He is Risen!

Amidst the fun that is eggs, bunnies and candy, may the joy of the resurrection find your heart.

He is risen, indeed!

Photo Friday-Non-Aquatic Hawaiian Activities

We spent two weeks in Hawaii, but we didn't just hang out at the pool and the beach. Don't misunderstand me...that's certainly what we MAINLY did. But there are other ways to pass your time in the islands. You might be like my two year old son that decided he did not want anything to do with water or sand. Where does that leave you, you might be asking? Well, here's some pointers on what you can do in Hawaii without actually getting in the water.

Lounge on the grass BY the beach (preferably in the shade) and color, or do school work, or read that trashy novel that you never have time for.Play with your grandparents.Shop.Take hula dancing lessons, especially if they are free.

Lounge about in your pjs, eating cereal while watching TV. Don't ever bother to make the bed.

The more you lounge, the better. Take lots and lots of pictures of your kids. You must always get a group photo of your children with at least one of them having a tantrum...

...or trying to climb into a fountain. Bonus points if it is the same child in each picture.
Never ever leave Hawaii before you have seen some fish...preferably at an aquarium.

And you should always find at least one turtle to play with while in Hawaii. If you can climb on it, then all the better.

Attempt a large family portrait with matching clothes on your last day in paradise. The more children that you have to wrangle to get to look at the camera with some semblance of a pleasant facial expression, the better.

It's so much fun just getting the babies to look at the camera... ...while squinting in the sun (or snarling if you are Kate).

And, of course...playing in the sand at the beach. This does not require you to actually set foot in the water. The prettier your dress, the better.

You can do all this and more. But, really...nothing is as good as playing in the waves when you are in Hawaii. Padyn highly recommends it.

Happy Friday.

Birthday Girl

If you know us, you know we have two birthdays in our family in April. Both has already passed (that's how good I am at keeping up with current events around here.) Katelyn was very excited to have her birthday in Hawaii, and before we left, she would tell anyone who would listen that she was going to Hawaii for her birthday. Like that was her present.

We tried hard to make sure her 5th birthday did not get lost amidst our Hawaii adventure. We even had a party for her with two sets of her grandparents, a couple cousins and our next door neighbors! Yes, they were in Hawaii at the same time as us.

These photos are from her actual birth day. It wasn't her greatest day healthwise. We had a lot of coughing and a bit of puking, but shave ice sure helped!

Here she is right after waking up on her birthday, in her new dress from Mimi...it was probably still like 5:30 in the morning in this photo. I see no daylight out the kitchen window. (That three hour time difference is still kicking us in the butt.)We went into the town of Lahiana for the afternoon. That banyan tree in the background takes up a city block!

There was an art fair going on under the banyan tree. It included free face painting. What better birthday present than a mermaid painted on your arm? Well, the shave ice afterwards was pretty good, too.

I think I'm going to start picking restaurants by the quality of the coloring materials they have for kids. This one was quite good. Lots of fishies to color. It took her the entire meal to finish it. Then she made it into a birthday crown.

We took a little drive along the coast afterwards, attempting to get the kids to nap. It didn't happen. But we got some sightseeing in, which the girls were not interested in at all. You can't have everything on your birthday, now can you?

And now Kate is five. I have no idea where the time has gone...

I'm hopeful for five. I'm hoping for the illogical, overly sensitive, slightly crazy 4 year old to leave and a calm, rational five year old to take her place. Two weeks in and I haven't seen a sign of her yet...

Photo Friday-Sneak Peek

No...I haven't given up blogging all together (though many weeks it feels like I should). We've been gone for the last two weeks. Gone far far away on a warm, sunny island, in a hotel with very poor internet service. Plus, when you are far far away, do you really want to spend your time uploading photos to your blog? I don't either. I call this one "Sneak Peek" because I've only just begun to sort through my 500 photos from Maui. That's right...500. We've got beach photos, pool photos, aquarium photos, birthday party photos, cousin photos and much much more. For now...here are a few that I liked as I skimmed through...

Aloha. Happy Friday.