GO HAWKS!

Sarah Grace is playing soccer, and loves it. We always said that it was the one sport we hoped our girls would play. Growing up soccer players are cute and athletic looking but they don't look or act like boys. So, it just happened that it was time for sign-ups and she got on a team at the church she went to preschool at. She had 3 weeks of practice before her first game. She really is a natural. She has good ball control and kicks hard and straight. Her first practice she scored on 3 out of 5 of her shots! She did well in all her practices. She is one of 3 girls on the team but has no problem hanging with the boys. She's not intimidated a bit. She stole the ball from the coach's son on the first week and made him cry. Her Pawpaw was quite proud of that! She has now had 4 games. They won 2, 3-0 and 6-2. She had one "credited" goal the first week. She threw the ball in and a kid on the other team kicked it into the wrong goal and we got the point. The coach said that was "her goal". We were out of town for a wedding, I know we're terrible, and she called saying SHE won and SHE scored. She was so happy. This past week she had another game and she played goalie and stopped a ball from going in! She really does good! I'll update later on how the rest of the season goes...we have 6 more games and one more practice. Go Hawks! (PS. next comes football cheer leading!)

Pete

For those of you that don't know, Pete is Charlotte's nickname. I don't know why I started it, but it stuck. I just thought I'd give you an update. She's 21 months, 25.5 lbs, and 34.5 inches tall. She's average in weight but very tall for her age. Go figure. ;0) She's quite the talker. Just like Sarah Grace, she started early and picked it up fast. We're now talking in complete sentences. It's not hard to understand what she wants. And if you don't get her what she wants she'll drag you by the hand and show you. It usually involves the refrigerator. You can understand about 80% of what she says, but she still has some baby babble too. :)

She's very laid back. She doesn't mind sitting her seat watching cartoons and eating snacks. She loves to play with dolls/dollhouses, and color. She also likes to play outside on the swing set or with balls. She loves dressing up. Whether it's our shoes, her coats, sunglasses, hats, SG's princess clothes, you name it... She also likes to organize and clean. She sorts things into piles and uses baby wipes to clean up spills she makes (without being asked). She's very concerned about things being dirty. She's almost obsessive about it sometimes. She's also obsessed with the moon (me-oon) and where it is all times of the day or night. We're also working on manners, she's great about saying "tank you" for everything and she getting better about please and yes mam. She's a great eater. She loves fruit, pancakes and pasta of any kind. She also loves candy, as you've seen in previous blogs. She loves her nap, that's my girl! Yes, we're down to just one, but it's a long one so that's okay. Enjoy the pics!

First day of REAL School!!!

I said back in a previous blog that I never felt my age until I had a child old enough to get her ears pierced, well this trumped the ears! The first day of school couldn't get here fast enough for Sarah Grace, but I had mixed emotions. I was looking forward to time with just Charlotte but at the same time it was the end of huge part of Sarah Grace's time with me. Bittersweet. I was never a basket case about it, but the thought of her being on her own, and gone for so long everyday made me a little sad. She on the other hand, never had the first sad, nervous, or anxious moment when it came to the thought of school.

Adam and I took her to "meet your teacher day". She was so excited and not too shy. She went right in, spoke to her teacher and then was off playing with the other kids while we filled out paperwork. Her teacher, Mrs. Ward, is sweet. She's young, a mom, and is just coming back after taking time off to stay at home with her kids for a couple of years.

On the first day, she got right out of bed, got dressed and went down for breakfast. Pawpaw was waiting on her when she got downstairs. He stayed for breakfast and then took some pictures and we were off to school. She wasn't nervous a bit. When Adam was walking with her down the hall she said, "Dad, I'm excited!". All she has ever wanted is to be big and she finally was! She went right in to her class and never looked back. I must admit I was a bit misty when I left her class, thank goodness for sunglasses.

She had a great first day. She loved everything and came home with all kinds of stories. And she got to play with lots of her preschool friends on the playground and was so excited to see them. She rode the bus home that day. It got home super late (4:30) and when it finally got here all the kids got off except her. I asked a neighbor if she was on the bus and she said, "yes, but she won't get off". Turns out she thought she had to have permission of some kind to get off. And since the driver didn't say anything to her she stayed put until I got her off. The next day we worked out the kinks. She loves school and we're all still getting used to the schedule but all in all it's good.

Here comes the Bride!

