Playing Cards

Fuzzy Elle and I were a little bored today, so we decided to play Target together.  It turns out that she's really good at it!  Take a look at her hand:

Fuzzy Elle managed to collect all purple cards, all in a row.  She took all the targets I was going for! 

Waterfalls!

Today Fuzzy Elle and I took a long drive up to visit some waterfalls.  We had read about them online and it sounded like a lot of fun.  Fuzzy Elle heard that we might get to swim in them, so she decided to try on her goggles.

We called all of our friends to invite them.  We ended up with about 15 people in 3 cars!  It was a lot bigger group than we expected.  I guess they really wanted to get out.  After getting gas and some money, we were on our way.  It was a pretty long drive, so we stopped after about an hour to get some food.  We had beef with onions on top of rice.  We got back on the road for about another hour and a lot more curvy roads through the mountains.  The drive was well worth the wait.  We hiked down a hill to a beautiful pool with a waterfall and a rope swing.

Some of the Marines hopped in the water immediately to check the depth.  Nobody was able to touch the bottom so each of us got to swing on the rope a bunch of times.  It was hard just to hold on!  Eventually we swam to the other side of the pool, where there was a rock to jump off of.  That was a lot of fun too - really deep.  Later, we hiked through the river above the waterfall to explore.  Just more river, but it was fun and we even saw a salamander with a orange belly.

Eventually we got dried off, changed over and drove back home.  We got some ramen on the way, which everybody loved.  Fuzzy Elle and I can't wait to show you this fun place!

Thanksgiving

Fuzzy Elle was a lot of help preparing for Thanksgiving.  We started the morning by walking over to one of my friend's rooms to get the turkey.  After removing the neck, gizzards and liver from inside, we rubbed the whole thing with adobo sauce - so yummy. 

The turkey took about 4 hours in the oven.  We didn't have a thermometer, so we had to estimate when it would be done.  I'm really not used to doing that.  Luckily the turkey ended up done and tasty.  We also made scalloped corn and prune stuffing. 

My Marines ended up eating everything!  I had them save the bones so that Fuzzy Elle and I could make some soup for tomorrow. 

We collected all the bones and covered them with water in the crock pot.  We'll let them simmer all night in the crock pot.  In the morning, Fuzzy Elle and I will go to the commissary to get some carrots, onions, celery, potatoes and noodles to add to the mix.  Should be tasty!

Thanksgiving Preparations

Fuzzy Elle was a very helpful elephant today.  Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we need to make a lot of food in our room.  She decided that it would be a good idea to clean up the kitchen while I was at work.  I couldn't believe it.  I got home and our kitchen was shiny and spotless!  I love my little elephant.

Warrant Officer Fuzzy Elle

So I sent a message to somebody on Facebook about buying a car today and they actually responded.  They told me that they could come by to show me the car immediately.  Very motivated.  I left my room to look at the car.  Fuzzy Elle stayed behind.  I had the chance to drive around to try out the car.  Very small, but I think it will work.  We ended up settling on $1000 and we will (hopefully) transfer the title tomorrow. 

Once the car drove away, I came back up to my room.  Elle had a surprise for me.  She decided that she wanted to be a Marine too.  She thought she should start out as a Warrant Officer, so she put on my shirt!

It was a little big for her, but she looked so cute.  I told her that she has to be a little older to join the Marines.  We cuddled for a while and now we are ready to go to bed.  We love you!


 

Hiking!

Fuzzy Elle got to go for a hike in the jungle today.  Okinawa has a lot of different plants she's not used to in Escondido.  So tropical!

 She started out her day climbing on an elephant ear.  What could be better for an elephant than lounging on an elephant ear plant!

 She told me that she wanted to pose next to some pretty elephant ears.

 Fuzzy Elle had to work really hard to climb up this long grassy plant.  It's incredible how she's able to lay on these!

 She climbed up to this high branch before I had to tell her she was high enough.  I think she would have climbed all the way up to the top of the tree if I hadn't been there to stop her!

 She wanted to hide out on this branch.  I told her that I could barely see her.

 More climbing on elephant ears.  These are the biggest ones we could find.

Okinawa is an island made from a volcano.  All the rocks on the island are solid lava.  You can see the holes in this rock that were made from bubbles in the lava.  So cool!

Fuzzy Elle had a great day today.  She was really excited because she got to eat a purple potato for dinner and that is her favorite color!  She's going to go out with Daddy tomorrow to drive around Okinawa. 

So today I came home and found that Fuzzy Elle had been climbing again.  This time she climbed all the way up to a random shelf in my bathroom.  Then she told me that she wanted to jump!  I told her that it was OK as long as I was there to catch her.  She jumped off, then asked me to put her back up there to do it again.  I think she jumped about 12 times!

What a good elephant!

I came home today and found that Fuzzy Elle was ironing out her blanket.  I guess she decided that it was too wrinkled.  She is so responsible!

More Mischief

I haven't posted pictures of Fuzzy Elle for the last couple days, so I wanted to get you caught up on what she's been up to.  She's been very busy.  I had no idea that an elephant would be this much work to take care of.  Katie takes great care of her elephants at home. 

I caught Fuzzy Elle trying to steal my boots on Monday:

On Tuesday she decided that she would climb up a cord that was hanging down from my ceiling.  So scary!

And today she decided she wanted to go for a run just like I do.  It was dark out, so Fuzzy Elle put on a glow belt so that cars would see her on the road.  She also had my best running shoes on her feet!  I had no idea that an Elephant could be so mischievous.  I wonder what she'll do tomorrow???

Fuzzy Elle's Mischief

It's been raining all day today, so Fuzzy Elle is bored.  She was staring out the window when I got home today. 

Fuzzy Elle got into some mischief while I was gone since she was so bored.  First, she went for a boat ride in the sink.

Then she took a nap on the top of the lamp. 

Silly Elle!

A Long Flight

Fuzzy Elle had a fun trip to Okinawa.  She started the day very early in the morning after staying up all night.  Grandma had an adventure trying to find an open entrance to the flightline.  Eventually she found a way in and was able to drop Sleepy Elle and Daddy off at work.

The driver agreed to let Sleepy Elle drive for a little while!

By 4 in the morning the bus dropped her off at March Air Force Base to wait in the terminal.  It was kind of cold and there was no food, but Fuzzy Elle and Daddy sat around and talked to friends.  Daddy even watched a movie.

By 11, Sleepy Elle and Daddy were ready to board the plane.  They got a seat in business class, so Fuzzy Elle had a lot of room to spread out and sleep.  She also had a great view out the window.  She enjoyed watching the scenery change from desert Riverside to wintery Alaska.  Fuzzy Elle really wants to come back to visit Alaska.  It's beautiful!

                                                             It was desert in Riverside.

                                                       And snowy mountains in Alaska.

                                                                 Waiting in the Airport

After a few hours at the airport in Anchorage, Alaska, Fuzzy Elle and Daddy got back on the airplane to continue their flight to Okinawa.  It was late and there wasn't anything to see over the ocean, so they both slept a lot.  The plane passed right over Tokyo, Hiroshima and Iwakuni!

Sleepy Elle and Daddy finally got to Okinawa at about midnight.  They waited for their bags and took a bus to their room on base.  They got to their room at about 2 in the morning.  33 hours and they were ready to sleep!  We'll give you another update soon!