Again, Someday....

After downloading, uploading and editing, I finally put together a photo slideshow of our trip to Oahu. Sometimes I can still smell the papaya in the air -- or maybe its the hotel's shampoo I brought home to use in our shower? And I made sure to pack all the Kona coffee I could thanks to those 4-packs the maid left in our hotel room every day. Every morning is a Kona coffee morning, well for another three days. ENJOY!

Getting Back My Mom Groove

We were welcomed back to a cloudy, rainy day here in the Midwest. Temperatures will reach the mid-50's today. I miss my flip flops already! Today I am getting back into my "mom groove". Photos will be posted sometime this week between recovering from jet lag, getting my boys back on schedule and tackling my laundry pile of shorts and T's.

ALOHA!

Since leaving Sunday night this is my first time online to check email and post a short update on our trip. Needless to say we've been busy! The students' schedule is nonstop and during our free time, which is usually before bed, Steve and I prefer to crash. It's necessary in order to keep up with the young, teenage folk. Remember, this trip isn't about us, but for my hubby's high school band group. Chaperoning teenagers -- what a task! But we received the best compliment when the flight attendants searched Steve out and said it was the best behaved high school group they've had -- and they've had many. YAY and MOHALO! (thank you)

But tonight is a full free night and Steve and I made reservations for dinner on Waikiki Beach at Dukes. Can't wait!

We've done everything from a grand luau, Diamondhead Park, a private island getaway, Pearl Harbor (talk about sobering) and more to come. I am trying to figure out a good way to share our photos -- there are many!

I better go and get ready for my dinner date! Tomorrow we are sailing the Pacific on a catamaran and heading to the North Shore. I am not sure I want to leave, but I have two boys that my heart is aching to see again!

ALOHA!

I'm Leaving On a Jet Plane

If you happen to look up in the sky sometime Monday afternoon, consider me up there among 150+ chaperones and students. Please pray for us. That we are safe, protected and everything runs smoothly.

Ok, so I've been complaining about this looooong flight I am about to embark on. I checked Continental Airlines online and found out not only do we have monitors behind every seat, but we have several channels to choose from along with decent movies: Becoming Jane, Enchanted and August Rush BONUS! What I thought would be a lengthy, boring flight has become somewhat of an escape for me. No interruptions or boys bickering back and forth; my kind of travel!

Add a 5-hour time difference and I'm sure I'll be tuckered out by 6pm HST (Hawaii Standard Time), which is 11pm in the Midwest. Until I arrive to palm trees, lava rocks and ocean views......

Later!

PS A good mom would have posted cute Easter photos of her kids Sunday, but our cameras were already packed away. Trust me, it was a great family day! Just what I needed to absorb before leaving my precious sons. I just love them so much.

Did you remember.....

Just when I thought packing was going smoothly Steve reminds me, "Did you remember to pack our beach towels?"

No.

"Sunscreen?"

Uh, no.

"And don't forget your big, floppy sun hat that looks so cute on you." (shown here w. Mark last summer)

Ok. (Thanks for the compliment, sweetie, unless you are being sarcastic.)

Good grief. Between my boys' suitcases to bagging their medications (just in case) to the nebulizer machine (again, just in case) to our own stuff, I feel like I am in the middle of a cyclone. So much to remember and sooooo much to simplify. Steve and I only intend on bringing a suitcase for each of us not a full chest, so we keep combing through our items asking, "Will I really need that?" And then we ask, "Well, what if....." Thank God no fancy dinners or band concert in a hall is on the itinerary. No dresses or more shoes to add!

I'm sure a Walgreens or some convenience store will be close by. I mean, we won't be in the boonies! Honolulu is a city for pete's sake, right?

So far I have my magazines, which I set aside refusing to read all month so that they may pass time away on that loooooong flight to come. We are going to download our webcam software to send cute videos to our boys and my parents. And I promise to take a lot of snapshots. (Seems like while we were in San Antonio our camera was left behind at the hotel a lot. I think we were too thrilled to be alone and free!)