Our First Morning in Paradise

Where, oh where, do I begin. I found the guide book tucked away in the kids' travel activities bag, sat down and started going through the pictures when I realized some where missing. After you see all of these pictures (and I am TRYING to weed them out) you will wonder HOW I could tell some were missing, but just trust me, they were. Anyway, I figured it out (a Picasa problem) and started to get to work. I am SO overwhelmed and don't even know where to start. Every moment of this trip was fabulous. The food, the sights, the company. And we both love to take pictures. So, needless to say, we have just shy of A TON of pictures. Kind-of the same reason we haven't blogged Thailand yet. Just too much! So, I thought there would be four posts, one for each day here, but that would leave impossibly long posts, so I think I am going to post the way I have them organized in Picasa. You may get two posts for a day or get to read about the whole day in just one post. Either way, you'll hear our story...finally.

Our first day in paradise had us waking right at sunrise since we were on Florida time. We got up, lathered on the sunscreen, got dressed, grabbed our bags for the day and headed to Bogart's for breakfast. Bogart's is on the east side of Waikiki and is one of the best cafe's on Oahu. We drove past it and had to turn around because it is a small hole in the wall place in the middle of a strip mall. You also bus your own tables and there is no bathroom, but they made up for it in food. What a great little place to grab a fantastic bite to eat! I wish I had taken pictures. Bill and I had amazing gourmet omelets and the kids shared a delicious Belgian waffle with nutella, strawberries, and fresh whipped cream. Of course, Mom and Dad had to do a bit of quality control on that one, but we shared our omelets too. The roasted potatoes where the best I have ever had. They were perfectly crispy on the outside with the most perfect blend of seasonings and we all chowed! If you are ever in Hawaii you MUST try this place for breakfast. De-lish! Okay, now that my mouth is watering and we don't have anything near as yummy in the house (well we do have nutella and strawberries ;D) I'll continue. We hopped back in the car and headed east to the small town of Portlock and Koko Head.

Koko Head is an amazing formation caused by a volcano's last eruptions after a long period of dormancy. The explosive eruptions usually take place near the shoreline and the result are cone shaped mountains of cemented ash (tuff) that forms when the water seeps into the magma underground that immediately turns it into steam and due to the enormous pressure causes a massive explosion. On Koko Head, which is pretty much all residential, there is a little known spot at the end of Lumahai Road that leads to a public access trail. Follow this steep trail for a few minutes and you walk out to an absolutely breathtaking sight. Layers upon layers upon layers of cemented ash, each representing a different explosion. AMAZING! This is why we have so many pictures of this spot. This is also the home of the Spitting Cave of Portlock, where the constant force of the ocean is eroding the rock and splitting the point in two. The waves crash into the cave and are pushed back out when they hit the back of the cave, causing the ground to shake under your feet and the water to explode out of the cave. I can't wait to see what this is like during the summer when the waves and tides are right because it was beautiful in the winter, even with the smaller waves.

Locals are the ones who frequent this area and are known for diving/jumping into the exceptionally clear and beautiful blue water. There are a number of memorial plaques here as well. You can see how dangerous this place can be from the pictures, but the pictures really don't do it justice. My heart is doing the heebie-jeebie thing just thinking back to when we were there. Walking along the layers with the kids kind-of freaked me out and I am not usually squeamish or afraid of heights. Kaity had a few moments where she got scared, mostly as we were climbing back up, but Ryan was fine for the most part. I kept making Bill take Kaity because he is so much stronger than I am and I took Ryan. Even though he is less stable on his feet, I felt so much more comfortable when I was walking with him than when I was walking with her. Whew! Just thinking about it is making my heart race. But it was so worth it the extra gray hairs we may have gotten! We'll call them our Hawaiian highlights. I know there are a lot of pictures, but please check them out. They really are amazing! This place was so mesmerizing and we could have explored all day...if we didn't have small kids and only 3 1/2 more days on the island.

