We are alive, I swear!!

I know that most of you probably aren't THAT worried, but I just wanted to acknowledge that we are in fact alive over here and that I know I've been a bad blogger. The end.

Just kidding. ;) One of my bestest friends from high school, Andrea, arrived on Wednesday with her husband and son for their first visit to Hawaii. And as you can imagine, things have been busy around here, as we drag three toddlers all over the island in an attempt to cover as much ground as possible in a short amount of time. Good thing we are fairly young and have the energy to accomplish such a feat. :)

It's been the normal Palm Family Tour . . . beach cabins, beach lounging, Dole Plantation, shave ice and pineapple ice cream, coconut shrimp, and hundreds of miles logged on the good 'ol tour bus (a/k/a the minivan). We still have another week to go, so if I continue to be a blog slacker, please forgive me. But I can already assure you, the pics will be worth the wait.

Taking Inventory

As of late, Brian and I have begun to experience a new, and perhaps profound, sense of freedom . . . the kind of freedom that we have not even come close to feeling in say (how old is Charley now?), four and a half years . . . a freedom that was even more severely limited starting almost three years ago (that's how old Zander is, right?).

Over the course of the last few months, I've noticed myself being able to go to public functions of various types WITH the kids and actually able to still ENJOY myself for more than twenty minutes (generally the max amount of time between major catastrophes). This has allowed us to come to the realization that we are in a window, a very precious window from what I hear, one where the kids are somewhat self-sufficient AND they still like you and want to hang out with you. So here we are, Charley is four and a half, Zander is just shy of three, and I thought I would take inventory of all the reasons why I am loving where we are at:

1. no more diapers (this is a big one for me)
2. which also means no more diaper bag (I get to carry a PURSE . . . can you imagine???)
3. no more sippy cups
4. no more strollers
5. everyone sleeps through the night (hallelujah!!!)
6. no more bulky baby gadgets
7. everyone eats normal regular food with regular utensils
8. early kid bedtime
9. we can go to a movie theatre (even if it is only for cartoons)
10. the kids prefer playing with other kids at events rather than hanging on my legs whining
11. no worrying about naps
12. ability to verbally communicate
13. both kids will be in preschool starting in two weeks (which means 6 hours a week BY MYSELF)
14. their imaginations
15. constant humorous comments
16. everything is still new and exciting to them . . . even the small things
17. Santa and the Easter Bunny are highly appreciated
18. we still get lots of hugs and kisses
19. they are best buddies, despite the squabbles
20. they can finally help pick up dog poop

Of course with all the pros, comes the cons . . . .

1. full price plane tickets for everyone
2. the emotionally fragile state of this age bracket (i.e. whining, tantrums, crying, etc.)
3. inability to follow my instructions after only one request
4. not having mastered butt wiping (the kids that is)
5. pull-ups at night (yuk)
6. sibling rivalry
7. begging for "treats" at every check-out stand
8. the bribery required to get them to sit in a shopping car for any length of time
9. constant "negotiating" over simple tasks
10. the overuse of the word "why"

So here we are, a few years into this journey, finally able to take a step back and say we made it to the other side. I remember when I announced that I was pregnant with Zander, when Charley was barely a year old, and many people told us that those first few years were going to be pretty hard with babies only 20 months apart. As yes, they were right, they were hard, harder than I imagined . . . but now that those years have passed, I wouldn't trade them for the world.

And after taking inventory, I've definitely decided that I have a couple keepers.

Summer Fun

Despite being in the midst of a visitor lull, and not having any school obligations at the moment, we still seem to manage to fill almost every minute of every day with something . . . and I'd like to think we fill it mostly with fun.

But first we'll start with the minor traumas of late. It begins with a moth. The largest moth I've ever seen in my life. This thing magically appeared in my house one day, and I honestly thought for a few minutes that it was a bat. It wasn't until it stopped flapping around and paused to take a rest that I saw it wasn't a bat . . . and thank goodness, because I hate bats. Charley and I made several attempts to capture this thing and release it back into the wild, but it was a tricky fella. So we left it for Brian to tackle when he got home. I swear to you, it had an 8" wing span. Scary.

