tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72480741405413531742024-03-13T08:37:31.124-07:00Our Charmed LifeFrom middle of suburbia to the middle of the ocean:
follow our family as we adjust to life on Kwajalein and do our best to have fun and live life to the fullest.Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.comBlogger1137125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-2657261668089475052021-11-13T19:41:00.005-07:002021-11-16T10:51:25.089-07:00Earth's Family Day<div style="text-align: center;"> When I was looking for the original pictures for Earth's family day, I found a post here on the blog where I called him our family's exclamation point. It was true in 2017 when I wrote it and it's still true now. Earth is the blessing no one expected; a loving surprise, made of noise, motion, and joy. Bringing him home changed our family in so many ways and we're thankful for all of them. Happy 6 years home, Earth!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5TTuSFrz65NN7Z-nBCXPQ6po34uMy82zs0fxRFJYKiT0MMSuxUd4JyYPdQ9Wr1Q2VhEgZ-HCmhA1xf1VRCbVB07tQYvstBWofectrIfWzIfUrBt5tdUfepSDfMtXcT4JMPetJGqbJ02k2/s1600/20151103_174918.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5TTuSFrz65NN7Z-nBCXPQ6po34uMy82zs0fxRFJYKiT0MMSuxUd4JyYPdQ9Wr1Q2VhEgZ-HCmhA1xf1VRCbVB07tQYvstBWofectrIfWzIfUrBt5tdUfepSDfMtXcT4JMPetJGqbJ02k2/s16000/20151103_174918.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">2015</div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-8XUAJgbGVifCntHLQf0zM2D9xR8MmsbWtHFUDX6V_YZUXmwEYZTccrHgyYirozlz6hem-NV0677e4Z45Jdb0oV39nQJS3xQyzWWLYsN-RKEP3qjrUtsSsvsrwvFAc4ypJvJ921KuWt_B/s4048/IMG_20211115_133309.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-8XUAJgbGVifCntHLQf0zM2D9xR8MmsbWtHFUDX6V_YZUXmwEYZTccrHgyYirozlz6hem-NV0677e4Z45Jdb0oV39nQJS3xQyzWWLYsN-RKEP3qjrUtsSsvsrwvFAc4ypJvJ921KuWt_B/s16000/IMG_20211115_133309.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">2021</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvmAOl3G9xDssu9RMR4X83-zqekA7OPqxfJID0nCgaFgbqw7LhIAcPHU-QxpkP-sn64L6nTZ4RHj9Ay5LdeBI9BXqISwx-Fw1rbqbEqi1mMVkKb3UsmpfN4xB0iAAudyQrxPjckdyCGJ12/s1600/P1060396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvmAOl3G9xDssu9RMR4X83-zqekA7OPqxfJID0nCgaFgbqw7LhIAcPHU-QxpkP-sn64L6nTZ4RHj9Ay5LdeBI9BXqISwx-Fw1rbqbEqi1mMVkKb3UsmpfN4xB0iAAudyQrxPjckdyCGJ12/s16000/P1060396.JPG" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">2015</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjBNDgON9q2vFlw5NCg91fbaDzlo-qIR6gq0TeLPL2J-UefdZ_mIYMVbWcbRX7iOUuYIeITqOMB1He8DLbHlk35RAFwCZCbcBH6Sfz3U0Gr5lhAsPYulmSvWjBHE4HvRu266YrrpX3UjDm/s4048/IMG_20211115_133331.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjBNDgON9q2vFlw5NCg91fbaDzlo-qIR6gq0TeLPL2J-UefdZ_mIYMVbWcbRX7iOUuYIeITqOMB1He8DLbHlk35RAFwCZCbcBH6Sfz3U0Gr5lhAsPYulmSvWjBHE4HvRu266YrrpX3UjDm/s16000/IMG_20211115_133331.jpg" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">2021</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-13026395039425819302021-11-12T10:57:00.001-07:002021-11-12T10:57:27.709-07:00New Family Pictures<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbEmqnhWTB6ZvTxnt_s30lN_OiIsXyordzR5JW341Q8c4rS-ggoCrMEBnBA3BB0KhKzR5ndzQhrN7gV3kKeQ7RIE0r-E67xAMfGvbOI6uFNp1wEc-K4mRnvm0XFMnI2Gi1AeXo5Dv2G7c1/s2048/R6__8378-Edit+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1583" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbEmqnhWTB6ZvTxnt_s30lN_OiIsXyordzR5JW341Q8c4rS-ggoCrMEBnBA3BB0KhKzR5ndzQhrN7gV3kKeQ7RIE0r-E67xAMfGvbOI6uFNp1wEc-K4mRnvm0XFMnI2Gi1AeXo5Dv2G7c1/s16000/R6__8378-Edit+%25281%2529.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"> We finally had new family pictures taken!</div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The last time we had family pictures taken <a href="http://www.ourcharmedlife.net/2016/09/new-family-pictures.html">was in 2016</a> to mark Earth joining our family and our move to Tucson. Since that was five years ago, we were definitely overdue! I wanted to celebrate our return to the islands and we found the perfect photographer to do it: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/michaelove.diaz">Michael Diaz</a>. I've known Michael and his wife, Love, since we lived here last time and got to be friends with them when I lived on Ebeye. I'd seen his pictures before and loved the way he used the unique qualities of the light and color here. Michael also has a very sweet and kind personality and I knew the kids would respond to him, which would help bring out their smiles and make the shoot go easier.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I love how the photos turned out and am so happy we were able to capture our family in this moment!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh68cbH7yft6MMqHtCb-tjHxS7toYPrhb9LEqSdZHzRNQMLLpUD28Xj2hhcmvarrzGHOCKmvWY4oFfrKQyNW5tOGzMYtwYSMzwYfCip6x2-BkEA9WnbuXM8Dk1vHYKjJwQS9GPYeEMikYjb/s2048/R6__7988-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1583" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh68cbH7yft6MMqHtCb-tjHxS7toYPrhb9LEqSdZHzRNQMLLpUD28Xj2hhcmvarrzGHOCKmvWY4oFfrKQyNW5tOGzMYtwYSMzwYfCip6x2-BkEA9WnbuXM8Dk1vHYKjJwQS9GPYeEMikYjb/s16000/R6__7988-Edit.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBCiAN81JRAWE-kp7LwnFBFG9oWuQbpNg4A7SFb1fdVAm5A215rua5DhXhUMiKfmaxasWzJ1N0cnmJVSW8kcb_yHDOAkcxz8dfT1TZCammsd0JVHvdz8SuCDQ4nqxC__WyeYQ-yyyZIpOr/s2048/R6__8332-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBCiAN81JRAWE-kp7LwnFBFG9oWuQbpNg4A7SFb1fdVAm5A215rua5DhXhUMiKfmaxasWzJ1N0cnmJVSW8kcb_yHDOAkcxz8dfT1TZCammsd0JVHvdz8SuCDQ4nqxC__WyeYQ-yyyZIpOr/s16000/R6__8332-Edit.