Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Montana Trip
Well, we are home from our trip home to Montana to visit my family. My sister and I try to get together once a year to visit and have the kids see each other. It was a good time!
On the 17th we spent the night in Kellogg, ID.
July 18th
We woke up and took the kids on the gondola that is at the Silver Mtn Resort in Kellogg. It is the worlds longest single gondola. It takes you up to the ski area. The kids had a fun time at the top playing on the playground and running around. We even took some pictures on the chair lift. The gondola ride is 20 minutes each way. After we got back down, we hopped in the car and drove to Helena, MT. We did make a stop to buy some Flathead Cherries - best cherries ever - along the way.
July 19th
We got up early and took Arianna to the mall in Helena. She decided to get her ears pierced. She has been waivering back and forth for about 2 years and she finally decided to bite the bullet and get them done. After that we met up with my sister Taunya and my Brother-in-law Mike who had just driven in from Billings. We went to the Gates of the Mountains to take the boat ride for the afternoon. Taunya and I had done this ride a lot with my grandmother when we were younger. That evening, the rest of my family arrived from Lewistown. We were all meeting in Helena for a family reunion with my mom's family. Arianna was sooo excited to see her cousins and play with them. They all went swimming and had a fun time playing, then we went to dinner. Ethan was completely wiped out from no nap in the afternoon and then took very late nap. He was very crabby! Arianna got to spend the night in a room with her cousins, so that made her happy.
July 20
In the morning, the kids went swimming at the hotel and then we all got ready to go to my Uncle Dean's house for the family get together. It was nice to see my Aunts and Uncles who I have not seen in several years as well as many cousins. A good time was had by all. They had a trampoline which the kids loved - even us older kids!! We spent the afternoon there, and then we headed back to the hotel. We had dinner and then the kids swam some more.
July 21
Today we headed to Lewistown for a couple of days. It was nice to get there and just do some relaxing in the afternoon. the kids all played and the rest of us just relaxed.
July 22
We all had to get up early this day because we had an exciting day planned. My dad arranged for us to go to the Half Moon Ranch for a wagon ride. Most of us all rode inside of the wagon and my 3 nephews rode horses following the wagon. We ended up all taking turns on the horses - except for my parents, ethan, arianna and emily because those kids were too small. The ride was great. The views were soo beautiful and relaxing. It was a wonderful way to spend the day. They have some cabins that you can rent and Michael and I are thinking that the next time we go home we should stay there for a night or 2. It is so peaceful. We got home in the evening and relaxed.
July 23
In the morning my parents, Michael, Arianna, Ethan, and I went up to Judith Peak to take some pictures and have Arianna look for "Montana Diamonds". She was able to find sevearl and had a lot of fun. We had lunch at Little Big Men pizza and then headed home. Arianna, Ethan, and Emily played in the sprinkler while the older boys went to the pool for the afternoon. That evening we headed to Billings to stay for a couple of nights.
July 24
On Friday we took the kids to an indoor waterpark to play for the day. We had hoped to go to the outdoor water park, but it was a little cool, so we went indoors. All of the kids, except for Ethan spent the majority of the day there at the park. Ethan had to go home in the afternoon because he was desparate need of a nap. My brother in law Mike took Michael out golfing for the day. That evening we had a bbq dinner and Taunya was able to make it over. It was nice to be able to visit with all of my sisters. The next day LeOrla and I would be headed home. Arianna enjoyed being able to spend the night at Rhonda's house with her cousins. She tried to get in as much time with them as she could. It was hard sometimes because the older boys are ages 13, 12, 11 and so they are not wanting to play with the little ones as much, but they were good and did play with them. But she had a good time playing with Emily who is going to be 4 in aug. Ethan was sort of the odd man out as he didn't have anyone close in age to play with.
July 25
We left in the morning to head to Yellowstone for a couple of days. LeOrla and her family were flying home to New Mexico in the afternoon.
We had a great time in Yellowstone. We saw 7 bears, lots of buffalo, elk, bighorn sheep, etc. Michael was able to get a lot of good pictures and I will post them soon. We had picnics for lunch which was nice so that Ethan could run around. We love to visit Yellowstone - we just wish we had more time to spend.
