Hawaiian Summer 2010...a drive-by...take 2!

It seems so strange to be wrapping up our summer by the end of July, but with the kids starting school at the beginning of August, the carefree days of summer definitely had come to an end.

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."

Happy Birthday, special girl...

Our first born, Sabrina Nicole...turned 14 on July 18th. She was lucky enough to not have dad here for her actual birthday, so she successfully stretched the celebration over 5 days! We started the weekend with a beach party with her friends. They had a great time splashing about, eating hot dogs and monster cupcakes, exploring their creative sides with frosting (Sorry, David!)

These were the ridiculously difficult cupcakes she requested out of the super cute, self-proclaimed EASY cupcake cookbook. Yeah...they LIE! Grrrrrrr....2 days of work later, they did turn out cute.

Sunday, I asked her what she wanted for her birthday breakfast. She came up with crepes...hmmmm, haven't done that in a while. I'd forgotten how super easy and mega yummy they were! What a pretty display...

Monday was her actual birthday, so I dropped off Hayden and McKenna at friend's, then took her out for a surprise pedicure. She really wasn't excited, but in the end, loved the experience.

Dad finally came home on Tuesday, so we went to dinner, her choice, burgers at Island's. Yum, again!

Year 13 was rough, I ain't gonna lie! We moved away from Germany, the only home she remembered; there were major diabetes issues we've worked hard to overcome; add in siblings and hormones...and I'm surprised we're all still alive. But, I think we've come out ahead, and it's only uphill from here. She has really embraced this new adventure, loving the sunshine and water play.

She's taking advantage of opportunities to hang out with friends. She makes friends easily, we all knew she would!

She's even started improving relations with Hayden....awwwww...aren't they cute together?

Some more things we love about her... She loves to sing karaoke.

She's creative, fun and quirky-- slipper socks, and all.

And, I never tire of downloading the cameras and finding gems like this:

High school, 5:50 am seminary, new friends, new routines---changes ahead. Enjoy 14, baby girl....we're along for the ride.

Cake Boss is the Boss!

So, I told you guys that Sabrina was sweet enough to bake me a birthday cake this year. I didn't show you a picture before...yes, that's a chunk out of the side that stuck to the pan. I love that dear girl, and she really tried.

Then, on 4th of July, The Learning Channel was having a "Cake Boss" marathon...it's amazing what this Jersey bakery pulls off. We recorded it, and watched it later that week, and after about 4 hours of watching these yummy cakes being made and eaten...I wanted cake.

So, I asked her to go in and make one for us. She baked it, then I showed her how to make real frosting, not from a can. I took out my decorating tips and let her have at it. She had picked up so much!

The result was a decadent chocolate treat. A great accomplishment for a 14 year old. I'm going to have to put her to work in the kitchen more often! Yummy!!

Hawaiian Summer 2010...a drive-by...

Ok, so I'm bad...very bad blogger...

I have so many great pictures and fun stuff we did this summer...and the kids have been in school already, 3 weeks! I should have told you about it by now. But, I've been easing back into routine, albeit a NEW routine for Sabrina's new hybrid charter school, but I'll save that for another post.

So, when we left off, it was actually right before my 40th birthday. I've spent the first part of the year watching friends from school turning 40 one by one...it's a big year...it's a milestone...what wild and exciting way could we celebrate? I thought about doing some fun Hawaiian touristy thing, but really, I've been trying so many amazing, out-of-the-box things for me, that I really couldn't think of something that I was interested in doing. I did go with a friend to a day spa for massages....nice! Turns out, all you need for hot stone massage is some rocks from the yard and one of those BX crockpots we all had in the Kaiserslautern Ward! But, it felt so gooooooooood.

I did have a great friend and her visiting sister-in-law take me to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, YUM!! SUPER YUM!

Then, dinner that night with the family, which is always fun to see how excited the kids get over giving me gifts. I'm so blessed! And after 16 years of marriage, I finally had a homemade cake (that wasn't by my mom!). Sabrina made one all by herself... (Post later about our Cake Boss Marathon). It was super yummy, but after a day of way too much food, I couldn't eat very much. And, I found "over the hill" balloons on my door.

Then, over the weekend, it was Father's Day, so we went to our first Luau at Paradise Cove...I think Dennis had a good time...what do you think?

We continued with our summer outings...getting out and about on the island. One trip up to the north shore to the Laie Temple and Shaved Ice was a fun day. The temple has been closed for renovations the entire year we've been here, but will be opening up in November. I'm looking forward to taking the kids and Dennis through for the Open House before the dedication.

Another week, we went to the Ho'omaluhia Botanical Gardens. It was a lush, green landscape with bright spots of tropical flowers and a short hike ending at a lake full of the most ravenous goldfish...we all brought bread, and even some tortillas, to feed them. I warned McKenna not to turn her back on the frenzy...kinda creepy.

Then, we had an opportunity to watch an aircraft carrier come into Pearl Harbor, the USS Ronald Reagan. Hundreds of people lined the shore on Hickam to watch it come in...pretty cool with all of the aircraft, and the sailors lined up on deck in their whites.

I have also used my "mad skills" and made several batches of freezer jam...thanks to fruit that is overripe when it gets to the island...so only lasts a day or two before needing to cook with it or throw it out.

To wrap up this post, we celebrated 4th of July at Pearl Harbor naval base, next door to ours. Since it was on Sunday, I wanted to stay close and not spend money because of the sabbath. Our church teaches us to uphold our country and be celebratory of our freedoms, so I wanted to try to celebrate in a semi-reverent, family way. We had a good time and enjoyed our down time waiting for dark for the fireworks. I know it's late, but Happy Birthday America! More to come...