Sing-a-palooza

The house is alive with the sound of music.
Please put your hands together for the
Wheels on the Bus:


This is an Andrew original tune. I am pretty sure the title is:
"Where is Sticky Face?"
He thought up this little diddy while eating an ice cream sandwich. Serious talent, people. I thought it was both cute and a little sad that Andrew incorporated "where is Daddy" into this song. He misses his Daddy a lot (I do, too).

Happy Fourth of July!

We had a fun-filled fourth with our good buddies, the Proutys. Andrew and Russ had a blast at a home-town carnival (think Stumptown or Poulsbo Fest). The boys rode the ponies, a rickety old "train," (aka a lawnmower pulling a few train cars) pet a baby lamb and a pot-bellied pig, and Uncle Jord took them on the spinning tea cups.

They boys ate corn dogs and roasted corn on the cob, while Andrew tried to excite the crowd in a rousing cheer of "USA! USA!" No one else seemed to want to participate. Party poopers.

Back in the neighborhood, we paraded through the street with sparklers and pinwheels. The kids loved it.

Happy 4th Everyone!

Swimming with the Fishes

Andrew's preschool took a field trip to the Waikiki Aquarium. I was one of the chaperones, and it was pretty fun. We watched a movie about the coral reef and learned how to take care of our ocean. Andrew really liked the giant grouper and reef sharks.

Here we are at the touch pool. Andrew liked the sea anemone and the baby hermit crab. He wouldn't touch the crab, but said "Mommy, you hold it." I was brave and let the crab crawl all over my hand.

Ever Leave the House Feeling Like You are Missing Something?

Fair Winds and Following Seas

As sad as it is to say goodbye, there is a great sense of relief knowing that now we can just look forward to the boat's return. Knowing that the boat is leaving puts a cloud over everything, and it feels like we have been dreading this deployment for a year. I am sad, and a little lonely, but mostly relieved that each week is a week closer to homecoming.

















































After we waved and got our cries out, the ward room families came back to my house for dinner and ice cream sundaes. There were kids everywhere, and they were all sugared up on ice cream sundaes. Andrew loved the chaos, and I tried to remain calm. I drank a margarita or seven, and that made it all better.

Post-party low. Time for bed.

Open Up and Say Ahhhh

It was Andrew's very first dentist appointment and he was a bit nervous.
Mostly, he was excited to sit in the special chair that goes up and down.

Hooray for Andrew! He proudly pronouced, "I did it! Do I get a special prize?" The dentist gave him a new toothbrush and some floss. Andrew then got a puzzled look on his face and said, "No, where is my special prize??" Good thing Mommy had a sticker in her purse. Hee hee. Later in the day, Andrew smiled and said, "Mommy, I have 20 teeth."

Best Weekend Ever

Its been a really long time since we've had 48 hours of uninterrupted family time. It was beautiful, peaceful, fun, happy, silly, adventurous, and way way overdue. We began the weekend with a drive to the westernmost part of the island. We drove the jeep all the way to end of the road...the road actually turned into beach. It was quiet and the drive was gorgeous.

Andrew asked Daddy for ice cream,
and who could say no to this face?

We lounged around the house a bit and took Daddy to our favorite playground.

The theme of the weekend was "roll with the flow"

Monkey see, Andrew do.

Daddy told us to get all dressed up.
We went on a family date night.










Andrew LOVES Japanese food.
We had so much fun at dinner.

We did our best to squeeze every possible second
out of a fabulous family weekend and it was a great success.
We love you, Daddy.

There's No Place Like Home

Though it was a quick trip, we squeezed in as much family time as possible. Andrew got to play with his cousins, spend time with his Granny, his Papa and his Grandma, and we watched Uncle Jordan graduate from UVa. It was a really nice week, and we can't wait to come back in a few months. I've already blocked the emotionally scarring airplane trip from memory.

Andrew had an especially fun time with his Uncle George. Andrew liked UG's jokes, and is still asking me, "Who took my juice???"

It's family tradition to blend the mashed potatoes at turbo speed and watch the potatoes hit the ceiling. Yes, this is the Polish side of my family (no comments, please). Usually, George volunteers for this duty, but since he didn't get to make this trip, my dad blended in his honor. Here ya go, George. This potato is for you!

Here he is-- the Graduate.

One day, little boy... one day.

Dr. Doolittle Cleans House

Andrew's class has been talking about what they wanted to be when they grew up and I read the bulletin board to see what the other kids wanted to be. The little girl with a stay-at-home dad wants to be "a rainbow." Another little girl wanted to be "a big elephant." Andrew told his teacher that he wanted to be "a race car driver." Miss Dinah agreed that it would be a good fit. The morning of dress up, I asked Andrew what he wanted to be when he grew up, and he told me he wanted to be "a monkey." Well, I didn't have a monkey suit, but I did have an old dress shirt and a stethoscope... ta-dah! Meet Dr. Doolittle.

When Dr. Doolittle got home from school, he helped his maid-- I mean his mom-- clean the kitchen. What a great helper!

East Coast Howells Visit the Rock

Aunt James planned a super secret vacation of a lifetime and Uncle Bean was able to celebrate his 30th birthday island style. It was really nice to spend some quality time with the East Coast Howells.

We know J & B enjoyed their couples-only bonding time together, and we enjoyed adults' night out. Can't wait to spend some more family togetherness time in August!