seeing over the past two years. It was great!!

It was really nice to finally get settled into our house after a month of traveling. This is the house. We love having a driveway, a garage, a backyard, and 4 bedrooms! Definitely a step up from the beloved bomb shelter in Okinawa. Oh yea, the van, it doesn't leak when it rains!!

Rick likes his job and is keeping busy. He is going to be traveling a lot more. He's already been to Portsmouth, VA, Meridian, MS, and Millington, TN. In the next couple of months he is heading to New Orleans, Corpus Christi, and Crane, Indiana.

Evelyn turned five and is now a Kindergartner. This is her on the big first day. She loves her teacher and thinks PE, music class, art class, and ballet are too much fun. Since we live so close to school we get to walk. Rain or shine :)

Will is proud to be three! This is him on his first day of preschool. He goes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday but wishes it could be EVERYDAY! He wants to do everything Evelyn does, even homework.

Eddie is getting cuter by the day. He has started scooting and making his way around the house. I'm enjoying my "Eddie time" while the kiddos are in school. He is a happy easy going baby (I just wish he would start sleeping through the night :).

We love and miss you all. Pensacola is beautiful in the fall. Come and visit!!

The latest

2010-05-26T20:33:00.006+09:00

Here are some of our latest pictures. Eddie is getting bigger every day. Grandma Kris and Grandpa Jay just recently paid us a visit. Rick has been wanting to do deep sea fishing for a long time and he finally got to go. We took a trip with with some friends of ours out to Tokashiki Island (one of the Kerama Islands just west of Okinawa), it was beautiful! Evelyn performed in her first dance recital as a Busy Baby Bumblebee! Things are well here. We pack out on July 13th. We'll make a short pit stop in Lancaster to see family and then it's off to Pensacola Florida. We'll miss Okinawa.

The new addition

2010-03-07T15:01:00.004+09:00

Edward Richard Blair was born on March 5th. Eddie and his Mother are doing great. He was 22 inches long and weighed in at 8 pounds 7 ounces. We're happy to have him join the team.

Finally Blogging Christmas!

2010-01-31T23:00:00.010+09:00

We had a fabulous Christmas!!

We went to the Christmas Festival at the Okinawa Zoo. They advertised "snow" so we had to go!! They had a small section on the lawn where they made snow for the kids to play in. They also made little igloos. The machine they had making the "snow" was really a giant snow cone maker that would grind squares of ice and blow it out of a large tube. Hey, the kids didn't know the difference.

With the setting of the sun came the light show. This was truly a Japanese Experience. There was a medley of Christmas songs (in Japanese) and other random songs (like Michael Jackson's Thriller) playing while beams of lights made shapes in the fog. Occasionally there would be fire explosions and fireworks. We loved it!! The song in the video is the end of, "I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus"

Family Came to See Us!!!

2010-01-02T15:19:00.005+09:00

We had a wonderful October with the visit of Bill, Chelsea, and Ryan followed by the visit from Joy, Rich and Ariel. We loved being able to share Okinawa with them but what we loved the most was that they were here with us. We could hug and kiss them not just hear their voices on the phone :)

The Aquarium

Fukushen Gardens

Halloween

Lunch in the Jungle

Okinawa World!!

Rick's Mt Fuji Hike....amazing!

2009-09-25T21:44:00.002+09:00

A view of the sunrise!

Lots of clouds, no end in sight.
A view into Mt Fuji's huge crater.

Torri gate near the summit.

Tokyo!!

2009-09-23T08:59:00.020+09:00

Our Tokyo trip was fabulous!! Since we packed so much into this trip we will have to blog it by day.

It's a 2 1/2 hour flight north to Tokyo. Compared to a 12 hour flight home, this is just a little hop. One movie and we're there!! My traveling motto is "plug them in", they love it and daddy gets to sleep :)

To get around we took the subway. Good thing our friends had been to Tokyo and were familiar with how it all worked. This was Rick and my first time ever riding the subway!! The kids had a blast not having to wear seat belts.

