Jellyfish, Sharks, and Dolphins! Oh my!

I promise that Maddox is actually wearing shorts.

At the end of our first full week here, another faculty spouse from OIST invited us to go to the Churaumi Aquarium with her and her older son who is in 2nd grade.  Her younger son is 5 and is in Zoe's preschool class.  The family is from Germany and they have been at OIST for 4 years, so they know the lay of the land.

The aquarium is well known, boasting (I think) the largest tank aside from the aquarium in Hotlanta. It is about an hour north of us without traffic, so it may not be a weekly destination, but it will definitely merit a few more trips during our short stay here.

The aquarium also has botanical gardens, play structures, and plenty of activities both indoors and out. Maddox was obsessed with the exhibit about poisonous creatures (including the box jellyfish) given our first ocean visit. Her curiosity about this is likely going to guide our homeschool science for the next few months. In fact, the diversity of ocean life here provides lots of good content.

This was our view from the cafe during lunch; not the largest viewing window, but still impressive.

This guy cracked me up.  You lookin' at me?

After lunch, we saw a great dolphin show with an incredible view. We now know where the splash zone is, and will be headed there next time!

Then we were off to the shark tank which mesmerized the kids. The whole aquarium was extremely busy the day we went, I think due to the Japanese holiday Obon.  We will definitely be back soon. Grandparents, get ready!

Zoe kept seeking reassurance that the sharks were "caged in".

The weekend continued with trips to new grocery stores and farmers' markets, as well as a failed attempt at finding parking at a huge Eisa and Beer festival. But we found yogurt "without seeds" so Zoe finds it acceptable, tried dragon fruit (meh), and made it to the OIST fitness center for the first time (aside: Mommy is nicer when she exercises).

Last Monday, we brought our sad laptops to a guy who runs a laptop repair business and then had lunch at an A&W.  The A&W chain is ubiquitous here ("All-American Food!") which is interesting given that I have not once seen one in the U.S. Regardless, I had root beer and was happy.

We then found a very cool playground that we had passed on the highway. The girls especially loved the super-tall, though not super-fast, slide.

The playground also had these swings that looked like they were part of a 7th grade macrame lesson, though sturdier.  They were perfect for practicing meditation (or giggling hysterically).  I took the photo below for Maddox's teacher back in Durham, and thought her classmates from Mr. C-W's class would appreciate it.

And finally, not only do we have beautiful sunsets, but we have lots of rainbows, too.  Look closely to see the faint double below. Peace out, y'all.