Category Archives: Life in hawaii

Weekend recap

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We actually had a busy weekend. Shocker. Normally we have zero plans but this weekend we were running around a bit.

Saturday started WAY too early, Omar had soccer pictures at 8:15. That is just wrong. So we had to get up really early to get over to the spot they were taking photos. 

This is me taking a photo in blatent disregard of the no camera signs. But it’s not like I was trying to take any posed pictures, I just wanted to show the BEAUTIFUL location right on the water. Damn I love living here!

After pictures we had some time to kill before his game so we ran over to the exchange and I grabbed a coffee and some supplies for a deployment craft. (will post as soon as it’s done)

The hulks had another awesome game and won again! (Doesn’t it totally look like Omar is about to do a header? That would have been cool!)

After his game, we ran home and showered him so we could meet up with some of the spouses from our ship. It was very different from what I was expecting since my last experience was with an aircraft carrier with thousands of sailors and now it is a destroyer with a couple hundred. On the carrier the officer’s and enlisted spouses didn’t even meet together which I thought was so weird. Whatever. Anyways, so I guess I thought this was a big spouse meet and greet. Nope. It was our two ombudsman and  6 wives. As of right now we don’t have a Family Readiness Group or FRG but we are trying to get one started. So we are the ‘get it started’ group. Not that I mind, I do love to volunteer and everyone was really nice and enthusiastic. 

Our ‘spouse support’ group. We did have a nice lunch. (And I recommend the Italian Chicken Panini at Wright Brothers Cafe!)

Mckenna holding one of my neighbor’s twins at our meeting. Seriously folks. This is where I live.

After lunch we ran to a friends house for a bbq. We are on the football team together and I was feeling really bad because we were running about an hour late because my other meeting ran long. Wouldn’t you know it? We were the first people there? Rude! I can’t stand people who don’t show up for parties! And no one else showed up for almost another hour! I felt terrible for her! Eventually everyone showed up and the kids had fun playing. She has a son Omar’s age and Mckenna got to play with ANOTHER set of twin boys!

I swear I feed this boy!

Look at these gorgeous ladies! What good looking football players! We ended up having a good time, I met another wife from the ship, the kids had fun running around and I didn’t have to make dinner. Win-win!

Sunday we ended up having a lazy morning. Mckenna was driving me nuts so I called another football friend and asked if her daughter could come play. Thankfully they live really close so it worked out perfect! The girls had a great time playing with American Girl dolls.

They wanted me to take this picture to submit to American Girl magazine. They are so cute!

Finally it was time to get ready for my football game. I was kind of dreading it because we had lost the last two and I was kind of demoralized. I play center so I am the one who snaps the ball. If I have a bad snap it’s a dead ball and we lose yards. Its VERY stressful! Anyways, we ended up playing Army and we won! It was SUCH a fun game. We were laughing and having fun and kicking the crap outta them. I did end up getting hit pretty hard, I was chasing after the running back and some broad came outta nowhere and plowed into me. I was SO pissed, I came up swearing. Its FLAG football, not tackle! My team had to rein me in a bit so I didn’t get into trouble and the other team ended up getting a personal foul and losing 15 yards. Meanwhile I have a lovely scraped upper thigh as a trophy.

We also had team pictures taken. I am happy we were all wearing our pretty new jerseys on Sunday!

So that was our weekend. We succeeded in keeping busy, the less time we are home the less time we are moping about daddy being gone! Can’t wait to talk to him on the phone again! Emails and chat just don’t cut it! (Such a spoiled 21st century Navy wife!)

And so it begins…

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Soccer season that is. It has already been a little bit crazy just to get him on the team.

I’d been looking into the MWR sports that are put on for the military kids but the only sports they had were flag football and volleyball (for Mckenna) and they were full. So I am searching the internet trying to find something, anything to put my kids into for fall.

I finally find AYSO and see that registration has already ended but I don’t care, I am going to be THAT parent who wants to register their kids late. Through multiple emails back and forth with the lady in charge of registration, I am finally able to meet up with her and get him registered. Mckenna is on a wait list and probably won’t make a team which really sucks. But at least this is a two season per year league so she’ll be able to play in January.  Anyways, while I am registering him I ask if he can get moved up an age group. The U5 group that he is in is that whole “kick the ball around the field with daddy” thing. Been there, done that, he was bored when he had to do it LAST year, I didn’t want him to suffer through it again! This boy loves soccer, plays ALL the time and just wants to get in a game!  So the registrar tells me she’ll get back to me as she has to get approval from whoever.