We have really missed eating at some of the American restaurants so we went to the Roppongi District to eat lunch. We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe.

The Tokyo Tower is Japan's version of the Eiffel Tower. We went up to get a good view of Tokyo. You don't realize how huge this city is until you get a birds eye view of the skyscrapers going on in every directions as far as you can see. It makes L.A. look tiny.

We let the kiddos run around the Imperial Palace lawn while we relaxed.

Still to come.........the fish market, the zoo, Tokyo Disney, and Rick's hike to the top of Mt. Fuji!!

Tokyo Subway?!

2009-08-25T19:08:00.005+09:00

We are getting ready for our trip to Tokyo on Thursday and thought it would be nice to familiarize ourselves with the subway system since that is what we will use to get around. Here is a map of the Tokyo subway.

AAAHHHHHH!!!!!

If you hear of an american family that got lost for a week in the Tokyo subway..........it was probably us.

WISH US LUCK!!!!

Janna's Visit!!!!

2009-07-26T21:29:00.012+09:00

Our first visitor!!!!!!! So this was Janna's first time flying. I don't know who was more nervous the day she flew here, Rick and I, Janna, or Houston and Martha. Let's just say when Janna got here safe we could all finally relax.

We are having so much fun with Aunt Janna! The kids love her. They think she is too much fun. Here are a few of the highlights of her visit so far.

Forest Adventure Park

Pedicures at Cocoks!!

Shuri Castle

We will be sooooo sad when she leaves. It's been neat being able to share our "world" here with someone from back home :)

Summertime Adventures

2009-06-28T21:36:00.014+09:00

It's summer time! Some pics for your viewing pleasure. Will turned 2 this month. At his 24 month check up we were told he's in the 90th percentile for his height, the kid is a beanstalk! Summertime means Rick wears his white Navy Uniform now, the white's look nice, but they're hard to keep clean.
Will got quite a sunburn earlier this week. He and Evelyn were being watched by our neighbors while Wendy went to a dental appointment...they played in the kiddy pool for about an hour. The picture shows you the end result, oops! The kid burns easy and we didn't give our neighbor fair warning. The picture makes it look worse than it really was. Will never complained of any discomfort, and he didn't blister or peel (lucky for us).
Also included are some pictures from Rick's last SCUBA dive, we live in such a beautiful place. The first pic is a crown of thorns starfish (very poisonous, try to avoid stepping on them!), second are a pair of lionfish (also very poisonous...a sting from one of its spines is supposed to induce extreme pain, lucky for Rick the fish is non-aggressive. The other pic is just of a cool starfish (not sure of the name??).
Lastly, we've included a couple pics of Nakagusuku castle ruins. There are several castle ruins that you can visit here in Oki, but this has been are favorite thus far. Come and see us, we promise to take you there.

Bios on the Hill Nature Park

2009-06-07T10:16:00.004+09:00

Bios on the Hill is a natural botanical garden themed after Okinawa's forests and orchids. The dragons and houses that are designed into the gardens are beautiful.

The kiddos had a blast running around and playing on everything. We took a guided boat tour through the park. It would have been extra special but we couldn't understand one word that the tour guide was saying, hehehe :)

Kuwae Preschool Graduation

2009-05-31T11:35:00.005+09:00

Evelyn's last day at Kuwae Preschool was wonderful. Her class sang all of their favorite songs, received "graduation" certificates, and had a cookie party. It was neat to hear her sing a few of the songs in Japanese. She is going to teach them to me so we will never forget them.

Mrs. Blodgett and Ryoko-San were wonderful teachers and Evelyn loves them. She will miss them very much.

Ie Island Trip

2009-04-14T23:46:00.002+09:00

This last weekend we made a trip out to Ie Island (a small island just off the coast of Okinawa). The motivation behind our trip was so Rick and a few friends could participate in the Annual Ie Island Half Marathon. Ie is only accessible by ferry, and it takes about a half hour to ride over. The Island was absolutely beautiful. We have attached several pictures showing where we stayed and some of the sites.