July 26th
we headed for home and our vacation was soon over. :(
We had a great time at home - it always goes tooo fast, especially when we usually only get to see each other once a year. Next year we plan to go to New Mexico to see LeOrla's home.
I will post pictures soon
On the 17th we spent the night in Kellogg, ID.
July 18th
We woke up and took the kids on the gondola that is at the Silver Mtn Resort in Kellogg. It is the worlds longest single gondola. It takes you up to the ski area. The kids had a fun time at the top playing on the playground and running around. We even took some pictures on the chair lift. The gondola ride is 20 minutes each way. After we got back down, we hopped in the car and drove to Helena, MT. We did make a stop to buy some Flathead Cherries - best cherries ever - along the way.
July 19th
We got up early and took Arianna to the mall in Helena. She decided to get her ears pierced. She has been waivering back and forth for about 2 years and she finally decided to bite the bullet and get them done. After that we met up with my sister Taunya and my Brother-in-law Mike who had just driven in from Billings. We went to the Gates of the Mountains to take the boat ride for the afternoon. Taunya and I had done this ride a lot with my grandmother when we were younger. That evening, the rest of my family arrived from Lewistown. We were all meeting in Helena for a family reunion with my mom's family. Arianna was sooo excited to see her cousins and play with them. They all went swimming and had a fun time playing, then we went to dinner. Ethan was completely wiped out from no nap in the afternoon and then took very late nap. He was very crabby! Arianna got to spend the night in a room with her cousins, so that made her happy.
July 20
In the morning, the kids went swimming at the hotel and then we all got ready to go to my Uncle Dean's house for the family get together. It was nice to see my Aunts and Uncles who I have not seen in several years as well as many cousins. A good time was had by all. They had a trampoline which the kids loved - even us older kids!! We spent the afternoon there, and then we headed back to the hotel. We had dinner and then the kids swam some more.
July 21
Today we headed to Lewistown for a couple of days. It was nice to get there and just do some relaxing in the afternoon. the kids all played and the rest of us just relaxed.
July 22
We all had to get up early this day because we had an exciting day planned. My dad arranged for us to go to the Half Moon Ranch for a wagon ride. Most of us all rode inside of the wagon and my 3 nephews rode horses following the wagon. We ended up all taking turns on the horses - except for my parents, ethan, arianna and emily because those kids were too small. The ride was great. The views were soo beautiful and relaxing. It was a wonderful way to spend the day. They have some cabins that you can rent and Michael and I are thinking that the next time we go home we should stay there for a night or 2. It is so peaceful. We got home in the evening and relaxed.
July 23
In the morning my parents, Michael, Arianna, Ethan, and I went up to Judith Peak to take some pictures and have Arianna look for "Montana Diamonds". She was able to find sevearl and had a lot of fun. We had lunch at Little Big Men pizza and then headed home. Arianna, Ethan, and Emily played in the sprinkler while the older boys went to the pool for the afternoon. That evening we headed to Billings to stay for a couple of nights.
July 24
On Friday we took the kids to an indoor waterpark to play for the day. We had hoped to go to the outdoor water park, but it was a little cool, so we went indoors. All of the kids, except for Ethan spent the majority of the day there at the park. Ethan had to go home in the afternoon because he was desparate need of a nap. My brother in law Mike took Michael out golfing for the day. That evening we had a bbq dinner and Taunya was able to make it over. It was nice to be able to visit with all of my sisters. The next day LeOrla and I would be headed home. Arianna enjoyed being able to spend the night at Rhonda's house with her cousins. She tried to get in as much time with them as she could. It was hard sometimes because the older boys are ages 13, 12, 11 and so they are not wanting to play with the little ones as much, but they were good and did play with them. But she had a good time playing with Emily who is going to be 4 in aug. Ethan was sort of the odd man out as he didn't have anyone close in age to play with.
July 25
We left in the morning to head to Yellowstone for a couple of days. LeOrla and her family were flying home to New Mexico in the afternoon.
We had a great time in Yellowstone. We saw 7 bears, lots of buffalo, elk, bighorn sheep, etc. Michael was able to get a lot of good pictures and I will post them soon. We had picnics for lunch which was nice so that Ethan could run around. We love to visit Yellowstone - we just wish we had more time to spend.