Hawaii

The time has FINALLY come. I changed the blog background, so now I must post. First, I must say, I LOVE HAWAII!!! I REALLY LOVE HAWAII!!! Okay, now I can blog. :)

In January, after Bill spent his year in Kunsan on his one year remote, he came home to Tampa to spend time with his family and pick the kids and me up to move to Osan. We decided to stop in Hawaii on the way back to Korea and it was the best (and worst) thing we could have done. The plane tickets actually cost less when stopping in Hawaii than when going straight to Korea, so we just had to stop. We will never be the same. We have been trying to get to Hawaii since before we got pregnant with Kaitlyn. The hop during the summer of 2003 never panned out and we got stuck at Travis AFB in California. It turned out to be a great trip, but we never made it to Hawaii. A couple of years later, some very dear friends of ours moved out to Hawaii and told us if we could make it out there, they could get us back. I started planning and the Air Force started its counter attack. Same thing happened with our fabulous vacation to Europe to visit some of our best friends in Italy and Germany, but I digress...and if I dwell too long on it, then I get depressed. I have a love/hate relationship with this thing called the Air Force. ;)

Well, we finally made it to paradise. I swear, I thought Hawaii was one of those places that HAD to be too good to be true. That it was all hype. No place could be THAT beautiful and wonderful. Sure, it would be great, but it couldn't be all that is was built up to be. You guys, there is no hype. It is beautiful and wonderful and fantastic. It is serene. Peaceful and relaxing. It is just as beautiful, if not more so, than the pictures in the travel books. I absolutely fell in love. I fell in love with God's beautiful creation and this fabulous state I had never seen before. I fell in love with my family and my husband again after being apart for a year. A year that followed a heinous TDY schedule, a deployment, and 8 short weeks of us being together, knowing we would be saying good-bye again for a year. We fit so much in, but never felt rushed. It was the shortest and most wonderful four days I have ever spent anywhere. And we experienced every minute as A FAMILY! I cannot describe to you, after a year and a half of hard good-byes (heart breaking, throat closing, not being able to breathe good-byes that you can't understand unless you have been there, no matter how hard you try and truly WANT to understand) how incredibly wonderful it was to be able to spend time together, knowing we were not going to have to say good-bye again for a long time. I am sure that has a little to do with my Hawaii bliss, but this place is truly breathtaking! And we never even left Oahu!

We picked up the latest edition of our favorite travel books on Hawaii (the others were in storage with most of the other great stuff we own) only to find that the one on the shelves had JUST come out. Copyright 2010. Score! I am hoping I can put my hands on this book soon, so I can tell you all the great places we ate and things we did and how to find them. It is a fantastic book that tells you like it is. The authors live among the locals and tell you where to go and where not to go, finding hidden little delights that the other travel books don't even know about. It's called the Blue Book series or the Revealed series. The name of the book we used is Oahu Revealed and they have one for each island. FANTASTIC! If you plan a trip to Hawaii, pick up a copy. You won't regret it. We also have one for the Big Island and Kauai...in storage. They are excellently written.

Hawaii left an impression on our whole family. The kids pretend play that they are in Hawaii or are going to Hawaii. They are packing up their car with their luggage and going to the airport in Hawaii. The are snorkeling in Hawaii. They are hiking in Hawaii. The list goes on. Funny story, when we drive to base, we parallel the train tracks where we see trains daily. The kids always ask where the trains are going. I usually say north or south, sometimes say Kunsan (where Daddy used to work (south) or Seoul (north)). The kids usually respond with a silly answer like the north pole or the south pole. Ryan almost always says Sea World. The boy LOVES Sea World. One day a few weeks ago, they asked where the train was going. I told them it was going south. Ryan told Kaitlyn it was going to Hawaii. Kaitlyn responded with, "Buddy, that train is not going to Hawaii, but if it were, I'd be on it!" Me too sister, me too! I told Bill and he said she sounded just like me. I wish I could have gotten it on video. The inflections and tone were SO me. I am sure some of you are just picturing it now. ;)

Unfortunately for Bill, the pure, clean air and beauty of Hawaii intensified the smells of Korea and made the return a bit less lovely, but we will never forget the time we spent on the island. We were a sight coming through the airport with our 7 checked bags and car seat bag that carried a car seat, a booster seat base, and Kaitlyn's scooter, 8 carry-ons, and stroller, but it was so worth it. It was worth the hassle of the bags, the van to take half of us and half our luggage because we couldn't fit it in the rental car, and it was worth the extra 8 hours on a plane. In fact, it made the trip so much easier because it broke up the 24 hours of travel from Tampa to Osan. We made so many wonderful memories and took a ton of pictures. I won't even try to pretend that I am going to crank out these posts tonight, but my next four posts will be of the four amazing days we spent in Hawaii. I may take me a while, but the pictures alone will be worth it.

