Pineapple Park & Pattern Pig

November 3 is Culture Day in Japan which "promotes culture and the love of freedom and peace." For us, it meant a day off from school for Zoe, and an opportunity to visit Nago Pineapple Park. Pineapples are one of the agricultural products of Okinawa, and Pineapple Park is a tourist trap that we were happy to visit!

I do love that most Japanese tourist sites have a photo op at the entrance which says where you are and what the date is. It's very helpful for bloggers who like to document activities much later on!

Once you buy the tickets, you get into this amazing pineapple-themed golf cart. The girls of course loved this part. Maddox loved to pretend she was driving, and quickly noticed that the steering wheel was actually on the left-hand side of the cart. A little touch of home!

The automated cart drove us through the park and the pineapple patches. It then conveniently left us off at the sample shop and gift store! I am grateful that they make wine out of pineapples, and that there were several large samples to begin the tour de gifts. I ended up buying a surprisingly unsweet bottle of pineapple wine that we drank at Thanksgiving, and a pineapple cake that we shared with my sister's family over Christmas.

There were also several quizzes about pineapples. They were in Japanese, so Maddox just enjoyed the props.

Later that week it was time for the Barnyard Dance at Zoe's preschool. Although there were plenty of Halloween festivities around Okinawa, the school did not celebrate Halloween. The Barnyard Dance gave the kids a chance to dress up and have fun anyway!

Zoe decided to be a pig because she could use her neck pillow as part of her costume. We repurposed devil horns that were supposed to be a part of Maddox's Halloween costume by covering them in pink felt. And at the 100 Yen store, we found a child's apron with a pig pattern. Zoe loves the show "Team Umizoomi" which has a character named Millie with *PATTERN POWER*. So Zoe decided she should be *PATTERN PIG*! Admittedly, as Maddox just noted when she looked at this photo, she looks like a Pink Devil Chef.

Peace out, Pattern Pig!

The Barnyard Dance was a fun afternoon for parents to come watch the kids do some songs and play some games. Here's Farmer Zoe:

And for those of you practicing your metric conversions, here is Zoe's height in centimeters.

I loved going to events at Zoe's preschool to see her friends from all over the world. Events like this also added some normalcy to our decidedly abnormal year. Those of you who know me well know that normalcy and routine are my M.O., so I have embraced the times that have seemed like our typical daily life. I've tried to embrace the atypical as well, but frankly, that can be exhausting after a while! Glad the Barnyard Dance could provide us with some reprieve.