Space-A Adventure to Hawaii

 Curtis decided a long time ago that he wanted to get PRK (laser eye surgery). After wearing glasses for 6 months we were ready to head to Hawaii and have the surgery. Since we were going, we figured we might as well invite my parents to meet us there and have a week vacation with them before the surgery. Unfortunately for us, space-A isn't that reliable. We spent 12 days waiting for either a medivac plane to take us (which they didn't seem to want to take any passengers) or a C-5 to get fixed. On Monday morning Curtis called me and said hey, there is a flight that leaves for Guam in 2 hours. Let's fly there and then on to Hawaii later tonight. So we quickly repacked and headed to the terminal (for the 3rd time). Made it to Guam just to find out the flight was delayed- wait till midnight, they said. Well you are not going to find a hotel and midnight or a car so we slept in the terminal that night. The next day we decided not to wait at the terminal and get a real nights sleep. We stayed in a nice hotel on Tumon Bay and then got to fly out the next night.

That was the best flight out of all of them. It was about 9pm when we got on board so we blew up our pool mattresses and put them together. Then laid 4 across and it made the 8 hour flight not bad at all. It had now been 14 days since we were supposed to get there, but luckily we still got to spend 2 days with my parents. Of course we had to hit the temple while we had a babysitter. We went to the PCC and had a picnic on the beach. 

We were so grateful for the 2 days we had with them, even though we would have loved to spend more time. 

 After they left we enjoyed a day at the Dole Pineapple Plantation. Brooke loved the maze and trying to find all the hidden stops. Spencer just wanted to go on the train ride.

The next day was Hanauma Bay. The water was so cold for me that I didn't get in really past my waist. I was so proud of Brooke for moving from her usual spot in the sand to playing in the water. Curtis enjoyed his last snorkeling trip before having to take a month off. 

We also visited the Punch Bowl and the USS Arizona Memorial. Not the kids favorite, but a neat experience for Curtis and me. 

Frozen yogurt on Waikiki Beach

Family visit to the temple!

Dole Pineapple whip- this was at the PCC and it was SO delicious we had to go back for more. Oddly enough it wasn't as good at the Pineapple plantation.

 Since Curtis wasn't able to go to the beach or be in any kind of water we had to find other things to do. The Zoo is always a winner with the kids. The apes put on quite the show for us. They played leap frog with each other, did a little wrestling and then scared Spencer half to death. He was sitting next to the window and when he looked away, the ape pounded on the window super hard right next to his face. It was pretty hysterical. 

 One day we dropped Curtis off at the library while we went to the pool. The water was too cold for me, but the kids loved it. 

We also hike Diamond Head. Spencer had a fever that day and didn't even complain once about hiking. They were such troopers and had no problem getting to the top. I attribute that to the "Stairway to Heaven" that we like to climb here in Okinawa. 

The trip home was much less eventful (thank goodness) than the way there. We spent one night in Yokota (Tokyo) and had to walk to our hotel in the cold rain at 10 at night. We got home the next day with 10 minutes to run to the commissary before it closed on Saturday night. We didn't even have too much jet lag because of being sick. We were ready for all the sleep we could get!

I think Curtis' favorite part about leave is being able to grow out his beard. I was happy when he had to shave again for work. 

Happy 5th Birthday Brookie!

For Brooklyn's 5th birthday she really wanted a Dora birthday but I was not feeling the best so we had to do something super easy and in the morning.... That turned into a pancake pajama party! She had about 10 friends come over in the morning in their jammies and we colored placemats, ate pancakes and made fruit loop necklaces. It went super well and I had no idea how successful the necklaces would be. The kids just sat there quietly stringing for at least 10 or 15 minutes. A one hour party was perfect. 

I feel like this pic describes Brookie best. She loves everything princess and dress up and girly. She is also pretty amazing at the playground. She has a lot of upper body strength which really allows her to excel at gymnastics. She loves to be outside, watch movies and mostly play with friends. Anywhere we go she makes a friend and would rather be with them than with us. She is super excited to start Kindergarten in the fall.