February 2010

Sydney and Annie learned about Mom's creative hairstyling tricks this month




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We had an amazing stretch of sunshine this month. Here we're rafted up with our good friends on Andiamo III and Cygnet at Hope Island. This island is only an hour sail from our marina and is so pristine. It is a state park and usually has a caretaker that lives here. There is an old orchard, windmill, old farming equipment, trails, and lots of wildlife. We just love it here. The kids found bunches of sea stars, sun stars, crabs, hermit crabs, and even a dead beaver (r.i.p.)! We can't wait to get back there!

When we returned from Hawaii, we had our own family celebration for Syd's birthday. She finally got to open her much wanted gift (see: funny looking stuffed monster). We also made it to the matinee for The Lightning Thief (Sydney's been enjoying reading the whole Lightning Thief series and couldn't wait to see the movie.

Sydney chose a VERY chocolatey ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins to share with everyone at the party.

The girls with their cousins; Dylan and Shaylene.

The whole family got together at Shari's mom's house for Sydney's birthday. She's pictured here giving her tutu a hug.

Whenever we visit Oahu, the Kaneohe Yacht Club is a regular destination. The kids absolutely love the pool there and Bob and I love the view and relaxed atmosphere.

We finally got to go sailing with Steve and Linnea (Shari's brother and his wife) in Kaneohe Bay! We had the most incredible weather! Nothing like warm water, warm breezes, and cold beer!

Bob couldn't resist showing the girls how to do a somersault/flip down the sand hill at Kailua Beach.

We had such a fun day at Kailua Beach. The girls loved racing down the sand hill and jumping over waves.

We made a stop at Shark's Cove to check out the tide pools. We were not disappointed! Annie found so many hermit crabs as well as some cool abandoned shells. Watching the water rush in and around the rocks was truly fascinating.

We had to make a trip out to the North Shore for some delicious Matsumoto's Shave Ice!

Sydney chose the slower and much more painful approach to getting in the not-so-warm-enough pool.

Annie had no fear about jumping right in!

We finally made it to Oahu to visit Shari's family and enjoy some Hawaiian sun. The weather was forcasted to be cloudy but we really lucked out. The sun was out everyday with light winds-who could ask for more? One of the first things the girls and Bob did when we got to Tutu's (Shari's mom) house, is change into swim suits and dive in!