The end of the month

I am happy that the end of August is here, but sad that it meant that Robert was leaving again.
We had a very busy day getting all the last minute things done for his trip to the airport.
The girls are on an early out schedule because of teacher conferences this week, so that worked in our favor.
We got the girls early and Robert was in his uniform. That triggered the worst crying fest for the girls. They knew that meant he was leaving. We took him straight to the airport from school and it was really hard to let him leave. He was sad to be leaving. Our 2 weeks wasn't eventful, but it was time together and they were really needing that and to have it be over so fast was hard.

We had a fun beach day, ate shaved ice, did Teddy's burger, had pineapple ice cream at the Dole Plantation and did all the daily events that make up our regular grind.
It was nice to have him there doing projects for school, helping with the homework spelling tests and just having someone to hang out with.
We are very lucky that the end is in sight. He SHOULD be home for Halloween!
That is great news for the girls because we were counting down to Christmas.
To have him home for Halloween and Thanksgiving.....WOW!
Pray for his safe travels and safe return!
We really need this tour to over soon!

Lighthouse Hike

We finally got to show Robert our favorite hike. It is an easy hike up to the top of a cliff to look out at a lighthouse and some of the other islands. It is where we go whale watching in the winter.
After our hike we headed to Teddy's for some awesome burgers.
Robert was very excited because our girls ALL decided to eat a burger for the first time ever!
They have always had the corny dog and for daddy they went BURGERS all the way!
We got to hike a little higher and show him our BUNKERS!
Cannon was happy to lead her dad down the hill to safety!

This is one of the best views on the island. Just pure heaven and a beautiful horizon.

Thorin turns 9

Thorin got the very best birthday present ever. Her daddy came home for his 2 week vacation on her birthday.
She had not had a very good day until that point because she had been under an allergy attack and we postponed her birthday cake and adventure day until she felt better.
SO, the cake happened a week later. I went to a big trouble to get the cake pans and supplies to make this crazy lopsided cake and when it came out she said it is a little crooked!
I told her that was on purpose....she then covered her bad comment and said it was the coolest cake ever!
It really was cool when she cut into the top layer and the inside was PURPLE AND GREEN!
She was happy to have her favorite colors inside.
She was so happy!
The cake was 3 separate cakes (3 boxes!)
The top was 6 inches, middle was 8 inches and the bottom was 10 inches.
It was a HUGE cake!
I donated the middle layer to a teacher appreciation event and there was still too much cake!

The Bishop's renovated Hall

The second part of our Bishop day adventure was spent in the newly renovated Bishop Hall.
There was a giant hut, a full sized whale and some really cool Hawaiian artifacts.

This little guy was a little creepy. The write-up about this little statue says he was taken from his original place and placed in the HALL, but at the time of the renovation he refused to be moved. They left him in his original spot.

The Hawaiian believe that the earth and rocks have spirits and they CHOOSE if they want to move. If you move a rock that didn't want to leave, it will haunt you with bad luck!

SPOOOOOOKY!

I told the girls NOT to touch that little guy!

Bug fun at the Bishop

Well, daddy finally arrived for his R&R holiday and we were starting to think it would never happen. After a very rocky start to our 2 week adventures we finally had a moment to do some fun things. This was Thorin's birthday activity. She wanted to see the giant bugs! We almost lost Robert to a giant caterpiller...or as Cannon still calls it "calapitter"
That is one word I think is too cute to correct!
Her other word is Chickamonk (instead of chipmunk).
The girls saved their daddy and he got to have many more adventures!

First Day of School

The schools in Hawaii started in early August and the girls got some really awesome teachers. They are very dedicated to getting the girls many challenges and push them to do their best.
Cannon didn't start until August 12th so her first day photo wasn't until weeks later.
She looked very cute too.

DOG DAZES

We had a very fun time at the DOGGIE day party.
The girls were in heaven with all the furry things to love on.
We even adopted a little puppy for our event photo.
He was a little squirmy thing and very energetic.
I really was glad to see the girls laugh at all the cute dogs in the contests.
We were glad to get our doggie craving out of our system.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me.....!!!

Ok, it just so happened that the CURSE of the final exam fell on the day before my birthday.
As in true form...I had a very UNLUCKY day.
My first final exam....MISSED it because of flood waters in Wahiawa. There were NO floods or ill effects in downtown and my instructor ALMOST didn't believe me (until he checked the weather website).....(YES HE CHECKED IT!!)....we had 12 inches of rain in an hour.