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1gfr8_mQ4092Vn9jdaOgIJVd5kMYUoQRgNg1zBrAV_I5g_lX7QkC-BsYt3opnPMsie9sAH6YGxnJzERAAISq9VwFjtvHlVdKAB-TaAZi6rZoJEr_JwdQd9FGDsmd8w63XgZPN6yUEHW4i/s2048/R6__8352-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1582" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1gfr8_mQ4092Vn9jdaOgIJVd5kMYUoQRgNg1zBrAV_I5g_lX7QkC-BsYt3opnPMsie9sAH6YGxnJzERAAISq9VwFjtvHlVdKAB-TaAZi6rZoJEr_JwdQd9FGDsmd8w63XgZPN6yUEHW4i/s16000/R6__8352-Edit.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-90260989274182366902021-11-06T11:08:00.001-07:002021-11-06T11:08:00.172-07:00Four Days in Honolulu<div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSfl6fuuXQ1KRGvybno2iYmAHjwod0Yu2dCVI43YeexxpQNiFbaNYVyxVjtm5KndkQrxXNM5BN80l6o5ciZb4Me4W2cbCj_TlAfQmdSfEosC8K3WHAUvEkPKAFlEwCcKvYNjMRhvmE1laj/s3870/IMG_20210713_131216.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2902" data-original-width="3870" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSfl6fuuXQ1KRGvybno2iYmAHjwod0Yu2dCVI43YeexxpQNiFbaNYVyxVjtm5KndkQrxXNM5BN80l6o5ciZb4Me4W2cbCj_TlAfQmdSfEosC8K3WHAUvEkPKAFlEwCcKvYNjMRhvmE1laj/s16000/IMG_20210713_131216.jpg" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">In between all the quarantine to come and go from Honolulu for <a href="http://www.ourcharmedlife.net/2021/10/the-end-of-long-road.html">Earth's naturalization</a>, he and I got to spend four days doing all the things that he's missed since 2019.</div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFFgLC2RSRlQFuFAsgmILLVpg31Hv0w3HEP15F3rb-Avam55qdXgIrmDgAh8R430SEESDMXFHQwL68CK7gVkLQZAmMUv9PeSMSieRSGi7VF-RtmQTSH51iQ3RCRoBWrbSXoDrjO62dss5p/s4048/IMG_20210707_073635.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFFgLC2RSRlQFuFAsgmILLVpg31Hv0w3HEP15F3rb-Avam55qdXgIrmDgAh8R430SEESDMXFHQwL68CK7gVkLQZAmMUv9PeSMSieRSGi7VF-RtmQTSH51iQ3RCRoBWrbSXoDrjO62dss5p/s16000/IMG_20210707_073635.jpg" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">We stayed at a great hotel just a few blocks from the ocean and short walk from the tourist center of Honolulu<br /></div><br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd7veOTIkd4DJGiPc5X3gFwIY3z-7EZruaQ8UTi8IL-NfmIUY5syrecvrmMuqJif26JpvezwBayFti8tQag_FPUSEgpD_FT7d5U4Fnp_huxxJsfINXuUV0fq046dKQhMh_tN11D6jzwT6K/s3963/IMG_20210707_113343.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2972" data-original-width="3963" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd7veOTIkd4DJGiPc5X3gFwIY3z-7EZruaQ8UTi8IL-NfmIUY5syrecvrmMuqJif26JpvezwBayFti8tQag_FPUSEgpD_FT7d5U4Fnp_huxxJsfINXuUV0fq046dKQhMh_tN11D6jzwT6K/s16000/IMG_20210707_113343.jpg" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">We were on one of the top floors and had great views, day or night<br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiniktHBpCidNSTW9QA95LAbGdXxvGLgHd6NoHpyGB6IR9teMup7E26Mujf4qRRg5ifuN74mexQ0wdm6M2dXbNY48lR79w3tFkyDTWgZAIkDypG03DOUhP1MDB7IP-grdnFlrzUAKys8VgO/s3417/IMG_20210708_194625%257E2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2889" data-original-width="3417" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiniktHBpCidNSTW9QA95LAbGdXxvGLgHd6NoHpyGB6IR9teMup7E26Mujf4qRRg5ifuN74mexQ0wdm6M2dXbNY48lR79w3tFkyDTWgZAIkDypG03DOUhP1MDB7IP-grdnFlrzUAKys8VgO/s16000/IMG_20210708_194625%257E2.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div></div><div></div><div style="text-align: center;">Earth loved the Army Museum and we ended up going twice in two days<br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC8ULmKAq2hbM_Pt2UZpaoCnVWismvCJAhxCRf48oSDW9N0X6w3HJTE0tlo-2OnwTNUxLedMA68cY6vgBftb-F-YPXS12gnd8obSFCFImabhZ7_oHvP4uaGiAJ2BBssrjo6diNOdPvoZW1/s4048/IMG_20210708_103409.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC8ULmKAq2hbM_Pt2UZpaoCnVWismvCJAhxCRf48oSDW9N0X6w3HJTE0tlo-2OnwTNUxLedMA68cY6vgBftb-F-YPXS12gnd8obSFCFImabhZ7_oHvP4uaGiAJ2BBssrjo6diNOdPvoZW1/s16000/IMG_20210708_103409.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA842J3CEUvTzn6ZzIKQUy1XLKumIfzZ_JBQ0nepTHCpPMeTPCIFIpHRK2LBl2QYj7L_t9CN-gGDjQKEpcDHtY8WKk4guE8rUlWHeDjvNQKB90Hc24SX1UGjVSPNjbQ-wDE6F2g538bRjW/s4048/IMG_20210708_103614.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA842J3CEUvTzn6ZzIKQUy1XLKumIfzZ_JBQ0nepTHCpPMeTPCIFIpHRK2LBl2QYj7L_t9CN-gGDjQKEpcDHtY8WKk4guE8rUlWHeDjvNQKB90Hc24SX1UGjVSPNjbQ-wDE6F2g538bRjW/s16000/IMG_20210708_103614.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9vh6khiUyvGj0uv-fialsQt1N34TDs2ierQwqwzULLFet334cLBdalR8jycqrd_BlIDsq0xPsbPwDxIfTZcP_6QHv5cPe4CG-ZH8ILObzyX0rjwvgLtjjt2N1D_xCo9hxb_HYuGZ0Zv9_/s4048/IMG_20210716_120544.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9vh6khiUyvGj0uv-fialsQt1N34TDs2ierQwqwzULLFet334cLBdalR8jycqrd_BlIDsq0xPsbPwDxIfTZcP_6QHv5cPe4CG-ZH8ILObzyX0rjwvgLtjjt2N1D_xCo9hxb_HYuGZ0Zv9_/s16000/IMG_20210716_120544.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd6rd7N2as0xVTWJkJc5Vu5ldmvDG1IncZCdTRRofef-qIkFWZfYPsnHhwUlJ4aVHXED7nnwl-nHLPF64h7F_NIO0ooYbJRW44mk6BAAgiCQv2L7GxQuea25kZj1z80vxF_VeTee5DAw0p/s4048/IMG_20210716_121632.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd6rd7N2as0xVTWJkJc5Vu5ldmvDG1IncZCdTRRofef-qIkFWZfYPsnHhwUlJ4aVHXED7nnwl-nHLPF64h7F_NIO0ooYbJRW44mk6BAAgiCQv2L7GxQuea25kZj1z80vxF_VeTee5DAw0p/s16000/IMG_20210716_121632.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisgn3SOVdOgNpbwZocbflsIVNH9-zB_UrLQe7ht4SkqN_EqLGS9gDW3SmvMT5ZRvhTTjFL_wV0jFoHbv61fNGQi5FbRgPz9XrnZPcLZ6UTbAPRLAeonIQ3nTNgCJLp47uWdA1axGkJORbJ/s4048/IMG_20210716_121739.