Day Four in Hawaii (Guest Post by AMANDA!)

Today we left Aunt Jacque's house and went to Coconut Island in Hilo, HI. We waded in the water there and looked at lots of Koy fish in the ponds. Me and my family went to the water falls (it was really hot hiking there!). We also went on a hike at the botanical gardens. At the end of the hike down we saw a beach. On the way back to the car we saw lots of sea turtles in the water. Then we came home and had dinner. Finally, we went to bed. My mom and I will post pictures to this post later. Love, Amanda.

Day Three in Hawaii (Guest Post by AMANDA!)

On our third day in Hawaii, we went to my Great Aunt's house in Volcanoes National Park. We saw an active volcano there. We also went through a lava tube. Then we went to a viewing area and saw the volcano erupt! After that we saw another volcano. (Nicole fell asleep in the car).

Finally, we went to bed. Love, Amanda.

Day Two in Hawaii (Guest Post by AMANDA!)

We went to a bunch of places with my grandma today. We went to the farmer's market and looked around. Then we went to a genuine Hawaiian grocery store and bought some different fruit. We bought a bunch of apple bananas (YUM!), a pineapple, and a coconut. Then we went to the ocean and had a picnic there. We also went snorkeling for the first time in Hawaii. We had lots of fun but didn't see many fish. The waves and salt water were a little scary to me. Finally we drove home and went to bed. Love, Amanda.

Hawaii - Day One (Guest post by AMANDA!)

I had to wake up at 6:00am this morning and ride a bus to the airport. When we got there I ate a quick breakfast. Then we went to my mom and dad because I had been with my grandma and Geri. When we got on the airplane it took a while to get in the air. When we were aloud to use electronics, I watched a movie on my dad's Zune. I also did some homework and listened to music. Finally, I got to play on my mom's computer. When we got to Hawaii we were really hot so we put on flip-flops. We finally got to the house and unpacked. There are lots of birds, dogs, people, and car noises here. It will take a while to get used to that. Love, Amanda

Surprise, surprise! I'm still here:)

I can't believe how fast life just keeps moving. I'm hoping to get back to really blogging this summer, with lots of exciting adventures planned with the kids and John. This month alone I've gone to Phoenix with John, gone to Great Wolf Lodge with the Girl Scouts and teh rest of the family, and I'm packing for Hawaii right now. Nate leaves tomorrow morning for 5th grade camp. What an exciting month!

I hope to post pictures from our many adventures, but don't expect to see any while I'm in Hawaii. I'm not sure we will have internet access in the house we're staying in.

I have to get back to packing if I'm ever going to be ready for our wonderful trip to Hawaii!

My (apparently) Monthly Post...

The summer is almost over, the kids are almost back in school, and you might think that we spent the whole summer doing absolutely nothing, since that is what I've posted:) It seems as the kids get bigger, our outings get more intense, frequent, and ongoing.

For the third year in a row, my friend and I committed to dedicating each Tuesday during the summer to taking the kids on a weekly adventure. We let the kids each choose an activity that they've always wanted to do and we scheduled them into our Tuesday outings. We went to Snoqualmie Falls (Nate's choice), Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium (K's choice), and the Scratch Patch (Nicole's choice). We also committed to spending every Wednesday in the summer to the Grandmas and we've gone on many adventures with them too:) The kids have loved every moment of it.

We've also gone to the beach for nine days, to Grandpa's house (over in eastern Washington), and on several hikes. Amanda has gone to the fair with her best friend, Nicole has gone on a long boat trip with her best friend, and Nate has gone to two Cub Scout camps and to several over night trips with his best friend. We also finally made it to Jetty Island, a little ferry ride from the Everett marina to an island that we can see really well from our house.

I'll post pictures as I get through them. I can't believe how much the kids have grown over the summer!!!

Wow, is it really almost August???

I know this is no excuse, but we've been incredibly busy this past month. Let's see if I can remember everything we've done. We went to Grandma's house for 4th of July and the kids set off fireworks. John and Nate attended Cub Scout Resident camp for four days and three nights. The girls went to several birthday parties. We climbed the rock climbing wall at REI. We went to Cub Scout Twilight camp every night for five nights, and we went to Grandpa's house to a family reunion. We tamed the jungle in our backyard, but it took six people two days to do it. We've had an old friend visit from Texas, an Uncle and Aunt and their family visit from Ohio (six people in all), and now another Uncle and Aunt from Ohio is in town. There, that covers it. As for pics, I'll be working on those next. Next we'll be headed to a 10-day beach vacation out of state. I sure hope we have a few minutes to catch our breath there!