Did I mention that we ABSOLUTELY LOVE HAWAII?!?!?!?!?!

Mother's Day

Every year I dream of a Mother's Day where I can sleep until 10 in a quiet house, then be whisked off to the spa for the day, only to return to a clean home (one that I didn't have to clean) to kiss my kids goodnight and enjoy a glass of red wine and some dark chocolate in my pj's. That is NOT what I got this Mother's Day or any other Mother's Day for that matter.

This is the first Mother's Day where Kaitlyn has really gotten what it is about. Last year she tried, but Bill was gone, so she could only do so much. This year, Mother's Day Eve, Bill took the kids to the BX to go shopping for my birthday and Mother's Day while I amused myself in the shoe and makeup sections and promised not to peek in the cart. Their excitement was so cute! Kaitlyn kept saying she couldn't wait until tomorrow morning so she could give me my presents and surprises. Ryan blew the whistle in the car about some chocolates. ;) Oops, but he was forgiven because he is so darn cute!

On Mother's Day I heard the kids in the kitchen at 6:45 (really early for them) and by 6:50 I was being served a very large bowl of cereal in bed by both of the kids. They flew into our room singing "Happy Mother's Day!" with the biggest smiles on their faces and their hands full of my breakfast, a card, and a bag of my favorite treats. Dove dark chocolates! They were so happy giving me my surprises and their thoughtfulness filled my heart with joy. We spent the rest of the morning drinking coffee and reading books in bed and getting ready to join Bill on a business trip in Seoul for a few days. I also got a new pair of Rainbows. Thin, gray, and double stacked! Just in time to break them in for the warm temps we are finally having!

We got up to Seoul and spent the day at the zoo at Seoul Grand Park. We headed to the Dragon Hill Lodge for Mother's Day Margaritas and Mexican food and checked into our super posh hotel room at the JW Marriott for a quiet night. Throughout the day, the kids would randomly yell, "Happy Mother's Day!" to me and I couldn't help but smile.

So, no, I didn't have a quiet day at the spa getting pampered, but to tell you the truth, that isn't what I really wanted anyway. My time will come for that. One day way too soon, I will wake up to a house that is way too quiet. Where I will wish my children were waking me up with the sounds of their sweet feet running (not walking) through the apartment and their giggles of happiness as the anticipation of surprising me wakes them up way too early. Those are the years where I will be at the spa, most likely with tears in my eyes. This year I got exactly what I wanted. To be woken up at the crack of dawn by the sweetest gifts I have ever been given, so full of joy that I am their mother and that they get to spoil me. If only they knew how incredibly blessed I am because I have the awesome privilege of being their mother. Of getting to spend every day with them, and the awesome responsibility of shaping them into the people they will become. I spent my Mother's Day exactly the way I wanted to spend it. With my greatest gifts and the man who absolutely adores us. God is SO good!

My Blue Eyes

Ryan has the most beautiful blue eyes. They are even brighter than this picture of him at 12 months old. He is always talking about his blue eyes. Blue is his favorite color and it hasn't escaped him that his eyes are his favorite color. He loves his blue eyes, and so do we! The other night he had a little friend over for a playdate and dinner. While she was eating in the booster seat, he bent over and cocked his head up to look at her, about three inches from her precious face. Then he said in his most excited voice, "Caroline has blue eyes like my blue eyes!" It so sweet the way he talks about his blue eyes. Tonight after dinner, Bill flipped his chair over to see if he could find where a misplaced screw (STS) went. Ryan immediately went to assist his daddy. While watching what Daddy was doing, he started talking about Daddy's brown eyes. He stuck his finger in Bill's eye (literally) and said, "You have brown eyes, not like my blue eyes." Bill's eye's are actually a true hazel, but it is so cute to hear his little voice talk in the sentences he comes up with. He brings us so much joy!