July 26th
we headed for home and our vacation was soon over. :(
We had a great time at home - it always goes tooo fast, especially when we usually only get to see each other once a year. Next year we plan to go to New Mexico to see LeOrla's home.
I will post pictures soon
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Great Grandma's visit to Goldendale
This is a picture from Sapta's visit.In back: Uncle Eddie, Aunt Jane, Michael, Ilan, Kara, Sapta, Uncle Art
In front: Bette, Arianna, and Ethan
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Way Behind
Let's just say things have been busy, and it will continue to be that way until summer is over! Let's see - what has happened in the last month. The highlights are Arianna finished Tball and she had a great time. We saw definite improvement of her skills. She thinks that she wants to continue next year. We have her signed up for youth association soccer for the fall. She is continueing her swimming and is working on improving her distance swimming.
She finished school on the 19th. She actually missed the last day of school because her great grandma made an unplanned visit to Michael's parents house. She has seen her in almost 2 years, so we made a quick trip over so the kids could visit great grandma.
This week she is attending a summer camp. It is a great camp! they pick her up between 8 and 9 and drop her off between 4 and 5. They have have 2 scheduled activities a day and lunch at a park. The activities she has had so far is playing at a park, swimming, movie, bowling, water park. She is having a great time and the cost of the camp is great. On Sunday she is having a special treat - that is going to a Jonas Brothers concert.
Ethan is doing well. Learning more things every day. He knows his letters and the sounds that they make, and he is counting above ten. The problem area for him is potty training. He is not interested in it. He is starting to get more interested, but he is not where I would like him to be. At least now he is more aware of when he goes potty - we just need him to want to go sit on the potty before he goes. We will keep trying.
July is going to be pretty crazy for us. 4th of july we are heading to Michael's parents house. Michael likes to get out of town on the weekends for relaxation and his parent's house is nice and quiet. Then the weekend of the 11th is Michael's birthday. I am taking Michael to a farm dinner near Salem and the kids will stay with Gaga and Papa for the night. Then the next weekend we head to montana for a week. We are excited for out trip there to see my family. We are planning on having a picnic with my aunts and uncles that I have not seen in a while. We are also plannning on spending a day or 2 in yellowstone on our way back. Michael is looking forward to bringing home flathead cherries!
Then we get home, Michael's sister should hopefully be here with her daughters. They moved to Guam in October. If they are here, we will see them and Arianna will stay with grandma for a week so that she can spend time with her cousins. His sister is planning on being here until like teh 10th of August. Then at the end of August we are going camping at Cape Lookout near Tillamook. This is the weekend right before Arianna will start 1st grade. I am guessing that this summer is going to fly by!
I will try and upload pictures soon. We have been bad - many are still on the camera :(.
She finished school on the 19th. She actually missed the last day of school because her great grandma made an unplanned visit to Michael's parents house. She has seen her in almost 2 years, so we made a quick trip over so the kids could visit great grandma.
This week she is attending a summer camp. It is a great camp! they pick her up between 8 and 9 and drop her off between 4 and 5. They have have 2 scheduled activities a day and lunch at a park. The activities she has had so far is playing at a park, swimming, movie, bowling, water park. She is having a great time and the cost of the camp is great. On Sunday she is having a special treat - that is going to a Jonas Brothers concert.
Ethan is doing well. Learning more things every day. He knows his letters and the sounds that they make, and he is counting above ten. The problem area for him is potty training. He is not interested in it. He is starting to get more interested, but he is not where I would like him to be. At least now he is more aware of when he goes potty - we just need him to want to go sit on the potty before he goes. We will keep trying.
July is going to be pretty crazy for us. 4th of july we are heading to Michael's parents house. Michael likes to get out of town on the weekends for relaxation and his parent's house is nice and quiet. Then the weekend of the 11th is Michael's birthday. I am taking Michael to a farm dinner near Salem and the kids will stay with Gaga and Papa for the night. Then the next weekend we head to montana for a week. We are excited for out trip there to see my family. We are planning on having a picnic with my aunts and uncles that I have not seen in a while. We are also plannning on spending a day or 2 in yellowstone on our way back. Michael is looking forward to bringing home flathead cherries!
