We like Hawaii a lot!

Let's get Physical

In the ongoing effort to lead by example I went and got a physical yesterday. Honestly if it was just me I would never go in there but it's not just me and I want to be healthy as can be for as long as I can. The exam was pretty good, I didn't get the champagne room version, but the blood drawing was a bit tough. They took the tiniest amount of blood in a manner of 15 seconds but I sat in the truck afterwards for 20 minutes while I stopped sweating before driving back to work. I really though I wight pass out at the wheel if I left right away. Kate reminded me how many times in the course of two pregnancies that she gave blood and I reminded her that she is infinitely tougher then I am and I have no problem admitting that. Back at work I couldn't even move my arm with the tape on it because it reminded me that blood was taken and made me woozy. I really am ridiculous I know. Still waiting on the blood work but everything else checks out good. My stats are nice and with a lose of 20 pounds the Dr. would be extremely happy. That's what he said, extremely happy. I thought that was sweet of him to have that much invested emotionally, but 20 is a bit low, come on Dr. give it to me straight. I think 50 is more like it but I will work on the 20 to make him extremely happy and then leave the last 30 just for me. The other great thing he said was I'm good for another 3-4 years before the next physical. I kinda like this guy, for a Dr. he's not bad at all.

A glimpse into Kate's Day

Missing the lady bug man

I am back in Portland for some training at work. I flew in early Monday morning and will be here until next Sunday leaving Kate to face the boys alone. If you haven't read how that is going please click here and read away, she is a much better writer and her story is much more interesting then mine right now. It is nice to sleep through the whole night, talk with adults, and need a blanket at night because it has cooled down but I would rather be there with her and then boys. Right when I got into training I put this picture up on my screen. I can't look at it and not smile, his look is perfect. That picture, skype, and a number of phone calls throughout the day help me pass the time until I get back on the island with them while also trying to enjoy my time here.

One Thing

One of the things that I really love about being here is being able to head to the beach for a swim and a sit and then walking back home. I can head down there and swim for 10 minutes and be back without having to make a big effort or even take much with me. I am pale and rotund so I make quite a striking spectacle amongst the tan fit soldiers but I don't care. I have my sun screen caked on so I don't burn and I am slowly dropping some pounds, 4 since we got here, and I feel really comfortable out there. I don't feel fat like I do at work or every where else I am and it's odd because I got nothing on but my boardies. I guess there is a comfortableness here that I have and I like that, it's one of the things that I really like about being here.

Day 7

So far we have been to the beach everyday since we have been here and our mid-westerner farmer tans are turning into slightly less pale versions. There is a salt water pool at the house as well that we have been dipping in, Henry loves it, Finn not so much. I am on Day 4 of working at home and my first official day with everything working as it should. The first couple of days the phone was not working and since that is the bulk of my duties I did a lot of sitting around responding to emails in a lightening fast manor that would imply i was on top of it. I want to show that despite not being in the office I am on top of my game. Work starts at 5 AM and ends at 2 PM leaving a lot of time for fun in the sun. We have ventured into Kailua to walk around and yesterday on our walk saw Hurly from Lost. Having lived in Santa Barbara and run into our fair share of celebs we knew the drill. But it was oddly fitting to be in Hawaii for a couple of days and already run into a Lost cast member. of course I would have preferred Evangeline Lilly but you take what you get.

The boy have been sleeping a little later each day so that they now get up closer to 6:30 AM instead of 4:30. We are all in bed by 9 around here so the early hour isn't so bad. Mandy is here for a couple more days before heading back to Texas and then on to Afganistan. It has been a nice transition to see how she handles Jake so that we can keep things as routine as possible. There are a few pictures on Flickr and more coming.

I get Wet

THe swimming pool had too much salt in it so it needed to be drained. This is the end of the hose that is draining the pool, or as Finn calls it "The greatest toy ever!"

Laughing Cousins

We made it

We are here in Hawaii and for the most part settled in. The flight over was great, the boy each had a long nap and were wonderful as usual. There was a couple next to us that groaned when they saw that they were going to be sitting next to a baby and a toddler but they told me how great my boys were when they were getting off the plane. I think it was about hour 3 in the flight when they still had not made a peep and Henry was in my lap staring over at them and smiling and giggling. They broke under the assault of cuteness and were gracious enough to admit their defeat. The morning was a little tough as Hawaiian Airlines wouldn't let us take our stroller to the gate like every other airline does because it was a three wheel job and one time one person fell while trying to get it up the gang plank. Awesome. We had to marshal the boys and bags through security. When we got to the gate we weren't able to take our car seat on the plane because it did not have a sticker on it that says it is OK for planes. It had been torn off at some point so we had to check it there. SO our plan to have Finn confined to his car seat where he would be much more likely to sleep were dashed. The lady was half way into a lecture/explanation on why when I walked away to get on the plane. She was one of the flight attendants and came by mid flight to resume her spiel seemingly unaware that I had no interest at all. Kate being an infinitely better person then I listened and nodded in all the right places. Again the flight was great, the boys did really well despite being confined to a small space for a five hour flight. Pictures and more to come soon. We are here though, we made it.

