Happiness is...

...when my Daddy steps in the room. Everything else ceases to exist.



...girly slipper socks.

Hawaii: Days One and Two

If you're sick of hearing about our travels, you may want to take a break from reading for a while. I'll be sharing a few of the 406 pictures we took last week.

We scored first class seats (I guess being nice still works) on the way there and Playette got her wings. BD and I got lots of comped food and drinks. Woot!

Playette loved riding in her carseat with the Travelmate attachment. I highly recommend these for air travel.

Our room was great. It was nice and big (which came in handy with Little Miss Busy) and the bed was comfortable. We got a crib for the Littlest, but most nights we were so exhausted we tended to all crash together.

Sitting area. You may be able to tell from this picture the kind of view we had. It was great to be able to wake up in the morning and see the ocean from the bed.

Looking out from the balcony

Looking down from the balcony

It was about 7 pm (3 hours behind what we're used to) by the time we got settled in the room. We met some friends at a restaurant nearby and had a nice time chatting, snacking, and sipping on fruity libations.

The next morning we got up super early, even though it felt like sleeping in, and headed over to hike to the top of Diamond Head. Talk about tough! Mannnn, that thing was no joke! They say it's only 1.5 miles round trip, but when you're climbing about 600 feet at the same time and it's blazing hot? Shoot, I was straight proud that I finished it.

Not quite proud enough to purchase a t-shirt on the way down (t-shirt dude deserves credit for hiking his stand up there though), but still.

That light line in the above photo is the "trail." Apparently this hike is considered "moderate." Ha!

I must mention this: There was a robot woman who was on her third trip up in the time it took us to finish. I have no idea how long was there before or after us. She was no joke. Not only was she fast, but she was serious. She had her iPod blasting, while balancing a Powerade bottle on her head, carrying what appeared to be weighted balls in each hand.

I so want to be that lady when I grow up.

Shoot, I almost didn't keep going when I saw this:


And this:

And this:


BD even had to crawl through a tiny space, with Playette on his back, to get to the tippy top.


But this made it all worth it:







I actually ended up liking the hike after it was all said and done. I thought maybe we should do it every morning during our trip.

That. did. not. happen.

After the success of the hike nevermind when I fell right at the very end and put on a tumbling show for all the other tourists, we deserved a treat.


Mmmmmalasadas!


And since it was lunchtime by then, we, well, had lunch. So what that we still had sugar crumbs on our mouths from "breakfast." It was time.

We ate at a local hangout that served traditional Hawaiian food. Playette loved the kalua pig and laulau. I didn't take the camera because I was working hard at trying to blend in places that didn't have an access fee.

By the time we got back to the hotel, we were whooped. Whooped, I tell ya.

We finally dragged ourselves down to the beach for a while. BD played with Playette in the lagoon and I played with her in the ocean.

That night, we met our friends for dinner and tried FAILED to get Playette in a festive mood for her birthday. She was simply not having it, much to my disappointment.


But wait, there's more...

Spent

It's been one of those days.

Not enough sleep.

The headache won't stop.

I almost quit my job. (I know. Enough with the job issues already.)

The IFSP meeting. Ok, so that didn't go horrible or anything (amazing), but it's absolutely not something I felt like doing today. We signed it this time, but have to reconvene on the 15th to resolve some additional issues with ST services.

And then the guy I was planning to marry when I was 5 goes and dies. (Those links are to the posters I had on my wall and door as a kid.) I can't even watch the news because I can't believe it.

It's not so much that it's MJ. Well, that's part of it, true. It's more about not wanting to think about mortality and the memories I have of my childhood that are somehow connected.

I remember my mother taking me to see the Jacksons' Victory Tour at the Meadowlands. Floor seats, y'all. My mother was the kind of person who did this type of thing for a kid way before I could ever appreciate it. We bonded over that tour though. She had the Jackson 5, I had Michael. Sigh.

Anyway, I wasn't intending to dig that up in this post, but there ya go.

A few people have asked me today how our vacation was.

Did I fail to mention that?

Yeah, we were on vacation.

I tend not to annouce those things.

I can't wait to look back at the photos (hundreds of them, I'm telling you) so that I can remember what a great time we had before the flight cancellations took us so far off track that when we got home all we could think about was, "Well, that last part sucked."

Thank you all so much for the kind birthday wishes for the Littlest. She had a great time while we were gone and even got to add a new state to her list. (And one more for me, yay!)

I just realized that I, too, have become the the kind of person who does this type of thing for a kid way before she could ever appreciate it.

Heh.

Oh, well.

We're still holding fast to our "You must be able to walk 5 miles without whining before we take you with us to Disney" rule.

We love you, Gabby

Tomorrow sweet Gabby is going to have her little heart mended.



While the surgeons are no doubt very skilled, it would surely mean a lot to her family if we'd all keep her in our thoughts and prayers today, tomorrow, and during her recovery period.

I'm sure she'll be just fine and I can't wait to cuddle the Princess again once she comes through this like a champ.

Update: Gabby's surgery has been postponed until July 10th.

Already?

Buddy Walk time is quickly approaching.

I know, I know...summer's just starting and all. But anyone involved in planning a Buddy Walk will tell you that October will be here before you know it.

When I was in NY last month, I spent some time in both Times Square and Central Park. As I stood there amongst the wonderful chaos and peacefulness of it all, I couldn't help but think about the Buddy Walk. How cool would it be to participate in such an event in NYC? To be with all those people and see the video up on the screen in person would be awesome.

One day, we'll have to find out.

But, until then, there's always the possibility of representing in another way.

Until July 15th, photos are being accepted for the annual Ds awareness video in Times Square.

If you're interested, please be sure to submit a favorite photo.

Contest info

2008 Video

Happy Father's Day, BD!

Early summer is high celebration time around here, with birthdays, an anniversary, and today that all deserve some form of acknowledgement.

Today is BD's day.

This is one amazing man. As good of a husband as he is, he's an even better father. He deserves great things.

So I've got something planned that I think he'll like.

Actually, since I'm writing this early so that we can spend some quality family time together, it already happened.

I'll be sure and post some photos soon.

Happily Birthday, Playette!

The baby is two.

Two years old.


Two?!

Can you believe it?

I can't.


Precious girl.

We love you so, so much.

You're amazing.

There's no gift we can give you that even compares to the one you've given to us.