Diamond Head Crater

We went out on a few excursions while we were at Aulani.  This trip took us to Diamond Head Crater.  It was really amazing.  It was a pretty difficult climb with lots of stairs and some tunneling through the crater which was my least favorite part...think lots of people, cramped space and pitch black...not my idea of a great time, but super glad we did it!

The very highest point.  

A truly amazing view at the top.

Hazel and I looked out at every angle for a long while.

August catching his breath.

Coast right below.

Light House.

Proud climber.

See where is says "Danger"?  That's exactly why I was down below!

Hazel ran some of the way back down.

Vacation Sunday

I forgot to mention that this vacation was a complete surprise to the kids. We told them that we were going to drive to Portland for the weekend and that they were going to take Monday off. I had them frantically finishing homework on Friday night in preparation for what they thought was one day off from school. August was not too happy about the extra work load that day.
On Saturday we woke up and packed ourselves into the car. The kids were none the wiser. Andrew came along and we just passed it off that he was coming to Portland with us. As we were heading towards the airport Trey started telling Andrew about how being a parent is a lot of fun and that sometime you can play tricks on your kids. Like the time I told August that the bees and ants had an alliance and when a kid stepped on an ant the bees would come sting the kid. August believed it for a long time.
Trey then said something about how funny it would be if we weren't really going to Portland and were going to Disney instead. Hazel screamed and August said, "No, that wouldn't be funny because it wouldn't be true." I had to convince them by showing them all the secret texts between me and their Aunt Amy.
Needless to say, August didn't complain when we got on the plane and I pulled out his real stack of homework for the week. I've never seen this boy cruise through math so fast!

On Sunday we were still at Scott and Amy's house. The weather was perfect for a hike and after striking out on the first location (closed due to fire damage), we found this cool place.
The kids jumped from rock to rock, crossed a river and found walking sticks and even discovered some tad poll eggs.
And their Uncle Scott tried to splash them all by throwing huge rocks into the river.
A good time was had by everyone.

Vacation Day 1

We took the kids out of school last week for a much needed vacation. Visiting California is such an easy get away for us as the Reynolds live out there. We spent a few days with them at their house and then drove out to Disney for 3 days and then back to the Reynolds.
The kids had a wonderful time playing with each other. It just gets better and better every time they get together.

Break in the Schedule

Today marks the end of our vacation.
I was really looking forward to this break.
By the middle of December the Many family was tired. Waking up was becoming the most hated thing. My phone alarm would go off and I would audibly grumble at it before tapping the off bar. Trey would roll over and beg for 10 more minutes while I would shuffle down the hall to Hazel's room- knock, knock, (muffle, groan, groan) and then August's- knock, knock (silence), knock, knock, (huff), knock, knock ("OKAY!").
I would have to splash my own face to get motivated for the fight that was quickly approaching. My arsenal ready with words like, "You have 5 minutes to get out of bed before I start taking things away from you. " and "We have 15 minutes left for breakfast." and "Put your plate in the sink, go to the bathroom, brush your teeth, put your shoes on, put your coat on. Do you have your lunch?" With an extra, "What are you going to eat for lunch today?" when one or the other had left their lunch sitting in front of the door. Mind you, they had to walk right past it in order to forget it. And then the, "Run back and get it and then hurry up and catch up to us."
Makes me tired just writing about it!
Needless to say, we were all very ready for the break in schedule. And so, that first day off school? We all slept until 9:30am, which, remarkably was the exact time I'd told the kids the TV could be turned on during the break.
On Christmas morning I was awoken not by my darling children excitedly panting for gifts. It was my phone repeatedly buzzing and buzzing with pictures of my brother's kids opening presents at 7 in the morning. My kids were still dreaming of American Girl dolls and video games. August and Hazel, who by this time were regularly waking up at 10:00am, finally tip toed out of their rooms at 9:00 all sleepy like but willing to push themselves with the realization that the gifts waiting for them would make it worth it all.
Gifts were opened, hugs were given, pictures were taken and sent and then the house was quiet again. I poked my head in August's room, expecting to see his nose in a book or to hear some blip, blip, bliping from his DSi, but instead I found him in his bed trying to take a nap. "You tired August?"
"Huh? Yeeeessssss."
Today marks the last day of break. I woke up to a quiet house at (hold on to your hats folks) 10:45am. A quiet house. Dogs still in their kennels, husband still snoozing and the kids doors closed with no sounds coming from behind them.
I had to wake them up. At 10:45 in the morning. Tomorrow is going to hurt so bad.

Hola!

If you've come expecting beautiful pictures from our trip to Nuevo Vallarta you will be very disappointed. Almost as disappointed as I was when I realized that I'd left the house at 3:30 in the morning to catch our early, early flight out of the country without my camera. This revelation came especially hard as Trey had just purchased a new lens for the camera and I was very eager to snap some beauties...
So, I give you pictures from August's spring soccer game instead:Hazel got her hair braided on the very first day in Mexico. She wanted to keep them in until her friends from school could see it...by the time I took them out...well, it wasn't pretty, I'll just leave it at that.


The trip to Mexico was so restful and full of bright blue skies and ocean breezes.
I know, there's a ton of bad news coming from that part of the world...we spoke with some folk who live in the area and they felt strongly that the news was pushing fear. They said that the violence that is taking place right now is indeed drug related and that a) it's staying within the drug community and b) it's no worse than the big cities here in the US...so...I felt better about it. We did venture off the resort for dinner one night to a little place across the street and it was delicious.
The kids swam in the pools, August and Trey went into the ocean, Hazel went to the kids club on the resort and made friends. Trey and I had a few nights out (thanks to Paul and Linda) where I re-learned my lesson on why I don't like Tequila...(never again, never again!)
Thankfully, no one got a sunburn due to our excessive reapplication of a number of sunscreens. I'm sure that if folks were watching us they'd have gotten a kick out of how many times we called the kids over to slather the lotion on them over and over again.

And now, we're home...and the weather the last few days has been so wonderful. I subbed for the PE teacher today and spent the whole day outside with the kids...today...I have a sunburn!

It was the summer of 2008

I feel like I owe you all so much after being away from the computer for so long. We've done so much this summer, here are some sneak peeks into all our comings and goings:
We did a bit of shopping.
Celebrated our 10 year anniversary.
Took the kids out to eat.
Finally saw the flamingo's.
Went to the dog park a bunch.
Got henna tattoo's at a street fair.
Saw some movies.
Had a picnic or two.
Recorded a song.
Celebrated Jonah's birthday.
Ate some Top Pot.
Had friends over.
Went swimming with Jonah again.
And Again!
Visited family.
Saw Uncle Justin in a whole new light.
Went to Sasquatch!
Got our nails done!!
Went on trips.
Slept on planes.
Cheered for Aunt Kathleen.
Celebrated Rosie.
Had Royal over.
Spent some alone time.
Went to Mexico.

Read a ton of books.Celebrated Sub Pop.
Celebrated the Shoop wedding.Watched Nicole sing.
Ate some GOOOOOD food.

And that's just part of what we've done. I still have to get the pictures from our trip to North Carolina and Michigan. But this is all I can get through now. I'm looking forward to the kids coming home so we can get everything ready for the school year. Hazel in 1st and August in 4th! We have school clothes to buy and lists of school supplies to tick off.
I'll post more memories as they flood my computer.
I have some pictures from the Shoop wedding up at this website:
http://gallery.me.com/jennifermany
Feel free to poke around.