ALOHA

Well, I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth in the past three weeks, but we did escape to paradise for a few weeks. We spent 16 days in Hawaii and had a fantastic time. We went to Oahu, Kauai and Hawaii and saw some pretty amazing sights. Snorkeling was great and the kids loved it. We raced with Dolphins on one of our boat rides, explored Pearl Harbor's Bowfin Submarine, Battleship Missouri and Arizona Memorial, snorkeled in one amazing spot after another, saw Saturn with its rings and moon as well as some other incredible constellations through telescopes atop Mauna Kea, swam with sea turtles and experienced Kiluea's volcanic activity. It was a trip to remember and the kids were really great. Ellie wasn't really any better with Milan, but she did take to the water like a fish. She actually throws herself off the side of the pool and dives under the water. She can't swim, but she thinks she can-- dangerous, but great in the sense that she has no fear of the water. She would say "Dunk," "Mahnee" (swimming), and "Fly" (translation = throw me up in the air and let me drop into and under the water). It was entertaining for most everyone at the pool. I was often stopped in the hotels and asked, "Is this the baby from the pool?"

We took close to 900 pictures (that is actually after editing), obviously I wont be posting them all, but I will add some over a few days. I really enjoyed taking pictures. It is hard to take bad pictures when the subject matter is so beautiful.

Hawaii Part 1

We have really been recovering from the jet lag slowly this week. It is only 4 hours difference, but we did a red-eye on the way home... not much sleeping. We have also had a busy few days since we have returned. I had planned on starting school again Monday, but we have had appointments for Ellie and have been fighting colds...airplanes, ugh! We will just extend our year a few days and give ourselves a few more days of recovery time. It just isn't worth the struggle. The boys do finish their enrichment classes this week for the summer. It will be nice to start cutting back on commitments for a few months. I am hoping that when fall rolls around and schedules amp up again, things will be a little better with Ellie. I guess I am not banking on it, but it would be really great.