A wonderful week with Mom!

Mom is leaving tomorrow and we've been so busy that I haven't had time to post! We've been quite active! While Derek was at work we spent a few moments of normal life around here- doing school, going to the grocery store & Target, etc. But we also stayed busy showing her around. We took her to the North Shore where we went swimming in Waimea Falls. The rainfall in the mountains hasn't been as much as the past few weeks so the falls were much less full but that made it perfect to coax Ella into swimming out to them with us. Also, last time we went it was quite packed but this time we had the falls to ourselves. It was so peaceful and wonderful and of course, Mom loved the plants, flowers & birds! We also stummbled across the filming of the new Hawaii 5-0 show and it was fun to watch that happen for a bit- unfortunately no sighting of my Lost actor- Daniel Day Kim... bummer... no stalking today! :) We took Grandmom shopping & to the zoo too.
On Friday, Derek had the day off and we took off to Haleiwa on the North Shore. We stopped for delicious (ono) shaved ice- which is quite popular here. We also went to the beach there and rented a paddle board so Mom could try that out. We enjoyed trying it out on the open ocean too. The beach was so quiet- there were only a few other people on the beach and there were a lot of sea turtles out there to snorkel to and check out.

On Saturday, Mom & I took off alone and went to Pearl Harbor to tour the USS Arizona Memorial. It was so sad hearing the facts and traveling back into World War 2. There are about 1,000 men still buried under the sea in the Arizona and the memorial spans over the boat whose deck lies just 8 feet below the surface after it sank in 9 minutes taking 1,177 sailors and Marines with it. It was a quite sobering sight seeing oil leaking out of the surface of the water still. Then we had a wonderful treat when my Mom took us out to dinner and told us that my wonderful grandparents sent money along to treat us to dinner. That was such a fun gift! Mahalo Poppop & Grandmom!

Today we drove to the Leeward (West) side of the island to Waianae to take a dolphin watching tour. Just minutes out of harbor, we found ourselves inside of a pod of 50 to 75 spinner dolphins. They had several of their tiny babies with them and they put on quite a show playing in the surf behind the boat, racing in front of the boat and jumping and spinning out of the water. It was amazing to see that many dolphins together out in the open sea. We toured up the coast and saw more amazing beaches and mountains and views which we'll now have to find from the island side. It was wonderful to see them from the water side though!

All in all, this time with Mom has been amazing. It was such a blessing to have her with us everyday and I know that I'm going to hate having to drop her off at the airport again tomorrow. It will be another 3 months until we'll be together again when both Dad and Mom get to come out. What a blessing to have a Mom who is such a good friend and who loves me and my whole family so well!

A surprise for my birthday girl!

Ella's 5th birthday was this last weekend so we had some special 5 year old type activities planned for her. We kept telling her that Bumpa (my Dad) was going to send her something special for her birthday and we were going to have a lot of fun playing with it the next week. On her birthday I told her we would get it later that day but first I was going to go buy her a lei. The airport has great lei stands so we headed down to pick one up for each of us and on the way I informed them about leis and how people get them on special days and use them to show welcome and love to someone. So I told them we'd head into the airport to see if we could see people giving them to each other. Once in there I told them that we were really there to pick up Bumpa's special gift- Grandmom- who would be there any moment! They were stunned silent- which is saying something and then they were so excited! It's so fun to show my Mom all around our normal lives- our apartment, grocery stores, parks & beaches and the punch buggy games that don't stop even once we get inside! (They sit at the window and call them- they are in endless supply here and even Jett chimes in with the random "Punch Buggy Red" call). The kids have been her constant companions and I've been having to fight them for time with her! We took Grandmom over to the hotel across the street to watch the Hawaiian song and dances and fireworks that they have on Friday nights. Every show, at the end, they give out Leis and my kids have been so disappointed to not get one but this week I told them it was Ella's birthday and she got one. She has never been so proud! While Derek had off for the weekend we toured her around to several tourist spots. We started Saturday a little slower for her- making sure to keep room in there for nap time! We toured the Waikiki aquarium which was a bit of a let down but had a few interesting things like the Chambered Nautilus & the Lauwiliwilinukunuku'oi'oi and Humuhumunukunukuapua'a fishes (what great names, right!) Of course we had to take her to Waikiki beach too. The next day we donned our swimsuits and drove towards the windward coast to go scuba diving at Hanauma Bay (the best snorkeling on O'ahu). It was a volcano cone that had caved in and then eventually the rose to fill it in creating a perfectly sheltered bay with amazing coral and marine life! The snorkeling was great- Derek took turns going out with Mom, Mia & myself. The highlight for me though was seeing the two sea turtles swimming right in knee depth water and being able to snorkel right along side with them! After tiring ourselves out in the ocean we drove up the coast for a long way home and were awed at the amazing scenic mountain and ocean views. It looks like Jurassic Park land for sure! A tiring weekend for sure but we'll give her a bit more down time before the next busy weekend!

