Admiring the stream trickling down the Waimano Valley. Here it seems to have taken a pause for a bit before continuing on its journey.

I hacked into my mom’s Facebook account so I could see pictures of everyone in San Diego 🙂  Looks like a great time was had by all! Congrats Mike on pulling together a great Bird on the Beach!

We hope our far-flung family and friends have had a relaxing and rejuvenating Thanksgiving holiday. We were thinking of everyone from WA to MA. Despite the roller coaster of going/not going, we found a way to enjoy a virtual vacation, doing things we hadn’t done in a while, run out of diapers and milk, get overly tired staying up late, exploring new sights every day… With some work, we were able to get ourselves to a spot where we could really appreciate the beauty immediately around us, take the time for explorations into forests and valleys, botanical gardens and nearby parks. The boys had a great time with their dad with this week off. They are really starting to identify strongly with him, Sam especially, through sports, checkers, mutual interests (such as astronomy, music). Even Ben is not a little guy anymore, and snagging these guys for a snuggle is proving increasingly difficult. So I am thankful that, in the end, I didn’t opt to take the boys to San Diego without their Dad. I certainly missed making new memories with the boys on a trip (we really bond as a unit, create new “inside jokes” and learn lots of new things about each other), but I think I made the right decision on balance. Thankfully, Thanksgiving rolls around yearly! Only one more here for us…

Oh, and I’m down to only checking the flight listings 2-3 times a day. That is down from 4 times a day yesterday. And hourly for 10 days before that. I’m weaning myself off the travel addiction. Today, while the boys and I made a sundial with our neighbors’ kids, the breeze was cool and the sun had a warm, dry feel to it alot like a fall day in any of the five states we’ve lived. So we were transported to each of you in a way. :0

(I’m on the phone with mom now…she is laughing at me about my addiction to checking flights. I even talked to Dave tonight about going to Kansas because it’s only 12 hours from Durango where Steve and Tim are!)

Oh – other big news – I just bought my first smartphone. An HTC Aria! (Android OS). It is pretty cool I must admit. But I was funny in the phone store – feeling like a total dunce – and I wish my iPhone-loving mom was there to watch (she has been there for the milestone events, like first contact lenses, etc. She says I’m funny to watch when evaluating these things.) I currently have a GO phone that was $30 because I managed to kill my previous phone with water or sand or something. The rep was showing me all the 7 screens you can personalize when I asked if you could drop-kick it. Because that happens on the way to the truck with two kids, three water bottles, a bike, sunscreen, etc. My old phone could be kicked to the truck and work just fine. But the screen was so scratched up I couldn’t see who was calling! So I have to say that while my phone is sleek and smart, we’ll have to see just how workable it is. I can hook it up to my portable speakers so I can play music for the boys while we run/bike to school/errands, etc. So the two apps I’ve downloaded – a tide table, and Google maps. I told Dave I just had to travel now to test out my new app! It will talk to me while driving, and I don’t even need to buy a new Garmin Nuvi! woo hoo! Kansas, here we come! It’s in the middle of the country, guys. Come on! All options are open from there ;0

Just one of those funny things we want to remember and obviously forgot to make note of it! This game is when the boys jump from a chair to a bed or something else. Sam said about a year ago “This is ‘footwick’ – it’s a game.” He was very serious about the rules: “It’s when you jump, like this, with one foot here and the next foot hops to something else.” Ben loved footwick, too, of course. Thanks to Dave for remembering the name of the game tonight! He was spinning in his computer chair for Ben’s amusement and realized he felt sick from spinning – he was about to see Thanksgiving dinner again!

Boys finding opportunities to be friends every now and then. This is on a new hike today. Precious to see! Click for more pictures of precious-ness.

As we wait and hope for a flight anywhere close to Southern California (is Arkansas really that far from Pendleton?) I think about commitment. Commitment to family and being there for gatherings. Commitment to school and whether or not I should have pulled Sam out of school earlier to make it to So Cal (as in 3 weeks early like I would normally allow). Commitment to my own family and enjoying blessings close at hand.

But we have enjoyed some lighter moments, too – some very funny memories, both new and old. Like the hike a few months ago on Koko Crater where at the very end of all those stairs in the hot sun we found a guy hiking up backwards. A quick exchange as we passed revealed he’s a pianist who likes to stay in shape. He calls himself “One Sole” (or is it “Soul”?). How interesting, we thought. Then a few steps later Dave lost one of his soles off his Keen hiking shoes and became One Sole himself! Biiiizzaro!  That sort of stuff only happens here. Or…with me. Not sure.

Anyway, today we’re in Sports Authority buying Dave new hiking shoes several months later…with a closed toe in case we happen to get a space-a flight (you need closed-toe shoes). We look up in the sky as we cross the parking lot and I spot a C17 .  You darn military plane! I see you going to the mainland! I see you up there! Then a C40. That one’s going somewhere unhelpful but I can’t remember now because the hourly flight listings I’ve listened to are a blur.  We get into Sports Authority and the boys loosely follow me, bopping balloons all over, hiding in stuff, darting around stuff. I can see them because of the green balloons. Then Ben loses the balloon he’s been holding onto since breakfast. It floats up 25′ to the ceiling lights. So we let it go – after all, boys need to learn consequences.

