Marshmallows

Will is a HUGE fan of marshmallows.  If he goes to the commissary with me he is always begging me to buy a bag of marshmallows.  And once we get to the aisle that has the marshmallows he makes a bee line right to them, picks up a bag, and takes a big sniff!  I kid you not, he smashes the bag to his face to just smell them!!

So, many months (maybe a year) ago he asked if we could make homemade marshmallows.  I'm not sure why, but it just hadn't happened.  Until Sunday.  We had a day that we didn't even leave the house and Caroline didn't get out of her pj's until after supper!!  So when Will asked if we could make marshmallows I finally said yes.  He was thrilled!!

 He stuck with the process (which took a little longer than he wanted) and was amazed.  I had to make evaporated milk, then it had to boil for 15 minutes, then they had to set overnight.  I did let him lick the beater so he did have a taste.

 It was fascinating to watch the light brown milk/sugar mixture turn fluffy and white.

And fina;;y the next morning before breakfast he go to taste our final product!

 Then while he was at school I dipped about half in dark chocolate and rolled them in crushed graham crackers.  Talk about yummy!!

Thanks for the suggestion Will!  For our first attempt they turned out fantastic.  Love you Will!!

Odds and Ends with Granddaddy

Along with all the fun adventures we did we also just did the day-to-day stuff that we have each week.  

Here the boys are being super sweet to each other while watching a show or movie.  Lately their relationship has been a struggle and they haven't been allowed to play or sit near each other.  The separation has seemed to help as this week they have been good to each other.  Still some button pushing but not the violent fighting that was happening.

 Granddaddy had Eric all morning Friday since I went out with some girl friends.  They went for a big bike ride (Dad also helped do some maintenance on all our bikes!) looking for playgrounds (and stopping to play) along the way.  They even found their way to Popeyes for lunch!  Eric had a blast.

 Wednesday night dinner was at the Sunset Lanai at Camp HM Smith.  So glad Dad was here on a Wednesday so we could take him.

 While we were waiting on our food Justin was able to FaceTime us.  He's in S. Korea right now.

 Eric spends hours reading quietly to himself.  See all the books on the floor?  He's not the best at putting them away, but since he's entertaining himself I help him put them up.

 The picture below is of Shark's Cove where we went snorkeling.  There were a few people there!

 After Snorkeling we had fish tacos at Haleiwa Joes.  I didn't know I was in the picture.

 Granddaddy also got to go to 3 gymnastics classes!  I don't have any pictures from Eric's class but we did go.  Caroline and Will enjoyed showing off for him!

 Thursday afternoon Granddady helped E play flag football.

 We also went to the Wahiawa Botanical gardens.  We enjoyed walking around and learning more about some of the plants and trees we have in our neighborhood.  (Not that I can remember their names!)

 Standing on a bridge outside of the gardens.  Of course things were thrown off the bridge!

Here are some videos Dad took of the kids at gymnastics.

(I'm working on it!)

Hiking and sharks

Those 2 things are not related but are some of the activities that Dad participated in while here visiting.  First was a 6 mile hike that we did when all 3 kids were in school.  We got rained on a little but saw beautiful rugged mountains and valleys, old irrigation tunnels, and heard lots of singing birds.  It was a great walk/hike.
Then bright and early Sunday morning, Will and Dad went to the North Shore, got on a boat, went 3 miles off shore, and got in a cage to watch sharks swim around!!!

They both said it was amazing and was better than expected!

The sunrise leaving the boat harbor.

 Small groups allowed in the cage for certain amounts of time.

 Will also helped the crew out!

The water was crystal clear and very blue.  They saw about a dozen Galapagos sharks.

Now for the hike.  We went to the Waimano Tunnels.

Schofield barracks is on the far right in this pic.

 Lots of foliage to keep us dry.  But it was so humid we were sweating like crazy.

 One of the many tunnels.  We didn't go through any of them, took the path around.

 So sections had ropes to help get up or down the steep parts.  There were sheer drop-off right beside the trail at some parts too.

