Luke and Ryan had a great time getting thrown around in the waves. Gina was quick enough to capture this on the camera. It totally cracks me up.
She then got the aftermath of that wave after it crashed over Luke.
He is in there some where!!!! Both guys got totally smashed that day but had enough fun that they kept going right back in the waves. We were good wives and took pictures of their fun and the beautiful scenery.
One of the days we split up and the girls went to the Sealife park and the guys got ROASTED while playing in the ocean.
We decided to do the Royal Swim encounter with the dolphins. I wasn’t to sure I actually wanted to get in the water with a BIG fish but decided I would mostly for the sake of saying I had and to show Micali pictures of her mom with a dolphin. With the Royal Swim encounter we were able to cradle the dolphin in our arms, give it a kiss, then do a double fin swim and a foot push. The two rides with the dolpins were kind of scary because as the dolphins were coming up behind you it was impossible to know where they were and they just snuck right up. The dolphin I kissed was in the movie 50 First Dates and part of that was filmed here.
We also were able to see a couple dolphin shows while we were there. It really was quite impressive to see how well trained they were.
This part of the island was so pretty. The background of the dolphin show was just breathtaking. The beautiful color of the water and all the green.
This night was quite eventful. We traveled all day to finally make it to Hawaii. We arrived to wonderfully warm weather, met up with Ryan and Gina and got our UGLY gold convertible. I wish we had a picture of all four of us in the car with the top down and luggage stacked on top of us. We checked into our house and decided to go get a bite to eat. The first restaurant we tried was closed but the people that were eating outside told us we should go home and watch the news. We just thought they were making fun of us for some reason. We found another place close and ordered our food. She ended up bringing us our ticket before we even got our food and told us they were closing because of the Tsunami warning. We quickly ate our food and did go home to watch the news. People started calling to make sure we had heard about it and to check in on us. Our nice landlady reassured us that everything would be just fine. Then the fire truck went by with his sirens blaring and saying on the loud speaker to “EVACUATE TO HIGHER GROUND. YOU ARE NOT SAFE IN YOUR HOME.” We decided to head over to the grocery store for some breakfast food since all we had was our water bottle and protein bars plus a few snacks from the plane.
The grocery store was CRAZY busy and the check out line was wrapped around the store. We decided to forget it and that if we were still there in the morning we would find something to eat then. This was around 10 and the Tsunami was suppose to hit at 3 in the morning. We continued watching the news and although our trusty landlord Nestor was sleeping soundly in bed and promised to bring out the ladder to help us get on the roof if things got bad by about 1:00 we decided we should trust the warning sirens and head for higher ground. The road was just packed with people on both sides. We camped in our car and got hardly any sleep. Four people in a little Mustang made our sleeping arrangements more like a steamy sauna.
We listened to the radio and found out by about 3:30 that not much had happened and thought then we would be headed home soon for some nice sleep. Well the road ended up being closed until 8:30 in the morning just to be on the safe side. We finally made it home about 8:45. We decided not to sleep our first day in Hawaii. That would be quite the waste. So we went to find breakfast and the rest of our adventures started! Although we were a little zombieish we still had a great day!
The kids love helping me sort the clothes. I wash all the clothes in one day and then at night the kids help me put them in piles. After they go to bed I fold them neatly. In my opinion it works better that way. Micali asks me why I messed up her perfect piles.
Eli was playing the ipad and just couldn’t stay awake any longer.
I think she liked her first experience with spaghetti sauce.
I gave her the bowl and she just put it right up to her mouth and hoped it would fall into her mouth.
Abigail got everyone up way to early this day. I was hopeful that we could still skip naps and go to bed early---not so.
An impromtu picnic/slumber party they set this up all by themselves and even helped themselves to the Pringles. I love it when they play so nicely together.
Somehow a random card showed up in our collection of things. It is just a little pink card with two birds on it. The outside says, “Just in case I haven’t told you yet today…..” Then you open it up it says, “I love you.” This card has been around for A LONG TIME. At least 5 of the 7 years of our marriage it has found its way into our day, week or month depending on how long it takes us to find it.
Neither of us are quite sure when it started but we like to hide it for each other to find. When we happen up on the card it always brings a smile to our face. I have tucked it in Luke’s lunch bag, backpack, shoes, and coat pocket. I recently found it in the medicine cabinet and on top of the blender I use to make our smoothies each morning.
Sadly it was “LOST” the longest when Luke hid it in the case that holds my weights I use for my workout videos. He had asked me several times if I had found it but I couldn’t think of a place he would have put them that I hadn’t been to.
Just tonight I was going to take a picture of this special little card and it has moved out of the spot Luke last discovered it so I am on the hunt for it once again.
It really isn’t a big deal but it has been a fun game that continues to brighten our day when it is discovered.
Lucky me, I opened the dishwasher and found the card so I could take a picture of it…..
My sweet little girls aren’t waiting until spirit week in Elementary school to have crazy hair days. I have the hardest time keep their hair under control. Even when I spend time curling Micali’s hair and put hairspray in it, it is really hard to tell. Her hair is so fine I don’t want to have it constantly pulled back in a tight ponytail because it breaks off. So most days you see Micali her hair looks OUT OF CONTROL. It is kind of her signature trade mark. Actually come to think of it---when we take Luke lunch during the day and we see the older girls at the high school---she might just fit right in!
About two weeks ago I had a busy day and didn’t get Eli down for a nap. He did really well through the evening but was ready to crash by 7:00. Since then I have decided it is nice having him go to sleep so early so I have for the most part just stopped giving him naps.
Occasionally he looks like this:
But will say “I not tired, I want to stay awake”
He then gives up trying and ends up looking like this”
As soon as this picture was taken I did lay him down and let him sleep for awhile. He obviously needed a little pick me up.
Today it looked like this:
Really he does do pretty good most days without a nap. This afternoon since he was up before six he just couldn’t quite make it through quiet time.
Micali visited with the Doctor on Monday and he talked to her about how important it was for her to stop sucking her thumb so the bones in her face and jaw didn’t change their shape. She gave him a high-five promise and was again determined to NEVER suck her thumb again. It only lasted a couple hours. We have tried lots of things and when I told the Doctor all the things we have tried he said, “Wow, I don’t have any other ideas for you!” Luke had the idea of putting food coloring in the “THUM” polish that you can buy at a pharmacy. Micali was excited to have pink fingers and it worked great for two nights. Then she realized that pink didn’t change the taste at all and she could still just suck it off. Her thumb was in her mouth this morning when she woke up much to my dismay. Hopefully we can figure it out soon, kindergarten is only 6 months away!!!
