Food trucks

Last night we ate at a food truck in Haleiwa. This little town on the north shore is Justin's favorite.  There are TONS of food trucks in HI. This time we had Thai. It wasn't the best but wasn't bad. 

Sorry it's blurry, I apparently can't take a good picture while walking!

When you come visit we'll take you to eat at a food truck!  So fancy. 

Swim team (videos added!)

Caroline has joined the Schofield Sharks swim team.  She is still in the developmental group until she gets the hang of all 4 strokes and all the flip turns.  At her level they want a minimum of 3 days a week for practice.  She is doing great and LOVES it.  NO surprise there at all!
While she is swimming the boys and I enjoy the kiddie pool.  The rest of the big pool is filled with swim lessons and water aerobics.

Caroline is waiting for practice to start, Will is aggravating Eric and I didn't swim yesterday because it was raining and I really just didn't feel like it!

With the rain yesterday and swim lessons over, we were the on;y ones there!

water baby!

He loves the water too and he was dancing in this picture.

The glide part of her breast stroke.  

Not the best form for her kicking part of breast stoke (Susan understands!!)

The rain moved out and the sun came out where we were up at HMR.  The clouds on the mountains were amazing!

The sun was setting on the back side.

At the intersection to either go to the North Shore or back to Schofield.  You see the above picture to the left and this to your right.  So neat to see the mountains and the sea in the same view.

Here are a few videos I took of Eric putting his head under.  He isn't a fan of even getting his hair washed and to be honest I really don't even try to wash his hair very often.  He doesn't like the water in his ears!  But he is getting better and on his own decided he was going to go "shark diving" and put his head under the water.  All the time at the pool is making him very comfortable in the water.

Another day, another gorgeous beach

After breakfast I put dinner in the crockpot and packed a picnic lunch. Then we drove to the north shore and went to a beach called 3 Tables. Justin and the bigs went snorkeling, Eric and I played in the sand then we had lunch. Then Eric and Caroline floated with me while I snorkeled. There were so many cool fish to look at and colorful coral. So awesome!  Then when I was coming back in a saw Justin talking to a person that looked familiar. Turns out it was one if our neighbors from Fort Polk!  They just moved here from Germany and live just down the highway from us. I haven't seen her since Will was a newborn baby!!  Such a small world.

Then we came home rinsed the toys and got showers. I had Girl Scout leader training from 4-8 tonight so Justin fed and put the kids to bed. 

Tomorrow we will stay close to home as I have Sunday school training and Eric really needs a nap. 

Miles is home!

My Mom and Pete have been so kind in letting Miles stay with them the last few weeks. Mom (and Karen) got up super early Monday morning and took Miles to the airport so he could make the trip to HI. He travelled fine and was happy to see us!  And the kids were thrilled to have him back too!

Thanks for watching our sweet boy!!

Leaving the airport, with one happy boy and his dog!

A hug before getting in the bath.

All my kids before school Tuesday morning.

Spartan race

Saturday we went over to the other side of the island to participate in the first Spartan race in HI.  The road to get there is only 2 lanes and with over 6,000 participants expected throughout the day there was plenty of traffic!  We parked, loaded up the stroller (towels,extra clothes and shoes, snacks, and water), put on sunscreen, and walked over a mile to the race area.  It wasn't a flat walk.  We walked up and around the side of a mountain.  The walk had beautiful views of the ocean.

They ran in the kids race.

See what I mean?  Beautiful view while walking.

Finish line in the row of tents to the left, kids area to the right beside the red bull tent, and the race course hidden by the trees at the base of the mountain.

one of the many obstacles

Justin and his Marine buddy from KS, Luke

The rope climb obstacle in the distance, kids race course in front, and the teal truck is a food truck.

Will finishing

Caroline finishing

finishers medals!!

Justin jumping the fire!

And DONE!!

More of the view on the walk

Fun but long and tiring day.  Then to cap it off we went to a cookout with some other Majors that Justin works with.  What a fun day!!

A little more

Here are a few more pictures of the outside of our house. Not too terribly much going on since last week. Getting used to new routines and I'm still doing a little organizing. I had 2 meeting at school last week so now Caroline has her computer to bring home.  I have adjusted nap time so Eric can still get a nap and I can leave the house in time to walk and pick the bigs up at 2:10. Bed time has been adjusted as well so now lights out is 7:30 so they can get up at around 6:30-6:40.  Homework time right after school so then they gave time to play with friends before clean up, chore time, pack lunches, dinner and showers.

We did have some fun last weekend and had some friends over for dinner Saturday. Then Sunday we went to see the movie Planes. All of us enjoyed it!

Looking down our street.  It is a one-way street.  Our house is the green one on the right.

The back of our house.  I'm standing in the alley.  The basketball goal is ours.  I put most of it together and then needed Justin's help to finish it.  Then it took over 2 hours to put sand in the base!  Why?  It was wet clumpy sand that didn't pour.  So not fun!!

Our patio

All our bikes are hanging under the tarp.  With no garage or carport I wanted them out of the sun and rain.  I need your help though.  How do I keep them covered but provide easy access for the kids to get them out?

Will pretending the branch he found was an umbrella!

Half a box

Alternate title: I done broke all my nails!

A week after delivering our stuff I have half a box left to unpack!! I am t-u-r-d tired. Everything aches. My feet are the worst. Why just half a box?  I don't have the bathroom cabinets organized enough yet to finish putting away the rest if the stuff. Our bedroom was the last to get un-boxed and it still needs lots of organizing. We had a huge closet in KS and now have one about an eighth of that size. Still figuring out how to fit everything that I want to have in my room closet and how to store all my winter clothes. We haven't hung pictures yet and to be honest haven't even thought about where I want them to go. The kids rooms, the laundry room, the storage room, kitchen, pantry, and living room are done. The end is near!!

The picture is of our living room. Justin and I moved the couch to 3 spots before settling on the spot it's in!  We don't watch lots of tv so we decided not to include it in our couch placement planning. The tv is in a corner cabinet just to the left in the picture, if you were wondering. 

School time

School started yesterday!  And so far so good. Caroline is doing a blended learning class. She will be in school 2.5 days and home doing work the other 2.5 days. Almost all of get work will be done online. She gets a loaner Mac book air to use this year!

Will has the toughest 1st grade teacher in the school. There are about 6 teachers in each grade with between 25-30 kids per class. I'm perfectly happy with Wills teacher. He came home yesterday saying the teacher yelled at him all day. I asked if he was listening. He didn't answer!  I told him if he did what he was told then he wouldn't get yelled at. Today he had a better day!  A teacher that pushes him and doesn't take any crap is JUST what he needs. Mrs. Putzulu is a short, grandmotherly, Hawaiian. She sent home a packet of homework on the first day of school that's due Friday. She also sent home the spelling list with a test for Thursday. 

Here's to a great school year!!

Will was pretty nervous before school. He didn't want his picture taken. But some giggling on Caroline's part and me saying things like more pouting made him break out the goofy pose!

The big day!

Six weeks ago Justin and I watched the movers load all our belongings into 14 crates. Today we watch as they unload them!  5 out of 14 are here and being unloaded. The others are on their way. Now the real excitement can begin unpacking!!!

So glad to be done with the borrowed furniture that's covered in plastic!