The next bit of trauma isn't actually trauma NOW, but my mom swears that down the road, the kids will be thoroughly traumatized by this . . . my recruitment of them as dog poop picker-uppers, at two and four years old. For now they think it's fun . . . but I'm sure they will be able to look back and pin-point this as the turning point in their lives.

From there the fun part kicks in. It started with the 4th of July, which we spent on Ford Island, overlooking Pearl Harbor. Brian had to work, but thankfully we got to share the holiday with lots of good friends, eating yummy food, playing with sparklers, and watching fireworks. Here is a picture of everyone hanging out at our spot, right at the tale-end of the USS Missouri.

And the Coastie kiddos . . .

It was my kids first time seeing a major fireworks show, and I think they enjoyed it . . . well, at least Charley did. Zander pulled one of his infamous pass-outs by falling asleep sitting upright in a chair, with his faced pressed against the back. Everyone was fairly entertained. And of course, he fell asleep five minutes before the show started. Oh well, there is always next year.

A couple days later we hit the water slides, and Zander finally started going down by himself. Ahhhhh, I slowly see the apron strings falling one by one . . .

We also hit up the library last week for a little story time. In the past we weren't too successful with this because Zander just wanted to run around, but he's finally old enough to sit still and appreciate a good story or two.

Next we have the Wienermobile. I mean, what's a fun week without the Wienermobile? My friend, Andre, had to sort of talk me into this one . . . but once I got there, it was way more fun than expected. They were passing out postcards, stickers, and hot dogs, and they even allowed us to check out the inside. How cool is that?

And last, but certainly not least, was our last major hoorah for our friend Marian, who is moving to D.C. at the end of the month. Much to her surprise, we kidnapped her yesterday morning, took her to a fabulous Sunday brunch at the Cheesecake Factory, followed by several hours sipping Mai Thais and lounging by the pool, and concluding with an amazing dinner at a rotating restaurant overlooking Waikiki (called "The Top of Waikiki"). We wrapped up the evening by walking along the shoreline of the beach, reminiscing and people watching. It was quite a fun day.

I've definitely had an amazing summer so far, and with lots of fun stuff coming up (oh, you know I'm talking to you, Andrea!!), I have a feeling the rest of the summer won't disappoint.

How has the summer been treating you?

Food for thought . . . .

I received an email with this paragraph in it today, and I think this is one of the best quotes I've ever heard . . .

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" (regarding Hurricane Katrina).. Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives.. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"

Charley-isms

In the movie theatre bathrooms . . .

Danielle: "Okay Charley, hop off, it's my turn."

Charley: (swatting my hand away) "Mom, why do you always pinch my buns?"

Danielle: "Because I love your buns, they are so cute, I can't help it."

Charley: "I love YOUR cute buns."

Danielle: "Well, your buns are a lot cuter than my buns."

Charley: "Yeah . . . your buns are pretty squishy."

(loud laughing breaks out from the stall next door . . . . . )

***********************************************************************************

Charley: "Okay Zander, guess what I'm thinking . . . it starts with an 'F' . . . . ffffffffffff."

Zander: "I don't know."

Charley: (getting louder) "Just GUESS Zander . . . fffffffffffff."

Zander: "Frog?"

Charley: (getting even louder) "Noooo Zander, fffffffffffffff!!!!!!!"

Zander: "I don't know."

Charley: (yelling) "ZANDER!!!!!!!!! JUST GUESS!!!!!!!!"

Danielle: "Charley, that's enough yelling, he doesn't know what you are trying to say."

Charley: (whining) "But Mommmmmm, I want him to guess what I'm thinking but I don't want to tell him what it is!!!!"

Brian: (mumbling under his breath) "Typical broad."

Scared

This week I was scared more than I ever have been before in my entire life.

This week I thought there was a chance that I might lose one of the most important people in my life, my best friend, my rock, my angel . . . my Mom.

I talk to my Mom almost every day, sometimes several times a day, and on a slow week every other day. Sometimes we talk for hours, sometimes we only talk for a minute. We try our best to make these thousands of miles between us seem a little less, as hard as that is.

On Monday, I called home and talked to my step-dad for awhile because it was his birthday, and then he passed the phone to my Mom and we did our usual catch-up since the previous phone call (which was probably the day before). She and dad were just enjoying a yummy cheesecake that she made for his birthday, and she told me about the radios that she bought him as a gift. Needless to say, all was well in Montana.

