Breakfast with a view…

 

Omar had soccer pictures on Saturday morning over on Hickam, when he was done we had some time to kill before his game so we popped over to Wright Brothers for some breakfast. I LOVE eating here, it is priced really well ($3.25 for a kids plate and that includes a drink) the food is good and it comes out quick. Also the view is pretty great, right across the entrance to Pearl harbor. The outdoor seating is really beautiful although hard to come by, I was stalking tables waiting for someone to leave!
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It’s a great spot to take pictures (which is why soccer pictures are done here I assume!) Lots of pretty trees and a lovely backdrop. I’ll have to bring them back in something other than soccer uniforms!pose

 

There is also a seawall right by the restaurant that allows some great fish watching, lots of FAT fish from all of the bread people feed them. I even saw some yellow tangs which is crazy because we haven’t seen them ONCE while snorkeling.fish

Anyways, get over to Wright Brothers, have some breakfast or lunch and enjoy the view and breeze!

 

 

 

All Soccer, All Day

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!

GOAL

 

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!

 

 

Six months in Hawaii… living life

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!

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

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!

 

So sometimes we sneak into pools…

Okay, this was an honest mistake. Mostly.

See we knew there was this awesome pool on Fort Shafter, sand in the bottom, great splash area, beautiful views of Pearl Harbor and the ocean..

I assumed that is was the same deal as the pools on the other bases, like Hickam and Pearl and Tripler. They are there for all military to use.

So we get there and there is a sign in book and a sign that says something about a pool pass. Uh-oh. But instead of turning around I act like we belong there, sign illegibly in the book and grab a chaise lounge. It probably helped that it was late in the day and the lifeguards were bored.

I guess the pool is only for the residents of the Island Palm Housing, which totally sucks because we aren’t going to be able to go again and my kids LOVED IT.

Look mom! Sand. IN THE POOL!

 

Seriously, this is a genius concept. It’s like the beach but with clean, chlorinated water. Heaven.

The sandy beach side of the pool is shallow and great for little kids (and big kids, Mckenna loved it).

 

There is this rock wall divider that separates the sandy, shallow part from the non-sandy deeper part.

 

 

It really was a great pool and I’m bummed because we probably won’t be able to sneak in again and it’s the ONLY pool that Omar actually asks to go to. And yes we are spoiled by a ridiculous amount of pools (and beaches!) but dang it! This one was awesome!

Living in Hawaii {4 Month Update}

We have officially hit four months of living in Hawaii.

And I am in love with this state.

Hawaii can be a difficult place to live. It is so very different than living on the mainland. It can be hard to not have every store and restaurant you are used to having around the corner. (No Olive Garden, Michael’s or Chik-fil-a!) Living here means that you are living far from family, at least a 5 hour plane ride away. It can be expensive, housing is expensive, food is expensive, we are on an island so you will pay more for everything. We are lucky to be able to shop at the commissary and exchange which offer a huge savings over shopping on the local economy.

But with all that it is still magical to live here. I will be driving and then all of a sudden see a gorgeous rainbow, a vibrant green volcanic range, or a stunning sunset over the beach.

We did come here with a bit of an advantage. After living in Spain for four years we learned to live without many of the American conveniences that people complain about not having here. Plus we’ve been living far from family. So when we moved from Rota to Pearl Harbor it was awesome for us! We had Target and Starbucks and T-mobile…

It is like most places for me, it depends on what you make of it. If you spend your time here complaining about how much you hate it, you’ll end up hating it.

We’ve had a great time getting out and exploring the island, learning about the culture and customs and eating!

Don’t get me wrong it’s far from perfect here, the DMV is a nightmare, the traffic is the worst, and the bugs are out of control. There are shady parts of the island, it sucks being 6 hours behind all my friends and family on the east coast (especially when your husband deploys!)

I have found some fun friends by stepping outside my comfort zone and playing football, volunteering with the PTA and getting together a FRG for the Paul Hamilton.

The only thing that would make it better would be if my husband were still here to explore the island with me!