July 10th: National Cow Appreciation Day

In honor of National Cow Appreciation Day (brought to you by Chick-fil-a) there was this fantastic opportunity to get free food. All you had to do was dress like a cow.  Here's my little cow Tate:

I talked some of my family into going with me for lunch. What a lovely herd, eh?

There is an awesome pool near our house that does a free swim every Friday night from 6-8, so for date night we went with some friends to the free swim, and then came over to our house and got ready to go to Chick-fil-a for dinner. Note the udder on Mike (in the middle) haha. 

I loved it. And then I went to 7-11 the next morning and got a free slurpee. (They give away free ones on 7.11) Last weekend kind of reminded me of when I was at EA and my room mates and I would basically go anywhere or do anything for a free meal. We would have been all over this Cow appreciation day!  I hate to admit it, but it was a little fun being back in that groove.

 

Do you love Chick-fil-a?(See my poll) They always seem to have some pretty fun stuff. Chris went yesterday and said that this week is customer appreciation week, and when you dine in they actually seat you at a table, (complete with tablecloth) take your order, etc. Clever. Delicious. 

The Great Hawaiian Adventure

I don't really know what to say about the Great Hawaiian adventure. I will start with my absolute favorite picture of the whole trip. This is my Sister Ami and Tate. I just love the composition of this picture. This beach was so beautiful. This quite possibly could be my favorite picture I have ever taken.

 

I guess I will just dive right in... Once we arrived after enduring a taxing 6 hour flight on both body and mind, we got things started off right with the rental of 2 mini vans. Kia Sedonas to be precise.

We stayed on the north shore in a town called Hauula.  

After picking up the mini vans, the next stop was Dole plantation where we enjoyed a delectable non-dairy treat called "Dole whip".

(If you are looking to recreate the taste at home I just tasted the pineapple sorbet flavor at Ocean Blue and it was surprising similar. By the way, I LOVE OCEAN BLUE. It is this frozen yogurt/sorbet/custard place that is self serve. They have probably 12 or so different flavors and you make whatever combination your heart desires, including whatever toppings you want, and then you weigh your creation on the way out the door and it is $.35 an ounce. Try it.)

 Thursday was spent at the beach. We went to Shark's Cove and snorkeled, and then to Waimea Bay and then Sunset beach. We also went to Matsumotos grocery store and got shaved ice...twice. (In the same day) Tate loved it, and kept eating everyone's. My top flavor of the trip: Vanilla.

I loved the ocean at Sunset beach. The waves were so fun. Part of it could have been that my parents took Tate and Tanner home for naps and I got to play! Chris took some surf lessons prom a professional surfer while we were at Sunset beach, and Chris did so good! I even  caught him riding a couple of waves on the camera.  

  Friday morning we started on a hike to some falls. Chris tells me the hike was beautiful. I saw the first 10 minutes of it before my youngest brother fell and broke his arm. I wish I had a picture of his arm. It was a really bad break. Totally deformed. Both bones broken. Farewell beach. At least he got one day in. He was such a good sport though, and very brave. (He's 7) So my parents and I took him and Tate and Tanner to go get it fixed. These are my brothers who made it to the falls.  Ok, actually there were supposed to stop at the falls, and then come back, but they missed the turn off so they hiked all the way to the top of the mountain. On the way back down they found the turn off so then they played a little.

That afternoon/evening we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. (PCC) While we were watching the presentation about Samoa Chris was the lucky man selected to go up to the front. He got to take his shirt off, wear a lava lava  and try to make fire. He almost had the fire going, too! What a man. 

My parents ended up having to drive into Honolulu to get my brother's arm fixed, but this is the rest of us at the Luau that evening at the PCC. Someone is making a lot of money at that place. 

Saturday we went to Pearl Harbor. It was really neat. I thought it might get a little long for the kids, but it wasn't. There was a video before they take you to the memorial that talks about Pearl Harbor, and events leading up to December 7th, 1941. The video was so good. Even Tate was semi quite during it. After we went to the memorial I got a picture with a man who was actually there that day. I was a little embarassed to ask him to get a picture with me, but I am glad that I did! I mean in a few more years that opportunity will be gone. 

After that we went to the Swap meet at Aloha Stadium. We probably went back to Matsumoto's after that. We tried to do that everyday.

On Sunday we went to church in Hauula and then  we went to Byodo-in, a Buddhist temple. It was so beautiful and peaceful there.  

I just think that this picture is funny. Everyone was so nice to Taylor and helped him keep his arm elevated. Periodically you would look over at Taylor and someone else would be holding his arm in the air. 

I mean no disrespect, but I sometimes call Tanner a little Buddha baby, so I had to get a picture.

Next, Pali point. It has beautiful views of the land and ocean. 

Next, Laie Hawaii temple. This is the whole family.

