It's been a while since we've been to the beach, so Saturday we kidnapped our friends' kids and headed to Araha Beach, right down the road. Keira surprised us and had a great time! Maybe it was because we had Kayla and Ethan with us, maybe it was because she didn't have to wear her water shoes (the sand was wonderful), but whatever the reason, she was finally not the first one asking to go home!Kimberlee, on the other hand, could not have been more miserable. What mean parents we were to torture her with a trip to the beach! We saran-wrapped her cast and she got to play in the water a little, but in the end her over-protective and paranoid mother couldn't handle it and made her sit on the beach.
This little hermit crab really wanted to make friends with us. Kimberlee spotted him coming out of the ocean, and he crawled all the way from the water's edge to where we were sitting on the beach (about 15-20 feet, I think). Ed laughed when I told him that was the first marine life I'd seen since arriving on the island - we can't all be scuba divers!
Araha Beach is actually more commonly known as "Pirate Ship Park" by Americans because of the huge "shipwreck" right next the the beach. A monument explains how this play area is a 
replica of a ship rescued by Okinawans on this beach, and if I remember right, the ship was manned by their enemies (our sponsors took us to this beach the day after we arrived here and that's when I read the story - everything is a little hazy from that day). I think it talks a lot about the kindness and hospitality of the Okinawans, as evidenced by their generosity to even their enemies. 
Kimberlee tries to not let her cast get her down too much. She can obviously still climb.
Connected to the ship was this zip-line (not sure if that's the correct term) that the girls decided they were brave enough to try this time. The girls loved it! This was actually the hardest thing for them to leave. Now that we've figured out how to get there this is probably a beach we'll be returning to often!
3 comments:
That beach looks like so much fun. Wish I could play there too.
Wow! What an exciting park! Even if it does have sand! ;) It's hard to believe that it is for kids!
Is that a shark out in the ocean above Kayla, Ethan and Keira?!?
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