Parks and Recreation

I've decided that May is going to be a great month.

Friday was May 1st, and on Friday we wrapped up swimming lessons. The last day is always the day where the kids and parents get in the pool together and practice everything that's been covered the previous two weeks. Even though Friday was more about playing that practicing, it DID prove to us that our kids are officially fish. YES. Mission accomplished. They both have a lot more skills to master, but there is no doubt that they both LOVE THE WATER. Awesome.

On Saturday I got to sneak away and get my hair cut, and I am excited to report that after two years of searching, I finally found someone that can cut my hair!! You don't realize how exciting this is for me!! For the last two years, I've tried various new people, which has constantly ended in me "growing my hair out" (thanks to bad cuts) and waiting until the next time I get to Montana where Andrea fixes it. Another huge relief.

On Sunday we decided to hike Diamond Head Crater for the first time, which also included our first hike without bringing along a stroller. I was a little nervous and figured that we would end up carrying one, if not both, of the kids for much of the hike. But keeping true to our promise several years ago that we wouldn't quit doing things just because we have kids, we took our chances. We got up early and were at the bottom of the trail head by 8:00 a.m.

The trail was only .7 miles each way, but the trail was straight up along a narrow and winding path, and it also included several huge sets of stairs to get to the top. Oh, and did I mention that the whole trail is packed full of eager tourists?

All I can say is that the kids did absolutely FANTASTIC. They hiked the entire way on their own, and were still pretty chipper when we got to the top. The views were phenomenal.

If you look in the middle of the crater, you can see where we hiked from.

Here you can see the narrow path that was starting to get pretty crowded on our way down.

The last 10 minutes were the toughest for the kids because they were hot, tired, hungry, and ready to be done . . . especially Charley. So we bribed her down by telling her that she could take a picture of us before we left . . . and this is the pose that she forced us to display. Notice the picture is just a little crooked . . .

After the hike, it was only 9:30 a.m., so we decided to hit our favorite spot in Waikiki for breakfast, Lulu's. We filled up on pineapple/macadamia nut stuffed french toast and delicious omelets, and after dipping our toes in the warm Waikiki water, we decided it was time to head home. What a fun day.

So that's just been the start of the month. On top of this, my good friend Heather is ready to have beautiful baby #3 any day now, my mom will be here Monday for a nice long visit . . . oh, and have I mentioned that I'm going to be spending my weekend here with a great group of friends? Yep, May is going to be pretty awesome.