Wrapping Up A Dadless Week

As Brian has been off frolicking in the snow at Lake Tahoe, we've tried to make the time fly by faster by keeping us all very busy . . . and I think we've successfully accomplished this goal.

Of course we've done all the regular stuff, like grocery shopping, Walmart browsing, playing at the park, stops at Starbucks, etc., but we manged to squeeze a few other fun things in there too. On Tuesday, after the Easter bunny meet-and-greet, I took Charley to her second dance lesson, and I would say this one went slightly better than the first. There were several (annoying) things I encouraged her not to do the second time around, like ignoring the teacher's instructions, coming and sitting in my lap, and refusing to return to the dance floor. To her credit, she didn't really do these same things, but found some new (annoying) things to do instead, like moaning "Mama, mama" (yes, like a baby would) across the dance floor at random times for no apparent reason, or insisting on a bathroom break even though it's only been 30 minutes since the last one, or wanting to play with the tempting yoga balls in the corner of the dance floor. We'll work on those things next week. The toughest part was keeping Zander entertained, which I usually do with little snacks that I keep in my bag, but I was immediately scolded by a staff member for having food in the waiting area of the dance studio. So I had to find other ways to keep him happy for 45 minutes, which was definitely challenging, especially since he wanted to join his sister on the dance floor. Yes, he's a booty shaker too. Let's all hope they didn't their Dad's dancing skills (or should I say lack there of?).

Yesterday we met up with a couple of fellow Coast Guard wives and their children at the Hawaii Children's Discovery Center in downtown Honolulu, which was by far one of the coolest things I've ever seen for kids' entertainment. It was basically an entire building filled with what I call "imagination stations" where the kids could pretend to do just about anything. For example, there was a pretend veterinary clinic filled with stuffed animals and instruments where the kids could put on a veterinarian outfit and pretend to check on the animals. There was a fire station with a kid-sized fire truck and fireman outfits for them to wear, and upstairs from this area there was even a small room filled with cots and a fake fireman's pole that was obviously a pretend firehouse sleeping area. There was a library filled with books, soft comfy furniture, and a fake fireplace, with a cool tree fort reading area nearby. There was a post office, a bank, a police station, a grocery store, a mechanic's garage, an airplane, a boat, a tea party area, a garden, a bus, a Japanese home with a Japanese dinner set up, and a dress-up area fully equipped with all sorts of costumes. There was a display that looked like the inside of a mouth, and the kids could sit on the teeth. There was a display that demonstrated the inner-workings of a human heart. There was a giant bubble making machine that allowed the kids to create two foot bubbles. There was even an enclosed area that was completely soft and padded for little ones to crawl around, and inside this area were a bunch of soft toys, a little boat, and a fishing pond fully equipped with toy poles. And possibly the best part of the whole thing is that they have friendly workers floating around the entire joint, helping your kids when they need help, showing the kids how things work, and cleaning up your kids' mess when their done. It's the best $14 I've spent in a long time!

After we were done in the Discovery Center, we headed across the street to a nice little park, where we camped out and had a picnic lunch. The kids had an absolute blast. Charley got to hang out with her two buddies, Charlotte and Cormac, while us moms chased all our little ones around. We then all parted ways, and the kids and I headed up to Schofield Army Barracks to run a few errands. All in all, yesterday was a pretty fun day.

Today the kids and I met up with some new friends (that we met at playgroup) at our favorite beach. Both kids were much braver today that I've ever seen them before. Charley was wandering out to chest-high water, and Zander was just simply wandering out into the water by himself, which is amazing. Zander was cracking me up because he would saunter out to the water's edge, plop himself down, and start playing in the wet sand. All of the sudden a small wave would come up, never any higher than his waist, but he would be shocked nonetheless and starting moaning "Mama, mama, mama, mama" until the wave went away . . . and then he would be fine and start playing again. Then another wave would come up, and he would act surprised and start moaning again. This would go on for a good ten minutes, and he never quite figured out that the waves were on a continuous cycle because he continued to be surprised every time a wave appeared. They had a great time though, and of course neither one of them wanted to come home.

Tomorrow the kids and I will be joining Heather and her boys for an Easter egg hunt up at Schofield Army Barracks, so everyone is excited for that. On Sunday, after doing the whole Easter basket thing in the morning, the kids and I will be heading over to Heather's in the afternoon for an egg hunt in her yard, as well as Easter dinner. Unfortunately, Brian was not able to catch a flight back until Sunday evening, so he will be missing out on most of the festivities. As usual, I promise to take a million pictures and promise to post at least a few of them.

I hope that everyone enjoys this lovely weekend and has a Happy Easter!