Back to the Grind

After our extremely busy week last week, which included a lot of running around and very little time at home, I decided to take it easy for a few days this week. So Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were all spent hanging around the house, not doing a whole lot of anything. However, this morning I woke up feeling a little guilty about my lack of production the past few days, so right after our morning routine I immediately dove into cleaning the house. The kids don't really mind cleaning days because it generally means that I allow them to watch a whole lot more T.V. than normal. I know this is probably not the best way of keeping them entertained for a couple hours, but hey, they are happy and I get my work done with few interruptions. And when all is said and done, the T.V. is turned off and we can spend the rest of the day playing. All I know is that it works. So, today was one of those days, and I just finished up cleaning the entire inside of the house and cleaned up a bit outside. Whew, now it's time to relax for awhile. I don't even have to cook dinner tonight because we are going out to dinner at the Outback . . . Alice Springs Chicken, here I come.

Brian and I decided to have one fun day and one work day this weekend, so on Saturday we are going to head over to Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park, a water park only a few minutes from our house. At the recommendation of some friends, we bought annual passes for this park when we first moved here, and this will be our second time going. The great part is that we only have to go twice for the passes to pay for themselves, so far the kids have been free, and obviously here in Hawaii we can use the passes year round. Overall it's a really good deal and the kids have a blast. I'll let you know how it goes.

On Sunday we are going to tackle our yard. It is in desperate need of a mow, edging, and tons of weeding, especially in the back forty. The backyard where the kids play isn't too bad, but we have some landscaped areas that are up towards the mountain side, and those landscaped areas are so full of weeds that it's embarrassing to even look at. Needless to say, we haven't touched this area since we moved here, so it's time. Hopefully the kids will keep themselves entertained in the yard while we take on this enormous job.

On Monday Charley starts some new swimming lessons. Last time we tried lessons, back in November, they did not go well. The lessons were only once a week and she cried nearly the entire time every time and dreaded going back. Fortunately we caught the tail end of these lessons, so we only had to endure four sessions before the pain ended. Charley absolutely LOVES being in the water and enjoys trying to swim on her own, but for some reason she was not excited when forced to do these same activities with an instructor. We decided to try a different approach this time, per the recommendation of some of our friends. We put in her in some lessons that are a bit more intense, as they are held five days a week for two straight weeks instead of ten lessons spread out at once per week. We've heard that the gentleman that runs these lessons is awesome and can deal with the crying kids just fine. I guess he sort of uses a "tough love" approach, which is probably just what Charley needs. So keep your fingers crossed that it works. Hopefully we will have a little fish on our hands before we know it.

Guess that about covers the past few and next few days. I just send out a million pictures on Snapfish, so if you did not receive them and would like to, just drop me an email and I will send them your way. Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, the guest reservations are once again pouring in lately, so if you were thinking about heading our way any time soon, let me know!