Enrichment Night--A Night Out for Mom

Ko Olina- a smaller public beach at sunset

Eli and Dad surfing on the boogie board. It was so funny watching Eli paddle so hard with his arms.

Let's walk on Kai.

Paddle White Boy, Paddle! Jason paddling to attempt the surf.

Our backyard view in the Kailua House.

An early birthday present from Grandma. Two nights before she left she helped treat the kids to a night at Chucke Cheese.

The Ko Olina Resort. You can't see where we are staying. It's further east and a bit south. Seen here is just the Lagoons of the Resorts. Just north of the top Lagoon is a real small inlet. This is where we took the picture of the kids at the top of this post. There is another big lagoon and Marina to the south of the 3rd lagoon, not seen on the picture.

Monday the kids and I enjoyed an afternoon at the pool with Sharon, Matthew, Lynn (she's in the ward), and Lynn's kids. It was so nice to have some adult conversation. I felt like I was talking the most out of everyone. Jason and I talk when he comes home from work, but he knows and I know it's nice to have others to talk to as well. Talking to family and friends at home on the phone and over the computer have helped, but the actual real live interaction is nice to have.

Sharon left Matthew with us while she picked up her other kids from school. They all came back and swam with us some more. Later, Kai and Kezia went to their place for an hour to hang out. It was so nice of them to allow them some friend time...even Kezia...she hung out with their 9 year old daughter. Eli and I just chilled with a snack and the news after another short drive on the golf cart. He cried when we dropped them off at their house...he was sad to see his siblings run off and play.

That night we had a quick version of taco salad and headed off on the golf cart with dad to one of the resorts to walk around. The resort is very fancy, not too much to do there, but very beautiful. We walked around their outside aquarium and saw the fish, a few sting rays (one was at least 5 feet long), and they had several hammer head sharks lurking around another area of the water. They are about 4 feet long, not too big. You can't get real close to them, so it's hard to see them clearly, but it was cool seeing their top fin eerily coming out of the water. (d,d,d,d,d,d,d,--Jaws theme)

Tuesday the kids and I took a day trip to Lagoon 2. It's one of the smaller lagoons and less busy, however they don't' have the nice beach chairs from the resorts to sit and lay on. No big deal when you're always with the kids. We played in the sand, in the water, in the sand, in the water, etc. We were going to stay long enough for me to sunscreen the kids again when I smelled the little dude. Water and poo don't mix. Thank goodness for the outdoor showers they have there to get the sand off...yes, he streaked for a bit so I could get a final rinse off the little but. He wasn't the only streaker around there when it came to little ones :) .

That night we took it easy. Eli slept while I made dinner (Bisquick Cheeseburger Pie). I am getting to know the Bisquick mix pretty well when it comes to being creative with the limited items we have (it's nice having food storage at home). I then was setting out to make yummy fruit smoothies. I had a great chat with Sara on Facebook while the kids and dad watched "Hotel for Dogs." Then when I finally got everything ready to make the smoothies, the dumb blender was shot. It actually blended some, but didn't chop the ice at all. So I took out all the ice and blended the fruit and milk....chopped the ice with the refrigerator's ice dispenser and blended it in. It wasn't good at all. Disappointing.

Wednesday was a hard day for me to wake up. Because Eli took a late nap yesterday, he didn't go to bed till around midnight Tuesday night. I was feeling pregnant today....I couldn't wake up real easily, then had an late morning nap, and then another at 3 p.m. I was very lazy with the kids. They pretty much entertained themselves with the computer, t.v., and coloring. I took advantage as well and read some more of Breaking Dawn.

When Jason came home from work we all took a dip in the pool. I came home early to get ready to go with Sharon to Enrichment Night. We had a Bisquick pizza with yummy pineapple sausage from Costco and fresh Dole Pineapple as toppings. Enrichment night was great! Some of the sisters displayed items that they are crafty at or have hobbies for/talents for and then the Patriarch of their stake spoke about Patriarchal Blessings. It was a great lesson and reminder about the importance of Patriarchal Blessings. It's making me sad I left mine at home. I would sure love to read it right now.

I was very humbled and grateful for the sweetness that I received while at the meeting. So many of the sisters were quick to introduce themselves to me and want to know about me. We had a yummy dessert of fruit and cake as well as a decorated pineapple with various fruits skewered on it. Sharon has been so friendly to me since we've made contact. Her husband showed up at the church later with the kids to play basketball with the guys...I am sure Jason will love that next week...he'll be one of the few tall, skinny, white boys there. This ward has tons of natives...it's no neat to see so many of the sisters wearing moo moos. One sister displayed her amazing talent of lei making with ribbon and other means of fabric. Sharon was awesome and played one of her favorites "Bella's Lullaby". She absolutely loves the books. She is on the 3rd book for the 4th time through the series.

Speaking of, I am tired and want to go and read my book. Lagoon again tomorrow, this time with Sharon and her son Matthew. I feel very blessed she is willing to hang out with me. It's amazing to me that they are staying in the exact place we are (they sold their home just weeks prior, sooner than expected) and will be leaving in a month back to Utah to live with her parents (in our home ward) until they get a home finalized in the Syracuse area.

Aloha!