On Tuesday, I had no specific plans to call my Mom, but during the early afternoon I decided to try a new recipe and needed to call Mom for specific cooking advice. For the first few minutes,
all seemed well. I asked her what she was doing, she said she was taking five, I proceeded to ask her about the recipe, she answered my question, and then I half-heartedly mentioned that I was happy that I finally got to take a normal shower after two weeks of stitches in my hand. She didn't know why I had stitches. I reminded her of my surgery two weeks ago (which we've talked about in some capacity or another every day since). She's drawing a blank. I reminded her that it was for the cyst on my wrist that she saw last month when she was here. She's still drawing a blank. I asked her if she remembered being here last month. She didn't. Up until this point, I thought maybe she was just having a blonde/old lady moment . . . but when she couldn't remember her trip and she promised me she wasn't pulling my leg, I knew something was really wrong.

I then asked her where dad was. She couldn't remember. How long had he been gone? She couldn't remember. Are you there alone? Yes. Mom, I need to call someone. No Danielle, please don't. Yes Mom, I will call you right back. My parents don't have a cell phone, so I couldn't call dad. I then tried to call my brother, Kurt, but his phone went right to voicemail. I then decided to call my Mom's sister, Barb, at work and told the man on the other end of the line that it was an emergency. When Barb got on the phone, I told her that something was really wrong with Mom because her memory was gone. She said she'd head right over and probably would be taking Mom to the ER in case it was a stroke. Uh oh, there was that word. I asked for her cell phone number, but she doesn't have one either. Uggggghhhhh!

We hang up and I call Mom back with the plan of keeping her on the phone until Barb arrives, thinking it would be about 20 minutes or so. Although she knew who I was, she was still very confused and could not even remember that the day before was dad's birthday and that she had baked him a cake. She thought I was nuts for even suggesting the cake until she saw the cheesecake pan sitting in the sink. She couldn't remember my visit to Montana this past winter, and she couldn't remember visiting Hawaii with dad the previous winter. She didn't know who the President of the U.S. was, and she didn't know the date or the day of the week. She had no numbness, tingling, pain, headache, or unexplained scratches or bruises. She had not fallen recently and she was feeling no discomfort. She just couldn't remember.

Ironically, ten minutes into our conversation, my brother happened to stop by to pick something up. I insisted that she give him the phone, and she tried arguing with me about it, but I got a little snippy with her and demanded that she give him the phone. Thankfully, she relented. I quickly explained to my brother what was going on and to wait there with Mom until Barb showed up to take her to the hospital. I was so relieved that someone was actually there with her for the moment, especially since I couldn't be.

I waited about 15 minutes before calling the house back to see if Barb had arrived, but there was no answer. I tried again, again, and again, but still no luck. And nobody had a working cell phone. Seriously people, no cell phones? Finally after a hundred tries, my dad picked up and said he had no idea what was going on, other than he had just gotten home and found a note that they took Mom to the ER. I gave him a quick run-down and told him to call me when he got to the ER and figured out what was going on. He said he couldn't call me because he didn't have a cell phone. I insisted that he take my numbers anyway since it's a hospital and they DO HAVE PHONES.

Then I lost it. I sobbed, I prayed, I called Brian at work, I tried to call Heather, I paced, I cried some more, I prayed some more, I looked at plane tickets to Montana, and I just waited . . . nervous . . . scared. I couldn't quit thinking about the fact that the last thing I had said to my Mom was a rather bitchy demand to put my brother on the phone. Not the way I would have liked to end our conversation.

About an hour or so later, my phone finally rang and it was my sister-in-law (Kurt's wife), Kelly. She told me that Mom had made it to the ER, they were running tests on her as we were speaking, and she would be in touch WITH HER CELL PHONE. Thank God someone finally had a cell phone! I know it's Montana, but come on . . .

