Okinawa adventure day

We decided to use the day after Christmas to do a little Okinawa exploring, cross some things off our bucket list, etc. since we only have 6 more months here! 

So, first stop we headed to American Village to finally ride the ferris wheel! We tried a few weeks ago and Rowan has been talking about the fact that it was closed since then :) 

Senior portrait style photo next to our parking spot :)

 The ferris wheel is fairly iconic as it is definitely the biggest thing in the area. I can see it lit up at night from the patient rooms at work which is pretty cool too. We may need to ride it at night once before we leave too.

Ferris wheel selfie

 Cuties checking out the view. It was super bright so not the best view, but still fairly clear. And it wasn't hot and humid so the ride was nice and comfortable!

 It is SUPER slow (seriously can't really tell it's moving unless you are looking at the wheel itself). Takes 15 minutes to go around once. I think the fact that it was so slow almost made me a little more nervous (that and my kids walking around in it :)

 After that, we decided to check out some castle ruins. Grant hadn't been to any yet and I enjoyed my time at Katsuren, so we decided to check out Nakagusuku which was awesome!

 We lucked out with timing and were actually there for sunset. The sunset itself was kind of cloudy and not great, but it made for some pretty lighting and views.

 There are so many places we go here that I think, "there's no way they'd let you on this part in America". I'm going to miss that about being here. There were so many parts of the castle you were allowed to walk up on, etc including this cool wall with a view of both sides of the island (Pacific and East China Sea)

 Me and the boys up there at the top!

 I was impressed with how big the grounds were. It was the perfect evening activity. I would love to go back with a picnic or something sometime.

We finished the night off with some sushi at one of our favorite places. It was the perfect Okinawa adventure day...and I'm loving this weather to top it off!