2011-03 MAR

Ho'omaluhia 15 images

Marine Munchies 42 images · 2 videos

1 A visit to Aunty Carolyn at Playmorning on base. She is so fun!	2 Playing ball outside - this is a decent "before" picture - before 2000lbs of greenwaste was removed!	3 Rowing a bit :)	4 I spazzed out trying to rescue a frisbee from the roof for the boys and created a HUGE lump on my shin which then developed a hematoma, and infection, requiring a visit to the ER and two kinds of antibiotics. A month later, it is still not closed.
5	6 Smoothie boys :)	7 Sam playing some guitar to a favorite song by Eddie Kamae.	8 Sam's other most favorite Eddie song. Sam is very eager to begin learning guitar, when we move to WA.
9 Old friend Neil and girlfriend Edie visit for Neil's CDR pinning aboard USS Missouri.	10 We took them on a short little hike through a bamboo forest.	11	12 Neil's brother, sister-in-law, dad, mom and neice and nephew all came to Hawaii!
13 Super long bamboo pole! Great job Rachel and Tyler!	14 A waterfall was part of the excursion, too.	15	16 Now for the pinning. We were up at and at it really early! An event not to be missed since the boys don't see their Dad in uniform. We were honored to represent the family while Dave was away.
17	18 Saying the oath, pledging to protect and defend the country.	19 New bars being pinned on by mom.	20 Dad handing over the new cover.
21 Absolutely love Neil's family. They are so awesome!	22	23 I thought the sky was really cool that morning.	24
25 We ran down the beach this way! People were really looking at Ben "surfing" :)	26 Meeting up with playmates at Lanikai Playground!	27 Mommy bubble machine! This was good for at least 15 min of entertainment!	28 Clearing out the canal after a big storm.
29 This guy came through a couple times. Ben LOVED watching.	30 There is my disgusting sore, still not healing over and continuing to swell. It was time to take action at the ER.	31 A little surgery to dig out the hematoma, then stuff some packing in with antibiotic on it. Dr. Lee and I had a few laughs about why I didn't become a doctor - organic chemistry being the first of two insurmountable hurdles, the other being sputum. Apparently the latter is a common obstacle.	32 Hematoma out, borders of redness marked, on second antibiotic now, and packing removed. This is painful - like an 8 out of 10 believe it or not - and hard to sleep. But happy to be making progress.
33 decided to measure, too...	34 16 days after injury. Starting to close up and become less red.	35 Movie of canal clearing!	36 Feeling vulnerable and frustrated, hobbled under a playground while the boys romp above me. I was really bummed about having to stay off my leg (theoretically with it up?). I prayed for patience and learned humility. The boys offered me a "latte" with sugar on top...I asked for a big dollop of hope, too! I also realized just how much I admire soldiers who suffer injury and yet go on as if it is nothing. For all those who have sacrificed so much in the past (think of the Rev War soldiers who would have to throw boots on and hike another 12 miles in the snow to another front) and those of today serving around the world in nearly nameless places...for all of them I am happy to relearn and say the Pledge of Allegiance (which Sam's class is also saying now).
37 Watching the rain fall with a trusted friend.	38 A baker's dozen little peep-peeps!	39 We had to pull over and stop to see them! So precious!	40 Love these little guys!
41	42	43 He really wanted me to catch one...and so I finally did.	44
45	46 Looks far worse than it was! He is laughing here!	47 Loved this toy that friend Sam brought to the playground gathering!	48 We are lucky to have an informal "hiker hui" of friends ready to gather for an outdoor outing about weekly!
49 On our way back from the tsunami evacuation. We couldn't get back into Kailua, so we "camped" out in the truck the rest of the night along with a lot of neighbors. The boys were such troopers - we really ended up having a good time together if you can believe that. It was all very interesting...a great way to kick off spring break because it turned out to be only very minimal damage here in Hawaii. We were very blessed and so thankful for God's mercy on us as many of us imagined a much bigger incident potentially happening. Many hours of nervousness here from the warning at 9am to the actual arrival at 3am, and throughout the rest of the day as the surges continued.	50 Ben caught on film doing one of his characteristic performances. This is why he is often hoarse, and why we have to keep reminding him to take it easy on his voice. For those who think that might be impossible to teach a three-year-old (he is 3 in May), well, it is nearly impossible. But doable, for sure.	51 Jenni and Tres (on right) arrived in Hawaii just in time for the evacuation as Tes' carrier pulled in from a deployment to pick up family members for the ride back to the mainland (called a "Tiger cruise"). It was so wonderful to see these friends again after 5 years spent on opposite sides of the world (they were in Sicily). We'll all be back in WA in a few months.	52 Me and JavaJ!
53 Josh and Ang came down to hang out for a few minutes, too!	54 That's Tres' dad - such a nice guy!	55 The four gals :)	56 Richard, Barry (Tres' brother) and Aidan (Tres' nephew).
