Under the Big Top

This afternoon we took the boys to see a little circus that passes through our town each year. I have to say, the circus was ghetto. There were more holes and patches than material in the tent, the animals were lethargic and the "birds of paradise" turned out to be miscolored pigeons, the majority of the performances, from master of ceremonies, acrobat, and juggler, was the same girl. It was seriously laughable. Despite the lameness, I thought Hank would really enjoy the show, but the poor kiddo was sick and just sat limp in my lap the whole time. Sadly, I think we'll skip the circus next year.

Keeping Promises

Dumb story. Yesterday Aaron noticed a bunch of tractors on display at a farm near our house. Knowing how much Hank loves tractors, I promised him that we could go visit the tractors later that day. Well, it turns out that the tractors weren't really on display for the public as we thought, and Hank was majorly disappointed. So, to keep my word, we took Hank to the John Deere tractor store this morning and let him roam the lot, sitting on each and every tractor. At first I was a little surprised that not a single salesman accosted us, but, on our way out, I noticed several other little boys sitting atop the shining machines. I guess Hank isn't the only tractor lover.

Watermelon

We lovingly refer to Max as our little "human garbage disposal." I think the nickname is self-explanatory.....

its coming along

Our little garden is planted and many of the vegetables are beginning to pop up. Last year we experiemented with all kinds of plant varieties--with mixed success. This year, we decided to narrow down and plant only the vegetables that we really like. With any luck, we will soon have heirloom tomatoes, grape tomatoes, bush beans, sweet onions, carrots, lettuce, cilantro, basil, cucumbers, peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, butternut squash, and strawberries. YUM!

Memorial Day

Aaron and I both got slammed with the flu at the end of our vacation and spent most of the weekend recovering so we decided to keep the holiday festivities low-key. We invited Papa Grover over for a barbeque and spent some quality time with the kiddos chilling in the backyard.

We bought Hank a few squirt guns and he had fun using us for target practice.

Good shot!

We also bought a little kiddie pool and let Hank fill it up with water to cool him down.

Hank capped off the water fun with a run through the sprinkler.

Trouble-Makers

Hank was actually the culprit behind this mess in his quest to collect all of the "Grover" diapers, but he wisely left the scene of the crime before he was caught. Max caught on to the game really quick and thought it was great fun to toss each diaper out of the box one by one--like confetti!

Hawaii Highlights

On Friday Aaron and I returned from spending one glorious week in beautiful, sunny Hawaii! I really had a hard time leaving the kids and the cares all behind, but I think we needed a little time to ourselves to reconnect. I missed the kids bunches and bunches and thought about them constantly, but I know they were well taken care of and had a blast with their nanas (thanks a bunch!). Sometimes I wish I could transport myself back to Hawaii with the snap of my fingers--I guess the next best thing is to preserve our trip in my memory as best as I can. I think it would be impossible to capture our experience in words, so I will share our wonderful week in pictures. Here are the highlights:

1. The Beach

The sunset at sunset beach was breathtaking. I literally felt my stress and cares all melt away as we watched the sun fade into the horizon.

We walked along the beach and splashed in the sandy lagoons near our hotel. Not too shabby, huh?

We people-watched at Waikiki beach.

Aaron played in the surf at the North Shore.

2. The Fun.

If he could, Aaron would have lived in the pool at the hotel.


We cruised the strip at Waikiki.

Aaron golfed 2 courses: Turtle Bay and Ko Olina. The courses were beautiful and Aaron seemed to be happy with how he played.

I'm pretty sure this means Aaron was happy.

I was just along for the ride.

We checked out Da Kine Bailbonds...too bad Dog wasn't there.

3. The Food

Does life get better than sipping pina coladas (virgin, of course) by the pool?

Aaron couldn't resist a stop at the Shrimp Shack. Just looking at the picture makes me gag.

We visited Matsumoto's shave ice multiple times. We're addicted--can't get enough!

4. The Scenery

I wish I could etch this picture in my memory to carry with me through the long, dreary Washington winters.

Laie Point--this is the view that Aaron and I enjoyed from our bedroom windows as college kids! Oh that we could have that out our back porch now.

Everything in Hawaii was so lush and gorgeous.

5. The Memories

Hawaii holds a very special place in our hearts because it is where our story began. Whenever we visit Hawaii, we like to relive all the good times. Aaron and I took a picture seven years ago of the two of us at the airport (below) so as soon as we got off the airplane, we took this picture for a comparison. I thought I was lucky then, and I still feel pretty lucky now.

I loved visiting the campus at BYU-H. Such good times and good memories.

I can't beleive it was 7 years ago that we both graduated. It feels like it was yesterday.


6. The Love.

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to survive spending a week without my babies, but I loved spending every minute together with my best friend. Thank you for the wonderful vacation. Lets do it again!

*** well, maybe there were a few highlights that couldn't be photographed: uninterrupted sleep, peaceful mornings spent reading on the balcony, a birthday dinner shared with a good friend, feeling like it was ok to be lazy, treating ourselves to a late night movie at the theater, the feeling of the hot sun on my skin, hunting for treasures at the swap meet, the feel of the hot sand between my toes, the option to do whatever I wanted....I could go on and on.

the Lost Photoshoot

Right after Max was born, we had a photographer come to our house to take pictures. We were supposed to receive the edited pictures in the mail, but it ended up being a fiasco to retrieve the photos. Anyways, long story, but I'm just now getting around to posting these blast from the past pictures. I don't know if I love the pictures, but I definately want to preserve the memories for posterity. As a disclaimer, bear in mind that I had a baby two days prior to the photoshoot.