Day 2 of our Adventure! (Part 1)

We decided to get up early and hit the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument (aka Pearl Harbor stuff). We got there a half hour after it opened and still ended up having to wait to go out to where the USS Arizona now lies, so make sure to get there early if you plan on taking the boat trip out. The boys behaved very respectfully and were really good all morning while we climbed all over the USS Missouri and did the programs available.

Showing the boys where CA is and how far we flew to get to Hawaii.

Riding the bus to the USS Missouri tour, N LOVES buses. Meanwhile M was trying soak up everything he could on the battleships that were attacked. J was just bored, he just wasn't going to have a fun at all...but he did.

USS Missouri

Looking at different knots.

M getting to pretend to shoot the gun.

Taking a call.

If M gets to do it so do I...and yes he is smiling and not having any fun (:

Look familiar? Go watch Pearle Harbor...yes they filmed parts of it here.

M telling J all about it (:

Part of the USS Arizona.

Oil that is still coming up from the USS Arizona.

First Day of Adventures in Hawaii

After getting in around 115 in the morning on Saturday we did some of this...thankfully the boys were more then willing to go back to sleep as well. Both M and N have been sleeping on the floor in sleeping bag, J gets a bed all to himself!

J went and picked up our rental after eating some breakfast at our hotel, Ohana by the airport. The breakfast featured some yummy coconut syrup...all the boys seemed to like it. We cruised around getting our bearings and taking in some of the local sights...also allowing N to take a nap.

Some Hawaiian lifestyle pics.

I think the glass bobbers are pretty darn cool!

We found a beach to stop at once N was awake, the boys ran straight down to the water and didn't waste time with suits.

A rock??

Nope a turtle :)

N thrilled with the turtle so close to shore eating the seaweed off the rocks.

M thought the little sword in the pineapple tray was a pretty cool toy.



Aloha!

UPDATED WITH MORE INFO AT THE BOTTOM OF POST





Well we made it to Hawaii, very early on the 19th, but since J is getting the rental car, I thought I would take a moment to upload the pictures from the adventure of getting here. We had the privilege of hopping on a C17 via the space-a program. We flew as a Cat 3, there is a whole ranking on who has priority, since we were going for a vacation and didn't need to fly on this airplane. We lucked out that most of the other registered users trying to get on were Cat 4 and Cat 5's and scored five of the 30 seats available. There were a ton of people trying to get to Hickam, but luckily there are several other planes for them over the course of the next three days...which is what we would have tried to get on if we didn't score these seats.

The boys were a little impatient with the whole hurry up and wait, you have to be there early to claim your seats during roll call (which you can still be bumped up until the plane takes off if a Cat 1 type emergency passenger shows up) and then you get to go through the normal commercial flying routine. You can check 2 bags (weight limit is 70 lbs/bag), order you in flight meal for a small cost, and get your boarding passes. Then you wait until that same person is done checking everyone in to head to the screening/security area, again think very small airport...all the same TSA rules apply (but they are nice and a bit more flexible IMO). Now you have gone through the golden gate (:  you are almost there! We boarded a bus and were taken to the parked plane and loaded up once all the supplies were in place to accommodate passengers. You can see from the above photo that in the type of plane we flew in we sat in sideways in a type of jump seat.








 

Once we were on they loaded the pallet with all of the checked bags/strollers/carseats. This is a picture of backend of the plane as they were using large flatbed to load our stuff up.






Enjoying our sandwiches, sunchips, bottled water, chocolate bar, apple, and a soda...all for around 5 bucks.





The best part of an almost 6 hour flight on a cargo plane...sleeping. We brought 2 sleeping bags a pillow and of course our favorite stuffies (: They did have blankets (VERY thin ones) and pillows (VERY small ones), but it got a little chilly on the plane towards the end, some were complaining earlier...I didn't mind it at first, thanks to all those years in MN I think.






We also killed time with our MP3 players, DS's and playing some games on the Ipad. The plane is semi loud, some wore earplugs, we didn't...kids didn't say much about it being too loud until they were tired and wanted to sleep. There were also at least a dozen kids on the plane and the boys had a good time socializing and found another boy to play their ds with.

Well that is it for now, time to go have some fun!

Ps I'll add to this post about once you land since it seems relavent.

So since we weren't sure if we would actually make it on any of those flights, remember there were a ton of people waiting to catch a flight, we didn't make any reservations. Well we landed around 110 local time and started calling all the bases/posts around to see if they had a room for us to crash in...no such luck. Then we called all the hotels listed on the sheet they recomend, strike two! Then we just started calling everything local and finally found a room someone had checked out early out of, phew! By this time our checked bags were being unloaded and we called a cab, resigned us up on a flight out and headed to the hotel and crashed for a couple of hours. Overall the boys have been awesome travelers and slept realatively well for all the transitions and time changes.

Packing up!

We are looking on getting on a plane tonight, if everything works out we will claim 5 of the 15 available...if not we are looking at some opportunities tomorrow and Sunday...if all else fails we will pack up and head to the happiest place on earth instead, which I think lil' J would rather do then play in the sand and water of a tropical destination.
I will post pictures when I can!!

3rd Generation Pie Maker

So I managed to score some really fresh rhubarb last week at the commissary so J went to work making some wonderful pies. We had just enough for both a rhubarb and an apple pie. N had fun playing with the left over crust pieces...and yes the crust even made from scratch...and no, I am not the pie maker it is all J's doing, something he learned from his late Grandma Westergren and uses the cookbook his mom put together with all the favorite recipes.

Both N and J were making their own "pies" from the leftovers, and J actually baked lil' J's pie for him to eat. N just wanted to play with his, but took a bite of lil' J's.

Mommy had fun cleaning the kitchen after all this baking, but it is worth it to see them have that much fun...even the big kid ;) and I was rewarded in pie.

More 4 Wheelin' Action

They even chased up some friends while they were out cruising around.

Just another beautiful sunny day, for those still seeing snow on the ground and freezing temperatures ;)

Poor Diesel

So Diesel has had a bad last couple of weeks, he is 8 and recently had a little scare with a "mole" type lesion that appeared on his lip. Thankfully it was just an infection that could be lanced and treated with some antibiotics. However, shortly after his eye started looking infected so off to the vet we go again...and this time the base vet had to give us a referral for off base. He is now on his second week of treatment and ended up having to wear the cone of shame (if you have seen UP! you know what I am talking about) and had more drugs added to his regimen.

You can see how happy he is about having to wear a cone...tilted ears and all.

The new drugs, 2 eye drops, 1 ointment and an oral antibiotic...in addition to his daily baby aspirin and glucosimine (joint/cartilage stuff) pills.

The "feel sorry for me please" look. He has managed to take his collar (which is attached) and the cone off three times in three days. He also has a hard time walking around without bumping into things, including us, with the cone of shame on ;) I do think the collar is helping Diesel with his need to lose some weight, maybe I should see if the cone of shame would work for me ;)

Pinewood Derby Time Once Again!

The competition in the Wolf Class, M's is the red car in the center of the second row.

M's car getting ready to race, his buddy A's car on the outer lane.

M with his den eagerly watching the heats.





M and his buddy with the cars. Neither one qualified to race in the finals, but both had a good time watching the races take place and cheering on their den and had smiles on their faces at the end of the day. M got first place last year for his age bracket, so it was so good to see him be a good sportsman about not placing this year...although we may need to build a practice track for next year ;)