Then we get home, Michael's sister should hopefully be here with her daughters. They moved to Guam in October. If they are here, we will see them and Arianna will stay with grandma for a week so that she can spend time with her cousins. His sister is planning on being here until like teh 10th of August. Then at the end of August we are going camping at Cape Lookout near Tillamook. This is the weekend right before Arianna will start 1st grade. I am guessing that this summer is going to fly by!
I will try and upload pictures soon. We have been bad - many are still on the camera :(.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Oahu
Ok, so we left off on Tuesday May 5th...
May 5th - we flew to Oahu to spend the rest of our time. That day we checked into the Hilton Hawaiian Village (we stayed there lats year) and got settled. Then that evening we did a sunset walk down Waikiki Beach and headed to dinner at Roys. It was a beautiful walk.
May 6th - We drove over to Kailua and then north up to the North Shore. We stopped in the Kahuku area at the shrimp trucks for lunch. These places harvest their own shrimp and then cook them fresh for you that day. It was yummy!! We were hoping to be able to do some snorkeling in the north shore area, but the seas were too rough. May is a transition month for Oahu's north shore. In the Winter it is the big waves, in the summer it is calm and there can be some great snorkeling. We also stopped off at a fresh fruit stand and Michael was very happy. He found some good fruit, but was sad because the one he wanted isn't ready until the summer. He has been looking everywhere for Santol, which he had in the Phillipines, but no has it. But this one stand told him they have it, it just isn't the season. But he got some good fruit from there and they had some Banana Lumpia - Yummy!! From the north shore we drove over the Ko Olina area to try the snorkeling. They are man made lagoons that are nice and calm for swimming, but not good snorkeling. But hey we were in the water, and that is all that matters. We were also able to find some Malasadas which are Portuguese doughnuts. Delicious when hot!
May 7th - We got up early and went to Hanauma Bay for snorkeling for the day. It was a hot day and it felt nice to go in the water. We spent a good portion of the day there swimming, snorkeling, relaxing. It was so nice. I love the ocean and I love being able to swim in it.
May 8th - We got up early and headed to Chinatown to look around. We had some great mauna Pua and some good pancit at the market. We were also able to find some mumus for Michael's mom. After chinatown we went back to Hanauma Bay for the late afternoon. We were really hoping to see some turtles and get some pictures of them. We saw a turtle there last year, and we saw a turtle at Anini Beach in Kauai, but didn't have our camera. We were in luck, we saw 4 turtles and got great pictures. In the evening, we watched fireworks at our resort and had a nice dinner.
May 9th - We relaxed in the morning and then flew back home. We were sad to leave. I love the ocean and it is even better when the water is warm and you can swim in it - unlike here in the Pacific NW. We were able to snorkel almost every day we were in Hawaii. We hope to go back again in the future. Next time we go, we will likely bring Arianna with us.
Here are some pictures - this is just a small fraction of all the pictures we took. I think we are just about ready to put up the link for the other pictures. REmember you can click on the picture to make it bigger!!
Turtle at Hanauma Bay
2 Turtles at Hanauma Bay
Butterfly fish
Pink coral
Parrot Fish
Eel
Groups of fish while we were scuba diving
Turtle at Hanauma Bay
Michael and Kara at Hanauma Bay
Kara at Hanauma Bay
Michael and Kara scuba diving for 1st time
Kara scuba diving
Waikiki Beach - view from our resort
Lizard who decided to join us at our table on our last day
Another lizard that joined us!
People learning to surf at Waikiki
Full Moon over Diamond Head
Sailboats out on the water of Waikiki - view from our room
Plumeria - popular flower in Hawaii - they are my fav
Hanauma Bay
View of Diamond Head from our room.
Kara in front of Chinamans Hat - near Kailua
May 5th - we flew to Oahu to spend the rest of our time. That day we checked into the Hilton Hawaiian Village (we stayed there lats year) and got settled. Then that evening we did a sunset walk down Waikiki Beach and headed to dinner at Roys. It was a beautiful walk.
