 1 Dinner with friends before they move back to the mainland. Patti ended Dave's 7 yr SORRY! winning streak! |
 2 Playing with friends Frank and Dominic at the tide pools. Sammy met these nice kids at the North Shore while the mommies were guarding turtles :) Sam loves to "surf" on their boogie board. It's a real team effort. Wish I could get this kind of help standing up on my board! |
 3 There's Frank... |
 4 And there's Dominic - they're digging for buried treasure. |
 5 Which they soon found and took back to sea. |
 6 Sammy getting in on the act "helping." |
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 9 We went back to our house for smoothies. Then Frank enjoyed playing Dave's guitar for us. |
 10 Dominic is a fierce pirate :) |
 11 Sam plays his "fiddle" along with Frank on the guitar. |
 12 Mountain biking with mommy on Wednesday nights while Dave is in class. Sam got to wear my cool headlamp! I love that it has a red nightvision setting...oh the mischief one can get into with a nightvision headlamp... |
 13 See the cheeks lit up by the headlamp? Those cheeks!!! And those little hands on the handlebars. Yes, it's a little late to be out but we're on a bike path and heading back to the truck now. |
 14 A quick trip to the beach on base. |
 15 We went to the tide pools with two other moms - spouses of Dave's colleagues - last Tuesday, the day the hurricane was "due" in. This strange guy was warning us away from the beach, but we were confident we'd be safe after checking all the weather reports, tracking the storm, tide levels, etc. It was funny because usually we have the tide pools entirely to ourselves on weekdays, but this day a preschool was out there as well! I've never seen this many kids there at once. The kids had a great time! |
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 20 This is my wacky friend Dana :) ha ha! Wednesday nights we girls hang out while Dave is in class. You never know what will be going on at our house between 8pm-9pm (after Sam goes to bed and before Dave comes home). Two weeks ago we had a pillow fight. This week we decided you could only join the party if you wore a headlamp. |
 21 Dana brought delicious cookies. Her husband was due to return from deployment the next day, so this was her last night of mischief. |
 22 Not sure who this is but there seems to be a flask involved? |
 23 On a hike with Sammy up the Pillbox trail. It'd been a while since we were on the trail, so it was really nice to head out with him. He wore his own pack and used my trekking pole. He's getting more and more coordinated with that - not putting it in front of his feet quite as much :) |
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 26 What are you doing with that Mr. Sam? |
 27 That was pretty funny! |
 28 Look at the little hiking shoes, and how tall he's getting compared to that trekking pole! |
 29 A little break for a snack :) |
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 31 At the end of the trail. He did such a great job - about 1.5-2 mi hike with 750' elev gain, all on his own! And he still had energy left. We went for smoothies afterwards then home for a mini-bath and a nice nap. Such a life, huh? |
 32 See? Not tired. |
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 34 Sending a birthday "card" to cousin Kingston! |
 35 This has become a family tradition since our Coronado postal carrier sent one to Sam when he was born - she sent it up to WA to us. It was so incredibly cool and sweet to get it. Thanks Jeanine Anne! |
 36 New big boy underpants!!! Thanks Gramma! |
 37 Surfing with mommy :) |
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 39 A feeding frenzy - Dave made a special dessert to celebrate taking some time off. Sam had just finished a 1.5 mi jog/walk with me so he chomped! |
 40 A trip to the tide pools with our friend Josh who is visiting for two days while the Stennis (Dave's former carrier) is in port. |
 41 My footprint with Sammy's inside :) |
 42 Josh enjoyed getting a little sun after 7 months at sea! |
 43 And Dave enjoyed relaxing for a few minutes before Sam pulled him into the water. |
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 46 Dave and Sam have a totally different off-time mission... |
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 48 A little late-afternoon espresso for the men. |
 49 And espresso for Josh, too, before he heads out to meet up with everyone. |
 50 This may be the only way I ever stand up on a surfboard :) |
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 55 This is Papa Jack. He is a PhD microbiologist/cop/contractor/veteran all in one - oh from Boston, too. He is so cool. When we get our financing together for our kitchen remodel, he'll be the guy to pull it all together. I just love hearing him talk. |