Awhile later my dad called and said they were still running more tests, but they didn't think she had had a stroke. THANK YOU GOD. A couple hours after that they were back at home, Mom was safe, and everyone was there with her. She was still very confused, and even though she knew who everyone was, she still had no memories dating back at least a couple years. She was not hungry (even though she hadn't eaten anything), she was not tired (even though it was very late), and she was obsessed with finding a pinky ring that she had misplaced. Apparently she asked my dad every two minutes where the ring was because she had no recollection of having just asked him two minutes before.

By the next morning things were still very fuzzy for her, but small pieces of her memory were starting to come back. She could remember Barb and Kurt being over the night before, although she could not remember anything about the hospital. When I called she said that she was feeling better but "could still hide her own Easter eggs." Obviously her sense of humor hadn't gone anywhere.

I checked in with her throughout the day, and each time I talked to her memory had improved a little bit more. By the end of the day, there was only about six hours that she could not recall at all, and of course it was the six hours starting with my original phone call to her, and ending with her trip to the hospital. Even today, she still doesn't remember talking to me or going to the hospital . . . although she is still bothered by the missing ring. Even though the ring is completely replaceable, something in her subconscious will not allow her to let go of the ring, even though her rational side knows it's silly. Very strange.

At this point, the consensus is that my Mom experienced something that is referred to as Transient Global Amnesia (TGA). TGA is a sudden episode of memory loss that cannot be explained by any neurological condition or specific situation. Like my Mom, you remember who you are and who those are around you, but you cannot remember where you are, how you got there, or any recent events. It is a somewhat rare condition, and although there are a lot of theories as to why it occurs (stress, hormones, etc.), there is no general consensus. The amnesia usually starts to resolved itself within 24 hours, at which time most people regain all memories except for the time period during the amnesia. This was the diagnosis of the ER doctor, but Mom has a follow-up appointment with her general practitioner and a neurologist next week . . . so we'll see what they say.

Dissecting that entire experience on an emotional level would take a whole other blog entry, and I'm not sure if I even want to. At this point I feel like it might be something that will be shared between my Mom and I, at some future time, when we have a chance to get past all the questions and concerns. But I can tell you that this was perhaps one of the most frightening experiences I've ever endured. It reminded me how precious life is and how quickly things can change. It reminded me to appreciate every minute I have with those that I love, even if it is just a minute on the phone. For a brief time I allowed myself to imagine my life without my Mom, and it is just something I cannot fathom having to do. My Mom has been my constant since the day I took my first breath in this world, and I cannot imagine having to breathe without her. I just thank God that He gave me more time with her and for reminding me to enjoy EVERY MINUTE.

Four-legged Fun

The week before last week was such a "lame" one for us with my gimpy wrist holding us back and all, that I decided we needed to get out of the house a bit more this week.

First we met up with some friends at the mall to enjoy a bug display and Safari train that was set up, and the they definitely didn't disappoint. Here are the kids doing their best bug impressions . . .

Notice that Charley has perfected the Princess wave . . . .

Cormac's birthday, and even though mommy couldn't get wet, the kids managed to get wet and sandy enough for all of us. Then we started the weekend with another beach birthday party (Happy 5th Birthday Liam!), followed by an evening at the "Dive 'n Movie" at the local waterpark. They set up an enormous floating movie screen in the wave pool every Friday night and show popular movies, new and old. You can either watch the movie from the pool itself, or you can opt to stay dry and sit on the hillside . . . we chose the latter this time around. This week they were showing Madagascar 2, so the kids were in heaven, for about an hour anyway, until they literally passed out from exhaustion on Brian. We decided to head home at that point, which ended up being a blessing in disguise because the waterpark started on fire and was evacuated only a couple minutes after we left thanks to some fireworks. Apparently fireworks on dry grass is not a good combination.

On Saturday I managed to talk Heather into letting me borrow Sawyer for a couple hours while she took her boys to swimming lessons, and as you can see, she's changed quite a bit in her short six weeks of life. Absolutely beautiful . . .

We ended the week on a high note by going to an amateur polo match on the North Shore with three other families (8 adults and 10 kids) . . . and let me tell you, this is definitely one of my favorite things we've done so far on the island. Tailgating is encouraged, so we took the spots with a view . . . although in all reality, there is no "bad" view when you are talking about the North Shore of Oahu.

Not a bad week if you ask me.