...or so she thought! Sarah Grace was in her first wedding this Summer. My parents' friends' daughter got married and she was the flower girl. She thought she was hot stuff! We had known about it for a year and she talked about it all time. Well, the time finally came! It all started with a bridal shower. She got the help Emily (the bride) with all of her gifts and was the center of attention. From then on she had the "bug" and the day couldn't get here fast enough! She asked about it all the time! The weekend finally arrived. The whole affair was at Chateau Elan, a beautiful resort and winery about 40 minutes from here. We had a bridesmaid luncheon on Friday morning. The food was great and the room was beautiful. She got to meet the other flower girl, Annie. She was a sweetheart and she and SG hit it off right away. After lunch the girls got gifts for being in the wedding. SG was thrilled, everything was monogrammed with her name on it and she felt very fancy. After the lunch we rushed home for a quick nap and wardrobe change.

That night we went back to the resort for the rehearsal and dinner. The rehearsal went great, she paid attention! We were a bit worried about that. After lots of pics with the girls and the ring bearer, Jackson, we went out to the dinner. It was a fiesta. The food was amazing!!! And the kids had a ball playing around together. The toasts went a bit long so we had to leave and miss the dessert, which really disappointed SG (lots of tears)!

The next morning we were up and off to get her hair done. Mimi made her an appointment for an "up do" at her salon. It turned out precious!! It was pulled back from her face with big soft curls and little pearls all in it. She looked BEAUTIFUL, and she knew it. ;0) Then it was home to pack up every thing for the wedding and off we went. The car had quite a few miles put on it that weekend. We got there and she got dressed in the suite with all the girls and they all ooo'd and ahhh'd over her. Then it was time for pictures and it was show time! She did good, she walked in with Annie tossing her petals and walked right into place. During the ceremony she got bored and played with her necklace and whispered to Annie but I don't think anyone noticed. Jackson on the other hand was a mess! So funny! He was all over the place, throwing and shredding flowers, talking to his parents (out loud), crawling on the stage... Thank goodness we have girls! ;0)

The reception was great! They spared no expense $$$! The decor and food were awesome and the band was good too. Sarah Grace wanted to dance so bad, so my dad went with her, then my mom and then Jackson! When they started dancing the whole floor cleared in a big circle around them and everyone clapped and cheered. They were hilarious, dancing, twirling each other, they loved it. When the song was over all of the guys were giving Jackson high fives. It was GREAT! Then she went back and danced some more, with her daddy, me, and the bride. After all the dancing came cake! She made it a point to tell us, more than once, that we were staying for dessert tonight (unlike the rehearsal)! After cake we went home (11:00 PM). She was exhausted but still beautiful!

The Lake 08

Well this year has been a little different... Usually during Summer it's tough to find a week where we are not at the lake. This year it was just the opposite. The girls went over Memorial Day while we were in Hawaii but as a family we only went one time. All due to the drought and lack of water in our cove. It's so sad. :0(

We all went up for the 4th of July. We made the most of it. We were there for a week. The weather was nice, company great, food amazing but the the water was pitiful. At the end of our dock it was only about thigh deep (usually about 20-25 ft) . Fortunately, that was deep enough for our boat. When we wanted to swim we went to our neighbors dock where is was about chest deep and just floated on floats. It was deep enough for the kids to swim. We took a lot of boat rides and there was far less traffic this year. When we rode around we discovered we were lucky that we had the water we did. Others were much worse off. Even the marina we get gas at was completely on dry ground (and closed).We'd go out for a ride and then stop and anchor in deep water and swim. It was so nice! Very relaxing. The girls had a ball. Sarah Grace was super brave and loved jumping in and doing tricks. Charlotte was content to sit on the boat and eat a sucker, but she enjoyed the water too. They loved the water, boat, fishing, treats, golf cart, fireworks and playing with the neighbors. There was no lack of things to keep them busy. The girls relaxed and ate and the guys golfed, swam and ate. All together a great week. We were just sad there was not much to go back to after that... maybe next year? (check out lots of pics in the Gallery)

Same verse...