It was a great hike!  Thanks for so many adventures Dad!!!

Eric is a swimmer!

Eric has been making great strides in his swimming this summer.  With all the races I signed up to do, he has been at the pool several days a week playing in the water while I do my laps.  The pool doesn't have enough lifeguards to have group lessons this summer.  So I have Eric in a private lesson.  And wow is he flourishing!  He swam 50 meters without stopping Sunday.  And all told swam 200m before the lesson was over.  He can also do a flip turn and is working on his dolphin kick.  He told his instructor he wants to be on the swim team, so he's working hard towards that goal.  At the end of today's lesson he was able to go off the diving boards.  He went off the low and high boards twice.  It was his first time jumping off the high board!  That kid has no fear sometimes.

Keep it up Eric, and you'll make the swim team in no time!!

Everybody's goin' surfing

Wednesday morning Dad, Eric, and I went to Barber's Point.  I had signed Dad up for a surf lesson.  The other 2 people that had signed up didn't show so he had a private lesson!  It was a beautiful morning with an increase in wave activity due to the now dissipated hurricane.  Dad did great and was able to stand on his second try.  Eric and I played in the waves and cheered granddaddy on when he caught a wave.

Heading out

That's Diamond Head in the background.

Paddle paddle

The first video is the first wave he caught.  Almost got all the way up!

Second try he made it up!  He had some better looking rides but I was in the water with Eric by that time.

Way to go Dad!!

Adventures with Granddaddy!

Granddaddy arrived Friday at lunch time.  After landing the plane sat on the tarmac for over an hour before finally pulling into the gate.  We waited for the luggage to be unloaded and by the time we were leaving for home we were late for school pick up!  I let the other moms in the carpool know and they did my route.  We enjoyed a fun afternoon of unpacking and playing with all the treasures Gdad  brought!  We walked to a newly opened playground and just had a great afternoon.

Saturday morning we got up and out of the house pretty early.  I had the last of my series of races.  A 2.3 mile ocean swim!!  

I swam from Pipeline to Waimea Bay.  It was a beautiful swim, I felt great, and had people that I swam near the whole race.  I had a goal time of 1:15 and was able to finish in 1:08.  So I was very pleased!!

This was right after I finished.  And yes the kids are really that tall!!

 The conditions could not have been better.  The water was super flat and crystal clear.  We ended up spending 8 hours on the beach Saturday!!  We were all beat!

While I was racing Dad took the kids on an adventure swim.  They put on their snorkels (even Eric can snorkel!!) and went exploring all around the rocks.  They were treated to 6 sea turtles, a school of fish, an eel, and thousands of fish.

 At the end of a day playing hard at the beach, laying in the sand with your eyes closed is just the thing.

 Baby doll clothes galore!  She has been busy busy dressing all her dolls and stuffed animals.

5th and finally swim in the series.

Walking back to the beach after getting some post-race food.

 Then Sunday there were more adventures to be had!  We went to church, then came home to wait out the rain.  Dad worked on a few small projects (didn't even get bloody!) and then we had lunch.  Despite the clouds and threatening rain we headed to go hike the Kolekole pass (a hike that's on post).

It wasn't rainy for our hike and after a little bit of complaining at the beginning the kids settled right into the hike.  Even getting tough and making it through the more difficult parts of the hike.

Miles and Will led the way!

 This part is very steep and windy.

 Will spotted this fun creature on our way back to the car.  He has 3 horns and we watched him walk up the tree trunk.  So fun!

 Our shade tent broke Saturday so Dad and Will took off the 3 good legs (to have as replacement parts) and then Will took out some frustration on the frame.

 The views on our hike are just stunning.  Dad and Will are in the picture below.

 Another view of the steep part.

Dad took some pictures with the GoPro when they were on their snorkel adventure.

school of fish

My newest snorkeler!  He does great and is really comfortable just hanging out.

Grandaddy's time here has started off with a bang!  We'll see how many more adventures we can get into this week!!