Today we leave the islands.. in fact, when this posts, we will be en route to Virginia!  The past 2 weeks on the island have absolutely FLOWN!  We have been so busy. I wish we could have been more prepared (is that even possible?) and been able to do more tourist-y things as a family, but as it goes.... things were too crazy.  Nick has been working so hard since he stepped off the plane returning from Afghanistan.

I did get him to get away for a few hours on our last few days and get a couples massage down in Waikiki.  We went to the Olakino Spa. Nick has never had a professional massage before, and I thought he and I both deserved one. 

When I made the appointment, I was told that our masseurs would be female, but it could change.  Nick was very firm about NOT wanting a male rubbing on him.  So he was threatening me the entire drive to the spa that he would walk out and let me have my own massage if he had to be 'rubbed on' by a man.  Okay, whatever. "Yes, dear."

We were shown to the locker rooms and given robes, which I didn't realize would be so transparent until I put it on.  YIKES! Thank goodness I could overlap the robe in front. (But not so much in the back) As I walked out to meet Nick in the waiting area, I prayed there wouldn't be anyone else around. Phew! Greeting me with his own transparent robe and two glasses of water, was Nick, strolling around the waiting area, completely relaxed. I, however, sat down in the first chair closest to me. "DID YOU NOTICE THESE WERE VERY THIN!?!?!" Nick didn't seem to care.

(Picture taken with my phone...sorry its blurry)

We were soon taken back to the couples room and introduced to our 'people'.  Mine was a cute little local lady and Nick's, YOU GUESSED IT, was a MAN! [insert: loud burst of laughter]

They left us for a minute to let us slip under the sheets on our assigned massage tables. Nick looks over at me and says, "Do you think we can trade???"

"No, Nick, get over it."
I got 80 minutes of aromatherapy, and Nick got the Lomi Lomi massage. 
It must not have been too bad....

Nick, post massage, completely relaxed.

Thank you to my "Ugly Girls" for the opportunity for Nick and I to spend some relaxing time together during this very stressful week!!!  And big THANKS to Alaina and Andrew for hanging out with Tyler and Addison (in our boring ol' hotel rooms) while we were gone, even though Addison napped the entire time (3.5 hours)!

Flight to the Big Island

In between all the work on the house, preparing to move to the East Coast, family, and living at the base 'motel'... Nick still has to work, surprise surprise!!! I guess that's kind of why we are here, right?

Tuesday Nick went into work to brief for a flight he was part of today.  The squadron flew 3 helicopters to the Big Island of Hawaii with a General on board.  The flight left around 5:30am so he was up and at the hangar by 4am. 

 Once on the island, the General was off on an island tour (for work, of course) and so the pilots' REAL WORK began.  Most of their planning for the trip, was for the hours they would spend ON the island.  They had to unload all the extra chairs, grill and coolers CARGO they had in the back of the bird.  Some of it was marinated steaks and potato salad time sensitive and needed to be dealt with right away.

As you can see above, while waiting for the General, there was NO time for horsing around or lolly gaggin'.  There was lots of work to be done. NO REST FOR THE WEARY!

Nick has really been working hard since he's gotten back from Afghanistan and I am really looking forward to being back in Iowa with family so that he can sit back, relax, and smoke a cigar or two.  He really deserves it!  Hard to believe we are leaving paradise in just 2 days.  Nick has yet to fly his last flight tomorrow afternoon, too!  He is flying with Col. L'Heureux!

I'm off to do some final packing! 

Living the High Life

McKenzie has had quite a week off for fall break.  She has been spending as much time with her friends as possible, in between our family outings.

Friday night she went with Tiani's family to a house they manage.  They call it "The Mansion".  (a.k.a $7 million home that is under remodeling to become a $12 million home) McKenzie has stayed there before, but this time she took the time to take pictures with her phone so that she could brag to show her Mom and Dad where she stayed.

Oh. My. Gosh.
This place is A.MAZ.ING.

Here are the front steps leading up to the entrance:

The kitchen...

The outdoor dining area (I KNOW!!!!)

Check out the view:

And if that isn't making your jaw drop (mine has been since picture one) check out the pool/hot tub:

And then looking toward the house to the pool/back door:

Yeah... so.... that's where Kenzie had to got to slept the other night, while the rest of us slept on plastic wrapped loaner mattresses in our empty house.  Jealous much!?!?

Painting Par-tay

Today we had a very productive day... we had a few friends stop over for a painting 'party'.  Our friend Dennis and his daughter "Little McKenzie" came over before noon, and the Ladner's came over after lunch.  We painting most of the interior trim and closets throughout the entire house.  Nick had hoped to finish up the outside trim around the windows, but the weather was NOT cooperative.

