Tag Archives: pearl harbor

Jun11

U.S.S. Arizona Memorial

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U.S.S. Arizona Memorial

I don’t know why it took me so long to visit this memorial, it is absolutely stunning and sobering to visit. I guess that is the good thing about guests is that they give you that kick in the pants to get stuff done. I was a little worried we weren’t going to be able to do it because tickets sell out months in advance. I was told that we could walk in and try to get on stand by. Well we ended up doing just that which was awesome. We were the 1pm tour that day which was absolutely incredible because it was the last tour of the day. So as the crowds were filing back on the last ferry we were able to take pictures of the memorial completely empty. DSC_0025

I recommend trying to do the last tour of the day if you are able.

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The sailors and marines who died on the Arizona that day. I had always been curious why the ship was left where it was and why the remains were never brought up. The wonderful park ranger explained that the way that the ship broke up would have made it difficult to raise and the ship itself was on fire for 3 days, effectively cremating all those who were inside.

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In 1982 it was decided that Arizona survivors could be interred into the ship when they died. This gave me chills. DSC_0015

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Dedicated to the eternal memory of our gallant shipmates in the USS Arizona who gave their lives in action 7 December 1941 “From today on the USS Arizona will again fly our country’s flag just as proudly as she did on the morning of 7 December 1941. I am sure the Arizona’s crew will know and appreciate what we are doing” Admiral A.W. Radford, USN 7 March 1950

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Jan29

All Soccer, All Day

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This past weekend this kids officially started their soccer season.

Omar was crazy excited, this boy LOVES to play soccer!

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Kickoff time… Even though he only had one practice he still did awesome out there. He just loves being on that field.DSC_0014

 

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There was a point in the game where his cleat came off his foot… he picked that bad boy up and went running after the ball. The coach had to blow a whistle and take a minute to get him to stop playing. I love it.DSC_0018

 

 

He sat out the third quarter and was PACING the sidelines to get back into the game. Someone got tired so back in he went… and proceeded to tie up the game! Goooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllll!

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Mckenna had her first game as well… MUCH bigger field!

DSC_0051Mckenna played left forward and did pretty well, it’s been awhile since she played so I don’t know that she was 100% ready for the speed of the game again! Her team is coming together though!

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(Remind me to get her some bigger shin guards, those look ridiculous!)

On the sidelines we weren’t as prepared as some (no tents, coolers or umbrellas for us!) but we did have Safeway donuts!

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Then she got put in as goalie which drove me crazy because she has NEVER played or even practiced as goalie. She did a good job and stopped quite a few shots. I think only one got past her.

DSC_0093It’s going to be a crazy season for me… MANY of their games overlap so I am going to have to ask for help from other parents to make it work. No one is happy with that but it’s the best I can do!

 

 

Jan16

And there goes my week…

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The kids have both started soccer. And it is going to be just as bad as I imagined it would be.  We’ve never had both of them in a sport at the same time. I was hoping and wishing that their schedules would work out because I don’t have a back up in case I need to be in two places at the same time. 

As of right now we are good but our entire week is taken up by practice, me on Mon, Mckenna Tue and Thur and Omar Wed. I actually have Tues/Thurs as well but I don’t think I’ll be making it for awhile…

Of course I couldn’t have a nice easy practice week could I?

Mckenna’s coach had left directions to the field on our group page, I’m thinking, I know where that is, through that gate, yeah there is a field over there… Well silly ol’ me decided to be fun mom and go to a movie after school on Tuesday (whoo-hoo $6 tickets on Tuesdays!) because of this we got home with enough time to get to practice on time, not early but on time. Well to the location where I thought it was. Coach’s directions say MAKALAPA gate, so guess which gate I go through? The Makalapa gate… Well from there on the directions DO NOT make sense. I am stressing, it’s getting later and later, Mckenna is CRYING, I am SWEATING! I finally look at the direction and see she wrote a street by the gate but that is not the street the gate is on, ugh. So I drive over to that street and whaddayah know, I was supposed to go in a totally freaking different gate on the total opposite side of the street. I could have cried.

So we follow the (now perfectly sensible) directions and get there a mere 20 minutes late for her FIRST practice. Parenting FAIL. She runs out onto the field while I walk over to this cabana thing to see if there are any social parents there. (At this point I am just hoping you can’t see sweat stains through my shirt) I do mention offhand that we got totally lost with the directions, so everyone doesn’t think we are just late people (no that realization will come later in the season!) But no one is chatty. One couple in their own little world, one dad doing homework with his son and then one table of moms who already know each other and just talk away. So whatever, I do what any other semi-socially awkward person would do, hop on my cell phone and call my sistah to tell her my ridiculous tale.

