When we last left off, we had celebrated the 4th of July, and were preparing for Sabrina's birthday. We are lucky enough to live in a place where everyone wants to come on vacation... This month we were able to see our friends, the Blevins, from Virginia. We got to know their family while living in Germany. They were celebrating her oldest's graduation. We met them for a day at the Polynesian Cultural Center....a must see for anyone visiting Oahu for the first time.
It was our first time to the center. My favorite part of the day was the Rainbow Parade on the river. Each polynesian village gave a short display of their unique styles in dance and song as they floated by. During the rest of the time, you can visit each village and learn something individual about each Island and people.
There are hands-on crafts and activities...lots of fun for the kids. McKenna tried her hand at the activities at New Zealand's village. They are a warrior people and these balls on the ropes double as weapons and props in their dance. It's not as easy as you might think to swing these around without hitting yourself! We had a great time and look forward to many more visits from friends and family.
That next week, Dennis left for the wedding of his niece, Amber Sipes to Stephen Via in Virginia. He was able to spend a week with his family there and celebrate with them. We wish we all could have gone, but wish them the most happiness in their futures together.
If April is Month of the Military Child, then July was "Month of McKenna". She was hopping around here making the most of her waning summer days. Which means I was driving....driving...driving....
She still has been taking gymnastics, and moved up to the intermediate class. But, she had been begging since last fall to play soccer. They started their 10 week season in June. She has enjoyed every minute of it. Plus, Hayden and Sabrina get to see what it was like when they were that age...watching the ball roll by...twirling your hair...picking up ladybugs in the grass...
We also took an opportunity to put her in a round of swimming lessons. She has been resistant to putting her head in the water, but she made more progress in this session than she had in the previous four she took last year. She is now swimming without any flotation, jumping off the diving board, and sliding down the slide. The last day of class they got to play on a surfboard...totally Hawaii!
And, YAY FOR ME, I finally got to a late-night crop with some friends for the first time in a year and a half. It got me motivated to document more of these fun, fabulous memories we are making as a family. So, it's ok that I have, like, 10,000 pictures, right? That I'll never get caught up...I keep scrapping, and the pictures keep coming. (I take NO responsibility for it, either! these kids are just so dang cute!) It reminds me of that Doritos commercial, telling you it's ok, "go ahead, we'll make more."
