I just love poloroids!

Here is a blast from the past! These are the crazy cousins and my sister (and me of course).

Can you find me??I think these were Christmas photos with my Great aunt & uncle and grand parents. PLAID WAS IN!

Camp Erdman Day 3

Our last day was spent at the ALPINE TOWER again. This time they had a giant swing wired from a pole and the top of the tower. We all got into a harness and then clicked into the rope that would hold us when we dropped from 45 feet in the air. Cannon was not big enough, so she was the keeper of the keys.

We straped the harnesses on, climbed up a ladder to be attached to the rope and wire. We were handed a rope to hold while they pulled us up and at the count of 3 we were to let go of the rope and we would drop and start swinging back and forth. The girls did great and did the free-fall very easily, but for some reason my rope started to spin in a wide circle around the crowd below. Then if that wasn't enough, the rope started tangling into circles too. So I was spinning on the wire while to rope was going in circles too. It was a little much but I loved the thrill.

This is CAMP DOG "Cosmo". The girls loved this dog. He was the calmest, sweetest dog I have ever been around. He was so funny at the swing. He ran in circle trying to catch the swing enough though it was 15 feet off the ground.
This was our last moment on the beach and the girls were not ready to leave.

Sorenna started to get sad that she had not said goodbye to Paulo. We went on a search for Paulo to be sure the weekend ended on a happy note. Here is Paulo after the kid camp face painting.

Camp ERDMAN Day 2

Well, here we are Saturday morning ready to get started on the fun!

There were 9 kids in our cabin and 3 moms with husbands deployed and we all had a great night. My girls did activities while I was doing a crazy ropes course. Thorin went to a military "speak out" to tell what it is like to be a military kid. Thorin made a video to tell it like it is, the good, the bad and ugly! Sorenna and Cannon went to build sand castles and loved being at the beach...FINALLY!

CRAZY obstacle course! In the process of learning teamwork, we also learned that ropes shift and our ropes took us crashing into a wooden platform. One girl went to the hospital and I went to the TOP rope course to finish the obstacles. My leg is a little banged up, but didn't slow me down a bit.

After that fun I met up with the girls at the craft center and we geared up for our next event together.

We had a great cabin with a cute porch and a great breeze. We took a small break and then headed to the ALPINE TOWER. This is a huge climbing adventure. It is 45 feet high at least. I was so impressed with my girls. Sorenna made it about 2/3 up the tower. Thorin was AWESOME. She made it all the way up the tower and yelled down how beautiful it was up there.

That little spot on top of the tower is Thorin!

I went up this crazy thing too. I hurt my leg a little more, but I had to see what Thorin was talking about.

After tackling the tower we headed out for a hike. It was suppose to be 20 people, but we were the only ones who showed up. We had the VIP tour. IT was a very rocky hike, but Cannon was a trooper. She fell a few times and just dusted off and kept climbing. She made it through the spiders, ants, high cliffs and avoided the wild turkey too.

The view was really beautiful. We got a group photo at the top. The grass was really tall and thick, but my girls had a great time.

At the end of the day....we rested so we could gear up for the CAMPFIRE! That was something I had not done in forever! I didn't realize how much I LOVE FIRE! I really loved the skits, songs, warmth and bonding. I always loved having a campfire when I was a girl scout and my girls have never been camping or near a huge fire. They loved it. We are still singing campfire songs 4 days later. This was the best experience as a family. We really needed this after all the busy months we have had. It was wonderful. We really missed Robert, but the girls needed to just have some fun kid time.

Camp ERDMAN Day 1

We arrived at Camp Erdman on Friday after a week of thinking we would have to cancel our weekend. I was so happy to be out of the house!

Camp Erdman is a YMCA camp. They have kid camps and family camps. This weekend was special. It was a funded weekend for military families whose family member is deployed or recently returned. These were ALL military families. We had to send in an application to be accepted and we got in for the Memorial Day weekend. It was the first time we had not planned anything on a weekend in months. I was so glad to get in and give my girls a fun experience.

We arrived to get our welcome packet and take a family photo. We checked into our cabin and set up our beds then went to the common dining area to play games and get ready for dinner. The girls played in a gazebo on the way down the path so I shot a few photos to start our adventures.

Cannon was in her girlie diva pose and all the girls were ready for fun.