First ER Injury

Well, it was bound to happen at some point. Monday started out great. Everyone slept in, we spent the first part of the morning as a family before Bill headed off to work and the kids and I headed to playgroup. After playgroup we had a great trip to the BX (the kids were angels!) and post office, and met Daddy at Chili's for lunch. We stopped by ITT and reserved our tickets back to the States and headed home for quiet time. On our way off base I stopped by the gas station to fill up the batmobile and put air in the tires. Kaity needed to use the restroom, so she went to the side of the building and used the one there. On the way out, she slammed her thumb in the hinged side of the metal door. Fortunately (thank the Lord), I was right there and was able to get the door open within a few seconds that felt like minutes. She just started saying ouch, ouch, ouch, but as soon as the door opened and the blood started gushing she started freaking out. I grabbed a bunch of toilet paper, threw it around her finger and compressed it until we got to the car. That was the end of the freak out. I threw her in the front seat and we drove with no seat belts on to the hospital. We sped (at 15 mph it didn't take much) to the hospital, where everything was guarded and taped off since we are currently in the middle of an exercise. The whole ride (maybe 2 minutes, if that) Kaitlyn reminded me that it was dangerous riding in the front seat, especially with no seat belts on. That's my girl! When the poor guy saw all the blood he waved us into the bay where I left Ryan in the car and escorted Kaity inside. I threw my id card at them and, after making such Kaity was okay with me leaving, ran outside to find no less than 8 people swarmed around the car getting Ryan out and getting ready to bring him to me. Ryan and I parked the car and joined Kaitlyn inside in her little hospital bed. She had NO color to her face and it was nearly the color of her off white shirt. Not what a mommy wants to see! After sitting in bed with her (continuing to elevate and compress) for a bit, her cheeks started to get a little color back into them. After about an hour or so, they decided they needed to get her back for some x-rays. We all joined her in the x-ray room and I realized it was probably past just needing some stitches, so I got out the camera and began the photo documentation.

First x-rays

Checking out the x-ray machine

ER self-portrait

We waited a while longer before the docs came in to share the x-ray results with us and recommend treatment. She had a small fracture in the bone, but they were really worried about damage to the nail bed. I was actually pretty calm throughout the whole trip, but have to admit when they said they were going to put my baby girl under I thought of the worst. Fortunately, it was a conscious sedation and there was an anesthesia specialist there to monitor everything. It also didn't hurt that he had a little six year old princess as well, and he cared for her like he would his own.

The doc checking it out. Smart girl knew not to look this time.

After the doc left, I called a friend and had her come get Ryan. He was amazing. Our busy little boy was so great and stayed in the bed with us the whole time. I had no toys or means for entertainment and God truly blessed me because we were on our way home for nap when this happened. So, our sweet boy missed nap and was an awesome little guy while everyone was making a fuss over his sister. I didn't even think to call anyone because I was thinking that, at worst, she would just need a few stitches. No big deal. Always the optimist! Two and a half hours later, Ryan joined his buddy Sophie for a little play date, we got a hold of Bill, and the surgical team prepped for the operation.

Such a good boy!

While we were waiting for Daddy and the surgical team.

The orthopedic surgeon was AWESOME! She was so kind and reassuring. She explained to us exactly what was going to happen and that she was going to make Kaitlyn as good as new. She was a natural with Kaitlyn and our brave little girl had no fear, despite all the pain she was in. Well, a little of the needle, but ended up saying it tickled. Many thanks to Major Good for that one!

The orthopedic surgeon and her patient just before the drugs were administered. She was distracting Kaity with her funny glasses!

While Kaity was in la-la land (Maj. Good kept saying it was the best legal high you could ever have), Major McMichael removed Kaity's nail (didn't have too much work to do as Kaity did a doosie on it), repaired her nail bed, reattached her nail, and stitched up the underside of her thumb. The surgery took about an hour and she should be as good as new. The only concern she had was of a small numb spot where she may have lost feeling due to the fact that she cut it so deep and so close to the nerve, but only time will tell on that one.

She doesn't remember a thing!