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisgn3SOVdOgNpbwZocbflsIVNH9-zB_UrLQe7ht4SkqN_EqLGS9gDW3SmvMT5ZRvhTTjFL_wV0jFoHbv61fNGQi5FbRgPz9XrnZPcLZ6UTbAPRLAeonIQ3nTNgCJLp47uWdA1axGkJORbJ/s16000/IMG_20210716_121739.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwKIWMQKYWJUAzNedmA20bgjHKjMfkPmVa99oImTy6OTN0BdbMdanHUPMHtytqtmDE9gXnRY8j24BNX-KpU2yFn7qLpQLhZFw4L_c_pE3qXVf5KfhoUQgVMa2f90PvCuG1F9xuFfB8ImGj/s4048/IMG_20210716_123020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwKIWMQKYWJUAzNedmA20bgjHKjMfkPmVa99oImTy6OTN0BdbMdanHUPMHtytqtmDE9gXnRY8j24BNX-KpU2yFn7qLpQLhZFw4L_c_pE3qXVf5KfhoUQgVMa2f90PvCuG1F9xuFfB8ImGj/s16000/IMG_20210716_123020.jpg" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Earth climbed trees whenever I would let him<br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmT3d69bs54YhaXGoeKbZTT8xk05tevWQP4VIxmL2eFIc_bpp4REzArLp-CJMT5ZgDXWaderwlAMEK2W8KEqza7qe95eF-TedLSJcSE1kdmSLqeIx-HBwq73tyq1jITd0Enz7mZ10RU2zZ/s4048/IMG_20210710_184440.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmT3d69bs54YhaXGoeKbZTT8xk05tevWQP4VIxmL2eFIc_bpp4REzArLp-CJMT5ZgDXWaderwlAMEK2W8KEqza7qe95eF-TedLSJcSE1kdmSLqeIx-HBwq73tyq1jITd0Enz7mZ10RU2zZ/s16000/IMG_20210710_184440.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg92nRmcACY_pU2_nFAIUwwT6ciQxm73agW7u2POKNnEqri8wQcceeaEBAowCC5AHQy9IR4d8WrByS3IdJ8atACceXaixRKb6LOI9l2IkCTt3HxNrzSzi3dHr1vkDQyLeGLpWKhkIy_er8a/s4048/IMG_20210708_105454.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg92nRmcACY_pU2_nFAIUwwT6ciQxm73agW7u2POKNnEqri8wQcceeaEBAowCC5AHQy9IR4d8WrByS3IdJ8atACceXaixRKb6LOI9l2IkCTt3HxNrzSzi3dHr1vkDQyLeGLpWKhkIy_er8a/s16000/IMG_20210708_105454.jpg" /></a></div> </div><div style="text-align: center;">We had shave ice,<br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ERwxIl47xUyjpHtY8K8YI9PYoE7D-C5JbHoKVioUDG3av1VP2LOdYbtpZMMLt1vOzbah_QaH4pfQJ2WScclE05M1C7IMKH88-tJsn404g4660Ll4ge6jyq_3kqlxzwPFIlZ8ayujIUCB/s3264/IMG_20210708_184530.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ERwxIl47xUyjpHtY8K8YI9PYoE7D-C5JbHoKVioUDG3av1VP2LOdYbtpZMMLt1vOzbah_QaH4pfQJ2WScclE05M1C7IMKH88-tJsn404g4660Ll4ge6jyq_3kqlxzwPFIlZ8ayujIUCB/s16000/IMG_20210708_184530.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">ice cream, <br /></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEX3BQEgzETF2HrbiONJSsCN-Sy5YjbGY3oLVdsIwd_sEZcT66aprsk3zlyZkDdu841FDxsiMUVQohQbAr5KPyaP9WYN8QDcxUjJPY99aEqe0v1MU0FBuSb2GU5o7vBP6jcUnjTAw_YZ4e/s4048/IMG_20210711_132607.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEX3BQEgzETF2HrbiONJSsCN-Sy5YjbGY3oLVdsIwd_sEZcT66aprsk3zlyZkDdu841FDxsiMUVQohQbAr5KPyaP9WYN8QDcxUjJPY99aEqe0v1MU0FBuSb2GU5o7vBP6jcUnjTAw_YZ4e/s16000/IMG_20210711_132607.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">and Banan shakes every.single.day<br /></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXvMwS3DlMfcinFQ1KrHo431p031SZPGx2aZwUaGC-GYHXzE2DVtjHa1htA6a2twg3OkWhPjZQ4HuO5eCfhBgUSBNiTXD4EqK6ziJ9Z3zrgNej2eu_8LqcwxS4AtWUvB6lxWyU2S5X2gdo/s4048/IMG_20210710_105001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXvMwS3DlMfcinFQ1KrHo431p031SZPGx2aZwUaGC-GYHXzE2DVtjHa1htA6a2twg3OkWhPjZQ4HuO5eCfhBgUSBNiTXD4EqK6ziJ9Z3zrgNej2eu_8LqcwxS4AtWUvB6lxWyU2S5X2gdo/s16000/IMG_20210710_105001.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh13uDJ6aFqCNjzkNC36MSQsrk1_LqYwEdxQkfJnEz3e_ajq4NMu8mgPW1uJvh5Q1zr5BDZoxkdVavRIaMlivp0KCeLccUxFjpHo32wBlm6zIMXvkhwbw_xdkUBv0e0Dlj2XJWauQBtekDv/s4048/IMG_20210717_151814.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh13uDJ6aFqCNjzkNC36MSQsrk1_LqYwEdxQkfJnEz3e_ajq4NMu8mgPW1uJvh5Q1zr5BDZoxkdVavRIaMlivp0KCeLccUxFjpHo32wBlm6zIMXvkhwbw_xdkUBv0e0Dlj2XJWauQBtekDv/s16000/IMG_20210717_151814.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Seriously, those things are the best!<br /></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYMfbwJpa6l_dYuP1vPuO-GDG8vkS-O0CRPNguOcauBLUhlYm87UMngoq7uhI_i0LmLPyxRuSufoe9POnKryEcLSon0N5ZDTU9rHZ5sLdfuQjLquAnRjg-e466NwkJyzv42fHJ4IYZ6WIk/s4048/IMG_20210717_152326.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYMfbwJpa6l_dYuP1vPuO-GDG8vkS-O0CRPNguOcauBLUhlYm87UMngoq7uhI_i0LmLPyxRuSufoe9POnKryEcLSon0N5ZDTU9rHZ5sLdfuQjLquAnRjg-e466NwkJyzv42fHJ4IYZ6WIk/s16000/IMG_20210717_152326.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Of course, Starbucks for me<br /></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaone4mrCWCI50bVNOF-qXYXWOAw9zEkqdgMf5HmJ3efubMA3d3PLYggfgiPUc9svuB2ddlMGo7UkMbMcaEk3KOzFGpxTBoze0ExgvBSD5cy05DFyhhPUhpOCfQZz9NGjMMx5FLUg2WWOR/s4048/IMG_20210716_094046.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaone4mrCWCI50bVNOF-qXYXWOAw9zEkqdgMf5HmJ3efubMA3d3PLYggfgiPUc9svuB2ddlMGo7UkMbMcaEk3KOzFGpxTBoze0ExgvBSD5cy05DFyhhPUhpOCfQZz9NGjMMx5FLUg2WWOR/s16000/IMG_20210716_094046.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">We checked out the zoo<br /></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8uZSyF9B6KHZ4FTYPOmi6iJTV-zGp3gy8PBgKxISzxiEsK3eBntOSvJf0-uZEGn4xF7wEk-9ZO621kJVrTY5DGyfm8nd6DKjaY9IOREUDUn1BGn8PD2YqUeZm9t6dB5BVO9JfHK5SEWyi/s4048/IMG_20210716_101548.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8uZSyF9B6KHZ4FTYPOmi6iJTV-zGp3gy8PBgKxISzxiEsK3eBntOSvJf0-uZEGn4xF7wEk-9ZO621kJVrTY5DGyfm8nd6DKjaY9IOREUDUn1BGn8PD2YqUeZm9t6dB5BVO9JfHK5SEWyi/s16000/IMG_20210716_101548.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAEHnww1g3CsnU6fvyhhuIPbyporSmE5irwY_WKAEYfDPsL8Aj0qCnm7Ek8kWnTG4gEI7VPniEosTT8fyrVB8b1CDTzLuCxkggT0FerqDFtfqcr-bPjNGd7k0ViQq6rYHwcWMBsAAIRCpc/s4048/IMG_20210716_101941.