57 All of us! Thanks to the beachgoer we nabbed to grab this shot of us :)	58 Well, almost all of us. Ben decided to observe vs join.	59 1, 2, 3...jump!	60 Again!
61	62 Tres and Dave were in LDO school in Pensacola at the same time in Aug 2003 I believe...right Dave?	63	64 Building our WA home...the boys envision a loft for the boys (see ladder at R?) where they can have pillow fights (including throwing pillows out the window!). Mommy built a little ramp that they can slide down from their loft, right into the truck for the ride to school. Or a conveyor for groceries which would dump them right into the kitchen. We also have a horse in our WA "home" and a fire pit outside. This is what we did for about an hour one weekend morning while waiting for word from Dave who had to go into work much of the weekend after the Japan crisis hit. He was subsequently called to Guam to help.
65 Ok - so we're prepping our house for sale and things start to break, of course, right? The dryer is waiting for a new motherboard. But I really like this style of drying anyway. It is oddly relaxing. I love it.	66 Back out on the trail with Jenni for an afternoon ramble!	67	68
69	70 And another massive bamboo pole. This one was about 16 ft. The longest ever retrieved and carried home. Sam managed it all the way down the trail then back again to the truck where Jenni and I lashed it to the racks for the ride home.	71	72
73 Love the afternoon sun. So peaceful.	74 Mr. Bossy with his pole.	75	76 We even had a vine tie on the back to serve as warning to drivers following behind.
77 Jenni got to take my SUP out for a spin!	78 And she's up! It was really choppy so she did great managing it!	79 A graceful dismount :)	80
81 The boys really enjoyed playing in the water under Richard and Gramma's watchful eye while I went for a jog. I still can't go in the water, can you believe it? Now 25 days post injury. Still not closed.	82 Back out with worn out knees and a good workout had :)	83 Sam and Ben are both very adept boogie boarders by now.	84 That is one big board!
85 But we managed pretty well with board, boys, coffee...	86 Smoothies afterward!	87 The boys enjoying the surf, Ben doing a funny dance...	88 Well-boy exams - Sam is doing his eyes here. Thought it was so cute that Ben sidled right up next to him.
89 Lunch at the bowling alley after a run around the fishponds, a stop at the exchange for some stuff (socks for bowling among other items), and then a playground. A BIG morning of romping around!	90 This is one ridiculous lunch - PB/J with chocolate dipping sauce on Texas Toast!	91 Yum! Earned by a guy who just did a 5 mile trail bike followed by playground time.	92 Fresh strawberries inside, too.
93 Liking it!	94 Now to Sea Life Park for more Spring Break fun!	95 A new shark "feature" for lack of a better word. Look at Ben's reaction!	96 Finally warming up to it and showing his OWN big shark mouth!
97 Puffer was looking right at Sam!	98 Got small treats for boys - they love the gift shop! Then to Sweet Home Waimanalo for smoothies!	99 Giving $5 of his own money to the Red Cross for Japan relief through a site that matched donations.	100
101	102	103	104 Mommy decided boys should have a bbq pool party and invited some friends and Gramma. When the rain came, everyone figured surely mommy would have sense enough to call it off. But we were already at the pool with all the stuff, so the party went on despite pouring rain! I read clouds pretty well so I figured I'd wait it out holding the grill cover over the flames until the rain subsided a bit.
105 And the band played on!	106 Jumps!	107	108 The "power stroke" as Sam calls it.
109 Smiling boys!	110 Shallow dive :)	111 Love the splash here!	112 Trying to get all three in one self-portrait!
113 The sun popped out for a bit!	114 Cute boys had a good Sat - Moke's for pancakes, then uke lesson, then Aikahi playground with Tamara and boys (Josh, 7, and Camden, 4), then nap for Ben, then bbq pool party, then full moonrise with more friends.	115 Landing!	116 "Mom, I want one THIS big!"
117 Sitting jumper - a classic Ben move.	118 Ready for dogs! They are using frisbees for plates because the paper plates are just a tad soggy by now!	119 Ready for full moonrise! This is the ready-for-anything outfit with cargo pocket for flask, headlamps, camera, phone.	120 Wind and rain howling...and determined not to lose Ben this time. He has reflective gear on and both boys have been briefed about staying close. I turned my red headlamp on when dusk fell so they could find ME as well!
121 Mom got some bling! Authentic Hawaiian heritage bracelets!	122 That's Sam and Ben playing with Tamara's boys, Josh and Camden.	123 There they are - Josh in back and Camden with red shorts on. Playing frisbee!	124
125	126 See the weather!?	127 "Mom, I found a T!"	128
129 Tamara brought glow swords! They really hung onto those. Worked like a charm. Highly recommended. The other kinds the kids are not too enamored with and just don't hold onto them. They'd have to be duct-taped.	130	131 Now it's cookie time!	132 Thanks to Gramma for bringing these fabulous Foodland cookies. That's Joshua.
