Adventure Alley

Today we went to Jonathan's birthday party at Adventure Alley. It is an awesome place with a ball pit, rock wall, lots of giant soft blocks for building, and everything is padded. Everyone had a blast climbing giant mountains of blocks and jumping into the ball pit. Thanks to Lori for hosting an awesome party!

Aidan jumping into the ball pit


Rachel's turn!


Aidan and Jonathan on top of the world


Aidan in the ball pit


Robyn and I had barrels of fun too!
She totally won the barrel/sumo fight =)


I want my birthday party at Adventure Alley too, LOL

I'm Okay!

Aidan and his buddy Jonathan had Heeley's practice this afternoon. Aidan got his for his birthday but I think he was a little intimidated by them. But when Jonathan got a pair yesterday (also for his birthday) Aidan was very excited that he had someone to learn with. We watched them take tumble after tumble and every few minutes we would hear "I'm okay!" and they would get up and try again, LOL.

Aidan's Report Card

I met with Aidan's teacher today for our first official parent-teacher conference. And I am so happy and proud to report that he's doing wonderfully in first grade!
His teacher said his writing is "phenomenal" and he does really well with sentence structure. He does his work independently and there haven't been any behavior problems. His report card rated his performance as "adequate" - which I think is like a "B". She said she expects him to be "above adequate" next quarter if he continues the way he is. I was so impressed with all the great things she had to say - I wish I had taped it, LOL. She also gave me the results from a test he took at the end of kindergarten - he scored above average in reading and he was in the 86th percentile in sentence reading (meaning he scored better than 85% of the kids who took the test). I am SO proud of my boy!

After wondering for the past few months if we made the right decision in sending him to first grade (against his kindergarten teacher's advice) it is so nice to know we did make the right choice and he's not struggling at all. And since I have great news Charlie hasn't been online all day long so I can tell him. Stupid deployment!

Ruff Ryders Football - Game One

We won our first game! The kids all did really well and we scored over 30 points. Aidan did really well blocking, I think he'll end up a lineman if he plays when he gets older. It is always so fun to watch him play and he had a great time.

The cheerleaders made a banner for them to run through. That was very cute!



Aidan playing quarterback for the first time!


Run Aidan! He didn't get too far, lol.
He's more of a blocker than quarterback.

Football - Oh boy!

It's football season again. We missed most of the practices because of other appointments and things but we finally made it to one last night and I'm not sure if it's such a good thing.
Last year we were the Cowboys. This year our team is the Ruff Ryders. Who the heck came up with that?
Last year we had an awesome coach and two great assistant coaches. This year our head coach is a woman who came to practice wearing all men's clothes (doo rag included) - she knows none of the kid's names and didn't do anything but walk around during practice. Her girlfriend (yes, girlfriend) is sort of like a bookkeeper. Our "assistant coach" knows nothing about football and spent the practice complaining about coach's girlfriend (or that female, as she called her). The guy who actually ran the practice is another parent, but the poor guy is recovering from being shot by a sniper in Iraq and is partially paralyzed in one leg!
Because I'm a sucker I volunteered to be the team mom - five practices in and no one else had made any effort on doing anything. It's a mess.
On the upside, Aidan loved it and was oblivious to anything but playing ball. As long as he has a good time I guess we'll be okay. But it won't be like last season - I guess it was just too good to happen again.

X-Treme Training

Yesterday we went over to Lori's and the kids all had a great time on the bike ramp (one of her yard sale mania finds - only $15!). Aidan learned how to get started on his own (we took his little $2 bike over) and had fun falling off the ramp a bunch of times, lol.

Uh oh


Oops!


Success!

Yard Sale Mania

Yesterday was another post wide yard sale mania. I almost didn't go at all - what was I thinking? - but I'm glad we did. I found Aidan two big buckets of Legos for $1. He also got a scooter, skateboard and a smaller bike so he can practice starting on his own. And the biggest find was a swingset from one of my neighbors for $50. It was a big hit when we got it put together today.

Testing out the new swingset


Lots of fun


Last night was parent's night out but they were full for Aidan's age group. So he tagged along with us - he had a good time playing his GameBoy and he really enjoyed the stop we made at Baskin Robbins.

