The Fourth in Review...

Our fourth of July was chock full of fun!

The post's fourth of July celebration is pretty spectacular. There's a carnival with rides and games for little kids, there's a concert, and another concert. The day caps off with a fireworks display that is the largest on the island. And best of all -- this happens just blocks from our house. Far enough that we don't get much traffic or noise, but certainly close enough to walk! So, after morning naps, we walked over to the carnival, thankful for our house on post.

Kathleen was just old enough for some of the kiddie attractions. She loved the rides and the games run by family readiness groups. She certainly loved the little prizes! She's been carrying an inflatable princess wand around since then. The much-loved and very messy candy bracelet didn't survive that long...

Anyway, Kathleen truly enjoyed the carnival. She slid.

She dug.

She threw.

She rode.

As is often the case, Madeline didn't get to do any of that fun stuff. She did look awfully cute as she watched, though!

After all that fun, we headed home for afternoon naps, a bit of a swim for Kathleen, and then dinner. We missed the big musical guest (Billy Ray Cyrus -- rumor has it they were hoping for the daughter, but settled for the dad), but made it in time to take a couple turns at the carnival's fun before camping out on the field with church friends to listen to the 1812 Overture and wait for the fireworks.

The fireworks were amazing. I don't have any photos of them or of the girls, for that matter. Our camera isn't great in the dark. But the show was spectacular. And the girls loved it. Kathleen sat snuggled in her daddy's lap, mesmerized by the display. And Madeline was just as enchanted. She kept reaching out, as if she could grab the fireworks right from the sky! And when it was all over, we walked our exhausted girls home to bed.

It was a full and happy fourth!

We Love the Red, White, and Blue

Happy Independence Day, friends!

Madeline on the move!

Without any fun visitors, Madeline has taken it upon herself to inject some excitement into our little circus. Although she's been taking steps for a few weeks now, over the past few days she's really begun walking. This clip is a little long, but I love it because it not only shows Madeline walking a little bit, but it also shows what a sweet little snuggly baby she is.

Her pajamas say "hug me" -- we couldn't help but hug that sweet little girl!

We Love Our Mike...

This week we said another goodbye. Our good friend Mike left today for Fort Riley for training for a Military Transition Team (MiTT). He'll spend about three months training in Kansas and then serve a year-long deployment in Iraq.

Mike was the First Sergeant while Daddy was in command, and the two of them were a great team. (I'm not entirely sure that either of them would have taken their jobs in the company if it hadn't been for the other...) Mike is also one of Kathleen's favorite people.

When the guys returned from Iraq in November, Kathleen took to Mike almost immediately. Mike and his wife Linda (a dear friend of mine and one of the people who helped keep me sane during the deployment) were over for dinner just days after redeployment, and Mike was all Kathleen could talk about. It was hysterical. Since then, Mike has solidified his position as one of Kathleen's favorites by offering her candy whenever we visit Daddy at the office, letting her play with their dog, and bringing her fun presents. (This weekend he brought a giant water gun and toy fish to swim in her pool. She loves them!)

As we get ready for the 4th of July weekend, I'd just like to ask you to pray for Mike and for his family. Even though they've been separated and will be separated a lot, they're choosing to serve and they're doing it well. They're like a lot of other military families out there, and they're part of what makes this weekend's celebration possible. For that, we're truly grateful.


*In case you were wondering, the title is an obscure reference to Dr. Seuss: "We love our Mike and this is why: Mike does all the work when the hills get high!"

Aloha, Childri! A Hui Hou!

On the last day of John, Marie, and Anna's visit, we headed to the North Shore for an enormous breakfast at one of our favorite spots. (How big are the breakfasts? Jim and I split one!) When we'd eaten our fill of breakfast burritos, we headed over to a nice, quiet stretch of beach across from Dillingham Airfield. Our plan was to fly kites and to let the girls play on the beach. We hoped that it would be a good way to spend a morning on the beach without nearly as much clean up as a "real" trip for swimming and sand play.

Things didn't work out exactly the way we hoped. We'd brought three kites. Two wouldn't fly at all. And the third was extremely tempermental. It crashed more times than I care to remember. But Daddy persevered and eventually it made its way up in the blustery sky. At least for a while.

