Off the plane. Straight to the waterpark.

Why else would Andrew and I fly 12 hours on a plane? We come for the Manassas Waterpark, of course! Thank goodness for Aunt Mary and her willingness to come with us. Andrew will forever associate Aunt Mary with the waterpark.

Final Preparation for Summer Vacation

Learning some basic strokes...

Trying something new-- floating

Watch me-- I can do it!

The kids in Andrew's class like to yell, "cannonball" when they jump into the water, and Andrew wants to be like the big kids. He jumped in and yelled, "MEATBALL!"

We're ready for summer vacation now!

Fun in the Sun

July just flew by thanks to visits from our good friends, Mindy and Russ. We filled our days with beach trips and hours at the park. Uncle Jordan moved to Hawaii to find himself--- I mean find a job--- and it is really nice having him here. Andrew adores his Uncle Jord, and I enjoy having a few extra hands to help out around the house.

Andrew and Russ had a great time chasing each other around. If we could figure out a way to harness the energy pent up in these two 2-year-olds, we could power the world.

It's Super Mindy!
She can leap over small buildings and chase a 2-year-old in a single bound.

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.