Drew had lots of help from Andrew.  And he even got to paint while watching football. He got assigned to the "good" room where the computer was set up to the cable.

Alaina was a closet queen... and a trim perfectionista! Hope the paint washes out of your hair (and off your arm!) tee hee

And you might be wondering how it was possible to get so much work done with our 4 kids, and 2 extras?!?

God Bless the Ladners' for bringing over their bouncy house! And to Nick for bringing home suckers when he ran out for that last gallon of paint...

However, Little McKenzie and Andrew quickly found out that Addison was NOT a good choice for holding their suckers when they wanted to go back in the bouncy house.... she was licking all 3 with a huge grin on her face.... but she seemed totally okay with being the sucker holder!

and God Bless Goldfish,

...and babies who can sleep through just about ANYTHING!

 

***Tyler giggled for the first time today! I tickled under his chunky little chin, and he just belted out this adorable little laugh! He even kept doing it so that I could prove to Daddy I had made him laugh... and Alaina had him laughing this afternoon too! Isn't a baby giggle the best thing EVER! I think so.

Sandbar

We took a pontoon boat out to the sandbar in the bay this morning with the Ladners'.  It could NOT have been a more beautiful day (but it would have been nice to have our Trade Winds back). We left the marina around 8am and made our way to the sandbar.  As we were trolling along, we saw lots of sea turtles.  Alaina happened to see one at the bottom between some coral so we stopped and watched him swim around.

He was huge and just swam around the boat and checked us out... just like we were checking him out. The kids were in awe.

We made it to the sandbar just as the tide was going out... GORGEOUS!

I am SO glad we were able to take the time to go out to the sandbar one last time before we leave the island. It is such a great place to take the kids.  McKenzie brought her BFF Tiani along... she's pretty much like family.  The kids hopped out and just did their own thing.  The water was not even waist high on the boys.

Tyler slept a majority of the morning... in his carseat, and after standing in the water with daddy (completely covered with a blankie) in the shade of the boat, he fell asleep again and slept in the pontoon seat...

Yes, he's under there somewhere...
We packed lunches and enjoyed a simple meal on the water. Here is Alaina enjoying her yummy sandwich:

The girls tried fishing a while with some rented poles (which both ended up being broken) so we had a few baggies of squid bate to get rid of.  Lucky for us, a big ol' puffer fish came floating along, so the girls tried to lure him in with the squid.  They got it to get pretty close, and it ended up with quite a meal.

Watching the puffer fish come closer...

(the dark spot in the top middle third of the picture)

And the squid bait (yuck).

We had some great drivers...

And a smooth ride home...

Ko Olina Lagoons

It's been forever since we've been to the lagoons by the Ko Olina... we went once before when my friend from back home was out here.  Kristina and Wyatt rode over with us and we met Alaina and Andrew there.

After struggling to find parking, we finally made it!  We set up camp at lagoon #4... GORGEOUS!

The kids had a GREAT time and so did the mommies!  Here are some pics from our lunch break:

Andrew in his mommy's shades:

 

Tyler napped in the tent:

And afterwards, the boys found ghecko eggs in the nearby tree:

Alaina heard from Drew, who was flying nearby, and soon after, a 53D flew right up to the lagoon:

"Hey DREW!"

After lunch and a quick game of soccer in the grass, it was back to the water:

Wyatt, Trevor, McKenzie, Addison & Andrew

Trevor let the kids bury him...

And this is Addison attempting to bury herself:

This is Alaina, holding Tyler... no, really!

Check out Alaina's Blog RIGHT NOW for more pictures!

Morning at the Beach

This morning was gorgeous.. and since the kids are on "Fall Break" all week, we packed up and headed to the beach.

We always slather on the sunscreen before heading out to the water... or in Addison's case, we eat some.

Trevor diving in the waves...

Addison getting a feel for the water, then McKenzie taking her out a little deeper...

Trevor and Addison

Dad met us at the beach soon after we got set up. He flies late tonight, so he doesn't have to go in to work until this afternoon.

We've been here for nearly 6 years, and we still manage to look like tourists...

 

but this is the shot he was getting:

 

Typical Addi

 

It was a gorgeous morning. We ran into our friends, the Paytons... Gina was holding Tyler and he fell asleep in her arms, and so Daddy had to take a pic of him just slumped over as she was swinging him in her arms... it was hilarious. He was like a rag doll... a really chubby one!