When the girls tired of the kite, we wandered down to the water's edge, where the girls played with sand. About half a dozen sea turtles were bobbing in the surf, and we spent quite a while watching them play.

I wish I'd been able to get photos of the turtles, too, but they just look like black rocks, no matter what I do. The girls are cuter, anyway!

Was it a cleaner activity? It might have been, had Kathleen not discovered some charcoal on the beach when no one was looking...

Madeline never made it out of the car. Poor girl, she was exhausted from all the fun.

And, then, before we knew it, the morning was gone and we were home, the Childri preparing for their big trip back to North Carolina.

Not every friend would travel halfway across the Pacific for a visit, much less make the long trip with a toddler. But we're so glad the Childri did! We had so much fun with them, visiting beaches and island sights. But the best part of all was just being together again, talking and visiting. It's amazing how, even after years of not seeing one another (we'd last met up briefly when Kathleen was about 8 weeks old), we were able to pick up again as though we'd not been apart. And I loved the opportunity to see my friend Marie in her role as mama -- so gentle and patient with her sweet girl. And, boy, is that Anna sweet. And funny. And remarkably well-behaved! Kathleen and Madeline just loved her. Even now, days after they've left, Kathleen still asks for her friend Anna. (Today we placated her by making a picture for Anna. Watch the mail, Anna!) Thanks so much for visiting, friends. We miss you already.

Aloha, Childri! A Hui Hou! Goodbye, Childri! Until we meet again...

A Day on the Windward Side

Last week, a little more than a week into our visit with the Childresses, we finally decided to show them the other side of the island. We'd told them that the windward side of the island tends to be, well, more windy and more rainy. And we had visited briefly earlier in the trip, but we hadn't given it the attention it deserves. Just the drive to the windward side is worth it -- the fastest route travels over the H-3 freeway. The freeway is an engineering marvel. Almost entirely elevated, it cost $100 million per mile to build... (Honestly, come see your federal tax dollars at work, folks.) When you emerge from the H-3 tunnel, the view of the mountains and the bay is truly, truly amazing.

Our first stop was the Nu'uanu Pali Lookout. From the viewing deck on the pass, there is an incredible view of the Ko'olau mountains and the Kane'ohe Bay and the towns of Kane'ohe and Kailua. We snapped a photo of our families where you can see how amazing those mountains really are.

You can also see that it was pretty cloudy at that point -- in fact, it started to rain just as we left!

The lookout is a frequent stop for big tour buses. While we were there, we were joined by a large group of Japanese tourists. Now, Japanese tourists have loved Kathleen since she was a little baby. It sounds crazy to say it, but it's true. We think it's because she's so blonde. Anyway, the tourists love to take pictures of Kathleen. At first they'll just surreptitiously take her photograph. Then they'll start leaning in, so they're in the frame with her. And this time, they took it to a whole new level. A lady just scooped Kathleen up and had her friend take photographs. Kathleen was not at all happy, poor girl. Even though she's a little firecracker at home, Kathleen is actually pretty shy in public and very wary of strangers. I took her back as soon as I could (without causing some sort of international incident) and calmed her down. While I was doing that, the lady continued, taking photos with Madeline and Anna. (What's better than one fair-headed little American girl? Three!) Anna's Mama and Daddy had their heads about them, though. By the time Anna was the subject of the photoshoot, they snapped their own photo:

Anna was much calmer about the stranger's photography than Kathleen had been. And although Kathleen recovered pretty well, she wouldn't go anywhere near the tour group after that. She'd run to hide behind us as soon as she saw them. We've tried to track down the clinical name for a phobia of Japanese tour groups, but we've not had much luck...

Fortunately for us, Kathleen didn't have much time to dwell on her scary photo session. We hustled her away from the main platform to a lower level, where she quickly forgot her fears. The lookout is at a pass, which forms a sort of wind tunnel -- the trade winds really blow through there! The girls thought the wind was great. Madeline kept laughing. Kathleen just ran and ran!

Eventually we'd had enough of the wind, so we loaded up and headed down to Kailua. We passed up the beach park at Kailua, opting instead for the private and picturesque Lanikai. (By the way, all beaches in Hawaii are public. If it's private, it just means there's not parking... so we parked on the street and used a public accessway to get to the beach.) Lanikai is one of our favorite beaches, and we enjoyed it just as much as we'd expected to. Although it had rained on the drive down the mountain, by the time we'd set up camp on the beach, it was a gorgeous day.

