Hawaii - June 24

Spent the afternoon yesterday at Hickam Beach (the beach on Hickam Air Force Base, which is REALLY close to the runway for the airport). It was a nice, small beach with calm water and extremely small waves. Uncle Hooter met us when he got off work and brought his paddle board. He showed Hubby how to do it, and then Hubby went for a spin. He did well. Keeper Boy tried, but just in the cove by the swimming area--both Uncle Hooter and Hubby said it was too windy for Keeper Boy to go out any further.

We came back to the house and made pasta. J-Mav fell asleep on the sofa right after dinner and was in bed by 7:30! Gma G went up by 9. Uncle Hooter, Jenrie, Hubby, and I played Apples to Apples and laughed ourselves silly.

Today we went to a different beach--Bellows Beach. Also a military beach, although it has a public portion, too. It also wasn't very crowded. Very windy and there was a pretty good undertow. But great for boogie boarding. I did that for the first time. :-)

The boys (and Hubby and Uncle Hooter) spent almost the entire time we were there in the water. Keeper Boy and J-Mav had a blast--I've never seen either of them go so far out into the water at the ocean. Not sure what's different between here and Avalon.

We are back at the house and waiting for the J family to arrive for a cookout. They are vacationing on Oahu now, too. Crazy! (The J family is our friends from here... their son, Z played on two teams with Keeper Boy when he played for the Xtreme. Their daughter, Z's older sister, A also babysat for J-Mav some last summer. And they have another brother, N, who falls in the middle. They are one of the few families we actively keep in touch with from our time at Ashburn.) Gma G, Uncle Hooter, and Jenrie have all met Mr. J and Z before at various hockey games/tournaments. AND, Gma G and Mr. J know some of the same people and went to the same high school... or went to rival high schools... or something. They both grew up in the same area outside of DC. Small World!

We have seen some schools while driving around... lots of outdoor spaces--breezeways to walk between buildings and areas of the school, lots of windows that are opened for breezes (no A/C), and outdoor eating areas. Pretty interesting. Spidey will be going to Kindergarten in a school like that beginning on August 1.

Princess P (Spidey's little sister) is just adorable. She doesn't really talk much, but her face is SO expressive! She calls Spidey "Bubba" (for brother) and she seems to call J-Mav [his name but with a D instead of a J at the front]. She waves, nods yes and no, and she eats anything and everything. She warmed right up to us, which was nice.

Princess P was such a trooper the whole time--she had only one nap most days, when she is used to having two, and yet she almost never cried. When it was time for bed or a nap, we simply laid her in her bed or in her pack n play and she went to sleep. When she woke up, she played quietly in her bed and waited for someone to come get her. It will be interesting to see if she is still so mild-mannered once her little brother arrives in a few weeks...