Last Weekend!

Last weekend seems so far away already! How does that happen when we haven't really been that busy! We've been a bit busy during the days this week. We're trying to double up our school days so we can have a bit more down time while my Mom comes for a week and a half. The kids don't know that she's coming yet so it's bound to be very exciting (and loud!) when they see her on Friday! They just think that they're working so much on school because of Ella's birthday on Friday and I keep telling them that I have some fun things to do next week because of a fun gift Bumpa (my Dad) is sending them!

So, last weekend we decided to head up to the North Shore to explore a bit. Before we left town we stopped at Leonard's Bakery (a classic store in town) to pick up some Malassadas (basically a very "ono" (Hawaiian for delicious!) Portuguese donut of sorts- though we told the kids that it was a seaweed and fish egg breakfast). It was here that my Dad called and told me that he had just surprised my Mom with sky miles for a plane ticket out to see us. Needless to say, I'm definitely homesick out here and would be happy to have anyone I know to talk to, but having my Mom- who, other than Derek, is my best friend- out here with us for over a week is such a treat! My Dad is the best... even letting her come and not having her there on his birthday cause no other time would work! They are both already planning on coming in December when my Dad has off work but it was so far away so I am so thankful for my wonderful Dad loving both me and my mom so much!

Now in a fantastic mood, after breakfast we drove up the middle of the island to Waimea Valley on the North Shore. The Park had quite a lot of activity this weekend with a "Heal the spirit Festival" or something of that sort. There were lots of Indian tribes & native Hawaiians there doing dances and exhibits and it was quite interesting. The girls loved the dancing and Mia found it hard to believe that these were REAL Indians. She confided in me later that she always thought real Indians would be meaner. So cute! I guess we are reading "Little House On The Prairie" right now and at this point in the book Indians are a bit of an unknown threat! :) They have a beautiful hiking area and Jett surprised us by wanting to run and explore everywhere. We figured out that if it was a normal paved road he refused to walk on his own without a tantrum but if it was a dirt path or stairs to a more woodsy area he was off at a run! What a little bugger! :) The whole area was beautiful and we especially loved that this was so clearly a "Lost" TV show filming area. There was a beautiful river running along the path that was the typical stop for water or have a flaming arrow attack spot in the show and then at the end of the hike was the gorgeous waterfall which in and of itself would have been worth the hike but made it even better that this was the falls that Kate & Sawyer found the briefcase in and that Jack jumped off of to rescue Hurley & his guitar case too. I'm in Lost Fan heaven! :) I was so bummed that they don't let you jump off the top anymore but it made my day completely to be able to swim out to the bottom of the falls and sit on a ledge there and just let the water run over me. It was a beautiful moment! Mia was so big and swam out with me and though she was a bit nervous by it all just loved it too! Ella took a bit of persuading but she at least tried to swim out with Derek (the kids have to wear life vests in the park) and then just got too tired of waiting for the other people to take their turns in the waterfall. After leaving Waimea Valley we drove just a minute or two down the beach to 'Ehukai Beach. It was such a nice beach with hardly anyone there and tons of sand for the kids to run and play in. The water here was crazy since it was over our adult heads in just about 4 or 5 steps out but it was a great place to begin to teach Mia to snorkel. The waves hit hard right on the shore but after getting through that first wave Mia loved getting out and learning how to breath through her very own snorkel. We'll have to come back to this beach in the winter since this is where the Banzai pipeline is and the expert surfers will do their thing! This was a great day to play in the sand, digging big holes and burying each other and over all getting ourselves completely pooped out!