Ready for Summer!

2009-03-22T19:31:00.008+09:00

Evelyn got her cast off! She was such a great sport through it all. She loved putting on the goggles and having her cast sawed off. Right after having her cast removed she said, "Mommy, my arm is floating". Her arm felt so light she thought it was floating :)

I change my hair every couple of months. I ventured out and got my hair cut in town by a guy named Miyagi. Short again for the summer. Good job Miyagi San!

We went with some friends up north and camped at Okuma. We stayed in a cute little cabin that was a short walk to the beach. We got to take a tour of the area in a cool buggy. Fun Fun Fun.

Introducing...Robot Girl!!!!

2009-02-01T20:17:00.010+09:00

Evelyn started out Friday night as a normal girl but came home as "Robot Girl" with a super powerful robot arm.

We were at Big Dip getting some ice-cream and Evelyn fell off a pretty high stool. As she was clutching her wrist and crying in my arms I asked the question that no parent ever wants to ask...."Do you think it's broken". The swelling was instant and she was shaking with pain so off to the ER we went.

The x-rays were clear...it's broken. The good thing is that it's a "buckle brake". Her bones are soft so instead of breaking the bone buckled. The x-ray showed a bump on her bone (distal radial to be exact). It should heal pretty quickly.

She has a temporary cast with a sling right now. On Tuesday she will go into Orthopedics, get new x-rays and a permanent cast. Fun, Fun, Fun!!!

Evelyn has been a super kid through the whole thing. To look at her you would think nothing ever happened. Super Robot Girl to the Rescue!!!

Mr. Miyagi: Evil Spirits Beware!

2008-10-29T20:48:00.011+09:00

Mr. Miyagi is my Shisa Dog (he is old and wise). According to legend a shisa dog saved an Okinawan village from an attacking sea dragon, so now EVERYWHERE you go there are shisa dogs on roofs and entry ways warding off evil spirits.

Since it is essential to have shisa dogs protecting your home, we had a girls day out to an antique store that lets you make your own guardian shisa. The cutest man, Mr. Sachi, helped us along the way. We started with just a frame and a pile of clay. While working Mr. Sachi would come around and help us out by adding claws, a nose, a mane, all kinds of things. We loved Mr. Sachi!!

Traditionally there are two shisa that protect your home. One has an open mouth to ward off evil spirits(male), and the other a closed mouth to keep good spirits in(female). We will be going back soon so I can make Mrs. Miyagi. Fun, Fun, Fun.

Quilting a plate of Sushi :)

2008-10-27T21:24:00.012+09:00

Twenty girls including myself got together and made an Okinawa Memory Quilt. Each girl chose something that reminded them of Okinawa, designed a quilt square, and made 20 of them! We then got together and exchanged all of our squares. So at the end I ended up with 20 different squares. Here is what some of the girls did: geta shoes, sanshin, kokeshi dolls, goya, kimono, whale shark, map of Okinawa, and goya. I made a Sushi Platter!!

It was a lot of hard work but it paid off in the end. Now I need to learn how to piece a quilt together!? My goal is to finish it by the time I leave the Island. Rick thinks it will never get done. Blah, Blah, Blah.... :)

Happy Anniversary!!

2008-10-27T20:18:00.011+09:00

Ricks out of town and the kids are in bed so what am I finally going to do.........blog-it-up!!!

For our 7th anniversary Rick and I took a scenic tour of Okinawa in a little Cessna plane. Of course Rick thought it would be lame but after the flight he admitted that it was fun. Rick sat in the front with the pilot and got to fly the plane a little. The views were amazing!! The water is so clear we could see all the coral reef that surrounds the island.