Two hours later, we were released. While we were waiting for the meds to wear off a bit more, Kaity was telling us about her time "asleep". She said she was all over the place. On the walls, on the ceiling, dancing around the room. She knew it was just a dream though. She smiled a drugged little smile several times that just made us giggle. When I asked her to say thank you to the doc, she smiled and winked at her. I think the wink wasn't quite intended (maybe it was, we wink at each other a lot at home), but it sure was adorable. The surgical team all told her she was the very best patient they had ever had. She was so incredibly brave. I had to admire her bravery at such a young age in such a painful time, uncertain of all that was happening around her. She was wearing a shirt with FABULOUS across it and it was very fitting for the afternoon. The surgical team ate it up too! I cannot stress how incredibly AWESOME this team was. They worked so wonderfully together and were amazing with our angel. A true gift from God.

Waving good-bye to the surgical team...just after coming to.

We wrapped up the night with takeout from Thai 2, our favorite restaurant in Osan, and cotton candy ice cream for our brave patient! And a 7:30 bedtime for a very drained Mommy!

Kaitlyn hasn't missed a beat since the incident and goes back in a few hours for a post-op follow up appointment. We are confident she is healing well, and are thankful that generics weren't affected by the children's medicine recall!

Old Friends

There are some things I love about our life in the Air Force. Okay, there are a lot of things I love. There are a few things I don't love, but the loves far outweigh the don't loves. Tonight we had the great blessing of having a very old friend over for dinner. He isn't very old, but the guys started their careers together as casual 2nd Lieutenants together in Tucson ten years ago. We remember seeing him a week or so before we met him. We rolled into town on the 3rd of July and went to the 4th of July party the base was holding. While hanging out, Bill and I saw the most adorable little girl. A blond headed three year old all things adorable. While we don't remember Mike from that day, we did connect the dots when we met him. The guys moved to the same pilot training base in Texas where they were both students and then FAIPed together, but in different squadrons. Mike was a single dad at this point and we had the opportunity to visit with his daughter when she was in town. He moved on to fly the F-15 and ended up in Japan. We lost touch, as tends to happen, but he will always have a special place in our hearts and we think of him often. A couple of months ago we ran into him here in the food court at Osan. He was on his way back to Japan that day or the next, but was coming back and we made plans to get together. Tonight was the night. Turns out, our dear friend met a great gal while stationed in Japan and was married last year. We couldn't be happier for him and can't wait to meet his new wife. They are on their way to Hawaii this summer, so I am sure we will meet her soon!

Also while stationed in Texas, we had the opportunity to get to know a really great family. I taught their youngest daughter (of five kids) in first grade and her older sister was Kaitlyn's first babysitter. When we first got here we decided to give a boy babysitter a shot. Our best babysitter ever was a boy, the oldest brother of this family, and I speak of him often. While we were still in Del Rio, Jeffrey graduated from High School and left for West Point. Thank God for facebook, because Dani, the youngest daughter friended me and on her status wrote that her brother was coming home for a few days before leaving for Korea. I immediately asked which one (the two oldest boys are twins and both went into the military) and discovered that Jeff was going to be stationed at an Army base about 20 minutes away. We were thrilled! Jeff came over for dinner last weekend and we had a great visit. We are looking forward to sharing the next year with him the kids absolutely loved having him around!

The Air Force is a very small community and the F-16 community is even smaller. We have been so blessed to have been reunited with many close friends at both this base and others. I had the blessing of holding a dear friend's new baby today. We were stationed in Arizona together 4 years ago. I have the honor of cohosting a baby shower here for another dear friend from South Carolina. She found out she was pregnant with her daughter just before we had Ryan (she cared for Kaitlyn while we were in the hospital having Ryan) and is having a little boy in June. Another set of dear friends from South Carolina arrive here in the next week or two and we can't wait to see them as well. While I absolutely hate saying goodbye, I love that we have dear friends all over the world. I hate feeling like my heart is going to break when I watch the u-hauls drive away or when I see my friends in the rearview mirror, but it is worth all the sorrow to know that these people are friends for life and the joy that fills my heart when the Lord reunites us! To all of our friends, both in the military and out, please know that even if we don't talk to you or write you often, you have a very special place in our hearts and we can't wait to experience the joy when our paths cross again! MUCH LOVE!!!