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAEHnww1g3CsnU6fvyhhuIPbyporSmE5irwY_WKAEYfDPsL8Aj0qCnm7Ek8kWnTG4gEI7VPniEosTT8fyrVB8b1CDTzLuCxkggT0FerqDFtfqcr-bPjNGd7k0ViQq6rYHwcWMBsAAIRCpc/s16000/IMG_20210716_101941.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrX1cHPjjn9cnsq49OLwy4gz4XmhfYRxLl-57rDIVCf3trrJYfBhzwKq9FgFhATgKS6ytaXFfV6GymqqNCf_gRogVJcBba2Gq-jHsyze_LSVpizSPTp2oZGYhfZxyRBbeawgGjKIAbUtIm/s4048/IMG_20210716_104037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrX1cHPjjn9cnsq49OLwy4gz4XmhfYRxLl-57rDIVCf3trrJYfBhzwKq9FgFhATgKS6ytaXFfV6GymqqNCf_gRogVJcBba2Gq-jHsyze_LSVpizSPTp2oZGYhfZxyRBbeawgGjKIAbUtIm/s16000/IMG_20210716_104037.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Qny2U_Jot_DCPeeLXJWPxGrNC8M-8pXYW59STes7BV82yazjqRHp3EOxfCcmRnNRF_V5O7E6jU0KuXfzuT3_w8pBy-GC5OyrV-0JecynobrbRXlE4nQZl4V8Ind4Y9O9PPawVlJ7Y8DS/s4048/IMG_20210716_104448.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Qny2U_Jot_DCPeeLXJWPxGrNC8M-8pXYW59STes7BV82yazjqRHp3EOxfCcmRnNRF_V5O7E6jU0KuXfzuT3_w8pBy-GC5OyrV-0JecynobrbRXlE4nQZl4V8Ind4Y9O9PPawVlJ7Y8DS/s16000/IMG_20210716_104448.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghDVFL58-BgUvT-SfdOLb-G-aUTAdzPsEPBDWvI9ML_rJeaaxaAcYlpl-ftJYDClB9KjOMAgqNFt2wqz7byUdsBvpN85fflduqDvkUUl-TegNDtoLm7GQnyHI028t8kW4T2SraDeNbKshc/s4048/IMG_20210716_104533_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghDVFL58-BgUvT-SfdOLb-G-aUTAdzPsEPBDWvI9ML_rJeaaxaAcYlpl-ftJYDClB9KjOMAgqNFt2wqz7byUdsBvpN85fflduqDvkUUl-TegNDtoLm7GQnyHI028t8kW4T2SraDeNbKshc/s16000/IMG_20210716_104533_1.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">The Children's Discovery Center<br /></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEUbKvh2I7u7x5lQrPkfugjj7VKmunlFe2h4HJLPcdDLm1yDUZsBT7Zi-Dcxp7TKqXC9HnPyJ_pIM7nHx53ii_s3jxRpBxJgTEog-ZufjvWyhMSwc9np5X2BhxkiUFmU2743CQ2S0-XqYy/s4048/IMG_20210717_101152.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEUbKvh2I7u7x5lQrPkfugjj7VKmunlFe2h4HJLPcdDLm1yDUZsBT7Zi-Dcxp7TKqXC9HnPyJ_pIM7nHx53ii_s3jxRpBxJgTEog-ZufjvWyhMSwc9np5X2BhxkiUFmU2743CQ2S0-XqYy/s16000/IMG_20210717_101152.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivmm4zu5WtL-hMw0q0V6bf_e9yUqzGM-PX0y4AMJON3r0Pi2rbshHYSVESMKalRGkc07AXlQuNZDa1HE2INt_QwHl11ZBoWVxzzKydMgM0a8egbEViUs9Z2BqmAI98_MgBWyt4aNDNzhv4/s4048/IMG_20210717_101700.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivmm4zu5WtL-hMw0q0V6bf_e9yUqzGM-PX0y4AMJON3r0Pi2rbshHYSVESMKalRGkc07AXlQuNZDa1HE2INt_QwHl11ZBoWVxzzKydMgM0a8egbEViUs9Z2BqmAI98_MgBWyt4aNDNzhv4/s16000/IMG_20210717_101700.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1AtdsA5wTlG6k4ZnRgeSMAR_NG7CFnDURZ-zWKv7nLOiqr_sLcEvk6ZBDhN7wtmlgi6ugP8FCinx6QGqTtc0iMNRVygK3Hwdacq5dWFrBv9d9UnObaVuJ1l2wIvDlpCqW6o3czAJsCOH7/s4048/IMG_20210717_102059.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1AtdsA5wTlG6k4ZnRgeSMAR_NG7CFnDURZ-zWKv7nLOiqr_sLcEvk6ZBDhN7wtmlgi6ugP8FCinx6QGqTtc0iMNRVygK3Hwdacq5dWFrBv9d9UnObaVuJ1l2wIvDlpCqW6o3czAJsCOH7/s16000/IMG_20210717_102059.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAhsvakpzA3j7W8w_dYMxIpTHg8hEDCLXPifNCeuAbFfDrG0m6Sb4v44xtG2hxA9MzXFBM4n-qtlMp7mgknx_9_zzj4KMmEY2utChfakjxHtDaAFkgmupuvn-EahlBeFmUf6CPHhiThMcu/s4048/IMG_20210717_103001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAhsvakpzA3j7W8w_dYMxIpTHg8hEDCLXPifNCeuAbFfDrG0m6Sb4v44xtG2hxA9MzXFBM4n-qtlMp7mgknx_9_zzj4KMmEY2utChfakjxHtDaAFkgmupuvn-EahlBeFmUf6CPHhiThMcu/s16000/IMG_20210717_103001.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsTWDBraYrv3VHypTEqSCNCHlcAs-YMjAJQej_PuC9nvxRAVUa4_ibTUV6BvDsgxLOWKp47BZvgcqsxFMVrdblZSre_J-wum4-c6t_57V5Z-XTT_2azhx555MbFpy1bqBf_04UHnQg13KV/s4048/IMG_20210717_105201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsTWDBraYrv3VHypTEqSCNCHlcAs-YMjAJQej_PuC9nvxRAVUa4_ibTUV6BvDsgxLOWKp47BZvgcqsxFMVrdblZSre_J-wum4-c6t_57V5Z-XTT_2azhx555MbFpy1bqBf_04UHnQg13KV/s16000/IMG_20210717_105201.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">and the Aquarium<br /></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibn0tc1Vr6BBC8zMNX2-biqos5Wb2iJWXNtxbPYJ4Ao-sxUVxW9pYsqoeOinShCN9-LKMj82O3cX3WfOQIpVcmWV8ee_gxnQgA1sksHoeJyJTpKqYxsh-ddUy43DFgKvwIhjFvW4PLS7-O/s4048/IMG_20210717_140439.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibn0tc1Vr6BBC8zMNX2-biqos5Wb2iJWXNtxbPYJ4Ao-sxUVxW9pYsqoeOinShCN9-LKMj82O3cX3WfOQIpVcmWV8ee_gxnQgA1sksHoeJyJTpKqYxsh-ddUy43DFgKvwIhjFvW4PLS7-O/s16000/IMG_20210717_140439.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihdSD8mJFRPyIVhdEXXu5jK41bfFLzR2bCauQaLVjQCwpAbmZcZ0cfCZGhsgxOB7dr-gll9z4rQ9bS5S48J41Qrfqg5R_NrUrShyphenhyphenOmdtlMocFLTx3VOi0tVRZIKTPlkUrzaskdZE_D7gd_/s4048/IMG_20210717_141209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihdSD8mJFRPyIVhdEXXu5jK41bfFLzR2bCauQaLVjQCwpAbmZcZ0cfCZGhsgxOB7dr-gll9z4rQ9bS5S48J41Qrfqg5R_NrUrShyphenhyphenOmdtlMocFLTx3VOi0tVRZIKTPlkUrzaskdZE_D7gd_/s16000/IMG_20210717_141209.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinzvGGvP3kR_uYIOBx7AHkFKyVyGFX03m9YGh7b3tvbO7taFzcRmoEAdoAloJ_zpJ7pQ4Cy2L2uupWjLFSBrNhcoXCc5HBvy0Oguds4irVwwGZWOGuUAmWpgWTugZsHViuAzRu7sYSPBaf/s4048/IMG_20210717_142138.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinzvGGvP3kR_uYIOBx7AHkFKyVyGFX03m9YGh7b3tvbO7taFzcRmoEAdoAloJ_zpJ7pQ4Cy2L2uupWjLFSBrNhcoXCc5HBvy0Oguds4irVwwGZWOGuUAmWpgWTugZsHViuAzRu7sYSPBaf/s16000/IMG_20210717_142138.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8YqPA8a19Kv4GbYySFH3of2rS3ENEFurEjnThwawC6cx_8RH1GBV1_l4ga3bzHmCJQf0wZ2yW5xD3Huk_uSZ2p4EhIcDD4mxu4TQ5zrRXrBRJfgPn2dPy_QUOwhBfqsnosE2h9oC7uMQF/s4048/IMG_20210717_143006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8YqPA8a19Kv4GbYySFH3of2rS3ENEFurEjnThwawC6cx_8RH1GBV1_l4ga3bzHmCJQf0wZ2yW5xD3Huk_uSZ2p4EhIcDD4mxu4TQ5zrRXrBRJfgPn2dPy_QUOwhBfqsnosE2h9oC7uMQF/s16000/IMG_20210717_143006.