Sayonara Okinawa Book

In preparation for our move, I have spent much time thinking of things to entertain my kiddos on the plane.  Zach is crazy about cars, so I thought of making a little race track for his cars.  Next thing I know, my wonderful and creative friend Ann Marie brought over a homemade track.  Then I began thinking about a quiet book similar to his track.  Made from felt, with pages with something to do.  I saw a few ideas online and liked a few of them, but then came up with my own idea- an Okinawa book.  It could have pages that reflected our time in Japan, and end with a suitcase to pack, and an airplane ready for take off. I mentioned the idea to Ann Marie and she just exploded with ideas from there.  Next thing I know, she handed me a beautiful handmade quiet book.  A few of the ideas were mine, but she pretty much came up with all the great ideas and did all the work.  It looks great and will always remind me of our time in Japan.  I can't wait for Zach to play with it!

The map shows where we live- chatan.  The ferris wheel on the other page turns, and the sun rises.  There are also Koi fish to play with (made out of clothespins)

The cherry blossom comes apart with snaps for you to count and re-attach.  The rocks are velcro.  The bat page is awesome.  The bat is a magnet and moves along the maze.  The bananas come off!

There is a snail and a dragonfly here because we always had them in our back yard.  There is also a gecko in the window (because they were always there) and a mammal (human) behind the door that looks like Zach

This Shisa is a puppet.  and the sushi comes out of the bento box.  And the soba is fun to play with!

Dig your own purple potatoes.  Then count them!

Packing his suitcase.  There are different colored outfits to match from his suitcase.  And the Kokeshi comes out.

One of the outfits in the suitcase

Bye bye Okinawa!  The fuel goes into the plane and the plane takes off to Virginia!