News Update

It has been a confusing couple of months in terms of what our future looks like and we are still in limbo though we have some immediate plans figured out. Ron is separating from the Navy which means he will not be taking orders to the ship out of Pearl Harbor in the fall. Sadly, despite some effort to secure work here, we will be leaving the island on the 26th. Sigh - we are so sad to be leaving such a beautiful place.

We are packing our house this Friday and shipping our stuff to Atlanta with plans to U-Haul it to where ever we might end up. We fly into Atlanta on the 27th and will be staying at Ron's parent's house while Ron looks for work in the IT field. Colorado seems to be our place of choice with lots of companies and job opportunities, but there are dozens of other possibilities too so we'll have to keep you posted on the career move.

Ella is excited to stay in a hotel in Waikiki for a few days, and we'll be soaking up as much of this brilliant Hawaiian sun, sand and surf as we can. She can't wait to stay with Grandma and Grandad and wants to "go to the beach with Grandma". She doesn't quite know what to make of a place that has no beach :) She is however, over the moon with the idea that our new house may have snow during the winter, and is excited to have her first coat and pair of boots (already ordered and waiting at Grandma's house) !

The house is in total disarray; organizing is taking up most of my time so our posts may be sporadic. Living out of suitcases and in limbo is annoying at best, but we're excited for the change and the new adventure. Keep your fingers crossed that we get settled into a new life soon!! :)

The Fab Four

Ella, Ava, Hope & Safiyyah at Ko'Olina on Friday...

Water Park

Today was our last day at the water park with our summer passes. We met up with our friends from gymnastics, Crystal and Jenesis. Ella was so excited to see Jenesis after being out of gymnastics for so long. I think she's adorable and always threaten Crystal that I'm going to stick her in my pocket and take her home with me... she's that cute! Jenesis even named her turtle, Ella, and continues to tell Crystal everyday, "I want to go play at Ella's house" :)

Here are the two BFF's:And some more water park pics:

Swim Class

Swim lessons wrapped up Thursday night. It's been 14 weeks and Ella is officially a swimmer! Ella moved up from Samson's class to Ms. Jen's class but isn't quite ready for Shelly's class, even though Shelly loves Ella and is always cuddling with her :)

With Ms. Jen...
With Shelly...

Water Park

Ella and I have summer passes to the Wet N' Wild water park that expire tomorrow so we went last Thursday and Friday. We're also getting ready to have the house packed up in a couple of weeks so the majority of our time has been getting all the little things done like yard work, patching holes, washing linens, etc.
Here are some pics from the water park last week. We have a new Fuji camera that can go underwater... Ella loves it.

Beach Babes

We went to Ko'Olina with the girls and relaxed for a couple of hours before heading home to take Joey to the airport. Here's Ella with her girlfriends:

North Shore

We went to the waterfall at Waimea Valley and swam in the lagoon.... beautiful! And then headed to Chun's Reef for some beach time. It's a very popular surf spot and along the same strip of coast as the infamous Pipeline; lots of surfers and paddle boarders today. It was a gorgeous day at a gorgeous beach.

Bellows Beach

We rented a cabin at Bellows Beach for a couple of nights. It was nice to BBQ, relax and listen to the surf which was literally feet from our back door. Yesterday, we were up early to watch the sun rise and then lounged around and napped in the morning. Joey took Ella to fly her kite before heading to the beach for the afternoon. We just purchased a new digital camera that is waterproof so we took it out in the surf with us... the waves actually come out how they are on this camera, usually the pics we take from the beach do not show the surf's true size and the ocean often looks flat.

Bellows is by far the most beautiful beach but we have just learned about all the Portuguese man-of-war (stinging jellyfish) that can infest the waters. For the last 3 years, we've had no idea and no incidents. I insisted on buying some Lanacane just in case Ella got stung, much to the chagrin of Ron. At the end of the day one of us got stung... can you guess who?

It was late in the afternoon and we were getting ready to head to the playground for a bit anyway, when Ron was stung on his lower back and arms. I was out in the water with him so we both bolted to the shore. Luckily, he has a very smart wife who came prepared. :) The jellyfish started washing ashore and they are only about a dime in diameter but the tentacles could be a long as a ruler. We let Ella play on the playground for a bit and it wasn't very long before we heard a child screaming from the beach... another jellyfish victim. I brought them the Lanacane and Ron apologised for giving me grief over the purchase. He still sometimes needs reminding of how smart I really am, and a little lesson in the "your wife is always right" category. hee hee

View from the back of our cabin:View from the front:The Beach:

Ko'Olina

Bellows Beach

This is my favorite beach on the whole island! White powder sand, tree-lined beach and a constant surf great for body surfing... and cleansing the sinuses if you go for a tumble :) Ella is getting braver with the waves and I've taught her to put her back to them when she sees them coming so that they will propel her to shore rather than tumble her about. This beach is especially nice because you can go out quite far and still be only waist/chest high. By the end of the day Ella was diving into the waves head on and even body surfing on a few, granted she looked like a turtle washing up on shore, but still super cute! At one point she was using her goggles and Ron's snorkel to brave the water:) As you can see from the photos, Ella and her uncle are often inseparable. :)