Then. THEN! After practice the coach is giving her little talk to the parents about the upcoming season and she mentions that all the girls need to make sure they are wearing shin-guards even to practice and I swear I got a pointed look. Damn it! Okay listen, we have sports equipment coming out our ears over here! I could NOT find Mckenna’s other stupid shinguard! I know it is somewhere in the house, we’ve seen it floating around but aren’t exactly sure of it’s exact location.

So off to the exchange, new shin-guards and even a new ball because we had no size 5 and Mckenna would look insane out there with a size 3 of Omar’s!

(AND after all that mess of getting there Mckenna is upset that all the girls already go to school together and are friends. Oy. PLEASE let these girls be nice girls!!!)

Oh can I offer up this comparison of our cleats?

photo (9)Omar’s, Mckenna’s, mine. I can fit her cleats! And yes we do like flashy cleats!

Omar had his first practice today after an afternoon phone call from the coach saying he sent me an email Monday. Uh, no you didn’t! All the way across town in rush hour traffic, kill me. And everyone lives on the same street in this housing area except for us. Weird. I don’t know why they put us on this team. Coach seems nice, only one other mom was there and she was chatty! Like REALLY chatty! It was fine, better than being ignored. (Just because I can’t help myself… I am the only person who thinks it’s weird to wear nylons with a sundress on an 80 degree day in Hawaii? No I’m not the only one? Good, cause that was… odd.) She invited us to a party at Chuck E. Cheese so Omar will like that, get to know his team a little better. Thankfully the ride home is opposite traffic and is very fast!

Fingers crossed that they both have an awesome season, go Lava Warriors and Sharks!

(And may my little odd kids out make some good friends!)

Jan10

Six months in Hawaii… living life

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So we’ve been here six months now. I still love it and I love the fact that I am learning my way around better and better all the time, we have a dentist, a favorite beach, and the weather is still pretty damn awesome in January.

I am still having a hard time finding someone who I really click with. I have a horrible habit of meeting someone, getting along really well and thinking there is more than a casual friendship there. If I am friends with you I want to be FRIENDS with you.  But it’s hard finding that, it doesn’t come around all that often. So I thank my lucky stars and my unlimited minutes cell phone plan that I have my bestie Janelle. 

I have been up to my eyeballs in stuff to do, football, FRG meeting stuff, all the everyday stuff that goes along with living. Just keeping busy so we can knock off more time that daddy has been gone.

I have lots of stuff that I am working on around the house, still exercising which is good, been pretty good with how I have been eating. I really have no complaints, if my husband were home with me I would be pretty damn happy. I really wouldn’t mind staying here for 5 years instead of 3, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it!

Nov19

Ko’olina Lagoon aka Sometime you just need to go to the beach

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So after  long day of fun we decided to keep driving west until we hit the beach. One of the best beaches on that side of the island are the Ko’olina Lagoons. We grabbed a spot, pulled the ever-present beach chairs from the trunk, and just enjoyed this fabulous life we have.

 

 

 

 

This was one of the best sunsets I’d seen since we moved here, we are rarely over on the west side of the island and the sunsets just aren’t quite as pretty from Pearl Harbor, too much in the way!  Stunning.

 

 

Mckenna of course wanted to model for me… This girl loves having her picture taken but it’s hard to get one now where she isn’t posing like a crazy person. 

 

And then there is this kid who HATES having his picture taken but I can occasionally get such a wonderful shot of him I could die.

 

Okay, disgusting post I know, my kids are gorgeous, I live in paradise. What can I say, it’s a rough life!

 

Nov16

Soccer is OVER!

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So Omar had his end of season soccer pizza party. It was a sad day because these boys had an awesome soccer season. We had a great coach and a great team. Unfortunately the coach is deploying so he won’t be able to coach next season. Military member heavy sports teams have downfalls!

So we got the boys together, had pizza, drinks, and dessert. They got to play on the playground and we got to reminisce about the season. One loss!

I felt bad because we hadn’t talked about doing a coaches gift, so at the last minute we picked up a green (our team color) lei. And a card. And then I felt awesome because we were the only family to do anything. (Yes I am such an ass, I know)

Omar got a pretty cool trophy that he can’t wait to put on his trophy shelf (whenever I get one hung up).

We really had a great season with these kids and are looking forward to either playing with them or playing against them next season. (January! When BOTH kids are going to be in soccer!)