Really, we didn't go to a studio with a phony backdrop. It was just that gorgeous. The water was turquoise. And, oh, so warm! The surf was gentle. The sand was as fine as sugar. It couldn't have been more perfect for Kathleen and Anna. Or the rest of us, for that matter.

Lanikai wasn't nearly as windy as the Pali Lookout, but it had its own soft breezes. The wind made standing even more fun for Madeline.

We were tempted to stay on that beautiful beach all day, but eventually we had to go. We stopped for lunch in Kailua, where the girls were delighted by a fountain. (They just can't get enough water!)

And then we were headed home, back to our side of the island, wishing we had more time!

Introducing Anna to the Bowling Alley

Or, How Our Toddlers Beat Barack Obama

Since Kathleen just loves a trip to the bowling alley, we couldn't let Anna's visit pass without introducing her to the wonderful world of bowling. (Our circus is nothing if not classy.)

Kathleen was very excited to show Anna the ropes. Once she'd found her six pound ball, there wasn't any stopping her!

And Anna caught on quickly. Look at all those pins she knocked down!


Granted, the girls were using bumpers, but in no time at all their scores exceeded those posted by a certain presumptive democratic nominee for president... Kathleen was surprisingly excited about that!

Who knew she was so competitive?
To be perfectly honest, though, the girls seemed just as excited about their pizza dinner and the bowling alley's quarter kiddie rides as they were their about their impressive scores. Thankfully we have a few more years before we'll have any real competitive spirit. And before we'll actually have to supply quarters for those rides!

Catching a Wave

Yet another reason that we're glad Daddy is home: Mama wouldn't have thought to teach Kathleen to do this for years. And years. And maybe a few more years after that.

But luckily for Kathleen, Daddy's around. And he taught her how to catch a wave.

Ready...

Set...

Go!

She was every bit as delighted as she looks in that photo. She just couldn't get enough. She's our little surfer girl!

"I having fun with my friends!"

We've spent the last week in a flurry of fun! Our friends John, Marie, and Anna Childress are here from North Carolina, and we've been enjoying every moment of their visit. It's been such a blessing to be able to spend time with them again and to get to meet and know Anna. She's such a little sweetheart -- just like her parents!

Kathleen is delighted with our visitors, whom she refers to collectively as "my friends." They're the subject of her first question each morning -- "Where my friends?" And she checks up on them periodically during the day. If she can't see them (and occasionally even when she can), she'll ask about them. Kathleen just doesn't want to lose track of them because, as she explains, "I having fun with my friends!"

Little girls having fun in the little house.

Our days have been so full! Over the last week we've visited beaches, strolled up to Waimea Falls, eaten shave ice, snorkeled in Hanauma Bay, and spotted about thirty sea turtles. We've gotten a lot of sun, snapped countless photographs, and moved around a TON of sand (which somehow sticks to our feet no matter how much we sweep the house!).

Here are just a few of our memorable touristy moments:

Dads and daughters (and another random little girl, apparently) took a swim at the lagoons.

We drove over to an air base on the Windward side of the island, where we found a beautiful and practically deserted beach with breath-taking views.

We drove up to the North Shore to make the little hike to Waimea Falls. Even though the falls were really, really small (not a lot of rain lately), we got a beautiful photo.

As we were leaving Waimea the girls got a little too close to a peacock. Just as Marie wondered out loud, "You don't think it'll be mean, do you?", the peacock darted its little head at Anna in a most menacing fashion. Anna was awfully brave!

We spent a day on Waikiki beach, where John and Marie did a little bit of kayaking.

Madeline perused the menu at Duke's Canoe Club. She's not tasted it, but she hears the Hula Pie is excellent.

And we discovered that everyone loves shave ice!

We'll be sharing more adventures this week, and we promise more pictures, too!

Playing at Home

We had a quiet day recently when we didn't go running off to the beach. Staying at home can have merit, too. Kathleen borrowed a plastic pitcher to play in the pool, and it amused her for more than an hour. She made all sorts of "treats" for us in the pitcher. (A lot of it was Jamba Juice. The girl loves Jamba Juice, even when it's make-believe!)

Eventually she tired of concocting imaginary food and drink and decided to help Mama with her housework -- well, yardwork.

