Checkin' In & Checkin' Out

I know, I know, it's been a whole week since I posted anything . . . and sadly, this may be my last post for a little while since we are heading to Michigan on Wednesday for two whole weeks . . . but I promise if I have any extra time on our vacation, I will throw a little post out here and there.

So we've had a pretty busy this past week getting ready for our trip, hanging out with friends, and just doing the usual stuff that goes on around here. Nothing too new or exciting has been going on lately, so I don't really have too much to report. Instead, I will entertain you with our most recent batch of pictures.

Here are the kids using Brian as a reading post.

A few days ago we headed outside to ride bikes and scooters, but for some reason Zander was WAY more interested in this tire pump. He loves to drag it around, which is only annoying because we have to listen to its metal base scrape against the pavement (sort of like nails on a chalk board).



Brian happened to come home while we were outside, so as usual, the kids ran to greet him and hopped in the Jeep for a short ride.

Here is Zander in one of his infamous sleeping positions, wedged between the couch and the recliner on the floor. I swear, the kids DOES have a bed.

On Saturday we hit the beach while Brian did school work, and of course the weather was beautiful and we had a fun time. Heather, her boys, and her dad joined us a little while later.


Yesterday we hit the biggest mall in Hawaii, the Ala Moana Mall. I thought I would capture the kids' first visit to the Disney store, which as you can tell was a huge hit. Between Mickey Mouse and all his friends, the array of Princesses (Snow White, Ariel, Cinderella, etc.), characters from the movie Cars, and friends from the movie the Jungle Book, the kids were in heaven.

Other than that, not a whole lot else is new. Charley has been a little bit better behaved this past week, and Zander is pretty much back to his happy old self, aside from a little trouble here and there of course.:) Both kids are so excited to get on a "big airplane that daddy doesn't fly" and head to Michigan to see all their relatives. We are as prepared as we can possibly be for the airplane ride (I think) with tons of food, DVD's, and a whole backpack full of new (cheap) toys. We leave here bright and early Wednesday morning, we have a 2.5 hour layover in Los Angeles, and then we arrive in Chicago around midnight eastern time (which will thankfully only feel like 6:00 p.m. to us). From there, Brian's dad will pick us up and we have another two hour car ride to Michigan. It will be a very long day, so keep your fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly. We can use all the luck we can get!