Surprise! We went to the beach! Guess where? You guessed it, New Smyrna. We went for our annual trip to the beach with my side of the family. This year was a little different than years past but not in the best of ways. Charlotte started the fam off with a stomach bug. She had it before the trip, I got it on the way there, my parents both got when got there, and then Gadds started it couple of days later. First Claire got it then Jonathan and then it was my Nani's turn. So, at some point almost all of us were in the room on, or in front of, the toilet. Nice huh? So to say the least, seafood wasn't as appealing this year... And if that wasn't bad enough it rained! A lot! Several days, all day! :0(

But, of the pretty weather we did have, the kids had a blast. Charlotte loved the water and sand. She had to warm up to it at first but learned to like it. She liked snacks on the beach and the pool the best. She napped very little but still did okay considering. She loved plying with SG and Payton. The three of them ran around all day together. Sarah Grace got over her fears of the ocean from last year and ran right in. She had totally forgotten that she was terrified last year. You couldn't keep he rout of the ocean. She was a body surfing, boogie boarding, skimming, swimming, floating fool! She had the best time.

Nani and Pawpaw supplied the goodies! Nani came to the beach everyday with bags of fruit, chips and candy for the girls (and us). Charlotte's favs were the orange marshmallow peanuts and suckers. SG and Payton like the suckers, chips and fruit. She also kept a cooler full of YooHoos and the girls new where to find them. In the afternoon they she or Pawpaw strolled the little ones down the beach for much needed naps and entertained them at dinner in the evenings. There were also plenty of other beach treats, snow cones, popsicles, fries, PBJ and soft drinks (normally forbidden).

We went with an extended group this year. Along with our normal crowd, my aunt, uncle, 3 cousins and a fiance went with us too. And on a couple of days we were joined by other aunt, uncle cousin and her family. It was so much fun with all the kids playing together. There were eight kids under 6 and one on the way! We're fertile! ;0) Even though our stomachs were a bit queasy we still had some nice meals and pretty sunsets. There was only one night where Charlotte had a meltdown, which was great considering no naps. We were even able to go to the boardwalk for ice cream. At the boardwalk this year they had a man making balloon animals and all the girls had to have one. Charlotte was amazed and wanted to touch everything. It was really cute. She was so happy when she got one of her own! Our evenings were fun. We went crabbing on the beach, did sparklers and every night there was a slumber party in Mimi's room! All the girls piled into the bed and watched cartoons with mom and dad at night, sometimes WAY int the night...

The last couple of days were really nice, great breezes and NO RAIN!!! It made it really hard to leave! But there's always next year!

Aloha!

As most of, if not all of you know by now, we went to Hawaii for our 10 year anniversary. (I'm a little behind on the blog.) We went in May with Krista & Jonathan and Tyler & Lauren. We left on Thursday morning and flew to LA and then from there to Honolulu.

Honolulu

Thursday PM- arrived late in Honolulu because of delays in LA. Tyler and Lauren picked us up at the airport and we drove to dinner at House Without a Key. It was pretty, open air, restaurant right on the ocean at a gorgeous hotel. The waves crashed right into the side of the patio where we were sitting. After dinner we went to our hotel, The Aqua Palms. It was really pretty. From our room, we had views of Diamond Head and Waikiki Beach. We all wish we had gotten to stay more than just one night. Fri (a long, but great day!)- Ate a great breakfast at the hotel and then piled in the car to see Pearl Harbor. Arrived around 9 AM, not too long of a wait. We walked around and took pictures until it was our turn to see the movie and then go to the Memorial. The memorial was great, very interesting. They were very serious about being reverent to the fallen soldiers while on the Arizona Memorial. We actually saw an entire Asian family be sent back to the visitors center b/c the man was speaking too loudly. It was kind of funny, you'd have to be there... Pearl Harbor did not take as long as we thought so we headed to the Dole Plantation. It was really pretty, beautiful gardens and fresh pineapple treats! We had dark chocolate covered pineapple spears and they were AMAZING!!!! After that we still had extra time (before our flight to Kauai) so we headed up to the North Shore to check out the sites and eat lunch. We found a great burger place with the biggest burgers ever! After lunch we went to Matsumoto's Shave Ice (had seen it on Food Network) for dessert and quite an experience. Combine a snow cone on top of black beans (yes, I said black beans) and vanilla ice cream. Not the tastiest combo. I'll admit I took the safe route w/a regular old snow cone but everyone else wanted to "do as the locals do". Bad idea, but fun. Then we finally went to the airport. Kauai

