Back to Reality!

Hawaii is now a memory and we are back to the day to day grind. Both kids are now in school and both love their teachers. We are looking forward to this weekend which brings Chandler's first basball game of the season (his team has moved up to the next age bracket so they are now a kid-pitch team) and Mike's birthday.

Chandler is so big now and in the 2nd Grade! His first day was August 24th.

Cydney started school today (FINALLY!). She is so happy to be in the "big 3's" class.

Chandler and Cydney with Granny. She is 99 years old and still going strong!

Mike, Chandler and Papa visited the Cowboy Stadium over the Labor Day holiday.

Papa and Chandler in the dugout at the Ballpark.

September is a big birthday month for us. Mike's is this weekend and Cydney's is later this month. We look foward to sharing birthday pictures!

Kaua'i is Paradise!

We have been home almost a week and still have not finished unpacking. It has been hard to get back on our time with such big time difference. I have sorted through the 700 plus pictures to find my favorites of the island.

The Kalalua Lookout past Waimea Canyon on the west side of the island.

Sunset at Polihale Beach. The last beach on the west side before the Na Pali Coast begins.

Secluded beach on the Na Pali Coastline. Seen only by boat or air.

Waimea Canyon by air

Most of the Na Pali Coastline by air.

Na Pali Coastline from the Kalalua Hiking Trail on the north side of the island.

This trip was the trip of a lifetime. We have so many memories and have been very glad to share our favorites through this blog. We hope you have enjoyed them and much as we enjoyed sharing them.

Chandler and Cydney are in 'Island Mode'

We left Pakala House last Wednesday and headed north to the other end of the island. We have been staying in an amazing house near Hanalei called 100 Shades of Green. This name is not an exaggeration. It is in a valley with a river running right behind our house. We are pretty remote, there is no cell phone reception. I could make a blog post on just this house alone. The owner is an artist and has decorated this house in a funky surfer sort of way. We have counted 14 surfboards that decorate the house. Our first day we were caught in the remnants of Felicia so were housebound for most of the day. It was so relaxing sitting on the lanai watching it rain.

Where has the time gone. We cannot believe we are down to our last 2 days in Hawaii! We will miss the amazing sunsets on the west side, the spectacular mountains, the spontaneous rainshowers of the northside (there is actually one right now while I am typing this), the soft sand on the beaches, the sound of the waves in the ocean and the river right outside our window. We might even miss the constant sounds of the wild roosters that roam all over the island (but not at 2:30 am). We will miss the smells of the plumeria, ripening fruit in the trees and fish cooking on the grill. This has been an incredible trip. Despite the usual childhood bickering and whining, Chandler and Cydney will have memories that will last a lifetime.

The beach behind our house at Pakala House. The kids spent many hours on that beach!
The boat that took us to Na Pali. It was so beautiful. It is very hard to capture it in pictures.

Chandler and I snorkeling off the boat at Na Pali. We saw a giant sea turtle. It swam right up to Chandler and touched him. It is against the law to swim after a turtle but they can come right up to you. Chandler was thrilled!

Mike and Chandler have spent a lot of time at the Kukiolono Golf Course. The know them by name there now. They are hoping for one last round before our flight home.

You do not even need to play golf to enjoy the golf course. These views are amazing!

Outside Pakala House the day we left. Cydney must have picked a 100 plumerias from that bush!

Eating dinner on the lanai at 100 Shades of Green! You can see the river and mountains in the background.

The Master Bedroom at 100 Shades of Green.

Our 'Island Girl'

Mike and Chandler really enjoyed a helicopter ride all over the island. The waterfalls were abundant thanks to all of the rain from Felicia. They were able to fly inside the Canyon and right up to spectacular waterfalls. Chandler was thrilled to see places where they filmed Jurassic Park.

We are looking forward to a relaxing day at the beach today. We will head up to Kukiolono one last time Monday then we are off to the airport for our trip home. We hope you have enjoyed our pictures. It was really difficult to narrow down the best from 686 pictures we now have on our camera card. It has been fun for me to update the blog while we have been here. Once we get home we hope to pick out the very best pictures of the island. There are breathtaking sites here that hard to capture on film but we would like to share them anyway.

Hawaii... Part II

So much has happened in the last week. We finished our whirlwind tour of Oahu and have been on Kauai for 3 days. We are staying at the Pakala House in Waimea which is on the west side of the island. It is hot, the beaches are beautiful and the mountains are breathtaking. The house is perfect for us. It is big, has a beautiful view and a spectacular beach. So far we have been golfing, boogie-boarding, swimming, eating fish tacos and shaved ice, and Chandler finally went to surf school today. He was incredible. He got up on his third try!



We have many pictures to share from the last week. It was very hard to narrow down to just a few. We hope you enjoy them!

Outside the church I went to growing up in Hawaii. It was exactly the same as it was in the 1970s. We also found my old school however my house had been torn down so I was unable to show it to the kids.

This picture was taken off of the Pali Hwy in Oahu. It was my mother's favorite part of the island. It looks exactly the same. There are many pictures of me and my sister in this same spot.

Chandler on the Arizona Memorial. He loved seeing the war exhibits.

We are on top of Diamond Head. It is a 45 minute hike up. Chandler and Mike did it in 30 minutes. I did not intend for Cydney to make it but she was determined she was going to the top...and she did!

Chandler and Cydney enjoying Waikiki Beach.

This was from our hike yesterday. The background is the beautiful Na Pali Coast. You can only see it by air or by boat. We will see it by boat tomorrow.

Chandler and Mike have enjoyed the Kukui O Lono golf course. This is taken from the driving range. You can see the coastline in the background.

Chandler catches a wave!

Our 'Surfer Dude.'

We still have 3 more days on this side of the island then we head to the north side. We will take a boat to the Na Pali coast tomorrow for a picnic and snorkeling. After that, probably more surfing, swimming, boogie-boarding, golfing, and eating more fish tacos and shaved ice!

Our First Few Days in Hawaii

We have been in Hawaii for 3 full days now and have been going 90 miles and hour. Cydney actually begged me to let her take a nap today. The kids are having a ball. They love the beach and have been eating pineapple everyday! They have fallen right into the Hawaiian way of life!

The Honolulu International Airport. We made it through a very long flight - and we survived!

In front of the Tripler Army Hospital. My first trip back since being born there.

Our ride around the island. We have only got caught in a rain shower once.

Cydney's first trip to the ocean ever. We swam at Bellows Beach, a beach I remember swimming at as a little girl.

Sunset Beach on the North Shore.

Sunset at Sunset Beach!

Swim Lessons

Chandler and Cydney finished their swim lessons today. Chandler completed Basic Diving and Cydney finished the Preschool class. She is ready to move on the Level I next year! She loves to swim! Chandler has really enjoyed diving. He always enjoyed the diving board but now he loves doing more than just a "Cannonball!"

Chandler's beautiful back dive.

Cydney's amazing jump.

Fun Times with Family

What a fun weekend we had with Uncle Bill, Aunt Gloria and all of our cousins. We had a great time swimming in Traci and Jeremy's pool. Chandler and Cydney loved playing with cousins Hailey, Gage and Molly. We can't wait to see them again.

Cydney and Molly have a great time swimming.

Chandler and Cydney enjoy hamburgers with Hailey and Gage.

Chandler practices his diving... then so does Molly!

Cydney practices her jumps.