Luckily she emailed me the next day letting me know he was good to go for the older U6 league and that they had a team that was short and needed him.  We got a call from the coach last night saying there was a game today, could we make it since two kids had dropped out and Omar made the 4th kid on the team! So at 7:45 we run out to the exchange to but cleats and shin guards (why can’t our stuff get here already so I can stop buying multiples of everything?)

We get to the field and find out coach, change Omar into his uniform and get him on the field to warm up. (NO time for cute poses with the ball in his adorable uniform!)

He even picked number 4 because he is four (for two more weeks anyways).

Oh, and his team name? The Incredible Hulks. I could die.

Running laps around the field.

Kick it in, baby!

Water break!

Taking a break

halftime snack

Boys are weird.

They ended up winning 5-3 and Omar scored TWO goals! Visions of World Cups are dancing in our heads! But really, he had a great time out there and his coach seems like a really nice guy. I actually had to cut out early due to this mutt:

I brought him to soccer because we (he) had his first obedience class and I didn’t want to have to run home. Well he was horrible at soccer, not wanting to sit still or lay down and wasn’t much better at class. I had no less than 5 people suggest putting a pinch or prong collar on him. I don’t know how he can be so wonderful IN the house (seriously, obeys EVERY command, perfect sit/stay/recall) and is just terrible on a leash! I don’t know how many more dog classes I am going to be able to make because most of Omar’s soccer games overlap and I really don’t want to miss out on those.

Anyways, so we had a great morning (besides my ill-behaved dog {which I know is all my fault}) and we are getting ready to go see ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ with the kiddos!

Kaneohe Bay – Pyramid Rock Beach

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One of the first things you learn when you move to Oahu is how the island is divided. Down the center of the island runs a mountain range (gotta love all that volcanic activity!). The north eastern side of the divide is the windward side, it gets all of the winds and moisture. The southwestern side (where we live) is the leeward side, not as cool and much drier. This becomes very apparent when you go from one side to another. I LOVE the windward side! It is so lush and green and every time I see it I feel like I am in Jurassic Park (because it was filmed here!)

 

 

 

This is the tunnel that cuts through the mountains, it is fairly new and is much easier than having to drive all the way around or over! And when you pop out of the tunnel this is what greets you:

 

The hills all have those distinct ridges due to erosion, all of the rain has carved the rock.

 

 

 

We were looking for someplace to snorkel over on the Marine Corps base at Kaneohe Bay but there wasn’t really anything suitable so we headed to Pyramid Rock Beach. It was a beautiful breezy day but the surf was really rough and we were advised by the lifeguard to stay shallow and keep our kids close.

 

 

Yes, I know it is all beach and ocean pictures all the time but seriously, this has been my life! We have spent a disgusting amount of time at the beach, but isn’t that what you are supposed to do when you live in Hawaii?

 

 

My gorgeous girl. This was the only picture I have where she isn’t posing like she’s trying out for America’s Next Top Model.

 

 

Oh this boy, he melts my heart.

 

 

Pyramid Rock, I wanted to go see if we could hike up the stairs but as you can see it’s REALLY far away and I am incredibly lazy. I bet the view from up there is great! 

 

 

 

Super crowded beach, I don’t know how we deal with the masses of people. Seriously though, I love going to beaches on base.

 

 

 

 

 

We also stalked a crab… cutest thing ever.

 

 

And the weirdo dog that was happy as hell to eat the leftover ice from the ice chest. Also please ignore my dirt back yard. My gardening stuff isn’t here yet, give me a couple of months and it will be beautiful!

 

The one where I eat out of a trough

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So yesterday we decided to be the most awesome. parents. ever!  and pick our kiddos up from school and go directly to Dave and Buster’s. D&B’s is like a big kid’s Chuck E. Cheese. They have a restaurant and then a huge video game area. We had been before on one of our day date’s we have been indulging in since the kids have been in school, but this time we decided to be nice and take the kid’s too.

We were going for a late lunch but the kids weren’t hungry so they just got milkshakes. And eat the nachos we got as an appetizer (I LOVE their nachos!)