Zoo & Pool Day

It's still fall break (four more days to go!) so this morning we headed down to the Honolulu Zoo. We've been several times and the kids always enjoy it. The zoo is small so we finished early enough to have a picnic lunch and then we headed to the pool at the Hale Koa hotel for the rest of the afternoon.


Rachel, Aidan and Jonathan


Aidan and Rachel looking at the giraffes


Aidan with a goat


Rachel and Kailyn and a goat


The rare and endangered Jamie species in her natural habitat, LOL


Our zoo crew


When Daddy and Mommy rhinos really love each other....LOL
Seeing and hearing the kids' reactions was priceless!

Children's Discovery Center

It's day two of fall break and this morning we loaded up Lori's crazy bus and headed down to the Children's Discovery Center in Honolulu. It is a really awesome place where the kids can do all sorts of activities and role playing. At every area there were dress up clothes and I thought Rachel would be the one dressing up but it was Aidan - he was a fireman, a pilot, a dock worker, a chinese dragon, and a doctor. We all had a really great time. We'll definitely go back again.

Auto mechanics


Rachel loved the grocery store


Fireman Aidan


Dr. Aidan


Rachel cooking somewhere in Asia


Konichiwa!


Ni Hao! LOL


Harassing the wildlife

If You Can't Go To The Fair...

You go to the beach. No leaves changing colors here. So it was another day in Hawaii and another trip to the beach. Today's trip was a picnic dinner and sunset at Ko'Olina.

Aidan & Rachel in their surf wear


Allison gave Rachel a piggy back ride

Doggie Day

In one of our neverending attempts to not stay at home, Lori and I took our dogs to the dog park today. Coco and Scooby had fun sniffing butts and making new doggie friends =) The park is really big and nice and all the animals and other owners were very friendly. It was nice to see our furry kids enjoy themselves on their playdate.

"Hi, can I sniff your butt?" LOL
Coco making a new friend.


Scooby (in front) was "the man" and had to run away from this vixen of a dog so she couldn't take advantage of him =)


Rachel found one who looks like Junior.
I think she petted every dog there.


Aidan and some new pals found a new use for one of the dog toys.

Star Wars & Makeovers

Three out of four boys agree: they should call it "Star Snores" instead, LOL. This afternoon I took Aidan and Keegan to see Star Wars: The Clone Wars. We met up with Lori, Allison, Austin and Jonathan there - so we had a nice little group. I have never really been into Star Wars so most of the movie made no sense to me (who knew Anakin was really Darth Vader?!). Aidan was completely engrossed and loved it but the other three boys went to sleep! Jonathan was the first out and Keegan and Austin weren't far behind. It was too funny to see them snoozing when the lights came on after the movie.

Keegan and Aidan before the movie


Keegan, Aidan, and Jonathan after the movie


Lori with a snoozing Austin


After the movie we went over to Lori's for a little bbq. Rachel and her friend Savannah got makeovers from adopted big sister Kailyn. Aren't they gorgeous?

Heaven In A Box

One quarter sheet cake from Publix - $19.99
Eight yoyo cookies from Publix - $8.00
Overnight shipping from Macon, Georgia to my doorstep in Hawaii - a lot
ME EATING A PUBLIX CAKE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN TWO YEARS -- PRICELESS!!!

Today I got the best delivery FedEx could bring - a cake from Publix. My Aunt Donna sent me a cake and some yoyo cookies - chocolate chip cookies sandwiched with icing and covered in chocolate and they are delicious. I am still so excited and grateful and happy that I can't even put it into words. It is such an awesome treat that I have already put six of the yoyo cookies and half of the cake into the freezer to save them. Not only did she give me the gift of a delicious cake but she sent a piece of home to me. Publix cakes are part of our tradition and I'm thrilled to be able to have one for my birthday this year! Thanks Aunt Donna and Uncle Andy for one of the most special gifts I've ever recieved!

There is a watertower shaped like a Publix cake in Lakeland, where I lived as a child.


The cake after it's journey across the country and the pacific ocean, it held up wonderfully.


I am SO happy!


Cutting the cake - carefully, gotta save part of it!