Waterfall Fun

We took a beautiful walk up to the falls at Waimea the other day.  Beautiful day, beautiful flowers, trees, wildlife and of course, falls.

This guy was sure pretty but very misbehaved!  We saw him snatch a cheeseburger from a diner - happy to report she screamed just like I would have when he did it.

Messing with the camera, same shot at different speeds to get different effects.  

Happy day (cold water).  This is as far as she got in!

Feeling Better Enough to Climb Trees!

We tried to have one kind of busy week, and ended up having a busy week in another way!  We started with Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Betty flying in and a beautiful sunset drive on the beach...

Then we took an unfortunate stomach bug turn and poor Em just couldn't shake it.  She and I spent some time at our old local favorite spot (Tripler), and slowly but surely we are heading back to normal.

Somewhere in all that we managed a little fun and even an excursion to swim with the sharks!  Not dolphins this time, Grandpa, Olivia and David decided that was for wimps - they went straight for the shark cage!  That was the day I was at Tripler so I didn't get to see it for myself but they took some photos with an underwater camera for proof (and they brought home the t-shirt)! 

Time for Daddy to head out again so we went to wave him off (and climb some trees)

Oh, she lost ANOTHER tooth!  Poor kid looks like a West Virginian!

1st Days of Summer!

Here she comes!  I have to admit as exciting as it is to be getting Daddy home, the large grey hull going in/out of the channel photos are starting to bore me.  Not much changes.  And for a new professional like me - well, I like a challenge.  :)

 I found the kiddos much more fun to shoot, and must admit we had quite a group of cuties excited to see their Dads.

She really was one of them, you just wouldn't know it by this photo.  Think she has sat around in the hot sun a time or two to wave at the ship only to be told she wouldn't actually see him for 3-4 more hours?  Um, yeah.  She's catching on.

Shhhh, she doesn't know any of this yet!

This little guy is trying to figure out how to push his bruddah in the waddah!

Now this was more exciting!  A real live baby that wiggles and everything.  

A little wildlife is fun too.  

Speaking of...I found a gecko egg in my carport this morning so I brought it in to show the girls.  I was thinking we could put it in a jar to see if it would hatch - no clue really about what conditions it takes to hatch a gecko, but it was worth a shot.  As I was showing them, the egg popped in my hand, I screamed and dropped it and a few seconds later we were the proud owners of a baby gecko!  

Olivia says the best part was my freaking out.  She's probably right...just before it hatched I had a moment of panic that "what if it wasn't a gecko egg, but a spider egg and 300 little creepy crawlies were about to scatter about in my house"  Emily is not the only one with a flare for the dramatic!

Miscellaneous End of Year Fun

The school year is winding down so we are full of end of year celebrations.  

Emily FINALLY got to be Star of the Week last week (since her birthday falls during a holiday week).  She made her "about me" poster, got to be line leader and bring a show and tell every day.  It was glorious to be in the spotlight (for a change) and she was sad when it ended.  Even sadder when she got the memo that it wouldn't end with a flourish.  She wanted me to host a party in school on the last day of her stardom :|

The Hickam Hurricanes are also close to the end of another not so winning season.  To their credit, they seem to have a good time.  Pool party to follow

Em is a little sad about school ending but it means more time with her peeps in the hood.  Meilin had a birthday party and the kiddos went pottery painting!

Serious hair, serious business.

Last Friday was the last Friday of school. Not the last DAY of school but it was worth a celebration anyway.  Every day is a good day for ice cream right?

Thankfully we are also winding down the time till daddy gets home.  It hasn't been long by Navy standards but it's certainly long by child standards.  Shortly after that, the Grandparents are coming!!  Lots to look forward to.

Hope you are enjoying a wonderful Memorial Day.  We are hanging with pals, cooking burgers.  Take a moment to reflect and remember; some gave all!