The Big Seven

Sarah, my baby....  She's 7.  SOB!

Boy was she a lucky girl this year.  Grammy and Papa came up to visit us before we leave for the Last Frontier.  So she had her grandparents here for her birthday and her party.  Lucky Duck!!!

We started her birthday with the traditional cupcakes and then opened some family presents.  She was sad when I told her that yes, she had to go to school.

On Saturday, we had her birthday party.  She decided she wanted a party at the house and do some activities.  It's a really good thing we have this huge garage here -- it was pouring down rain and it was cold!!!  The trampoline got a good workout, the girls made bracelets, and got their nails done.  All in all it was a great birthday -- even if it was the garage instead of the backyard.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Sarah!!!!   

One More Camping Trip

One more...  It seems to be our motto as our time in Washington winds down.  One more trip to this store.  One more meal at this restaurant.  One more hug from a friend.

This one more is our Camping Skills day with Holly and Sarah's Girl Scout troop.  I had stepped up to be a co-leader this year; five weeks after I made that commitment, we got orders.  It's just the way it goes sometimes.  But I wasn't going to not have fun with the girls and the scouts before I left.  Ronnie and I hosted a camping skills day at American Lake for the Juniors to earn their Camper badge.  We had such a great time!

The girls learned how to start a fire and how to make a one-pot meal.  We went on a hike and heard an old story about the Little Mouse (read here:  http://www.wnps.org/education/resources/documents/K-5_Q&E/2nd_grade/2-2b.pdf).  We talked about Leave No Trace and good camper habits.  Most importantly, we had fun!!!

After the Girl Scouts left, we relaxed and fixed dinner. We had decided to go ahead and spend the night out there one more night in the camper.  Who knows when we'll be able to have it popped up again.

Aloha, Hawaii Series: Oahu

The cruise ended with us waking up to Oahu's coastline.  We had elected to take our own luggage off the ship, so we had a leisurely morning.  We took one last dip in the pool, had a nice breakfast, and packed up.  We made our way to the swap meet at Aloha stadium to do some souvenir shopping.  Seriously, this place was awesome!  After browsing and buying, we made our way to the Pearl Harbor NEX and commissary for some essentials before driving out to Bellows.

The drive was beautiful (and unfortunately, I didn't take any photos.  Too busy daydreaming out the window I guess.)  And then we got to Bellows.  Man oh Man!!!  We were in for a treat. No I mean we were roughing it.  Yep, nothing to see here.  I mean just look at the view we were "stuck" with.

I did our laundry while Ronnie and the girls played on the beach.  Before we knew it, it was time to get cleaned up and head for the luau.

Before we left on our cruise, we had decided to take in the luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  It was a treat, as the show included dance from many different islands throughout the Pacific.

Again, I must have just decided to put my camera down and experience, as I didn't have hardly any pictures from the luau or the grounds.

The next day brought beautiful weather.  We hopped in the car and made our way north....   It would be a shame to go to Oahu and not see the North Shore for ourselves.  Since we were visiting in the summer, the waves were less than impressive.  Before we knew it, we needed to head back to Bellows.

One of the great things about being a military family is the friends you make are friends for life.  We were so lucky that we were able to catch up with some of the friends we made in Korea.

The Goldsteins came over to play in the water and eat supper with us on Sunday afternoon.  Again, sucking on the pictures....   Only have a picture of them playing in the water together.  Next time, Karen!!!  We get a picture together!

Then on Monday morning, the Severs came over and had breakfast with us.  Shara and David had adopted Samuel when we were on our way out of Korea.  He has grown soooo much!  Again, no pictures.  (DOH!)

After breakfast, Ronnie took the girls out to the beach, as I packed up, and checked out of our cabin.

We drove the long way back around to Honolulu, driving past Diamond Head and keeping the beach in full view.  It was a beautiful view. At a friend's recommendation, we stopped in Waikiki for malasadas.  Oh boy am I glad we did!  And even more thankful that we don't live anywhere near this deliciousness.

After our deliciousness was consumed, we had a few more hours to burn before catching our flight.  And we were lucky enough to meet up with some more friends from Korea, the Greens, and meet their beautiful daughter.  Oh, she is a PEACH!  We had a lovely afternoon chatting by the swim beach on Hickam.  Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye to this beautiful island and head back to Washington.

Oh, Hawaii....  I know it took us forever to visit, but what a lovely vacation we had.  Safe to say, we will be visiting your lovely shores again.

Aloha, Hawaii Series: The Garden Island

Oh Kauai!  How we love you!  This island was our absolute favorite.  As usual, we woke up in Kauai.  When I pulled back the curtains, this was our view.

We were back to our get up and go -- we had a car to get and places to discover.  Again, our little blue book paid off.  We stopped at a local grocery for lunch.  According to our book, they had the best plate lunches on the island.  Of course, I forgot to take pictures before we devoured our lunches.  Ronnie had lau lau, the girls had the fried chicken, and I had the kalua pork with a double scoop of mac salad.

With our bellies full, we headed north to our destination of the day.  We took off on a hike through the woods and down the red dirt trail.

 

That finally got us here:

But that wasn't it... the real treat was down the beach.  We walked down the beach to the lava pools. We spent a few hours exploring the pools, hiking in to one of the waterfalls, and relaxing with our feet in the water.  It was so beautiful!

Man was it a glorious day!  One that could only end with us finding this:

Oh yes, that IS shaved ice from Ono Ono.   And is there any better way to "rehydrate" after a hot day at the beach?  I didn't think so either...  I had mine with a scoop of macnut ice cream.  It was SO good!

We headed back to the ship for our usual night of feeding kids who beg us to go to Kids Club for the night while the adults spend alone time together.

The next morning, we were up and off the ship quick.  We had to be back to the ship by 2 pm.  This time we headed south to Waimea Canyon.  I had rented us a convertible Mustang (much to Ronnie's dismay) -- we took the top down and enjoyed the morning air.  Again, the drive was spectacular.

A little while later we arrived at the canyon overview.  And what a sight it was!

We made excellent time, so we decided to drive the road all the way up to Kalalau Lookout and Koke'e State Park

Eventually, we headed back to return our car and get on the boat.  Luckily, we had one last Kauai sight to see.  The ship headed north along the shore so we could pass by the shoreline of the picture above:

The Napali Coast....  Oh, so beautiful!

We saved our "fancy" dinner with the kids for the last night.  And we were treated to this sight out our window while we dined.  As usual, the kids begged to go to the Kids Club for one last time. Yes, this cruise was real rough for us.  Next up, exploring Oahu.