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVzsMesKJHDUcMq__S0cMTOGEfOL85S9MiL8t47a8PfFsbvEySJ1Hk35eMQMeYunmbOc9N6LLHJpq-2Q1aVmfr3jdUFG1_A_SHKxcUpnp6YEPJGKJ891nOD1QE6pI5GhfrFFdur5-EG5hC/s4048/IMG_20210717_143017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVzsMesKJHDUcMq__S0cMTOGEfOL85S9MiL8t47a8PfFsbvEySJ1Hk35eMQMeYunmbOc9N6LLHJpq-2Q1aVmfr3jdUFG1_A_SHKxcUpnp6YEPJGKJ891nOD1QE6pI5GhfrFFdur5-EG5hC/s16000/IMG_20210717_143017.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiEd5zYA2suEHQf6QRbBjkOrfN0oe6_ZBxgJohEYpp2YdIe6CZhIKDsThl0P4un32di4DnCnSfbqcFw4AptDrbAeNtxyLlyjGCvjznFM-LSv-mHZ2_uC-70PalrUKg7w_kVzumC2AZl5yw/s4048/IMG_20210717_142130.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiEd5zYA2suEHQf6QRbBjkOrfN0oe6_ZBxgJohEYpp2YdIe6CZhIKDsThl0P4un32di4DnCnSfbqcFw4AptDrbAeNtxyLlyjGCvjznFM-LSv-mHZ2_uC-70PalrUKg7w_kVzumC2AZl5yw/s16000/IMG_20210717_142130.jpg" /></a></div> </div><div style="text-align: center;">And of course, we went to the beach. I was surprised at what a great time Earth and I both had at the beach since we go pretty often on Kwajalein and the beach was much more crowded then we're used to. We went three times and Earth had so much fun that I had to drag him away every time.<br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjMvMFEZJzw6Gt7fdCkrB4Uc3PX75ASFTdCuhWIS0BKhkvOq-Ms34pQ2aWFrDkpitMm5eQv6j-bM2kUoJkFY1ZrZlTqZy2G8pJWzZcmVHI7YlmJVla8-O22cCIxgcru3N6ua6dLyWEMjbA/s4048/IMG_20210713_131211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjMvMFEZJzw6Gt7fdCkrB4Uc3PX75ASFTdCuhWIS0BKhkvOq-Ms34pQ2aWFrDkpitMm5eQv6j-bM2kUoJkFY1ZrZlTqZy2G8pJWzZcmVHI7YlmJVla8-O22cCIxgcru3N6ua6dLyWEMjbA/s16000/IMG_20210713_131211.jpg" /></a></div> </div><div>There was a mix up with our return quarantine reservation so we ended up with an extra day in Honolulu. Since we'd already checked out of our other hotel, we decided to live it up and check into the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Go big when trying to go home? Why not!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKYz-21eZzIFZneinao7VzGnqfA_Agg_2twzljuXmSrl298QTdNqnwAJaYk9E46eRg9msrcaqzwTXubQ-PeSeWLHS25VqjezAqY_Pi-xLQa6EnV2YVaM04TeiMIPUyt3uw-F2JFXmwO4nL/s3264/IMG_20210718_172736.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKYz-21eZzIFZneinao7VzGnqfA_Agg_2twzljuXmSrl298QTdNqnwAJaYk9E46eRg9msrcaqzwTXubQ-PeSeWLHS25VqjezAqY_Pi-xLQa6EnV2YVaM04TeiMIPUyt3uw-F2JFXmwO4nL/s16000/IMG_20210718_172736.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKnpemKktr7maWW7pWxVY2_MS8n6va6JZFpaR0sDYD-GyIsWmJNOHJbXbpsKEuhPT9TOjLYSWWJDIqH74JJAT9JnLrI67XR88i4mNGpTnSpQ3YptHWJ9-2ofThr8rewWPP6y_YiFkqMwMQ/s4048/IMG_20210719_072107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKnpemKktr7maWW7pWxVY2_MS8n6va6JZFpaR0sDYD-GyIsWmJNOHJbXbpsKEuhPT9TOjLYSWWJDIqH74JJAT9JnLrI67XR88i4mNGpTnSpQ3YptHWJ9-2ofThr8rewWPP6y_YiFkqMwMQ/s16000/IMG_20210719_072107.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ZsQlKsweZHqdMRKNMuyfB5SQ1x_Nr3fhWpMUcQ1ELS-xWo8is9fgn4nuPqt4Bsk1UhyphenhyphenyLtncK78CbYkpMzan4RHEbTHLdkOUK6PaXRUflSVinPkSOcSjFPBbxLbAcEzd-BHcDQ3S997U/s4048/IMG_20210719_090630.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ZsQlKsweZHqdMRKNMuyfB5SQ1x_Nr3fhWpMUcQ1ELS-xWo8is9fgn4nuPqt4Bsk1UhyphenhyphenyLtncK78CbYkpMzan4RHEbTHLdkOUK6PaXRUflSVinPkSOcSjFPBbxLbAcEzd-BHcDQ3S997U/s16000/IMG_20210719_090630.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfAn1nxpai76Ipybn9SdhyU1vn0wEVN9kj4CAFuDR6TGGjAiqyYaHpOYjZA8zBF1cFWwYYpq3OZvK7fTteaI4wOCcXgqmqktfzEWleanhOp6m5gOIFt49P8bArvxXGTHXL6qTYvcic_qiI/s4048/IMG_20210719_091210.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfAn1nxpai76Ipybn9SdhyU1vn0wEVN9kj4CAFuDR6TGGjAiqyYaHpOYjZA8zBF1cFWwYYpq3OZvK7fTteaI4wOCcXgqmqktfzEWleanhOp6m5gOIFt49P8bArvxXGTHXL6qTYvcic_qiI/s16000/IMG_20210719_091210.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1byYTYsRL8bsdadzW4IRA5qPWvjsExl2IzTxadjD2S5MRqkssmYcmSDFt6PuJf-YyFjFqayQxaJKkDSNGtoKCtUtWLpJkUPXtO_-tcN28fhruEk-M-BEU7tBVVJh7HsaS00rt8hjKmZQU/s4048/IMG_20210719_091347.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1byYTYsRL8bsdadzW4IRA5qPWvjsExl2IzTxadjD2S5MRqkssmYcmSDFt6PuJf-YyFjFqayQxaJKkDSNGtoKCtUtWLpJkUPXtO_-tcN28fhruEk-M-BEU7tBVVJh7HsaS00rt8hjKmZQU/s16000/IMG_20210719_091347.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi-QDQzJHrN-Wc9BfyrmX9ZvCF3t1jhQwISVI9kMX6POTZOPVI1iJfbWQrPiTJG2Vqggiubv1MqaJH41aB4DGGte5EVWpG5B1akgENy7JkopKKzjSsQ5U93y7smAlGF3ryke5Uo8f0tG-8/s4048/IMG_20210719_094041.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi-QDQzJHrN-Wc9BfyrmX9ZvCF3t1jhQwISVI9kMX6POTZOPVI1iJfbWQrPiTJG2Vqggiubv1MqaJH41aB4DGGte5EVWpG5B1akgENy7JkopKKzjSsQ5U93y7smAlGF3ryke5Uo8f0tG-8/s16000/IMG_20210719_094041.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">In between all of that, Earth rode every escalator he could find<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBRkkep8fOco9OQWM5N1it1b5h-Fva2PU6SqFwiNm8mIu1ndeuefpzKem2mjTOJPG3BLSLBkJUSqbXapHNEQFOE_uld0OrK8ed9T4xZ8EfpvuQyCqU-G8OaHwLGLqkIwjp-NH6xMWXET6N/s4048/IMG_20210708_174406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBRkkep8fOco9OQWM5N1it1b5h-Fva2PU6SqFwiNm8mIu1ndeuefpzKem2mjTOJPG3BLSLBkJUSqbXapHNEQFOE_uld0OrK8ed9T4xZ8EfpvuQyCqU-G8OaHwLGLqkIwjp-NH6xMWXET6N/s16000/IMG_20210708_174406.jpg" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">We got a bit of work done (you should see Earth's spreadsheets!)