133 And Ben!	134 Sam!	135 Alli and Ang!	136 Little Jedi!
137 Hi Josh!	138 And finally, after much ado, the SUPERMOON peeked out from behind dense clouds to cheers from the crowds who had braved the wait!	139 That's red from my headlamp :)	140 I let the boys take their glowsticks to the bath. I am sure the packaging says not to or something, but it also said non-toxic. So whatever. Hopefully no boy parts will be glowing, but that would sure make the next well-boy exam interesting!
141 They had cookies by the light of their sabers! In bath, of course.	142 What are you looking at, mom?	143 Unauthorized use of glow stick.	144 Oh no! Another boy being crazy!
145 Happy last night of Spring Break, boys! I hope you had a good time. I sure did!	146	147 Ben and Camden playing swords.	148
149	150	151 Believe it or not, this is progress.	152 Tomato sauce mouthstache!
153 Making the best of a sick Saturday morning.	154 Continuing to nurse this thing. Such an education in wound management! OMG. Never never never gash your shin. Well try to not get a hematoma due to tremendous force upon landing.	155 Finally got a referral to the wound clinic at Tripler to get a jump on this thing. They put HONEY in it. Honey is a natural antibiotic, used as long ago as the Pharoahs. It biodegrades into H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) slowly, keeping the pH of the wound too low for bacteria to grow. Love going to doctors and learning new things. This is not off-the-shelf honey, though. It's medical grade. I tend to keep cuts unbandaged and forget about them. That was the wrong move in this case. Needed to be kept moist or a hard eschar would form and prevent granulation tissue from growing up from the wound bed, allowing epithelialization to finally occur. This was a deep wound which would have been sutured if it hadn't been so old. So...very...interesting. But really - missing out on 8 weeks of water time during our last few months here. Painful.	156 Sammy is running the Xray machine - ruling out a stress fracture or any bone involvement from infection. Probably not necessary, but hey, good to be sure. Both boys crammed behind protective wall of control room.
157 The stairs to the preferred parking (my preferred parking anyway) at Tripler. There are 88 stairs. Fun to do at 9 months prego, too. I never did get my stork pass. There was never a spot anyway.	158 Building forts with bamboo poles retrieved from hikes. Sam is reading about knots in his Dangerous Book for Boys - given to him by Tito Pig.	159 There he is reading in his fort.	160 Thought the bandana would be good for nose wiping. Ben didn't quite see it my way.
161 Now doing homework. Took these shots for Dave.	162 And this is how mom found me when she stopped by! I was rehearsing a little "no-spit skit" I am going to do at school about how sneaky viruses are. (There are reports of continued spitting among classmates at school and I'm really over it after weeks and weeks of illness this quarter. Well, one month plus a week about a month later. I guess it's par for the course, but a little hygiene lesson based in cool science might do the trick.) So anyway - viruses are like pirates - they take your cells hostage and create new viruses by hijacking all your cell's machinery. They are so DARN cool. Have to admire their fierceness.	163 No looking at me.	164 This traveling bed comes out often. Ben loves to "play sleep" on the toy bin. Maybe he misses traveling and setting up new beds in odd places? I do, too, Ben boy. Soon...
165 Friends celebrating Amy's baby shower (Amy on left, thenme, then Brenda and Tamara). Love these gals - they and their boys are part of the hiker hui!	166 That's Ben and Sam! Just a different Sam :)	167 We spoiled the kids with juice bags!	168 Ok...another shot of the WOUND! Are you tired of seeing it? I am, too! This is with the honey in it. And after debridement (getting that necrotic stuff off the wound edges). Making reall progress now. I was told not to run on it, but I managed to jog with a latte in hand and not spill a drop so I think that counts as non-impact, right? My buddy in the Surgery clinic (the chief of staff) tended to side with me - you can't tell a runner not to run, that it was ok. But I am taking the weekend off and only fast-walking/jogging to keep up with boys on bikes and scooters.
169 Ben likes to say this - something he learned from Richard. Too funny!	170 Reading after school at Gramma's cottage. It's been fun for Gramma to get to collect Sammy. I appreciate seeing what they do when they are having some nice one-on-one time.	171 At kibou card making class with Miss Kelly. She is starting a card making business from home. I thought she was fantastic! The kibou (hope) cards are going to Japan. Sam was the youngest and did really well.	172 That's one of his creations. We stamped some cherry blossoms, then chalked them, and glued the pieces all together to the cardstock.
173 Gramma got to make one, too! Although hers came out rather uniquely. She wasn't at the table for the instructions (she was managing Mr. Busy-body) so she was at a distinct disadvantage. But hey, it's art!	174 Sam's two!	175 Sweet guy.	176 Ben singing Twinkle Twinkle in Hawaiian ("'Imo 'imo hoku iki | Ha'oha'o wau ia 'oe...").
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