Our Beautiful Family

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Mom of the Year

Well, the votes are in and it's not my year...again.

The other day, Staley was going through the recycling, looking for a picture she had colored that she couldn't locate. She stumbled upon a big stack of school papers, colored pictures, and drawings that were hidden underneath the newspapers and magazines. (Oops!!) Zach was in the kitchen making lunch and they had this conversation:

Staley: "Oh no! Why was this in the recycling?" (holding up one of her pictures that she had found)
Zach: "I don't know, honey. I didn't put it there." (Thanks, Zach, for throwing me under the bus.)
Staley: "I think every little bit Mommy puts a bunch of my pictures in the recycling. And they are nice pictures that I still like."
Zach: "Well maybe it was just an accident."
Staley: "Putting pictures in the recycling is not an accident. It's mean!"

If my choice is between being mean or keeping every one of the literally hundreds of childhood artifacts created here on a weekly basis, I think I might just have to go with mean. However, I'm planning to go with choice #3, which is a more discrete method of disposal.

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Affirmative

Even though we were only gone a week, Briggs seems so much older in just that short amount of time. He is saying more and doing more and understanding more. One of the big changes that we noticed was that Briggs can now appropriately answer in the affirmative. When we left, he was still saying "no" when he meant "yes." Now he still doesn't say "yes." He says "sure." Do you want some more fruit? "Sure." Should we play trains? "Sure." Do you want to go outside? "Sure." It's very cute, but also much easier to determine what he wants and what he doesn't.

Do I love this little guy so much?

Sure!!

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Hmmm...

So tonight at dinner, Staley and I had this conversation:

Staley: "Do you remember everything from before Hawaii or did you forget some things?"
Me: "Why would I forget things from before vacation?"
Staley: "Maybe you had so much fun at Hawaii that you forgot everything from before."
Me: "Nope. We had a fun vacation, but I still remember everything from before we left."
Staley: "Everything?"
Me: "Yup. Didn't forget a thing."

So then Staley proceeded to quiz me, primarily about an episode of a TV show that we "watched" together before we left. Made me wish I had paid a little more attention. Apparently I didn't remember EVERYTHING from before vacation.

Aloha!

State Farm said, "Hey, if you receive your CPCU designation, we'll pay for you to go to the conferment ceremony and conference. Oh, and we'll pay for a guest to go with you too. Oh, and the conference just happens to be in Hawaii this year. Oh, and it also happens to be on your 15 year wedding anniversary." So Zach said, "Okay."

A week of vacation without kids in Hawaii is kind of like a week at home except there were more palm trees and waterfalls and sleeping in and eating out and reading books and lying on the beach and hiking and running and lounging by the pool and snorkeling and dolphins and hanging out with friends and luaus...and did I mention the sleeping in and reading books? And we made it through every meal without tears or screaming or food throwing or a spilled drink. And we made it through every day without any arguing or whining or tattling or crying. (Well, okay, I might have whined a few times when I was getting hungry or tired. And Zach might have cried just a little during the Bear's game.)

When you're watching the sunset from the outdoor beachfront restaurant, there really isn't much to cry about.

The kids were not at all sad about us leaving. When we told them that we were going on a vacation without them and would be gone for a whole week, there was much enthusiasm. Like fist pumping and jumping up and down enthusiasm. I'm not sure how that made me feel. Regardless, at least we didn't have to worry about anyone crying or clinging to us or not wanting us to go. They couldn't push us out the door fast enough. And although they were glad to see us when we returned, I think they would have been just fine if we'd been gone even longer. Their grandparents, on the other hand, were VERY ready for us to be home. :)

They probably needed more of these than I did.

Our week in Hawaii was beautiful and relaxing and fun and altogether fabulous. We enjoyed a fun mix of activity and non-activity that left us feeling fulfilled and refreshed. We definitely missed the kids while we were gone, but rested easy knowing that they were having so much fun without us. (There were some days they could barely be coaxed to say 'hi' to us on the phone as they didn't want to be torn away from the fun they were having.)

The partial ocean view from our 27th floor hotel room balcony

We did several hikes and runs around the island that gave us some beautiful scenery and amazing views.

On top of Diamond Head crater

Manoa Falls trail...on our way to a beautiful waterfall

Hiking to another waterfall with our friends Alex and Dana

We took a catamaran snorkel cruise...which was an absolutely perfect way to spend a morning.

The breeze, the blue skies, the clear water, the beautiful scenery, the dophins, the exotic fish, the yummy onboard lunch...nothing about this outing could have been any better, except perhaps the way the world kept moving for the rest of the day after getting off the boat.

We watched the Bear's Monday Night Football appearance...at 2:30 in the afternoon.

The Bear's game left much to be desired, but we did enjoy some good food, an open-air sports bar, and the company of some of Zach's State Farm friends. (As you can see, the enjoyable parts of the game had nothing to do with the actual football we endured watching.)

We spent a lovely day with an old friend and her husband who currently live in Hawaii. We hiked, beached, ate, visited, and explored. It was altogether wonderful sharing the day on their island.

Dana and I enjoying some delicious Hawaiin shaved ice.

We got to experience history with tours of the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor (where WWII started) and the Missouri Battleship (where WWII ended).

And we definitely found plenty of time to lounge by the pool, eat wonderful local food, walk on the beach, and spend time with some of Zach's State Farm friends.

Lying on a chair under a palm tree by the pool while listening to the ocean AND reading a good book while sipping a fruity libation...yup. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon...or two...or three.