Thankfully we had a long holiday weekend so we had a relaxing next few days. We took a walk along the Ala Wai Promenade right by our house. It runs next to the Hawaii Convention Center which was named the most beautiful convention center in the world. It made for some fun pictures and our kids loved climbing up all the stairs to the waterfall fountains. I definitely love having all this special time with our kids doing things together as a family... it would be perfect if we could just get a date night out without them sometime soon! :)

Longing For Home

Homesickness is an interesting thing. Here we are in a tropical paradise, living amidst a daily beautiful scene where I regularly find myself gasping "Wow" at the amazing sights around me. Derek & I are finding both our family growing closer and our relationships with God growing as well. Yet, we long for home; we long for Orlando. To be back to the place filled with family... friends... our church... known roads... our big comfortable bed... ah, there is so much to miss. What a reminder that Honolulu is not our home. What a reminder that Orlando is not our home. Heaven is our home. How is it possible to live as though this is home but know it is not? How is it possible to long for a place we've never even set eyes on? We can trust in God's promises. Just living day to day in all this beauty sets my imagination on fire. If it took God just 6 days to prepare this world and we are amazed by it's beauty and His creativity, then what will be in store there? All this time He has been preparing a place for us. Unleashing his creativity for hundreds and hundreds of years to prepare a place for us. The gasps when we catch our first glimpse... the tingling and excitement... meeting our Savior face to face... being able to worship without distraction or exhaustion! To think, "Who am I to deserve this? I who hated You and nailed You to the cross with each sin! Thank you God for saving me!" What a moment as we are ushered into our home... the place we are made for. Being uprooted from my temporary home has begun to teach me to long for heaven. To be homesick for my home with my Savior. To view this earth as my hotel or apartment that I'm in until my Dream home is finished. As uncomfortable as it is for little imperfect me to be waiting in this imperfect place, it will be worth it to be with Jesus!

Adventures in Cooking!

We've had over 3 weeks here in our strange new lives! One of the goals I had for this time was to be trying out recipes that I've accumulated but never tried and to also be feeding my family more healthy foods! Like with another goal of ours, watching little to no TV, I was prepared for the worst but we've seen so much grace from God for change! The kids have only even asked about the TV a few times and that is really saying something! They are adjusting to the different menu too! We've cut out our previous breakfast of choice- cereal and now save that for the weekends. Instead I'm serving a lot of eggs, home cooked muffins, oatmeal, fruit salad, etc. and they are loving it! For lunches I've tried to cut out all of their goldfish, animal crackers, chips, etc. that they were used to and replaced them with yogurt, applesauce, fruit & veggies. They are doing amazing! I've even been making some snacks for them! I've tried Butter Popcorn, Caramel Popcorn, Cheese Its & Graham Crackers! (Thanks http://www.realfoodclasses.com for lots of ideas!) I'm loving making all these things! So, eating well during the week allows for our weekends to be more of a splurge. I'll get them a box of cereal and sodas for all of us and make a special desert for the weekend too. I am feeling like I'm in the kitchen a lot more right now but I also have a full freezer that we're beginning to be able to delve into to just pull out pre- frozen snacks or meals. It's also provided opportunities to meet our neighbors and building guards as we take them pans of Cinnamon Rolls too! It's a lot of fun and I can't wait to see the stack of recipes that I've gone through and have new favorites to add to our typical menu lists when we get home to Orlando!