As soon as we got to Kauai (after some luggage issues w/ K & J) we headed to dinner. We had a reservation at The Beach House in Poipu. It was beautiful. It was right on a point surrounded by the ocean and dozens of surfers. The view and sunset were amazing and the food was great too (banana foster dessert, yummm). Then it was a long drive to our condo and straight to bed. Saturday-We had pastries from a local bakery and then headed to the nearest beach. Our first stop was Tunnels Beach. It was huge, with a lot of shallow reef and good snorkeling. The girls snorkeled for a while and then laid out, while and the guys followed a sea turtle around the reef. When we got back to the car we got our first souvenir of the trip, a parking ticket! Lovely. After sorting that out we found some lunch and went to Anini Beach for some more relaxation. It was not a great snorkel spot but it was a long beach and a great for walking. After getting cleaned up we had dinner at Duke's Canoe Club at the Mariott resort. It was pretty, we ate on the upstairs deck looking over the bay. The meal was good but the salad bar was great! It's rare to find a salad bar in Hawaii, much less a good one. While we ate, some cute little ladies came by and played music for us. After dinner we walked around the resort and hung out on some hammocks. Sunday- We picked up breakfast at the local grocery store and headed to Ke'e Beach and the Kalalau Trail. The trial is an 11 mile hike along the Napali Coast, rated and 8/10 for difficulty. It was a beautiful hike with unbelievable views! It was quite an adventure. Some parts were steep, muddy, and over grown. It was a great workout with a huge reward at the end, the most beautiful beach we had ever seen. The sand was gold and black. It was secluded, had a mountain stream that ran down to the ocean with huge cliffs and caves we just had to go explore. Then we hiked back (with blisters and stubbed toes) and rested/snorkeled at Ke'e beach. After working up a hunger we headed to Puka Dog. It was quite a drive but well worth it. Puka Dogs are hot dog/sausages in a special bun filled with a spicy garlic sauce and your choice of fruit salsa. Sounds odd but OH MY! UMMM UMMM good! After lunch we went to a local blow hole, Spouting Horn, and watched it and then headed to Poipu Beach to watch the sunset. So pretty! After that we went home, grilled out and collapsed in bed! Monday (my fav day)- We had a quick breakfast at Java Chai, a great local coffee house. Then we sped (we were late) to the Princeville Ranch for a horseback ride and waterfall trip. We quickly mounted up and headed out. My horse was Manini, which meant little fish, but there was nothing little about him. Adam rode Poi. They were great horses (fat and happy) and we had freedom to take them anywhere we wanted along the trail. After about an hour and half, and a water break, we reached the end where we were to hike to the waterfall. It was about 5-10 minute hike down to the double falls. We all changed into our bathing suits and went in. It was chilly but felt great after the long ride. After some pics and a quick soak we climbed up to the top pool, underneath the top falls. We ate lunch there (wraps, fruit and cookies) and then hiked/climbed back up to our horses. The ride was gorgeous, we were in the foothills of the mountains on a working cattle ranch. Yeee Haa! After our ride was over we went to Hideaways Beach. It was secluded and a slippery hike down but it had great snorkeling and pretty shade trees. After some rest and a shower, we went to dinner at Cafe' Hanalei. It was at a very $$$$ resort and had the MOST AMAZING views of the entire trip. The food was okay, but you don't go there for the food. You go for the views and the sunset! Tuesday- We had smoothies for breakfast and then headed to the airport. Not to leave, but to take a HELICOPTER tour of the island. It was so much fun. So worth the $$$!! Kauai is largely uninhabited and there aren't roads to most of the island so the only way to really see it, is it to fly. It was such a rush! We flew all over, saw places we had been/hiked and saw other places not many get to see. We saw places where they filmed movies like Jurassic Park, King Kong, Indiana Jones and South Pacific. If you ever go, go with a quality tour company and pay the $$! It's worth it and Adam would say so too. ;0) After our tour we got lunch at burger place overlooking the beach and then the guys wanted to go exploring... One place you can get to by car is where the gates were in Jurassic Park. We decided to go try to find them. It was scarier than the movie! We were in the middle of the jungle on a dirt rode with potholes that could swallow our van! I'm not joking. After lots of starts and stops (mostly b/c were scared to go on) we did it! We got there! It was pretty and we took a few pics and then had to make the crazy drive right back so we didn't miss our flight to Maui.

Maui

Tues (cont'd)- We arrived in Maui in the evening and went to a local Mexican restaurant called Milagros. It was probably in my top 2 meals of the entire trip. I had crab quesadillas with pineapple salsa! SOOOO GOOD! After dinner the girls walked across the street to Ono Gelato. It was quite tasty. We then headed to our house, about an hour away. We arrived after dark but were pleasantly surprised. We didn't know anything about it, and had kept our expectations low, just in case... It far exceeded our expectations. It was new, modern, artsy, and had amazing views of the ocean and nearby islands. And did I mention it was free? Tyler knew a guy who had this house and insisted we stay there, for free (that helped us justify the helicopter)!!