I finally got my stitches taken out today, and even though I've lost a little bit of mobility in my wrist, the doctor thinks I will not need physical therapy (thank goodness) and will heal fine by doing my own exercises at home. While I'm very relieved to have the arm wrap off and the stitches out, I was disappointed when he told me that I still couldn't submerge my hand in water AT ALL for two more weeks, with the exception of taking showers. And while I'm relieved to be able to take showers again (I was really starting to stink ;)), do you know how hard it is to be a stay-at-home mom in Hawaii that can't do dishes, bathe the kids, or go to the beach, waterpark, or pool? Okay, so maybe I can deal with no dishes and baths . . . but the beach? Woe is me . . . :(

Coming to you live from THE FOUR PALMS blog . . .

About a year and a half ago, when it became fairly apparent that I wouldn't be reentering the work force any time in the immediate future, I started this blog to share our lives with friends and family that are a million miles away . . . which is pretty much all of you. I think I started with the intention of mostly sharing the kids' lives and documenting all their major/minor milestones, but I guess it has warped into a whole family thing, where I pretty much talk about what we've been doing and if I'm really ambitious, I will post some pictures. So that's how it's been, just me and my loyal viewers occasionally checking out THE FOUR PALMS blog at http://the4palms.blogspot.com/.

Since then, the wondrous world of Facebook emerged, bringing us in touch with even more people than ever before, most of whom probably didn't even realize I have a separate blog. In fact, I don't even have much of a clue of how many people even read this blog, as I can only count out a handful of people who I KNOW check back consistently (hi Amanda, Charlotte, and Bev!). Half the time I thought I might just be talking to myself and constructing all these blog posts for my own pleasure down the road.

But now the two have officially merged. A couple weeks ago one of my friends (blog and Facebook friend, Amanda) mentioned how one can link their blog to Facebook so that every time I write a blog entry, it shows up on Facebook as a "Note." So now my potential audience has greatly increased, which may (or may not) be an incentive to keep up on this thing more consistently . . . we'll see (I make no promises:)).

So to all you blog friends, "Yea, I might be a more diligent blogger!" . . . and to all you Facebook friends, "I'm not a psycho who just LOVES to post Facebook 'Notes' for the heck of it" . . . and to those that are both, "One read is more than enough." :)

Discovering Manhood

Zander: "Hey Mom, come in here!!!!"

Danielle: "I'm not coming in there until you are all done going poop in the potty."

Zander: "But Moommm, I want to show you something!"

Danielle: "Alright Zander . . . hold on a sec . . . okay, what is it?"

Zander: (looking down between his legs as he "flexes" his groin muscles) "LOOK MOM!!! My peanut is getting BIGGER!!!!!!!"

Danielle: (thinking to myself) "Uh-oh, here we go . . ."

No Pain, No Gain?

This past week has definitely been a painful one, even in the literal sense. I don't think I was quite prepared, information-wise, for the aftermath of this MINOR wrist surgery and what exactly the recovery would entail. Or maybe I'm just being a wimp.

I had the surgery early on Tuesday morning and was home by early afternoon. During that time, the surgery only took 15 minutes or so, but I was knocked out for almost two hours. At no point did the doctor come to see me or Brian, and the discharge instructions were handed to us on a printout by a medical assistant. Needless to say, the service at the Army hospital wasn't exactly stellar.

When I got home, I took the pain meds as instructed. Since I don't have a lot of experience with pain medication, I was surprised by severity of the side effects of the Oxycodone that they gave me . . . loopy, tired, and just plain out of it. They gave me several days worth, but after only two days of that stuff, I could no longer handle being so dopey. Ibuprofen just didn't do much for the pain, so for the past few days I've just been powering through it. I also didn't realize ahead of time the extent to which I would be gimpy . . . I mean, I knew I couldn't go swimming for a couple weeks until the stitches came out, but I also can't bathe the kids, do dishes, push or lift anything heavy (including my kids), and I can barely write or use my utensils to eat (since I'm right-handed and of course it's my right hand). I mentioned to two different doctors at my initial appointments that I had two small children and inquired about the recovery process, but neither of them mentioned that it would be this debilitating and painful. In fact, they didn't even think it was necessary for Brian to take the day after my surgery off of work. Thank goodness he did.

