Hey again,

Forgot to upload some pics of holidays so here they are. Pure eye candy for the family soul.

G spent almost the whole week outside the animals.

Casey's getting on a bit but still enjoys the outdoors.

Cousin B has a new young'n in the house. He doesn't last very long most days, but then again, he never stops.

All the horses and donks come to the call, just in case.

The Gingerbread House contest is becoming quite the favorite tradition. Every joins, even those kids that don't really think they are.

H took advantage of the block exhibit at the Life and Science Museum and this was her result. Can you say a little too much time on your hands.

The girls found this room that played music as you danced (cameras attached to computers that create sound based on movement, way cool) and they stayed ... and stayed ... and stayed ...

Thanksgiving day and the boys's (and Grandma and H) took to the road for the final leg of the Tour de Carbarro, the 8k walk/run. A good time was had by all, and all made it.

(Don't you just love the shorts?!!)

C' ya'll.

All about Fall

Hello all ... it's been awhile. 

     Well, we (and especially I) have been just a tad bit busy since the last post (and I think I've had enough of American Airlines to last forever)!! Let's see, when last we visited, we were moving fast and furious into Fall. Fall here is similar to all the rest, I think somewhat cooler, but mainly noticeable at night. Evenings are wonderful now, very cool and breezy. 

     G's class took a trip to the Pumpkin Patch just before Halloween and L got to go along. It was quite the adventure with 20+ 5 y.o.'s scrambling to grab their very own selection. G got what she wanted was waay excited!!

We did get enough for all the girls and had our annual pumpkin carving party. We always have a good time. We do the carving kit diagrams and end up with some good stuff.

     The final results were very good this year. A new twist is to carve an extra picture on the back and then set the pumpkin next to a wall. The rear picture shows a 'shadow' picture. It doesn't show up very well here, but if you look close ... G's, on the right, was a cat in front with a mouse in back. H's, in the middle, didn't show up here, but it was cool in real life.

     After prepping for Halloween we had H's B'day ( it's not every day your young one turns 11, now is it :) ...) A good time was had by all and then Halloween.

     After that began "The Month-Long Plane Ride" ...

     The month started with me doing some training for a new position at my clinic. I went to DC for a week and fortunately got to do a bit of sight-seeing before my return. DC is such a great place. During the trip, we had the good fortune to accidently stumble upon the new Police Officer memorial. Truly accidental because it happend to be right next to where we exited the Metro and was far away from anything we were intending on visiting ... things happen for a reason, right. Anyway, after figuring out what the memorial was, I checked to see if my uncle was listed and I wasn't disappointed ... 

(try doing with your normal PC photo program)

This was quite moving for me and I sincerely appreciated this dedication. Another group to whom we owe a great debt.

     After this, I of course went to the Archives to see the Declaration and Constitution (I'll never get tired of seeing that) and then on to the WWII Memorial. It is very impressive and I felt an appropriate tribute.  The memorial is set in a large circular pool with the fountains all around surrounded on either side by a 1/4 ring of columns. The columns have each of the 50 states named with additional columns that have famous quotes engraved. The right side (looking as in this picture) is for the Atlantic war, the left is for the Pacific war. At the entrance on both sides are columns with placards of each of the different services on the 4 sides. It is much less solemn and erie than either the Korean or Vietnam memorials, but moving all the same.

 I thought the Truman quote below summed it up.

     My trip finally ended and I was back in Hawaii just in time for the Veteran's Day parade. L and I traded seats on the plane because she had to return home as her Grandpa Frank passed. He was part of that 'Greatest Generation' that Truman mentioned above and his bravery and sacrifice are exactly what Truman was talking about. If it were not for men and women like him, the world would be a very different place indeed. He, as well as his stories, will be missed.

     The Veteran'sDay parade was B's first (a worthy inaugural). I have never seen such a showing of JROTC groups, a large group from each school. B's group was toward the end and G nearly became uncontrollable, but we made it.

