Raindrops keep falling on my head...

The view across the street during the rain storm. There were times when we couldn't see the buildings at all!

Okinawa's Rainy Season is usually in May, but this year, May was relatively dry and now we are having two weeks of rain in June.  As much as it's not fun to coax Gimli out in the rain or haul groceries to my car, we need this rain!  We may be surrounded by water on all sides, but it's saltwater.  We need the rain to replenish the Reservoir so we don't have to have too many water restrictions this summer.  So, I say, "Bring on the rain!"  Afterall, after a big downpour and it is just sprinkling outside, we like to sit outside on the balcony and watch Gimli try to "catch" raindrops.  Very entertaining and definitely makes us laugh!  Come on rain, keep coming!

---Arielle

Meet Gimli...

Say hello (or konnichiwa) to the new addition to our family!  Gimli is an eight-month old, solid 50 pounds of muscle, English Bulldog.  He came to our house from a family that could no longer take care of him.  We were happy to give him a new home!  We named him Gimli from Lord of the Rings, as both English Bulldogs and Lord of the Rings' dwarves are good over short distances, but not long.  Right now Gimli is full of puppy energy and bulldog stubbornness, so he and I take a long (well, long if you have short legs like his)walk in the morning, then the three of us take another long walk after dinner.  Keeps everyone happier.  :)  He's already fairly well trained, so now we're just working on dominance issues and learning not to chew on Brandon's computer power cord.  Gimli is very affectionate and strangely enough, likes to stir his water with his paw.  He fits in quite well with our family!  :)

Bonjour'no, Roma!

We just returned from an adventure-filled week in Italy!  We're separating our stories into the different areas we visited for ease of reading and photos.  Here we go!

Our first day in Italy was spent in the beautiful city of Rome.  We began our day by eating a wonderful breakfast of crusty bread with cream cheese, yogurt, croissants, and Italian ham and cheese slices, all found at the terrace eatery on the roof of our hotel.  We then set out to walk around parts of historical Rome, specifically to see the Colloseum and consume as much Gelato as the hot and humid weather would allow.  Both of us enjoyed seeing so much history all in one place.  What amazing architecture! 

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The Bane of Brandon's Existence...

The dreaded Dodge...

(...also known as, "When my wonderful husband rose to the incredible challenge of taming the manual Dodge."  ---Arielle)

After our day exploring Rome it was back to the airport to pick up Mel and Cathy and our car that I would be driving for the rest of the week.  It was really nice to have a private driver to get us from the airport to Rome and back again.  Considering how crazy the driving looked in Rome,  I know I would never drive in Rome!

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Fattoria Poggio Alloro

Brandon and Arielle pose at the farm.

While I love our Garmin GPS device, when you don’t have a precise address for a destination, it makes things quite a bit more difficult than you ever imagined. Add to that the stress of the rental car and navigating crazy switchbacks and narrow alleyways through tiny villages. What should have taken us about 3 hours to drive from Rome to the Fattoria Poggio Alloro, took us about 5 hours. Five hours of frightful uphill stalls, stopping to ask directions from Italians in tiny villages that really don’t speak English, and Cathy quietly praying for us all from the back seat.

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