And thankfully, I have my Dr. Heather (as always) to help me limp along, watch my kids, drive me around, bring me supplies, and use her magical powers to get the doctors to actually CALL ME BACK when I have questions (because otherwise it's impossible). And thankfully my husband is also very helpful and understanding . . . otherwise my kids would be really dirty and hungry by now. ;)

So, it's been a long week, but the kids have been great and hung in there, despite my lameness. Yesterday we hung out with some new friends that I met at Charley's preschool, and tonight we are heading over to Heather's for a Father's Day BBQ . . . again, thankfully Heather is such a great friend, because initially I had offered to do Father's Day at my house with all her family invited, but thanks to my gimpyness, I wasn't able to follow through on that plan and she offered to host instead. What a good friend.

As you can see, my kids found some time to keep me entertained. . . Charley in her "Rock Star" diva pose and Zander doing his best Elton John impression (that's what Brian says anyway). I'm so lucky to be surrounded by so many fabulous people. :)

Did I say I was in a lull? Nevermind.

Yesterday: Hawaiian Adventures Water Park (a.m.)
Heather's house for ice cream and bike riding (p.m.)

Today: Ko Olina beach (a.m.)
house cleaning (early p.m.)
dinner guests (p.m.)

Tomorrow: pre-op appointment (early a.m.)
grocery shopping (late a.m.)
finish cleaning & start cooking (early p.m.)
more dinner guests (p.m.)

Tuesday: hand surgery

So much for keeping my schedule open. :)

Lost

Last week's events really threw me into a lull.

On Monday, my good friend Kathy moved away from Hawaii for good, my Mom left on Thursday after visiting for a month, Charley also had her last day of school on Thursday, and on Friday I was shocked to learn that my other good friend, Marian, would also be leaving the island within the very near future. Oh, and Brian was gone that weekend, so I didn't have anybody to whine to. :)

When the following week rolled around, I almost felt lost. For so many months I have been functioning on a routine that involved Charley's school, spending a lot of time with these very friends, and integrating our frequent house guests into that schedule. But all at once, all of that changed, at least for the next couple months anyway. So I found myself almost unsure what to do with our days, as I'm not used to having so much freedom with my schedule.

As life would have it, though, things started to fill up my schedule pretty quickly, such as doctor's appointments, coffee dates, play dates, errands, etc. So now I'm adjusting to a different sort of routine, one that involves different activities, different people, and a different mindset . . . a mindset that allows me to think, I DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING TODAY IF I DON'T WANT TO.

Do you know how liberating that is?

Under the Knife

I just found out yesterday that I will getting minor wrist surgery one week from today thanks to a ganglion cyst that developed on my wrist, exactly like the one pictured here.

As most of you probably know, these types of cysts are common and generally benign, and are simply areas that have filled with fluid from your joints. One option is to just leave it there, but they can become very painful and/or cause hand numbness if they begin to press on nerves, and besides, it's pretty stinkin' ugly . . . looks like a big tumor on my wrist.

It sort of just developed overnight a couple months ago, so after seeing an orthopedic hand surgeon, I decided to get it cut out so that it hopefully will not reoccur (if you just get it drained, the process is supposedly very uncomfortable and there is a 50% chance it will come back). The surgery itself will only take about 15 minutes, and they will at least partially knock me out with anesthesia . . . but I should be in and out in just a couple hours. Then I get to wear a lovely splint for four days, followed by a few more days of stitches. Woo hoo.

Unfortunately the surgery also means tons of appointments in a short period of time . . . two pre-op appointments between now and next week, surgery Wednesday, and at least one (if not two) post-op appointments. This may not seem like a big deal, but for a stay-at-home mom who has to find childcare for all these said appointments, it is a pain in the rear. All I can say is thank goodness for good friends!

Whew . . . .

I made it! And boy, May did NOT disappoint . . . in fact, the latter part of the month was perhaps even more fun than the beginning.

I just sent ALL my pictures to date out this morning, so you should have received them via email . . . if not, let me know and I will send them to you. I wanted to mention this because I am going to refrain from posting these same pictures here today simply because it takes quite a bit of time and I just want to get caught up . . . because I feel so far behind. However, I couldn't help but post these ones because Charley is just so stinkin' cute in my biased opinion . . . these are her spring preschool pictures.