 56 Thanks Gramma for my new electric toofbrush! |
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 58 I get all my teeff cleaned wiff it! |
 59 Hanging out with Josh and friend Adom, and dad Lou before their "Tiger" cruise back to Washington. They got to ride on the aircraft carrier with Josh for the weeklong cruise back. What an adventure. And nice people, too! Adom had us laughing all night. Remember to eat your meat bites! |
 60 Our new solar powered flickering candle lanterns... |
 61 The view out to Molokai from Bellows. |
 62 Sammy in a bunkbed in the log cabin we rented for a day :) I got a little stir-crazy waiting for a space-a flight to WA so I just took off with clean underwear for both of us, snacks, water and headed to Bellows. We rented this little log cabin for $35 not knowing if we were staying the night or not. I figure it cost as much as a pedicure, which would have satisfied most women, so no big deal if we didn't end up staying. |
 63 Sam loved the bunk bed, took a nice nap, then played at the beach. Dave came down with lattes for us adults and he read in his beach chair while Sam and I played in the water and made some new friends at this military beach. |
 64 Solar panels next to the cabin. Our truck in the background. |
 65 So cute, isn't it? Just two bunks and a queen bed inside, but very cute. |
 66 Mommy didn' t bring much for after beach play, so this is Sammy wearing mommy's sweatshirt after a shower. |
 67 Sammy plays the harmonica AND the drum! |
 68 Campfire and s'mores in our backyard :) |
 69 A nice hibiscus from our garden. I actually am partial to these over roses now. It's been a long haul getting them to bloom - fighting pests, transplanting. |
 70 A trip to the Discovery center children's museum. |
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 72 Sam was really freaked out by the loud noises of the Jack and the Beanstalk exhibit...FEE FI FO FUM! |
 73 But started to warm up by the time we got to Cinderella's castle. |
 74 And put on a little turtle costume :) |
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 76 In Cinderellas's coach... |
 77 He likes cleaning, as you already know :) |
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 80 The long arm of the law! |
 81 Fixing cars. |
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 84 Looking "inside" :) |
 85 A pink hibiscus blooms brightly in the morning sun in our garden. |
 86 A kayak trip out to Flat Island. |
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 89 Such cool hidden coves and beaches on this rocky little island off Kailua Beach. |
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 91 It's also a bird sanctuary. |
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 94 Time to head back! |
 95 But a quick swim first! |
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 97 Kayaking again - this time down the canal by our home. |
 98 One of three pairs of sunglasses we lost in 4 days. The sign of good times, I think! |
 99 The end of the canal opens up into Kailua Bay - those are the Mokulua Islands you see in so many of our photos. It was really cool. We saw maybe 6 turtles on our trip. |
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 102 Sammy is wondering - how is daddy going to get the kayak up this steep hill? |
 103 We goof off a bit since we can't really help anyway... |
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 106 Stop talking, mommy! |
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 108 I did end up giving Dave a hand but he had it well under control :) |
 109 Nice chance to play trains while on leave... |
 110 Lunch after more snorkeling up at Shark's Cove. |
 111 Ahhhh...push pop! |
 112 Our deck at night ... |
 113 He built this Lincoln Log Cabin all by himself! |
 114 Daddy and Sammy make a volcano while I sit and freeze in the wind - I've got a fever but don't really know it yet. Turns out I had strep. |
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 116 Sammy and Daddy have coffee in the morning :) Sammy's coffee is a special weekend or holiday treat - it's milk and Ovaltine. |
 117 Ummmm...good! |
 118 The new teak chairs have been sanded and oiled to protect them against the rainy season. They look really nice now...Dave got us a nice teak table, too. |
 119 Paparazzi photo at the tide pools. |
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 122 Sammy learns to swim in the tide pools. He's doing a pretty good dog paddle now :) |
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 124 Here's where we spend a lot of time - on our deck. We love the solar-powered flickering candle lanterns :) And I'm really happy I sanded and oiled the teak lounge chairs finally. They look much happier :) |