(again, try this with a PC)

     When L returned (with our beloved Spike, thanks to Aunt S for taking such good care of him), we traded seats on the plane, again, and I headed for Dallas, TX for my Oral Boards. Things were pretty good, made a few flubs, but don't think anything serious. We'll know the results in a couple of weeks. It was great to see most of my old classmates and we all wish good luck to the last one, who will take the exam in March.

     When I got back, we had just enough time to pack and then it was back on the plane for our annual trek to North Carolina for a Thanksgiving Feast. Of course the girl's idea is that we go every year just to visit the animals on the 'Farm'. 

     We had our 2nd annual Gingerbread House Decorating Contest and all entries were fabulous. (I'll put up the other pics on a separate post)

     We hope you all had a wonderful Holiday. We truly enjoyed all of our family and especially the most generous hospitality of our hosts. A great time was had by all and we arrived back home (finally) safe and sound. Dallas to Honolulu is a L-O-N-G flight. 

Aloha!

(I think I had enough views of this to last a life time)

More summer fun

hello again,

Thought I'd share some Hawaii summer action. Well after we got all moved in and things got pretty much in order, we decided to get back out and do/see some things. We took a drive along the west side of the North Shore and saw some parachutists landing on an air field there. I got all excited. Anyway, as we went just a bit further, we noticed a bunch of kites just over the sand dune. Well, I thought we were kind of close to the water to be seeing kites, so I had to stop to investigate and this is what we saw ...

We got a little close and found that it was actually a bunch of Kite Boarders ...

This was too cool. These guys (and girls) get moving at some awesome speeds and the harness is spring loaded so that when they hit a good wave, they can do somersaults, twists, etc, just like snow boarders. Well worth the stop.

  On the way back, we were driving along and noted this awesome tree ...

These are called 'monkeypod' - Pithecellobium saman - they are excellent shade trees. We have one that covers nearly our entire back yard. Some can grow to cover 3/4th's of an acre (for those that came to Georgia, that would cover our whole lot and half of the next door neighbors). There are some other really cool trees that we'll show you later.

     Anyway, we came back and went to the other end of the North Shore and, as usual, the girls forced me to stop at a road-side fruit stand ... 

     The girls always want to stop for cut mangos and fresh coconut, and this day H talked us into getting some sugar cane. You know that went over like a lead brick. Well, I agreed but on the condition that everyone understood that this was NOT going to become a habit. Toward the end of the drive, we stopped and took a good look at the coastline ...

     Well, this past weekend they had one of the surfing championships up on the North Shore and so we had to go take a look a the waves.  We saw quite a few good ones, but none of the really big ones that we see in the photos. We did see this little guy riding this wave in from probably 2-300 yards out. He just did the body board thing and cruised in on the front of this wave having a ball. H was so jealous. 

She and G spent some time messin' around on the rocks and nearly got drenched a few times ...

The girls have been having a blast playing outside. H and G will spend the whole day outside if we let them. L went out yesterday to toss some trash and this is what she saw ... 

of course all of the kids, except B (of course), were totally enthralled with this slug/snail specimen. I have never seen one this big. 

Well, we've been having fun. Hope you are. 

Remember, L is always making something good, around here it's always a nice summer day, ... and the door is always open. 

See ya'!!

moving in

Hello all, it's been a while, but we've been a little busy.

I chose to make this a more visual post as the pictures tell the story better that I. We finally got our stuff and as is typical for the military (at least for medical), the notice came about a day ahead so I didn't have time to book off patients, so L had to deal with the movers all by her lonesome. It's ok though, she is pretty self-sufficient and they were done unloading by around 2pm. This is how it started ...

Day 1

Day 3

L and I have a standing rule that in a move, everything get's done in 2 weeks!! That way you can get on with living. So far we have made it and this was no exception. We really got to work. L during the day (mostly, she'll say she helped at night too, and I won't argue ... here), and me at night. The girls helped some too and we got things moving along pretty well. 

We finished this past Monday (exactly 13 days) and here's how it looks. Some before and afters follow of everybody's rooms. There is still some organizing to do, but all in all, it's done.

