nuon nuon nuon nuon nuon

Here is picture proof that Rachel and I once owned the waters.

"Nuon nuon" is the sound Marie makes when she is chewing something she likes, like tuna fish or macaroni.  Then when she is done she starts flinging everything. We try to teach her differently but she just thinks it is too darn funny.  She also makes dinasaur sounds but I don't know what it means.  I think it's sort of a celebration howl.

 We just got back from the park.  She's a crazy one on the slides.  I don't know if she is daring or oblivious to her mortal danger.  She does good with other kids, but sometimes yells "mine" too much, even when it is completely inapplicable.  We try to teach her the fine line between standing up for yourself and being a jerk.  I few more lectures and she'll have it down.  She's always the smallest kid wherever she goes.  She's wearing a 6-month sized onesie right now.  But she knows how to climb the stairs at the playground and that's all that matters.

 We pigged out last night at Fenton's Ice Cream.  It was possibly the best ice cream sunday I've had.  Marie showed off her motor skills by handling the long spoon.  After Rachel and I were exhausted Marie was still churning, scraping the chocolate off the plate.

 Rachel bought a giant, fancy dress for Marie.  She claimed it's an Easter dress.  I told Rachel about this new thing the Church is doing called General Conference.  So for today's church Marie pretended it was Easter and wore the prom dress.  Plus, she still loves her giant necklaces.  She'll squeal and screetch if you try and take if off.  I don't know how she doesn't trip over them.

 Rachel finished some couch cushions she's been working on for the Smith's tent trailer.  So they should expect a present coming in the mail, although the excitement will wear off if they don't fit. 

 And that's my post.

Hanauma Mama

North Shore

We took Nigel and my Dad back to camp. Monday nights are probably always quiet. No neighbors. Just the crescent moon and the sound of a high tide to put you to sleep. Poor Nigel slept without a mattress but hardly complained. It was cozy in our tent, but everyone was a sport. I have not slept that well in 2 years.

Tuesday morning provided more body boarding. Then we headed up to the North Shore to check out the surfing.

On our way we sampled the local fare- Giovanni's Shrimp Truck. Best shrimp I've ever had.

Brett has a personal favorite further down the road -Romy's Shrimp- which he wants to add to "Diners Drive Inns and Dives." I wouldn't have minded it, but my ivory hands didn't want anything to do with these shrimp heads.

We stopped and checked out the surfers for a while. Video to be posted later (if I can figure it out!) But I believe the guy that surfed this wave started out at the North Shore. Watch this video. It makes me pee my pants just watching it.



Later we dissected the city of Waikiki in search of one thing: McDonalds. Yes, Ronald McDonald-fast food-sellout. But we were in search of this:

Hawaii Spam.

Apparently they serve this only for Breakfast at McDonald's so we were out of luck. The banana pies were killer though.

But don't worry, the fun didn't stop there. I dragged the crew down to Waikiki to see if we could see anyone "selling out." Waikiki is where most Oahu tourists hang out. It's priceless though. You have Luis Vuitton on one corner, and a drug deal going down on the next. We looked for Dog the Bounty hunter, but he must have been working hard somewhere else that night. I really enjoyed walking around Waikiki, but that's just me.

We settled in for another night and camp, anxiously awaiting for Marcus and Malcolm to arrive the next day.

Marieasaurus

We interuppted this regulary scheduled brag fest to give you a special report. Marie is a brat. I'm so sad. She was an angel when I left for Hawaii. She was good for everyone, she loved nursery and had babysitters lining up to tend her. Now she hates everyone, except me. And I am pretty sure she resents me even though she only wants to be with me. She's throwing tantrums left and right, mostly if I put clothes on her or don't let her put syrup or honey on everything she eats.

I'm so sad. What happened to my baby? It's as if I traded an angel, who people would babysit FOR FREE (just because they loved her!), for 1 trip to Hawaii. Is that fair? Didn't I earn Hawaii? And would I have gone had I known what I was trading.

Also I would like to shamefully report that she has a 6 pack. I saw it during her morning diaper-freak-out-fest. She was screaming, every muscle in her body twitched and flexed, and there it was. Staring at me, as if to say, "Well there you go, you are a crappy mom. You can't even feed your baby." But it's weird, I know she eats something. How else could I explain the 8 poopy diapers I change everday? Also it seems she can't eat dairy anymore. Too bad, because dairy is her #1 food group (besides sugar).

I am hanging on to my whits as best as I can. I've been reading the "Super Nanny" book and that has been aptly timed considering I started reading it before my Hawaii trip.

But I can't end the post this way. I was telling someone just the other day how I pride myself on the fact that I don't have negative blog posts (I was asking for it).

Marie said "Please" for the first time yesterday.
She shared with Preston by her own free will.
She has been actually helping me do chores: putting dishes away, supervising me make my bed, and offering to help with laundry (like really help- not just pull out clothes of her dresser).
She held up two green beans (yes! She eats green beans!) and said "two"- then pointed to another and said "three."
And she's probably done alot more that I am to ungrateful to notice. She's growing up and i guess I can take the bad with the good.

p.s. Still missing my camera. :(

HAWAII (Unabridged): Part 1

Los Hicimos! We did it! We finally made it to Hawaii. I've been salavating over this trip for years and we made it happen last month. Join me as I explore the exciting and technical details of our trip..... hahaha like you really want to hear about our trip... but this is my offical record of the vacation so please excuse my excess of detail and maybe you can enjoy the pictures.

I had been salavating over Hawaii ever since I found out that military can fly for free in the extra space of cargo planes. And given that Travis AFB does the most "hops" to Hawaii than any other AFB I couldn't let this go to waste. I would like to first publicly thank my mother for helping this trip happen. She babysat Marie for over a week. What a woman. Marie is sweet, but she's a handful. Thanks mom.

Also, given the fact that she was one of the few members left out of this trip I owe her big time.

Brett and I had always planned on going, but once we found out that we were moving to Japan we decided to cancel it so we could spend the time between our families. Then I got a radical hunch that somehow I could combine the two ideas. Thanks to my mom and oldest brother Jesse (neither got to go on the trip) who made this trip happen. Thanks so much.

So here are the details (you can stop biting your nails! I'll get to them!)

My mom flew in and Brett and I tried to get on a Saturday morning hop. It was cancelled. So we tried again Sunday morning and got on. BRRRR! Riding in that plane was freezing. It felt like my feet were in the snow. I should have brought a blanket. We flew a KC 135 with a medical crew. A KC 135 also refules jets mid-air. Brett made some buddies on the crew who took us to the tail end of the plane and showed us how a "Boom Operator" does his job- that is the person who refules the jets.

Almost six hours later we got off and made our way to The Bellows Military Resort.

We pitched our tent and got comfy. Yes, thats right, we camped in Hawaii. I'm cheap and proud.

We checked out the beach and then headed to Waikiki to get some grub. We found it at the Hale Koa Retirement Home.... jk. We did eat at the 5 star Military hotel "Hale Koa"- but the food was ridiculously lame and we were the youngest one there by 40 years. The sunset was beautiful though. I wish we hadn't lost our camera before the trip. If anyone sees a pink Polaroid camera let us know :(.

The next day we rented golf clubs for $1 and hit the driving range. What a view! It looked like something from Jurassic Park. We then rented body boards and hung loose until we had to pick up my dad and brother Nigel from the airport....