Our flight was uneventful until it came to landing. After touching down the pilot heard a pop and lost the brakes and steering on the right wheel. He did manage to slow us down and get us off the main runway before loosing all brakes and steering. We ended up going into the grass to stop. Since we lost control and ended up in the grass it was an official crash landing!! Emergency vehicles came out to make sure we were all o.k. Our pilot kept apologizing but we assured him that we thought it was a perfect end to our flight!!

Expo Park

2008-09-10T21:02:00.010+09:00

A couple weeks ago we visited Expo Park which has one of the world's largest Aquariums...big enough that they could put 3 full size whale sharks in the tank with room to spare!

Evelyn just started preschool this week. She goes 3 days a week in the mornings. Evelyn thinks preschool is too much fun, and Wendy is greatful for some time with only one kid in tow.

The other picture features Will following a little spill he took into the concrete the other day. It looks really bad but besides being a little worked up right when he got hurt Will has been all smiles...we're just worried that people will think we beat the crud out of our kids!

Typhoon Sinlaku

2008-09-10T20:39:00.003+09:00

Typhoon Sinlaku is coming straight for us! Currently Sinlaku is a category 2 storm (winds between 96-110 mph), and the forecast is projecting that he could grow into a category 4 (winds between 131-155 mph). It's looking like this storm will be in full swing right about the time it gets here to Okinawa...hopefully we'll survive.

California Summer Vacation

2008-07-21T21:03:00.001+09:00

Strike a Pose

2008-05-04T21:12:00.004+09:00

Evelyn was happy to put on a show for the camera in her new swimsuit. Wendy's instructions to Evelyn for the first picture was to show a scary face. Picture number 2 is supposed to be a sad face, and number three is happy. All three of them look like crazy faces to me.

2008-04-19T21:24:00.002+09:00

Here's a couple recent shots of the kiddos. Evelyn and Will are both getting big. We are looking forward to a vacation back to the States next month.

2008-01-06T18:58:00.000+09:00

This posting will sum up our holiday adventures in Okinawa. This is the first time since we've been married that Wendy and I haven't spent Christmas with our Families in Lancaster. I must admit that I really don't miss Lancaster, but we sure did miss our Family. In spite of that we still had a great Holiday, and had several adventures with our new friends in Okinawa.

Top left you'll see Will on Christmas morning. He loved all of his gifts, but the boxes and wrapping paper they came in were an even bigger hit. Top right is Evelyn at the Okinawa Botanical Gardens. Every Christmas they deck out the gardens with lights, and put on this psychadelic laser show set to Christmas music. Bottom left is Hedo Point. This picture doesn't really do the location justice. It's the most northern point on the Island, and it's beautiful. Lots of tall cliffs and jagged volcanic rock. The surf was high that day, and the waves would crash against the cliffs kicking up huge blasts of water.

Finally, the two pictures on the bottom right are from a trip that we made to Pineapple park. It's a large pineapple farm/farmer's market that they've turned into a tourist attraction. You get to go for a little ride in a golf cart that they've made to look like a pineapple, and then you get to sample all sorts of different pineapple products at the Farmer's market. They have recreated the pineapple in about every way possible, and you get to sample all of it. There was pineapple juice, wines, cookies, chocolates, and cakes. One of the more interesting items was pickled pineapple... I wish I could say that I liked it, but it was pretty gross. From the picture you can see that for Evelyn the highlight of the trip was the pineapple icecream cone that she got at the end.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-25T19:34:00.000+09:00

We shared Thanksgiving with some friends in our ward. We had a great time. There were 10 kids between the three families that we got together with. Evelyn was the only girl in the group, but she didn't seem to mind. After the Thanksgiving feast we visited a local park that had a giant slide (see the pictures, I'm not exaggerating when I say giant). All of us took a turn going down, even Will.

Blair Blog

2007-11-25T18:11:00.000+09:00

We've been wanting to create a blog for awhile now. We think this will be an easier way for us to share our adventures with anyone's who's interested. We'll do our best to keep it up to date with whatever we've been up to. Enjoy!