Whirlwind 2010

The first half of 2010 has honestly been a whirlwind! I haven't had the time, energy or desire to have really anything to do with the blogging world for several months, but I think it's starting to creep back in.

Quick update:

Jan-March: rehearsals and performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Super fun, made some really great new friends and learned a lot about myself during this time. I hope to do another theater production soon (possibly this fall-- the Army Community Theater here in Hawai'i does regular productions and Camelot is coming up. I LOVE Camelot!).

April: first half- recovered from all those rehearsals. Second half- Philippines, baby! (Upcoming

blog with pics, peeps) We went with Derek's bro Carson and his wife Calli.

Cars served a two year LDS mission there and spoke Cebuano and Ilonggo very fluently. People loved him and it was fun to interact with them through him. We were there for two weeks of non-stop adventure, thanks again to a patient and generous mother-in-law-- here's a shout-out to Granny Zanny! Thank you thank you thank you for taking such good care of our little ones!

May: no time to breathe here! A week after we got back from the Philippines found us driving across the country back to Kirksville, Missouri for Derek's graduation. That's right, Derek is

officially a doctor

and has been promoted to Captain in the Army.

Avril was pretty proud of him. "Dad, are you a captain of an army? Are you finally a doctor?" and continually refers to him as Doctor Daddy whenever any ailment arises. We got our roof contracted out and fixed as well (last year's graduation hosted a tornado that did some damage to our roof) and made it back with one week to prep before Memorial Day weekend.

Memorial Day Weekend: NYC baby! Spent Saturday-Tuesday hanging out with my cousin Camas seeing the sights, watching Wicked and Red (which recently won a Tony for Best New

Play I believe) and loved both of them and best of all just spending time with each other and eating sensational food-

Spice Market (pictured above), Sarabeth's, Seinfeld diner (Tom's Restaurant),

Fig & Olive, Le Pain Quotidien, Dylan's Candy Bar, 5 Napkin Burger (ultimate milkshake showdown: peanut butter shake vs smores- pb won in my book, but only by a slim margin. Camas took pics of me eating it- they were not exactly PG. I kept trying to just eat it, but as soon as I took the next bite, I couldn't help but close my eyes and just savor it. It was utterly sensational. Truly, no words describe this milkshake.), ESPN Zone cookie sundae, delicious pizza at some place I can't remember the name of... Sunday morningCamas made these strawberry waffles that were fantastic, the kind you can't stop eating even though you know you're going to regret it later. We also hit up the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island tour, walked the Brooklyn Bridge,

checked out the Frick Art Collection and took a nice 2 hour bike ride in Central Park. A great way to burn off calories and enjoy each other's company and catch up on things. I was definitely sad to leave, we had so much fun and I'm going to miss her!

June: first week- movers come and pack our stuff to ship, then to store, then spend the day cleaning frantically and touching up paint before we took off. Derek took care of the first day of moving while I was in NY, so I hooked him up with some time with his friends (they took a roadtrip to Cedar City Thursday-Saturday) while I handled the last day. I had some wonderful friends (Heidi & Becki- thank you so much for all your hard work and help!!) and my family came down to help as well (Dad, Ethan, Amiee- thank you for keeping the kids sane and me sane in turn, and for helping me with all the cleaning and everything!). Sunday we flew to Hawai'i!

The flight wasn't nearly as bad as anticipated as far as how Roman did. He spent an awful lot of time cuddling his blanket in the aisle, playing with my headphones and turning off my screen in the middle of my movie. He thought it was hilarious. Avril and Xandri loved the whole experience, from taking off to eating on the plane to flying inside clouds to playing with their screens. Avril had no end of questions for me about everything including "I thought we couldn't touch the sky?!"

Which brings us to now. We're in a wonderful hotel, Embassy Suites. They treat us like royalty and all the staff is very friendly, helpful and personable. They have an amazing complimentary breakfast buffet complete with cooked-to-order omelets (I'm talking a full layout of food here, fruits, eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, French toast, breads, pastries, bagels, muffins, cereal-- every kind of breakfast food you can think of!). The kids LOVE the pool and spend every minute they can in it or asking to be in it. Avril has learned how to swim in the deep end and is basically our little mermaid. She loves playing in the water- she likes the beach, too (a block away) but prefers the pool (which is a salt water pool on a side note).


Xandri loves practicing swimming to me and always wants to jump to me. She's so silly and giggly and loves being in the water. They both love their goggles, but especially Xandri and she looks so cute with them on. I haven't taken too many pics because it seems like such a hassle when three kids are all whining and impatient to go to the pool and it's just one more thing to remember, but I'll get some this week to post. Roman is getting a little more brave as well and jumps/falls in on occasion. We'll see how consistently he can handle this.

In any case, he loves being in the water and wants me in with him, carrying him around and holding him up so he can feel what it's like to swim.

When we're not in the pool, we're looking for houses. We got a new set of wheels earlier this week, a gorgeous 2005 Lincoln Aviator with a mere 40,000 miles on it. We all love it so far, nice leather seats (which have climate control IN THEM), moon roof, all sorts of gadgets and features that we are still discovering. As for house hunting-- well, it's definitely a challenge with kiddos. I was planning on checking out Ewa Beach, you can get a lot of house for your money there comparatively speaking. But when Derek and I were telling some of the other residents this, we were met with a resounding DON'T GO TO EWA! Apparently the commute is just awful, since there is really only one road to freeway. The traffic turns a 15-20 minute drive into a one-two hour ordeal every day. So we're refocusing on Kailua and Kaneohe on the windward side of the island.

I'm falling for this island. Hard.