Monday morning we spent snorkeling at Sharks Cove, and then later we went back to the Polynesian Cultural Center for a couple hours in the afternoon since we weren't able to see that much the first day we were there. They had this game where you can throw these spear things, and one of the spears had broken so they gave it to Tate. Tate basically hated the beach, but there were a few shining moments where he actually let the water and sand touch his feet and he threw rocks into the water. This is rare footage. 

Tuesday was one of my favorite days, I think. Chris has a friend through real estate that actually lives on Oahu, so he let us use his BBQ and his back yard for the day. He lives in a town called Lanikai. This is literally the view out his backyard. He let us use his kayaks, too, and we kayaked to the islands that you see. It doesn't look too far, but don't be fooled. Once you were out there kayaking it seemed like forever! I love this picture of Tanner. Isn't that the life? Just napping underneath the shade of a hammock between two palm trees. That's the kind of stuff you read about in books, or the that people write lyrics about. 

B-e-autiful. 

The trip had to come to and end. This is my boys in the airport. Tate stared out this window for a long time. He loved the airplanes and the cars out there. I love that little fat kid in the background. 

These are the two peeps who made the trip possible. Thank you! They were so willing to help with Tate and Tanner the whole trip, which made it much easier and more enjoyable for Chris and I.

This is "gampa" as Tate says with his two grandsons. I really like this pictures

Ode to my mother. Tate was out of sorts much of the trip, but he would always go to "Gama." Even when everyone else wanted to accidentaly  lose  him or something  she was always so good to him and he adores her for it!

So now the only problem is that we want to move there. Nothing permanent...we'll see. 

(For the life of me I cannot get this last part to not underline. Grrr. )

Life

So life goes on...time marches on. I rarely get many pictures with the boys, but I have gotten a few recently. I am calling these my mother's day pictures since I decided that I want pictures with my kids every mother's day.

They make me so tired some days, but they are so fun. Tate is starting to talk and he says some crazy stuff! I will have to blog about all his words one day. Funny.

I am trying to think about what I have been doing lately to fill my days. I found myself thinking the other day, "what am I going to do with the boys all summer?" and then I realized that I will probably do the same thing that I do all day during the winter, spring and fall.

I work at the hospital a day here or there every couple of weeks, and I have been trying to work out most days. There is this lady that does a "boot camp" thing at a church near our house a couple of days a week and it has been awesome. I like working out in a group setting like that. I push myself a little harder, I think. I am so competitive. I am getting muscle that I haven't had since high school. I like it. The first day I went she all of the sudden yelled "on the line!" And I thought, "is she serious?" Yes. She was. We had to run suicides. It was like deja vu from high school when i played volleyball or basketball. I have a love/hate relationship with this bootcamp thing.

I just keep thinking that it will be so worth it when I GO TO HAWAII next Wednesday! That is what my parents did for Christmas this past year. My brother Jordan got home from his mission in Jan, and prior to him being gone I had another brother on a mission. They overlapped about 6 months, so this is the BIG vacation now that the family is all together again. I am a little nervous about the whole experience (mainly worried about how Tate and Tanner will do) but I am so excited!

The beginning

Well, I also must post about the very first father and sons camping trip. I guess it was actually a father and son camping trip, since Tanner was not in attendence. ( next year ???) Tate adores Chris, and likes to do EVERYTHING that Chris does. He likes to wear a hat like him, he likes to listen to the ipod like him... basically if Chris is doing something, Tate thinks that he should be doing the same thing. I love how he is looking at Chris is this picture. I told you that he ADORES him!

Chris says that he took a fancy to the shovel all evening. I mean, who wouldn't?

My all-time favorite fathers and sons picture. Tate was so giddy and goofy as they were loading up the truck. He started trying to tease Chris by wiping boogers on him. He was cracking up, he thought that he was so funny.

As I write about their trip I find my self really appreciative of Chris. Tate is so young he didn't have to take him this year, but Chris genuinely enjoys being with Tate. I love that. They are so cute together. He is a REALLY good dad to Tate and Tanner. I have always loved seeing him around kids becuase he is so good with them, and the kids always, without fail, love him. BUT it is totally different seeing him with OUR kids. It just stirs stronger emotions, I guess. My boys are very lucky.

I had a life changing event occur a couple of weeks ago. Seriously. My friend and former room mate Brittney invited me to go to her salon one afternoon {Tantrum} because she needed to bring someone to a class that her boss was teaching, so that she could practice the technics that were going to be taught. So the class was on how to backcomb aka "rat" "tease" (or whatever you want to call it) your hair. So I was able to listen to the whole class and ever since then I have actually LOVED my hair almost every single day. This is a big deal. Ask Chris. Half the time I usually am not too pleased with my hair-do. I have MAJOR volume problems becuase my hair is so fine.Usually my hair looks like it is plastered to my head, which I hate. So you see, this really has changed my life in a very small way.

I thought that I knew how to backcomb before this class, but I came to the realization that I was actually totally in the dark. So with all of this being said, I am willing to offer what knowledge I now possess- for a small fee...just kidding. I love my new skill!!! Life changing, fo sure.