Then, on our way out, I spot a tall guy who doesn’t seem horribly busy. I stopped and politely pointed with raised eyebrows. “Could you possibly help us???” Ben looked eager. So nice tall guy goes to get a ladder – I said please don’t kill yourself trying to get it, but if you happen to find a way… We met him under the balloon, he with ladder in hand. Ben looking very eager now. Then the nice guy goes to get a golf club to reach the balloon. With club in hand at the top of the ladder, the nice guy goes “What’s your name?” to me. “Do I have to give you my real name?” I ask. Yesterday I accidentally pulled someone over on our way to base to drop Dave’s car off so he’d have a way to get home from the airport in the event we actually fly somewhere this week, so I am still a little sensitive about revealing my identity. He goes “Because I think I know you. You’re one of Heidi’s friends, right?” (This is my good friend Heidi, mom of Holly, the boys’ sitter.) So now it gets really interesting. “Indeed!” I say, turning fairly red for the first time in a long time. Turns out it was Alfonso helping us – Heidi’s son-in-law. And it was his first day at work! He had wanted some new golf clubs so he got a second job to earn some extra money. Nutso, huh? So although this week is not quite as eventful as we thought, just waiting for a flight and wondering when and where we’ll go is pretty adventurous.

I’ve been carefully considering and almost seriously following through on all kinds of contingencies – like flying into Whidbey and driving 7 hours to see another cousin who couldn’t make it at the last minute to the gathering. There’s snow up there, and ice on the mountain passes but I know how to handle that and the boys would love it. I am game. But…I can’t reach anyone at Enterprise! Without a car, that would not be such a good trip. And Dave is shaking his head at all that. And it’s 15 hours to Travis to get a ride back home. The west coast is pretty spread out I’m learning. Whew. Leslie – thoughts are with you all. Wishing I could be there, too. Lots of love to the family, and thanks to mom especially for her forbearance with the multiple ups and downs of this holiday.

Little boys packed and ready...seeing them ready to go is so precious. We are really hoping our luck turns.

Soooo…we had a commercial flight lined up then a space-a flight opened up for the next day. That would save us (and mom) $1200 each to get us to San Diego. Wow. But too late to call Hawaiian and cancel, plus Dave wanted to stick with a sure bet. So we went to sleep, woke up, flight had been bumped to the following day allowing time to get refund on commercial tix (wow! that was a gift from Hawaiian, totally miraculous really). Figured that was a very good sign. Called again on the flight – had firmed up to 45 seats for Mon at 9am. Then went to check on flight later AT the terminal to be sure we were all set and it had come and gone (a “ghost” flight which wasn’t even on the boards which had landed then decided to leave a day early just an hour after I got off the phone with the pax rep). Came home totally and completely bummed. We wrestled with decisions for hours. Bags are packed, by the door. Little boys are dragging them around saying “I’m going on my trip! Goodbye!”

We love our family very much and this was a unique gathering of uncles and cousins, brothers and sisters. We were so hoping to see everyone and catch a flight space-a so it wouldn’t end up costing $2000+ just for airfare plus the added pressure of Dave having to go to Guam immediately after Thanksgiving. We are stiiiiillll hoping. Things happen quickly. Bags remain tightly packed by the door. Boys are ready. Dave is ready to kill me for the emotional rollercoaster (not really – we are laughing now!). But if we try to buy commercial at the last minute again we are TOTALLY flagged for super-security screenings. They’ll think we were pulling a fast one on them mixing it up like this. And Mom and Richard probably think we have a space-a hedge fund set up by now…Awww in all seriousness we are super bummed but still hoping. And thankful that Thanksgiving happens every year. We are also thankful that our Bird on the Beach tradition continues on the mainland – we’ll look very much forward to hosting as soon as we get back. Love to all ;0

Ben and buddies on a hike.

We had fun this morning out hiking with a bunch of buddies. We reset a geocache and had a great time running through the woods with five boys all under 4  years of age. I think we had a 1 yr old, three 2 year olds, and a 3 1/2 year old. The moms are a great hiker hui as you can see by the big smiles! We were looking for root letters for our kids’ names – B for Ben, S for Sam, etc. Lehua (smiling above, in back) took a look at one that i thought might look like an “M” and she said “Oh, that’s pie!” and it took a minute for the rest of us to catch on that it wasn’t the edible pie she was referring to 🙂

Speaking of edible – dinner tonight was decidedly NOT. Dave was getting home late, but I didn’t know that until he wasn’t home by 6pm, so I started playing catch-up. Salmon is his specialty. Unfortunately the salmon was a bit too gone, so we ditched that after serving it up (boys hungry, almost in tears as salmon leaves their plate – I just couldn’t stomach more puking, after the 7-day puke-fest we had last month), then Dave cooked up some turkey meatballs and served them with a nice glaze of vintage 2008 canned tomato soup. He said it was totally fine because people used to keep that in their fallout shelters for years. Dating on cans is relatively new. (Mom, is that true?) So the boys chomped down on beans, corn from Sam’s field trip to Waimanalo (where he wore a Camelback pack as we usually do hiking because I knew it would be hot and sunny down there and he’d be thirsty – sure enough, the kids were thirsty but the teacher was thrown a bit for a loop when I dropped him off at school with a Camelback instead of a disposable water bottle). Anyway – I served up an incredible dessert to make up for all this (half-pound Reese’s cups – have you ever seen one of those?) with ice cream. Wow. Good dessert makes up for all kinds of transgressions. Dave and I were left hankering for something remotely resembling a reasonable dinner, though – Hungry Man, anyone?