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBw9xf3oZ9GRF11-IMJ92C6GhxSLB1d__3p_SC8CVXI7MafV18VEa4vV4FDsgCaNCkTJoKanIKuQP2Rn6tJaoaffvqLXVcoxbxy9dRP6CqrdNDI5rsnBU7th29vXkxvNz1TdIYCvh07B9f/s4048/IMG_20210722_123013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBw9xf3oZ9GRF11-IMJ92C6GhxSLB1d__3p_SC8CVXI7MafV18VEa4vV4FDsgCaNCkTJoKanIKuQP2Rn6tJaoaffvqLXVcoxbxy9dRP6CqrdNDI5rsnBU7th29vXkxvNz1TdIYCvh07B9f/s16000/IMG_20210722_123013.jpg" /></a></p><div style="text-align: center;">and practiced writing<br /></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBNbVUw8BMJQo32_CBUQpevFbR5ZTY2pTSbRx3bhWXOqUOvdzVD2l1xxtY-jUggKrnKVGIitMzyILIXNMGLuvzIj_PBba7oyGOeAtetN2OexdERhjpdxvh8RzjIPlGgXrGCHOQ9yXg2id1/s4048/IMG_20210707_084907.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBNbVUw8BMJQo32_CBUQpevFbR5ZTY2pTSbRx3bhWXOqUOvdzVD2l1xxtY-jUggKrnKVGIitMzyILIXNMGLuvzIj_PBba7oyGOeAtetN2OexdERhjpdxvh8RzjIPlGgXrGCHOQ9yXg2id1/s16000/IMG_20210707_084907.jpg" /></a></div> </div><div style="text-align: center;">and sight words. If you look closely you can see that Earth wrote "but" on the balcony. It was his favorite sight work and made him laugh like crazy whenever we got to it in the deck. <br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMrGDkRkCXT6dO_fr4Vl_fC5dXFujkKc705MbPgAo7SZqi7nLNbmFSokKibrPyzcWace2XpcTmk6fqmICUQg5UoLQPmv0RGkzueevuAm1ed4SXLADN3JuEPmlA61w_EDr8OzSvGUznYKId/s4048/IMG_20210714_120411.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMrGDkRkCXT6dO_fr4Vl_fC5dXFujkKc705MbPgAo7SZqi7nLNbmFSokKibrPyzcWace2XpcTmk6fqmICUQg5UoLQPmv0RGkzueevuAm1ed4SXLADN3JuEPmlA61w_EDr8OzSvGUznYKId/s16000/IMG_20210714_120411.jpg" /></a></div> </div><div style="text-align: center;"> It wasn't all beaches and vegan milkshakes. Earth hated, hated, hated leaving his family again. Even though we had a calendar to help him count the days until we got to go home, he really struggled with the separation and cried almost every day. <br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgclNWcW6JoneFjDi-e_tDDH7OASJbsy-VyrqSb8OsY3igNe3TfvK2vjp8jRPTv2IxeiVfmREdWwcCG7yXEOZsxcZZBPpbAiH9P2_crHLvGg8ZsN63anbENY5qGTzSKXZUr13Xqqj3phyphenhyphenIl/s4048/IMG_20210708_093749.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgclNWcW6JoneFjDi-e_tDDH7OASJbsy-VyrqSb8OsY3igNe3TfvK2vjp8jRPTv2IxeiVfmREdWwcCG7yXEOZsxcZZBPpbAiH9P2_crHLvGg8ZsN63anbENY5qGTzSKXZUr13Xqqj3phyphenhyphenIl/s16000/IMG_20210708_093749.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Zoo, aquariums, and Army Museums are cool but not as cool as being surrounded by your family.<br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p> </p></div></div>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-87045089046187379382021-11-03T23:10:00.005-07:002021-11-03T23:10:47.480-07:00Crying in my Truck<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUVrQ69HT-ovZsLKTKnSXGp4U3xgJTNVpcmD1kNIl8LGU3NlcYulFOhuMH0WGOFMaKBlwsUnF4TIsHhU-7H-kvWNM8QCcUnqCdT2sGnvQG9EZiHyhDHI4BkvWG1NPGoZU8uEwQ43du2uX4/s1600/IMG_20160126_085209+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUVrQ69HT-ovZsLKTKnSXGp4U3xgJTNVpcmD1kNIl8LGU3NlcYulFOhuMH0WGOFMaKBlwsUnF4TIsHhU-7H-kvWNM8QCcUnqCdT2sGnvQG9EZiHyhDHI4BkvWG1NPGoZU8uEwQ43du2uX4/s16000/IMG_20160126_085209+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I was so hopeful when I took this picture. We were at the doctor's office in early January of 2016, starting down the road that I hoped would lead to the help Fire, and our family, needed. Fire got a clean bill of health for his eyes and ears and the Early Education Center<a href="http://www.ourcharmedlife.net/2016/01/five-for-friday-31-week-of-beginnings.html"> scheduled an assessment</a> for him in late February. </div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: center;">I never wrote about what happened in February because it was too painful for me. Fire had a full battery of tests and then a week later I met with the school's specialists. I thought I was there to start his IEP and instead I was told that while Fire scored low in all the areas we were concerned about, he wasn't low enough to qualify for any early interventions.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I was crushed, and felt lost and defeated. I remember sitting my truck holding my phone and trying to google "speech therapy for toddler" through my tears. I just broke down, friends. People who should have been there to help said there was nothing they could do and couldn't tell me what do do for Fire on my own. They told me that my son was fine when I knew that he was the exact opposite of fine.</div><div style="text-align: center;">We've come a long way since then, with the help of <a href="http://www.ourcharmedlife.net/2017/02/a-happier-fire.html">therapy</a> and <a href="http://www.ourcharmedlife.net/2020/09/working-with-add.html">medication</a>, and Fire is doing really well. He loves his school and they wonderful teachers and a caring special education professional who's reinvested in helping him succeed. He's making real progress in so many areas and that has made such a difference for me, and our family.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> But the other day, I was back in the truck. I've never had a flashback until that day but suddenly there I was, barely able to see through my tears, feeling helpless and ignored. It was so real, I could see my phone shake in my hands and feel the desert heat surround me. I started crying and had to leave my desk. I couldn't believe that a little thing like re-reading an email could take me back there so quickly. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Over the summer, I sent a teacher an email asking to meet to discuss strategies for dealing with issues that might arise and accommodations that Fire might need in the class next year. I knew things would get harder for him as he progressed and wanted to make the teacher aware of that and to possibly put some accommodations in place to prevent any issues for Fire or the teacher. The email that I received back said, in part: "<span style="text-align: left;"><i>Looking forward, I really encourage us to let (Fire) forge a fresh path ahead, with us prepared to cross any anxiety bridges if/when we get there. In fourth grade we build up performance skills by doing a lot of confidence-building and low-risk activities, such as assigned buddy poetry readings for the class and performance assessments in pairs during semester 1 before we get to recorders in semester 2. Everyday in every grade, opportunities are peppered in to perform in class in small ways. Creating a low-risk and highly supportive environment is the foundation for which we create students who are confident enough to take (positive) risks in front of others, like you saw in the recent concert. </i></span><span style="text-align: left;"><i>Some of the students who played in Grade 4 on their own would barely speak to answer questions, much less play a solo a year ago. Music can be a great pathway to overcome performance anxiety and help students find their voice - maybe this is (Fire) if we clear enough hurdles while also giving him room to fall and pick himself up on his own a little. I think that space is critical. That can be challenging, but I think we saw this year he can rise to the occasion.</i>" I didn't feel that the teacher had heard me and approached the school counselor about it. She was surprised that I didn't think this response was sufficient and questioned why I would think that Fire would have trouble in the class. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Once again, people were telling me that my child was fine. That he could handle challenges the way "normal" kids could and that my experiences and input on his past issues had no use or value in their area. At the time I had enough on my plate getting ready for<a href="http://www.ourcharmedlife.net/2021/10/the-end-of-long-road.html"> Earth's naturalization in Honolulu</a> and sent the counselor and the teacher and email reminding them that Fire's </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">main coping behaviors are shutting down, becoming unresponsive, and clowning for his friends and that might be misinterpreted as naughtiness or misbehavior rather than an indicator of the actual underlying problem (anxiety, auditory processing issues with instructions) and</span></span><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> just put it out of my mind. All the big feelings this rejection caused came rushing back the othe</span>r day when I had to reread that email conversation when I was forwarding it to the current special ed teacher. And why was I send it to her? Because these were the comments from the same teacher on his first quarter report card: "(Fire) ...frequently needs redirection to stay on task. Often seeks (distracts) other students or places self farthest away from the activity." And then it went on to give suggestions about how we can address this behavior at home.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> I can laugh a little about it now but it still hurts. I said that I knew the class would be more challenging and that my child might struggle and shared what behaviors they may see if he is having a hard time. They didn't believe me, and guess what? Now we're going to have to cross that bridge that we could have avoided entirely if anyone had put any thought into how hard this might be for Fire. It's music class and they're working up to learning to play recorders. Essentially, a child who didn't speak in full sentences until he was 4, still struggles with making himself understood in English, has an IEP for memory and recall problems, and acknowledged anxiety disorder is being asked to learn a new language, both the written and audible forms, and to recreate the expressed version on command. It sounds like without any adjustments, they're setting him up for failure. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"> I'm thankful this is coming up now and that the special ed teacher at Fire's school is willing to sit in on the class to see how things are really going for him. Fire is going to be getting increased services in other areas so as a part of increasing the areas covered by his current IEP, there may be some accommodations recommended for music class as well. Fire loves music and did great when we had him in piano lessons before. He just needs someone who understands that he is wired a little differently and is willing to work with that. I'm hopeful that we can find a way for Fire to succeed and will keep advocating for him for as long as it takes.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPzxhfOx_lyzYxesaqyzdrs0DOwVQOFEx5xnbF2ZOIqtcI0pWVVh9SMm8xeTR1s1WhjCFHd2xMfNFb2mC05mtpXvgrQqluImlGcIPzMLxADrOYP0EqUMUDX6PWhjjBzgNemtLuDxt6KTG5/s3264/IMG_20211012_133648.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPzxhfOx_lyzYxesaqyzdrs0DOwVQOFEx5xnbF2ZOIqtcI0pWVVh9SMm8xeTR1s1WhjCFHd2xMfNFb2mC05mtpXvgrQqluImlGcIPzMLxADrOYP0EqUMUDX6PWhjjBzgNemtLuDxt6KTG5/s16000/IMG_20211012_133648.