Wednesday- After a good night's sleep we went to breakfast at the Gazebo. It's a hole in the wall, hotel pool hut by the ocean with INSANELY good pancakes! We had white chocolate-pineapple-banana pancakes and hash browns! WOW! After stuffing ourselves silly, we headed to the Ritz Carlton. The owner of our house had privileges there. :) The guys stayed for a minute and then were off golfing. We headed to the pool, where we were served drinks poolside and floated along listening to the palm trees blowing in the wind. It was fancy! After we ate lunch by the pool we walked down to their private beach and played in the ocean for a while until we were carter in a limo-style golf cart back to chairs at the pool. Did I mention it was fancy! We stayed all day and into the night (the guys took forever). We swam, tanned, ate, napped and even showered in their spa. Best shampoo ever! After the guys picked us up, we went to dinner at Sansei, a funky Japanese restaurant. It was good.

Thursday- We ate breakfast at Seawatch at Napili Kai. The food was good, and it was right on the beach. After breakfast we went straight onto the beach and started snorkeling. It looked very Hawaiian with the palms and pretty bay. We stayed there into the afternoon. Next was Earl's Bay, a rocky beach with crystal clear water and 1,000's of fish! When we left Earl's we went in search of Lorraine's. Lorraine wasn't a beach but a lady with a shave ice hut (in her basement/garage). We drove forever into the middle of nowhere and there she was, she and her husband at their house selling baked goods and shave ice. It was great and she was a hoot (I had the choclate dipped banana bread ice cream sandwich). We rushed back to get ready for our luau that night (we were not at all hungry).

The luau was so much fun. We got there early and walked around and took pictures and watched the locals do their crafts. They had people cracking coconuts by hand, people making poi, jewelry makers and local music. They had an open, unlimited, bar for the first part of the night so we got all we could drink (non-alcoholic of course) and got our $$ worth. After our bellies were floating with all the friuty concoctions they dug up the pig from the underground oven and then it was time to eat. The food was good, better than I had expected, and they had fun desserts. But the best part was the hula show. They started by bringing in firey torches and blowing conch shells. Pretty dramatic. Then came the hula girls, screaming and shaking their "skirts". It's CRAZY how fast they shake "it" and keep their coconuts in place! ;0) If I lived there I would be a hula dancer. They did about and hour of different dances and then had a finall dance off. After it was over the dancers were standing around for photo ops. And did I mention another great sunset?! It was such a fun night!

Friday- Was an early morning. We had to be on our snorkel tour baot at 6:45 AM. They fed us breakfast on the way to our dive site. It took about an hour and was realaxing. We went to Molokini, a crater in the middle of the ocean. It rises like a horseshoe shaped cliff out of the middle of the ocean. The water is over 200 feet deep and you can see all way to the botttom. They gave us wet siuts because to water is so cold, 45-50 degrees. There were fish everywhere. We even saw an eel. We snorkeled for an hour and then got back on the boat for lunch, on the way to our second site, "Turtle Town". It was what it sounds like, an area about 100 yds from a beach where there were tons of sea turtles. They were so sweet and not terribly shy. It was really fun! Then we headed back to the dock. From there we went up to Haleakala , the tallest Mtn/volocano in Hawaii, 10,000 ft. We actaully drove through the clouds to get to the top. It looked like we were on a different planet. For dinner that night we ate at Pacific O's in Lahina. It was a great meal (and AMAZING desserts)and was right on the beach, literally in the sand. The sunset was beautiful, a perfect last meal all together in Hawaii. After dinner we walked around the town and shopped.

Saturday- Our last day in the islands. BOOOO HOOOO! :0( We started off our day for a repeat breakfast at the Gazebo. We all had the exact thing as beofre, it was that good! Then we went back to the pool at the Ritz. After resting and swimming for a while Tyler and Lauren had to catch an early flight and the rest of us went to the Olivine Pools. They were gorgeous. You had to hike down a really steep, rocky path to the edge of the ocean to these sheltered little pools. There were 5 or 6 of them, varying depths, really clear with pretty little fish. Right on the other side of the pools was the ocean with huge angry looking waves. We stayed for a while trying all the pools and taking pics. We hated to leave but it was a fun, very Hawaiian, way to end the trip. We had dinner at Leilani's in Whaler's Village, and saw one more Hawaiian sunset and then were off to the airport.

ALOHA!