Wheels up on Friday

We have white walls and mostly empty rooms again. The cycle of apartment life is completing and with most of our stuff neatly divided between parents and friends we are left with a couple of suitcases, a baby cage, and a blow up mattress. Henry is sleeping on the changing table pad and a couple of blankets and Finn’s time-out chair is a 5 gallon bucket of plain white paint. 4 more days until we take off and the excitement is definitely building. This weekend we got to say, not goodbye but “See ya later” to a number of people and with each telling and re-telling of the coming months we are getting more excited. “This time next week” is the start to many of sentences and the end usually has us on the beach with a cocktail in hand. It really is an appealing picture if you think about it.

We have found that when we tell people about our plans they react in one of two ways: “What and adventure for you” or “What an act of service”. I wonder what it says about those people that fall into the different categories. Both are true and the real yin and yang of the situation. We have this amazing adventure ahead of us, living in Hawaii, looking after three boys under the age of 3, waking up in paradise to work at 5 in the morning, and exploring a beautiful place through the eyes of a toddler. I think we are getting as much, if not more then we are putting in and though the circumstances are terrible, the opportunity is once in a lifetime for our family.

A couple of great things

• These photos are fantastic.

• Oddly entertaining video of a baby laughing slowed down.

• Who had the day after the last game in the "When will the Lamar Odom Trade rumors start again" poll?

• A good article on how the internet is not necessarily making us smarter.
  

Father's Day Weekend

This past weekend we went to the Washington Coast to a friends beach house for a family get together before we head of to Hawaii. The house is in the process of being fixed up and is definitely under construction but it was a great getaway. Kate made crowns for the dads and we walked around Long Beach, listened to crazy Bing Stories, and got a lot of naps. It was a really great, close time for all of us. Sunday we wen to Astoria for the Farmers market and bought a cool spray paint canvas that these great guys did.

Clean teeth are Happy Teeth

Finn had his first dentist appointment today and he held up pretty well. He cried a bit while the dentist was doing his thing but all in all he was much better then I am. Before we got married and before I lost my insurance in Santa Barbara I went to the dentist to get things fixed. I don't hate the dentist per say but I am no fan. I remember being in my office and have Beautiful come in after I got back and I was still shaking and feeling sick. I have a reaction to dentists, Dr.s, Hospitals and the like that is deep and intense. Again it isn't fear, it is really much bigger and more nebulous than that. I am worried that my reactions to these things will rub off on my boys. I try not to let that happen the way I have learned to like vegetables and food that I didn't eat before. There is this sort of living out how I want my boys to live. If I want them to be adventurous eaters then I need to be, if I want them to see the dentist regularly and not be effected then I need to. This is really hard to live out though, Rome wasn't built in a day right. It is all a grinding it out as we go process and today was another chip.

Sunday morning amoung the boxes

We moved a good deal of our furniture to our friends house yesterday and now our house is sparse and monkish. We lived that way for a long time when preparing to leave Indy and now less then a year later we find ourselves lounging on the floor on pillows. We seem to be in a constant state of unfinished moving. We must be restless souls or something. Finn has been napping this morning while Henry and I play on the empty living room floor amongst all sizes of trucks. I will be switching the two soon, putting henry down while I get Finn up, feed him, and get him ready to head downtown on the train. Kate is having coffee with a college roommate she ran into downtown earlier this week so it is just the boys here this morning. Having all the clear space has made it nice to play and run around as Henry perches in the middle. I'm glad that Kate gets the opportunity to catch up with her friend, but even more I'm glad that I get the boys to myself.

Goodbye old friend

With the recycling and trash can full of diapers and coffee grounds my Black Pumas were going to their eternal resting place. More then likely they were getting pulled out in 20 minutes when the guy comes around to collect the bottle and cans from our recycling but walking out there I mourned as if they were being retired. Four years ago, while living on the couch at a friends place waiting to move to Indy and marry my beautiful, my friend Dave had an extra pair of black Pumas. It might have been a wedding gift or just Dave being the nice guy that he is but he gave me the shoes the day before getting on the plane. For some reason those shoes represented something about Santa Barbara, something about friends left behind, something bigger then rubber and leather. I love those shoes and think about a season of life each time I put them on. The thing is they were a little small. I didn’t really fit into them comfortably, and I know the connection is obvious and if I were a better writer I would just let you figure it out instead of telling you, but I didn’t fit in Santa Barbara perfectly either. I liked the way I looked and for the most part I was comfortable but every once in a while my toes would get sore and I needed to take the shoes off. I took them to the trash yesterday and placed them on top of the lid of the trash can. Someone else will probably take them and I hope they fit them better. I hope they are more comfortable with where they are, then I was with where I was. There just shoes after all, just really cool shoes that didn’t fit, that I wore for too long.