So after you heard from me last, Mom and I decided to check out the Bishop Museum, where we met up with Kathy and her girls for a bit of Hawaiian history and other interesting info. The next day we hit Waimea Valley for a hike up to the infamous waterfalls. When we got there, it was open for swimming but we had forgotten our suits. But being the tough Montana women we are (ha ha), we decided to go swimming anyway in our regular clothes. The water was pretty refreshing, and it was my first time swimming in a waterfall . . . pretty cool if I do say so myself. I took each of the kids out to the waterfall on boogie boards, and they had a blast too. They were a little nervous at first, but they toughed it out.

When we got home from hiking the waterfall, I tossed a suitcase at my Mom and told her to pack her bags. She probably thought I was kicking her out until I explained to her that I was surprising her with a trip to Maui and we were leaving in the morning. I have to admit, it was all Brian's idea that my Mom and I take this little two-day girls' trip, while he stayed at home with the kids. What a good guy.

So the next morning, bright and early, my Mom and I headed for the island of Maui. Thanks to Expedia and good travel deals, we got to stay at the beautiful four-start Sheraton Resort on Kaanapali Beach in western Maui. There we spent the next 48 hours hanging by the pool sharing beach drinks, snorkeling at Black Rock, eating, sleeping, reading, exploring the cute beach town of Lahaina, and just RELAXING sans kids. I cannot even begin to tell you how wonderful the trip was and how much girly bonding my Mom and I got to do. It was definitely one of those weekends that I will never forget.

We got back to Oahu on Monday, and on Tuesday we headed to the Barber's Point beach cabins, which I had reserved several months ago. The kids and I spent two nights there with my Mom (Brian enjoyed the peace and quiet of home), and we had a good time swimming, boogie boarding, catching grabs, and grilling out with friends. Gotta love the beach cabins.

On Friday I ended the fabulous week with a long-planned girls' night at the Hawaiian Hilton on Waikiki. Our friend Kathy is moving from Hawaii to D.C., so to celebrate two years of wonderful friendship and memories, we decided to surprise her with a night downtown. A couple months of scheming, which obviously included her husband (who watched their kids while we stole Kathy), ended up with us kidnapping Kathy at the Hilton pool, staying at one of the best rooms in the hotel (thanks to dumb luck and good fortune . . . but a long story), and a fun-filled night of food, laughs, and NO KIDS. It was a great way to send her off.

We spent the remainder of last week getting in a couple more beach days and some shopping before my Mom headed back to Montana on Thursday. It was pretty tough to say goodbye to Kathy on Monday, and then say goodbye to Mom just a couple days later . . . but I had to hold it together, as Brian is gone this weekend in L.A. for a guys' golf weekend. However, my "keeping it together" didn't last too long when I found out yesterday that our other good friends, the Roethlers, are all of the sudden moving to D.C. in the next couple months too. It's hard to lose so many good friends in such a short period of time, especially when you are stuck on an island (even though it IS Hawaii). I guess this is one of the downfalls of military life.

So here we are, Brian in L.A., the kids and I just hanging out and taking it easy this weekend. Brian just started his 6th class towards his Master's (over half-way done!), and Charley just finished school for the year. We have less than a two month break, and then BOTH kids will be heading to preschool in early August. I can already tell that this summer is going to fly by. For now we have no more guests scheduled until Andrea, Seth, and Max come at the end of July, so maybe I'll have a chance to get caught up on a few things . . . and hopefully I won't be such a slacker in the blog department. :)

I'll be back . . .

I promise, I WILL post a decent blog entry very very soon. Things have just been so busy and hectic (in a good way) around here that I just haven't had a spare moment to sit at the computer and work on anything.

For example, just in the last one week I spent two nights/two days in Maui, two nights/two days at a beach cabin here on Oahu, one night downtown at the Hilton as a going-away celebration for my friend Kathy, AND I hosted a Pampered Chef show at my house yesterday afternoon. And prior to that I was PLANNING all these events, mixed in with the usual events around here . . . whew, I'm worn out just talking about it. ;)

My mom is here until Thursday, which is also Charley's last day of school, so after that things should quiet down around here . . . at least a little anyway. Hang in there, I WILL be back!!!

