Whirlwind Weekend

This weekend was a VERY busy one and the fact that Lyle was leaving today (Tuesday) made it go by even faster.

Friday was Stephanie's Girl Scout rededication. She is thrilled to be a cadet wearing the a tan vest. Here she is with her leader and her troop:

Her leader gave each of the girls a name tag with their name in English and has prepaid the engraver so they can have their names in Kanji added. Stephanie has already gotten her name transcribed by a friend from church so we can take it to be engraved.

Saturday was the Chief's Group Monte Carlo Night. I didn't take the cameras (less incriminating evidence) but we had a blast. Lyle and I started the night with $3000 each in "cash" and ended with a total just over $29,000. It was enough to win one of the prizes (we got a small vase).

Sunday we took the kids to Okinawa Deal or No Deal. This is just like the TV show (top prize $5000) but for us military folks here on island. We didn't win a chance on stage but Lyle did win a shirt! We were all hoarse from yelling by the end of the night. Chris and Steph loved it!

Monday was our big day out. Since there was no school or work we packed up early and went out to explore a little more of the island. Our only destination a new shopping mall and maybe some lunch. We ended up finding two new shopping spots to explore and had our best meal on island so far!

I had read about Marino's on OkinawaHai and added it to my mental list of things I wanted to do over the next 4 years. I was thrilled when we stopped at the Main City San-A shopping plaza and saw it right there in front! After wandering the mall for an hour we went over to get some lunch.
I will let you enjoy the pictures before telling you about our experience:

We ordered a set meal for 4 that included a little of everything on their menu, and when I say EVERYTHING I mean it! We started off with a huge bowl of vegetable soup. Stephanie ate at least 3 bowls! Followed by a ceasar salad and cheese fondue. After the fondue our waitress brought out a small pizza made of just bread, tomato sauce, basil and cheese. We were already full, but there was more to come! A waitress rolled this stand up to our table that had a giant wheel of Parmesan cheese and a chafing dish on it. She put freshly cooked pasta into a pan, added some sauce and an egg. Cooked it until it started to thicken, then she put all of the pasta into a hollow in the cheese. She stirred it some more, then put it into a serving dish. When I tasted it I was in heaven. Little pieces of bacon, fresh pasta and a creamy parmesan sauce! Lyle and I both kept making "ummm" noises as we ate. Then when we thought we had had everything on our little menu our waitress brought out a dish of lasagna. It was not typical lasagna, more like flat spinach noodles covered in cheese and creamy tomato sauce, but the few bites I had were very good. But wait, then comes dessert! EAch of us got to go up to the dessert bar and pick out 3 mini desserts each. There were so many to choose from! My favorite had to be the mini chocolate mousse cup. It ws in a glass slightly larger than a shot glass, but just as dangerous. It took us about an hour and a half to eat our lunch.

Afterward we all needed to walk, so we drove down to another shopping plaza. This was the most like an american mall we have found so far and was a nice way to work off some of lunch. I had to laugh at the manniquins tho:



We drove home so Chris could deliver his papers then took off for the beach to let the kids do a little swimming while Lyle and I relaxed on the sand while the sun set. Since none of us was really hungry (can you blame us?) we just stopped for ice cream. Caramel Macchiato McFlurry's from McDonalds.... YUMMY!