Walkabout

When I was in junior high I read a book about children going on a walkabout in the Australian outback. I can't really remember the plot points of the story other than these kids going on this long walk. Saturday Gabriella and I went on a walkabout around Okinawa. We started out just after noon heading towards Araha Beach. We lovingly refer to that beach as Pirate Ship park, because there is a huge pirate ship playground. As we headed out of our base we happily soaked up the sun. Gabriella and I were completely decked out in sun hats and bug spray we were ready to go. We made a quick stop for lunch and a cool drink at Mike's Tex Mex. After a quesadilla and some guacamole with chips we continued on our walkabout. Our next stop was the bunny store where we browsed the baby clothes and toys talking about the twins. We left the store with a new pair of capris for Gabriella and a maternity shirt for me, both purchased for under $10. As we walked towards the park Gabriella started to get excited. Once we moved through the metal bars into the park she took off at a run, quickly climbing the ladder to the mast to begin to captain her pirate ship. Her imagination helped to imagine this playground is really the Jolly Roger sailing the high seas. She made friends with a few Japanese kids and once again proved that the language of play trumps all other languages. Soon she and her new friends were running up and down the ship squealing with joy and talking to each other, each in their own language, without missing a beat. After a while we moved on to the beach where Gabriella played with the sand and dipped a few toes in the water. The sand on Araha beach is like powder and very soft. I dipped my toes in the warm sand as I watched Gabriella collect shells and play in the water I felt content. I don't think we've spent enough time at the beach here, I plan to remedy that this summer. When the wind got too strong we decided to start our walk home. As we got closer to home we passed a girls softball game and slid into the stands to cheer for an inning. When we finally returned home to a cool drink of water and a lounge in our chairs. We were both tired but content, needless to say we both slept very well.