The Heyday of May

May is only half over, but so far it has been a pretty amazing month.

So when I left off, Charley was busy preparing for her school's annual Mother's Day Tea. Here are the kids and I getting ready to head into the "tea party."

As you can see, she made me a very cute party hat, and we snacked on yummy finger foods, juice, and she even made me a special keepsake book. It was a pretty fun thing to be able to share with her . . . and she was especially excited to attend a REAL tea party, not just a pretend one with her stuffed animals.

That very same day, we began a very special weekend that has been in the works for a long time, since November in fact. I didn't really want to talk about it until it happened (so that it didn't get jinxed), but now that it's happened, I'm excited to share. It's a long story how we ended up being able to stay at this place, but the short story is that after failing to win a bid on this place at Charley's school auction last fall, we ended up meeting the owner anyway who just happened to be a co-worker of Brian's (who cut us a very good deal) . . . so four families pitched in, and this is what we ended up with . . . a 6000 square foot, 6-bedroom suite, beach house at the infamous surfing area, Pipeline, on the North Shore for three nights . . . with a grand total of eight adults and nine kids.


Here is our view of Pipeline from the house . . .

And of course, the ladies. . .

The kids (six out of nine anyway) . . .

Most of Brian's buddies at work knew that we were all staying up there, so one of them arranged for our own personal fly-by of a Coast Guard 65 . . . I think that is Brian waving in the distance . . . And last but not least, our sunsets . . .

It was a pretty spectacular weekend, definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity kind of thing. The kids were all very good, everyone got along great, and we all had a chance to relax for four straight days. The last day of the weekend was Mother's Day, and Brian was sweet enough to let me sleep in, had coffee and breakfast ready when I woke up, and he even bought me a French Press coffee maker that I've been wanting. Probably the best Mother's Day ever. The weekend was bitter sweet in that it was our last "hoorah" for our friends, the Murrays, who will be leaving us in a couple weeks . . . but hey, quite a way to say goodbye, huh?

The very next day my mom arrived for nearly a month visit. As usual, everyone was very excited to have her here . . . the kids began the Grammy torture right away.

Just a couple days after she got here, it was time for my good friend Heather, to have her baby. As you may recall, my friend Heather and I go way back to when we were 15 years old working at the water slides in Montana, and she has taken good care of me every since we got here. She was sweet enough to invite me to the birth of her third (and last) baby. After hanging out at the hospital for nearly 12 hours, their baby girl arrived . . . Sawyer Kate Clark. Here are the proud parents . . . . And their beautiful baby girl.

She was perfect in every way, and her arrival was made even more exciting by the fact that they didn't know what they were having and she already has two older brothers. It was a pretty amazing experience for me to share with her, especially since I've never experienced anything like that aside from being the one giving birth. I was pretty honored to be a part of the whole thing.After being stuck inside for a couple days, we decided we needed to get the kids out, so on Friday we took them to the beach, followed by a Luau at the Air Station that evening where they gorged on pizza and shave ice. On Saturday my mom and I snuck away from the kids and hit the Farmer's Market on the North Shore, followed by a lunch of coconut shrimp, followed by a visit to the Ward Shopping Center downtown . . . a pretty fun girls' day. On Sunday the whole family hit Shark's Cove on the North Shore for some pretty cool snorkeling.

Yesterday was a zoo field trip for Charley's school, so we headed downtown bright and early for a hot morning with a million other kids. Rather than bore you with lame animal shots, I decided to post this picture of a neat banyan tree that the kids were playing in before we went into the zoo. Pretty cool tree fort if you ask me.

And today Zander got to attend his first birthday party WITHOUT his sister, which was a very exciting event for him. Here is a cute picture of Zander, with the birthday boy Jake, checking out Jake's new presents.

And last but not least, here is a picture of my mom holding baby Sawyer just this afternoon . . . such a beautiful little girl!

Whew! And there you have it, the last two weeks. I wish I had been more diligent and could go into more detail about each of these events, but time just keeps slipping away faster than I can keep up.

So for now I must run, as my mom just told me that Charley is trying to nurse her toy monkey downstairs. Apparently Heather's visit today left an impression.

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.