See?! Spoiled happy kids! (pardon the cell phone pics)

So for lunch I decided to get a salad and picked one called The Lawnmower. The picture looked like a cobb type salad with a little bit of everything. My kind of salad. So imagine my surprise when this arrived at our table:

That platter is TWO FEET LONG! You know how when you order fajitas and all the plates and bowls and sizzling platters feel like you are taking up half the table? Well this thing took up half the table!! I think our entire family could have eaten comfortably off of this salad. (Also please ignore Mckenna’s super natural looking surprised face)

Anyways, the salad was good (what I could eat of it) also the stolen sips of Omar’s abandoned chocolate milkshake.

Oh, Also!!! Dave and Buster’s offers a 20% military discount! That is a seriously good discount because they have decent meal prices to start, like mainland prices, not Hawaii prices.

Life size connect four! Mckenna won, she was super excited!

So after eating we hit up the games, which was perfect because Wednesday is half price games, who knew? The kids had a great time, we won a bazillion tickets and ended up not getting home until almost 6pm (love that traffic!)

So I got to skip out on making dinner because we still weren’t really hungry so we did leftovers/scrounge in the fridge night. Perfect!

So, yeah. Don’t order The ginormous salad unless you are starving or prepared to share some of your three heads of romaine lettuce!

 

 

 

Our house… at the moment.

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So I know before moving into this neighborhood I was dying to find out what the inside of the houses looked like. At the moment we still have our loaner furniture, we have hardly any of our own stuff at all and it’s pretty much empty. But! It’s better than a hotel room!

So here are some pictures:

Front of house

 

Side of house, and tiny yard

 

Back of house, garage (two car!)

Dining room and kitchen

 

 

Den, forgot to take a picture of the living room but it’s the same size as this and is open plan to the dining room and kitchen

 

Entry way, front door, coat closet, bathroom, storage under the stairs

 

Looking toward front door, standing in living room, stairs up to second floor

 

Top of stairs, cabinet thing (linens, I don’t even know?) in the hallway next to kids bathroom

Top of stairs, we’ll be sticking a desk here for the kids, also a nice big storage room.

Mckenna’s room

 

Omar’s room

 

Master, please note that the kids bed’s were made and mine isn’t. Wonderful.

 

Master bath

 

Master closet, it’s actually off the bathroom which is nice. LOTS of space.

 

 

So there it is, can’t wait to actually get our stuff so we can make this house our own. I’ve been meaning to get some paint for the kids rooms and get that done before all of our stuff gets here.  It’s nice to go from under a thousand square feet to over 1,700. Lots more room to stretch out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waikiki Aquarium

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Okay hawaii. So far I am digging it here but you have GOT to step it up when it comes to the only aquarium on Oahu!  I knew before coming that it was small, but it’s not small it’s tiny! Do NOT come with visions of Monterey Bay Aquarium, Baltimore Aquarium or Shedd Aquarium in your mind (three of the best I’ve been to!)

One thing you can’t fault is the location, right on the water at the east end of Waikiki. Parking is a little crazy, we parked in our favorite cheapo military lot and meandered through Waikiki. It’s about a mile and a half walk and not too bad if you stop for lunch. Which we didn’t do because none of us could agree so we ended up at the aquarium hot and crabby. Fun times!

On with it!

 

 

What is wrong with this boy? Seriously, he can not take a normal picture anymore.

 

And since the posts have been so snorkel heavy I’ll just try to throw some of my favorite fish into a collage so you don’t have to scroll past them. Sorry, I love me some fish!

 

See that wasn’t so bad. So yeah the aquarium is small but they have some of the most beautiful display tanks I’ve ever seen, huge clams, a carpet anemone that was 2 feet wide, a mangrove tank, a tank outside, really beautiful.

 

 

 

The kiddos held some hermit crabs and pet some urchins, touch tanks are always a big hit.
The clam propagation tank outside. Some seriously stunning clams in there. They also have their coral growing tank outside as well. Really cool and makes me want to volunteer so I can play, too!

Walking right out of the aquarium you are right at the seawall along the water, tried again and again to get a good splash but I kept missing it…

 

 

 

 

So out we walked onto the breakwater where Omar (jr.) ended up getting soaked by a wave. Whoops!

 

 

 

 

 

So aquarium, nice but probably an hour tops for most people. There is a discount if you are a local and the tour includes a talking speaker tour dealy to give you details about all of the exhibits.  Make it part of your day in Waikiki and walk around (it’s also right near the zoo so you can make it a twofer).