After dinner we were allowed to sign up for all the adventures we could fit into the next 2 days and we signed up for everything.

While I was off signing our weekend away, the girls were challenging the staff to many board games of choice.

Here piggy piggy piggy!!!

Our last few weeks have been a roller coaster of crazy! I thought I would explain all the fun we have had, but thought I would throw in drama first.
Much like the spring break fiasco....we were taken out of the fun again.
The last weekend of spring break, the one we had built up for....we were going to the beach with our FRG group. Cannon got sick on the floor and I ended up bleaching the entire house and the floors.
Well, we were set to go to the beach again. We were in charge of the coolers and snacks....ready to go, we all woke up early to get ready. Sorenna woke up coughing. Her temperature was 102.8. OUCH!
So, cancel another beach trip. We live on an island and have not touched the ocean since OCTOBER 2008.
Ok, so we are home all day with coughing fever girl. Later that night she woke up talking about the "people coming to get her" and the "playground that she can't climb"????
She was hallucinating!!! I rushed her to the ER with 104.8 fever after a cold bath. I was scared that something was crazy in her body and her fever was still going up.
We got to the hospital, had a blood test, urine test, Xrays, and still nothing.
THEN the nose swab (to test for the flu) and the IV fluids.
So we arrived home Sunday morning in time to send my friend to church. Sorenna BROKE the crazy fever on Sunday night.
WE were quarantined until Thursday morning waiting to hear if we were case #22 on the island for the swine flu!
That was NUTS! People were scared to talk to me outside.....they just KNEW I was going to kill them. We felt like we had an incurable disease.
So, we survived another FLU in the family. It was the regular version and the doctor said the reason hers was so short and powerful was because she had her shot. Many of the kids were sick for weeks (like Thorin when she was 2), and some were close to death. I am SO happy we had our shots!

MAY DAY "Lei Day" festival

The first Lei Day was held on May 1, 1928, and everyone in Honolulu was encouraged to wear lei. Festivities were held downtown with hula, music, lei making demonstrations and exhibits and lei making contests.

Many celebrations are held at local schools. Elementary schools hold celebrations crowning Lei Day kings, queens and princesses.

These are some photos from our May Day festival. The school did the traditional crowning ceremony because it was its 50th year celebration. The girls spent weeks practicing for the performance. It was really interesting to see a traditional Hawaiian event and my girls learned songs and hula dances for the event. Thorin knew the story her hula dance was explaining and it made sense.

The teachers got out and did a hula dance and it was really awesome to watch. The guys worked really hard to get a masculine hula dance perfected. I LOVE HAWAII!

This was the May Day court. They all looked so wonderful in the royal attire. I hope to get a video of the day when it airs on the local station. Will send a link if I get it.

ROBOT CAMP

As you can see from Thorin's face, she was super happy about being picked for Robot camp.
The three-day after school camp was sponsored by a local school and was started to stir up interest in science.

The program was FREE, but by invitation only. It was intended for 4th &5th graders, but the principal got permission to add two 3rd graders who were above average students. Thorin was one of those kids.

I loved that she got to do something special. Her sisters were sad that they were not included, but it was a great opportunity for her to be around kids on her own level.

When she came home she explained the concept, but the programing details went right over my head. I have never been a science (robot) person. I am so glad she loved it so much. Her daddy would have been so excited and proud.

She was totally thrilled when her robot worked and squealed about how easy the programing part was for her. YIPPEE..it worked! LOVE THAT!

BLOG HAPPY! (11 blogs in one night!!)

Finals are FINALLY over and I had a moment to blog what I managed to squeeze in while going to school and volunteering and having a bit of fun myself. I even managed to get a haircut!!!!

Check out the MONTH worth of adventures...they go all the way back to the PASSION week adventure.

I really was too busy to upload photos! Hope you enjoy catching up with us....I had fun telling the stories! I did the 11 blogs for the month all in one night!

Talent Show & MOVIE star bookfair

Our school had a talent show and the girls were in it. Sorenna was a hip-hop dancer and Thorin sang a beautiful song. The talent show was suppose to be the finale to the grand opening of the bookfair. There were backdrops, dress-up diva stations and games.

The girls had tons of fun dressing up and posing. Sorenna is a SUPER star for sure!

Then they performed to a huge crowd and had a blast. They did a great job and had fun.

They all looked really GLAM!