Dining and Living

Our bedroom

 

G's room

 

H's Room

 

B's room

 

L's office

At the end we had a little time for some backyard BBQ (Penny get's here share every time) and a little fun. Our normal Traditional Move-In Celebration is a full Turkey dinner with all the spread. It just didn't seem to go this year, so we had a little family party ... movies, Ice cream (several flavors), those 'New Year's Eve' junk food snacks from the freezer section, chips and dip, and of course some board games and the 'Wii' (I picked up the new Mario Kart game, it is a total blast). Everyone had a a good time and enjoyed the new surroundings. You will too.

We're ready now, make your reservations!!!

C' Ya!

Hello again,

A lot has been going on here. We have some good news ... our house will be here tomorrow (Tue 16 Sep that is). We are totally excited. We can't wait to open all the boxes and see what's broken. Seriously, I hope all is well, that way we can hopefully get life back to normal.                  

Our unit (this is my clinic bunch) had our O'day end of Aug, we had lots of good eats and some good fun. Many played some volleyball, some went surfin' and others just sat around and enjoyed the day.

We really know how to eat!!

I spent a few days in Seattle last weekend at our Annual AAP (that's American Academy of Periodontology) conference. It was good to see all the Army guys, and we did get to see a little of the city (not much, mind you). A couple of us went to Pike's market, it was awesome.  I have never seen so many huge fresh flowers. I got back, only to study for the week and take my Board Certification exam. We'll see how I did.

We did take the morning off and got to go to the beach. We found this little stretch on the north shore that wasn't very crowded where the sand was like powder under your feet. The water was so clear that we couldn't pass it up and so H and I went snorkling. Good stuff. On the way back we stopped at 'Turtle Beach' (that's not the real name, but it fits). It is probably the best place to see the huge sea turtles.

After the show, we had some good lunch at this place called 'Killer Tacos' and another place, this local icon shrimp truck called Giovanni's (somebody wanted to have shrimp with her tacos), when you come we'll take you. For desert we had another Hawai'i favorite, Matsumotos Shave Ice. This is good stuff. It is basically a snow cone, though the ice is truly shaved not crushed, then before they load up the cup, they put soft serve on the bottom. Excellent.

We we now know why there is a Rainbow on the Hawai'i license plate, there is one nearly every day. Somedays they are really bright with deep colors, others you get to see a double. Regardless, they really help you appreciate the day. 

Enjoy!!

summer fun, eat your heart out

Hey all

     So yesterday, as all of the summer fun on the mainland begins to wind down, B and the band went to Hawaiian Waters. It is a pretty good sized water park just outside Honolulu. I ended up being the taxi, so H and I went along. We all had to work hard to make the plans without letting the secret loose on G. She and L stayed  home. We told her I was taking the girls and H was riding along and that appeased her questioning ... for a while.

     L said that we had been there for a couple of hours when G looked at her and said 'So when is daddy and H coming home?' L says 'this evening with B and the other girls.' So G says 'You mean he and H are STAYING at Hawaiian Waters. You know that I wanted to go there Mamma.' No gettin' over on that one any more.

     At the park, H and I deserted the other band geeks and headed out on our own. There are a multitude of different rides. We did nearly everything except this 'Half-pipe' that H wouldn't get on. It was about a 40 ft slide down and then back up the other side, usually about 25-30 ft. It did look a bit intimidating as you were walking up, so H bailed and it was a 2 person ride so I had to bail too. We did go on a nearly vertical drop, rode a tobaggon slide (I made it all the way to the very end of the chute), rode a multitude of 2-person inner tube rides, and then went on this ride called the Tornado ... it is this huge funnel-shaped thing that you are jetted into from a steep drop coming in from the side on a 4-person tube. The water is a jet-stream that shoots the tube up the opposite side of the funnel about 1/2 way+, then lets you fall back to the other middle and up the other side. H's face was unbelievable, I would not have believed that her mouth could open that big. It was way cool.

     So here in Hawaii, you tend to wear a different type of shoe. They call 'em slippa's (or slippers) and they have a direct effect on the color of your feet. Take a look ... 

and eat your heart out!! 

(I know it's not THAT impressive, but you get the idea, and especially on my feet, that haven't seen this much daylight since the summers of '69-'75!!) Have a good one.