Odd blog title you say? Well, that just may be the phrase which best describes the 12-day Manion/Oestreich extravaganza... but I’ll get to that later.
It goes without saying that we were overjoyed to enjoy the long-awaited company of my parents for two whole weeks, but even more of a treat that Jeff and Beth decided to brave the adventure as well. We had anticipated the trip for many weeks and having an organized husband, we made sure every single detail was planned out for their Tuesday evening arrival time… too bad they arrived a day earlier than expected! Thank God for my dear sister Kelly calling to check up on her little sister 30 minutes before they landed because if she hadn’t, our four esteemed guests would’ve been waiting at the airport for 24 hours and we would’ve been fast asleep. The Manion in me still lives on!! I will never be “O’Laughlin organized”. Anyway, we made it to the airport nearly in time - only 5 minutes late thank you very much!
Thanks to Jim O's January visit, we pretty much had the trip laid out before they arrived. We knew we had to hit the ground running so as to not let the jet lag set in. So the next morning we all piled in Old Blue and it was on!
We started at the top..... Mt. Topotchao to be exact....
... and then immediately forced Wild Willy to get his monies worth out of that new knee! Look at that form!
While the men oo'ed and ah'ed over the course, the women clearly took the game more seriously.
Although there was no bubbling river near-by, Beth and Jeff managed to teach our friends the Waupaca artform of 'happy hour in the water'... everyone caught on quite quickly.
....next we celebrated Beth's birthday in true Saipan style - brunch at the Hyatt complete with the Saipan-famous Hyatt tropical band...
...Beth's birthday party then made it's way to the famous and beautiful grotto swimming hole where the ladies braved the water...
... and ended at Joey and Elizabeth's house for a fresh fish birthday dinner! Beth agreed it was the perfect way to spend her 40th birthday.
So back to the War of the Limes.... most of you may know that the Mariana Islands may as well be considered living war museum... and if you didn't know that, you certainly know that Bill and Jeff are the biggest war history buffs around. Well needless to say the men of the trip made it their mission to see each and every piece of "war sh*t" on the island, disovered and undiscovered. We started the war tour on the island of Tinian....
... you have seen pictures of this island in previous posts. Anytime you see huge hilarious scooters, think Tinian.
A moment of silence and awe at the infamous attomic bomb pits.
...however the awe of Runway Able didn't stop us from participating in a friendly scooter race!
... mom and me pretending we led the group into the middle of nowhere to admire the jungle scenery. Dad didn't buy it...surprise surprise! "Oh isn't it just beautiful Beth!" "Sure Betty, now where are we going?"
The whole gang on the Sunset Dinner Cruise! Afterall, why pass up an all-you-can drink price!
...and while par-taking in the great drink special...it's never a party until the we make ourselves the center of attention!
...The Korean tourists on the cruise did not know what to do with her.... then again, neither did we :)
...however at Godfather's (Jim O's favorite Saipan hang-out) we fit right in!
***Sidenote: Limes are extremely hard to come by on Saipan. There are plenty of citrus fruits, but none of them are true limes. What good is a nightly vodka drink without a lime?! If there is a will (which there definitely was) there is a way. Beth somehow walked out of Godfather's with a bag of limes! We were saved!!!!
Here is mom in her element... my students had never seen, much less heard of a storyteller! Needless to say, it was one of my favorite days of their trip.
Way to write that trip off mom!
And for Jeff and Dad's viewing pleasure!! I mean for YOUR viewing pleasure...a montage of "war sh*t".
We enjoyed an awesome outdoor dinner party at Jerry and Irene Facey's house. Jerry is our new landlord and served as "war tour guide extraordinare" for the week.
Thanks again Jerry!
Being on a tropical island and all, we made sure our visitors got their fill of sun and sand! Once we tanned those bright Wisconsin white bodies of theirs, it was easier to take them in public without scaring the locals.
Speaking of scaring the locals... we made sure to do just that while making fools of ourselves out and about in Garapan! You can see Dad was especially excited about this.
It's not a complete tropical vacation for the men without a deep-sea fishing excursion!
While Brian put on his best show to keep up with the pros... he spent most of the day in the boat's 'head'. Next time I don't think he'll pass on the Dramamine... note the white coloring in his face.
He was DYING to get off the boat right about then! Maybe next time honey!
They certainly caught their monies worth!
We've often talked about the Pre-Positioned Navy ships off the coast of Saipan, well to top off an awesome trip, a friend of ours pulled some strings and got us a tour of one! The women weren't particularly looking forward to this, however, it proved to be an awesome tour.... perhaps it was the cute Navy Captain....
And for the last evening on island, Brian and I were treated to a fantastic meal at our favorite restaurant. We laughed and laughed and ate and ate and drank and drank
....the perfect way to say goodbye!
Mom, Dad, Jeff, Beth.... we can't thank you enough for making the long trip out here. I think we accomplished just about everything there is to do here. We discovered new "war sh*t" AND we found limes - success! With only 2 short weeks to spend together throughout an entire year it was important to make the most of every day, hour and moment, and I think we did just that! Saipan can never be the same with the mark you left on it! Looking forward to seeing you... "whenever" :)
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