May 6th - We drove over to Kailua and then north up to the North Shore. We stopped in the Kahuku area at the shrimp trucks for lunch. These places harvest their own shrimp and then cook them fresh for you that day. It was yummy!! We were hoping to be able to do some snorkeling in the north shore area, but the seas were too rough. May is a transition month for Oahu's north shore. In the Winter it is the big waves, in the summer it is calm and there can be some great snorkeling. We also stopped off at a fresh fruit stand and Michael was very happy. He found some good fruit, but was sad because the one he wanted isn't ready until the summer. He has been looking everywhere for Santol, which he had in the Phillipines, but no has it. But this one stand told him they have it, it just isn't the season. But he got some good fruit from there and they had some Banana Lumpia - Yummy!! From the north shore we drove over the Ko Olina area to try the snorkeling. They are man made lagoons that are nice and calm for swimming, but not good snorkeling. But hey we were in the water, and that is all that matters. We were also able to find some Malasadas which are Portuguese doughnuts. Delicious when hot!
May 7th - We got up early and went to Hanauma Bay for snorkeling for the day. It was a hot day and it felt nice to go in the water. We spent a good portion of the day there swimming, snorkeling, relaxing. It was so nice. I love the ocean and I love being able to swim in it.
May 8th - We got up early and headed to Chinatown to look around. We had some great mauna Pua and some good pancit at the market. We were also able to find some mumus for Michael's mom. After chinatown we went back to Hanauma Bay for the late afternoon. We were really hoping to see some turtles and get some pictures of them. We saw a turtle there last year, and we saw a turtle at Anini Beach in Kauai, but didn't have our camera. We were in luck, we saw 4 turtles and got great pictures. In the evening, we watched fireworks at our resort and had a nice dinner.
May 9th - We relaxed in the morning and then flew back home. We were sad to leave. I love the ocean and it is even better when the water is warm and you can swim in it - unlike here in the Pacific NW. We were able to snorkel almost every day we were in Hawaii. We hope to go back again in the future. Next time we go, we will likely bring Arianna with us.
Here are some pictures - this is just a small fraction of all the pictures we took. I think we are just about ready to put up the link for the other pictures. REmember you can click on the picture to make it bigger!!
Turtle at Hanauma Bay
2 Turtles at Hanauma Bay
Butterfly fish
Pink coral
Parrot Fish
Eel
Groups of fish while we were scuba diving
Turtle at Hanauma Bay
Michael and Kara at Hanauma Bay
Kara at Hanauma Bay
Michael and Kara scuba diving for 1st time
Kara scuba diving
Waikiki Beach - view from our resort
Lizard who decided to join us at our table on our last day
Another lizard that joined us!
People learning to surf at Waikiki
Full Moon over Diamond Head
Sailboats out on the water of Waikiki - view from our room
Plumeria - popular flower in Hawaii - they are my fav
Hanauma Bay
View of Diamond Head from our room.
Kara in front of Chinamans Hat - near KailuaTuesday, May 12, 2009
Kauai pictures
Wailua Falls - the waterfalls from TV Show Fantasy Island
Bird sitting at top of tree
Quenns Bath - when seas are calm you can swim there
This is how it was when we were there - thus no swimming
Part of hike to Queens Bath
Hikers on the Kalalau Trail that goes along Na Pali Coast ( i believe it is 11 miles)
Sea Cave along Na Pali Coast
Dolphin on our snorkel cruise
More dolphins
North Shore of Kauai
From boat on our snorkel cruise
Queens Pond at Polihale State Park on Kauai's west coast
Nihau island in the distance - private island
Looking out at ocean from lookout in Waimea Canyon
Fern in the forest
Waimea Canyon
More Waimean Canyon
Okay, here are a few pictures. We are working on sorting and then will upload them to a site where you can see all of the pictures we took :)
A few things about Kauai that I forgot to mention. The island is made up of red dirt and it is everywhere and it stains. Also, the island is covered and chickens and roosters. They are everywhere and you can hear them all of the time, no matter where you are. Several movies were made on the island as well as TV shows (Jurassic Park, Fantasy Island, Parts of some Indiana Jones, and a bunch of others)
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