I was allowed to do my final speech in a cubicle.
The next set of finals, same stuff. The computer got a virus and I was frantically printing my final on a substandard printer and emailing it to him just in case it was NOT good enough.

SO, it was finals day....I was doing great. I was out the door early, paper was LONGer than expected and the final was something we could NOT study for....we just had to know it.
I think I was knew most of what the class was about.

SO, there I was in traffic, STOPPED completely in the bumper to bumper gridlock from several wrecks when BAM!!!!
I was hit from behind. WHERE did he come from to get enough speed to actually LOCK MY SEATBEAT and throw be forward???
I was COMPLETELY stopped in traffic...no place to go and for sure no place to go FAST???
SO, I have a very nice license plate impression in my bumper....was LATE to the final (timed of course).
I am extremely worried about the final results of my grade....and NOW my car!
So,..what was going to be a great day to wake up to...I am grateful to be waking up, but not as relieved as I would have been had I NOT been hit!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

PHOTO SHOOT DAY

Photo shoot day finally came. We have been so busy this summer and most of the photo shoots were on location. Since the duet costume was a late arrival, I made time for the inside photo shoot. They dressed in a new outfit and costumes and we had a long photo event. Cannon was the ham as usual, Sorenna was very superstar and Thorin was the mature, calm lady.


They had fun in their new dresses looking girly.

Cannon TRYING to smile big, but still not looking at the camera. She simply refuses to look at me any more. The camera not her friend so we have to make her look on accident!

The girls looked so pretty in the duet costumes. They danced to "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus. It was a very nice song.

Sorenna has really grown a lot since we moved to Hawaii. She has lots of fun and has a great personality. If she could quit losing teeth!!! She is currently missing FOUR front teeth and one more is loose!

Thorin is very mature and patient with her friends and classmates. She has maxed out all her tests and continues to grow more mature. I can't believe she is almost taller than me.

My little Cannon is a ham for love. She loves to snuggle and hug. She is no bigger than most 3 year olds and is the cutest little girl.

When I see her dance, run, sit cross-leg or jumping and playing I say a little prayer of thanks for her beautiful legs and spirit! What a little miracle of God's beautiful work.

Dance show

We had a really fun dance show and the girls were little stars! Cannon loves to dance! She finds dance shoes and does some really cool moves all over the house. In fact, she found my pointe shoes and and decided to do some ballet!

The dance show was an American patriotic event. They all did an American flag-waving song for their dance number. Cannon was all decked out in a flag inspired dress Thorin and Sorenna had 2 pieces. They did a duet and the number with the class. They were very beautiful.

Swim lessons

Our swim lessons this summer started out really well. The girls jumped right in a took to the water. Cannon, the girl who left fingernail marks in last year's instructor, was going underwater and actually DOING something. They all walked away from the 2 weeks with a love for the water. Thorin got to do high dive jumps, Sorenna and Cannon both did surfboard lessons and all three had a great summer!

Hanauma Bay night beach fun

Who would have thought that the beach at night with kids would be fun AND stressful?
We went with our FRG friends to the natural preserves bay near the tip of the island. It was a great water adventure until it got DARK!
We had several little kids and in the dark they all look the same! SO, as you can imagine I was in panic mode because when it was daylight Cannon and Sorenna were getting almost pulled in!
We stayed a short time after the sun went down and headed home for a much needed rest.
The time we were there was really fun and the photos were super cool in the dark.

Kolekole pass hike

We had a great hike up the mountain to see the sunset. Unfortunately, the sun was at a different setting point than when my friend went the first time and it was behind a mountain. We still saw a beautiful ocean landscape, ate some snacks and waited for the sun to set behind the mountains.
It was awesome!

Weenie Mobile comes to Hawaii

IT CAME TO HAWAII!
This was a first for Hawaii and a first for all of the girls (me included!). I had always seen the giant weenie traveling down the road and wondered where they were always going. I was so excited when we saw that the the hot dog was coming to our post....right to our front door (practically!)
The girls were so excited to see the inside. IT was really cool. The dashboard was a hot dog, the floor was ketchup with mustard, the seats were awesome and the ceiling was the sky!
Check out the photos.

This is the weenie DUDE....they are college students who apply to be in charge of the hot dog. There haven't been that many people who have been on the team.

The girls were even allowed to dress up like HOT DOGS!
It was a cute hot dog photo....I wish I could have been a giant weenie too! These are the tastiest hot dogs I have ever seen!