"Mama," she announced, "My's cleaning your mud."

Somehow all that water didn't make the yard's bare spot any cleaner. But at least she had fun!

And sweet Madeline, our little grass-eater, was outside, too. She played in the pack 'n play so that she wouldn't actually eat the grass or leaves or slow-moving bugs... She seemed pretty happy with the arrangement, all things considered.

Becoming Beach Bums...

Daddy's been on leave this week, so we've been spending a lot of time at the beach. I don't know the last time he's taken leave where we've just been at home together, but that's what we've been doing. And -- as you might imagine -- it has been great!

We started out at our beloved lagoons at Ko Olina. The manmade lagoons are really just about perfect for little children. The water is so gentle that our girls just don't want to get out. Madeline was amazingly happy in the water -- splashing and laughing the whole time. If she hadn't started to look like a little, wrinkled raisin, I might not have taken her out!

Kathleen just didn't get out! Here she gets a free ride from Daddy.

We love our Hawaiian beaches. They're magical. But there's this other beach where I grew up, and it's pretty magical, too. (Although, I'll be the first to admit that its water is a lot, lot colder!) We hope we get back there sometime soon. This photo is for you, Rhode Island family:

The next beach we visited was the famed Waimea Bay on the North Shore. How we love that beach! Sadly, I forgot to grab the camera that day, so we don't have any photos. Just so you can picture it, though, here's a photo from a few months ago.

The surf is much, much calmer in the summertime -- not at all like this photo. We had a marvelous time swimming and building sand castles and watching the brave folks jump off the rock.

Our next beach outing was meant to be at the lagoons again, but we'd forgotten that it was King Kamehameha Day. (We're not making that up. It's a holiday. Really.) When we got to the lagoons, they were full. Rats! So, we headed to Waikiki instead, and that saved the day.

Kathleen and Daddy built some impressive sandcastles.

Since it was pretty windy, Madeline stayed out of the water. She played in or near her sunblocker tent most of the day. But you could tell she wanted to be with her big sister; she kept an eye on her all day!

On Friday we headed to the Windward side of the island to visit Kailua Beach. This is another wonderful beach, but one we don't visit often, since it's farther away.

Daddy had gotten Kathleen a brand new kite the night before, when we visited the Navy Exchange. A trip to the "wind"-ward side of the island was the perfect chance to test it out.

Kathleen loved flying the kite. Once Daddy got it up, she got to fly it all by herself. She was enormously proud. If she'd had buttons on her little swimsuit, she'd have burst them!

Of course, kite flying doesn't preclude swimming. There was plenty of that, too!

What a wonderful week! We're looking to lots more fun in the week to come -- with our friends John, Marie, and Anna, who will be visiting from North Carolina. We can't wait!

Making a Mess

Sometimes our circus isn't just crazy; it's messy! That has certainly been the case around here lately. Here are a few of the ways we've been keeping the bathtub and laundry full:

Kathleen and I made ice cream sandwiches to take to a cook-out last week. They were a huge hit -- and they couldn't have been easier. We baked a nice big batch of chocolate-chocolate-chip cookies (and another batch of chocolate chip cookies -- you know, so people would have options). After the cookies had cooled we filled them with soft vanilla icecream...

Anyway, about the baking. Kathleen wasn't too crazy about the stand mixer; it's still a little loud for her taste. But she was willing to overlook the noise when I let her taste the mixer...

(And, I know -- the raw eggs, the sugar, the chocolate. There are about a hundred reasons I shouldn't let her lick the batter. But I did anyway, for this one reason: it's so much fun!)

A few days later we decided to pull out the water colors. Kathleen loves to paint, but it had been a while since she'd had a chance to do so. A few unsupervised moments later, this is what I discovered:

Surprisingly, there was actually paint on the paper, too!

And Madeline wasn't about to let all the messy fun pass her by! She was recently introduced to frozen blueberries. They were one of Kathleen's favorite foods when she was little -- they're good for mixing in plain yogurt or for sprucing up some plain old apple or pear puree. And they're even good for finger food!

It's a good thing cleaning up can be fun, too!

Ready, Set, Swim!

Outfitted with Daddy's swimming goggles, Kathleen is ready to cross the English Channel. Or splash in the backyard wading pool, I suppose...