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This kid. This wonderful, hard, sweet, challenging, amazing kid.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><div><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /></div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-18771723083613878452021-11-01T12:25:00.001-07:002021-11-01T12:25:00.191-07:00Water's Halloween Costume<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFXZ6tn_xBTpSLLJsQzuU4iBtVwiG0FMz0ftRDAvOsLlKfQy3EF72WN_4sW0KJ9I_4Eqry0T58_eC9fGzioSleFYgj17BqKC0bNUcjgsAJkfXiuO_F7GJpSpfPJN_EOX2S5_uGHaPQBdZW/s4048/IMG_20211030_122330_1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFXZ6tn_xBTpSLLJsQzuU4iBtVwiG0FMz0ftRDAvOsLlKfQy3EF72WN_4sW0KJ9I_4Eqry0T58_eC9fGzioSleFYgj17BqKC0bNUcjgsAJkfXiuO_F7GJpSpfPJN_EOX2S5_uGHaPQBdZW/s16000/IMG_20211030_122330_1.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> We have to plan months ahead on Kwaj so when D started asking what the kids wanted to be for Halloween in September, Water didn't want to think about it yet and so we didn't order a costume for him. Two weeks ago when I asked him what he was going to dress up, he said he was still thinking about it and last week he announced he was going to dress up as <a href="http://www.ourcharmedlife.net/2021/10/swim-meet-highlights.html">A, his current favorite person in the world</a>. I thought it was a great idea and started rounding up what we would need. The finished costume made Water happy from the minute he put it on.</div><p></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p style="text-align: center;">I was worried A would think that Water was making fun of him but she was thrilled!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxPahD1HNu4IOR0c12DswGu5ZdLIYYTfldXHpRD_pIbwLeIoSO24Y_NZZOjbNq854QjKZaPXkQQp2fNMBHIfDsbSkOmlOXcwGmD_7sFvra9aKtD4clylszlFi4Fs4dR7SmBMYUTEciWHUf/s2048/246464824_2992587310999220_3551276743311062350_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1150" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxPahD1HNu4IOR0c12DswGu5ZdLIYYTfldXHpRD_pIbwLeIoSO24Y_NZZOjbNq854QjKZaPXkQQp2fNMBHIfDsbSkOmlOXcwGmD_7sFvra9aKtD4clylszlFi4Fs4dR7SmBMYUTEciWHUf/s16000/246464824_2992587310999220_3551276743311062350_n.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifNWpEUaOGKZ_W9GmFkxH3lZf481HQnRtvTu9eFJpqRcuGttbN3QwzwapiPGvCyi5zJLvLi8WlYC29EjhdPIiZEbNaOQISvN2I7J5ac2kDHR3fHc6jFnSus3dOWSUK6ZAGXGw_BQLoulxS/s2048/249742076_967298397185765_4092027624883805347_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifNWpEUaOGKZ_W9GmFkxH3lZf481HQnRtvTu9eFJpqRcuGttbN3QwzwapiPGvCyi5zJLvLi8WlYC29EjhdPIiZEbNaOQISvN2I7J5ac2kDHR3fHc6jFnSus3dOWSUK6ZAGXGw_BQLoulxS/s16000/249742076_967298397185765_4092027624883805347_n.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Water likes to say that he and A are twins but they really do look alike!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">For whatever reason, both Earth and Fire have very black and white views of world, including of gender presentation and Earth had been making fun of Water for choosing to dress up as a girl for Halloween. As soon as I overheard Earth and his friends saying something negative about Water's choice, I spoke up and made it clear to them that Water could choose to dress up as whoever he wanted and that there was nothing wrong at all with him choosing to be everyone's favorite teacher and swim coach, and an Olympic swimmer, regardless of whether A was a boy or a girl. I'm over the moon that Water has A as a roll model in his life and that he admires her so much that he wanted to pretend to be her. It's past time we move beyond outdated cultural norms of who our heroes should be and I hope my kids can grow up with greater acceptance of their choices and without judgement from others for those choices.</div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-80277043504293615162021-10-31T12:10:00.000-07:002021-10-31T12:10:11.173-07:00Happy Halloween!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc13stvi3xKUl8sNt_SZFV56yPqVrqOLKCffXsBHZJEtciMsNHZE8-i1BLaCVr3sUQclcfQf3UODZx6uAigrIgvvVDda8hXAw17AK2GbUrq6XpMqrP7xbxvmgVJly4FJHPH82PML7432fj/s4048/IMG_20211030_121856.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc13stvi3xKUl8sNt_SZFV56yPqVrqOLKCffXsBHZJEtciMsNHZE8-i1BLaCVr3sUQclcfQf3UODZx6uAigrIgvvVDda8hXAw17AK2GbUrq6XpMqrP7xbxvmgVJly4FJHPH82PML7432fj/s16000/IMG_20211030_121856.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Happy Halloween from (mini) Marshmello!</div><p></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p style="text-align: center;">and from</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7sagYtgBQNTpV8ox7s0E5IDb4GwZrO6opSFQ4V2WaAYf91Kb3PhV11QLUFISOhndU_Voz3_OHmHf2oVgDqGG8nWAGF7FDzK2WpnXFh1hY6RQSW5WBydh-TUVWlmSuYuU9pwhf-VBeoBkO/s4048/IMG_20211030_122330.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7sagYtgBQNTpV8ox7s0E5IDb4GwZrO6opSFQ4V2WaAYf91Kb3PhV11QLUFISOhndU_Voz3_OHmHf2oVgDqGG8nWAGF7FDzK2WpnXFh1hY6RQSW5WBydh-TUVWlmSuYuU9pwhf-VBeoBkO/s16000/IMG_20211030_122330.jpg" /></a></div>Water's favorite teacher and swim coach<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA060ltaYbZbHTtkbvzQZ_XTyk-4-yUY74yPjVTmm5QRe75uteMWrP751mQy7cW-7jJeTJW_g5_x7UiX_u4rVUAsWdOgl0jx-aP35VKgnrLUtGjDJx9f3g_G510N1QkdCzmUL09YZtLXAg/s4048/IMG_20211030_122316.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA060ltaYbZbHTtkbvzQZ_XTyk-4-yUY74yPjVTmm5QRe75uteMWrP751mQy7cW-7jJeTJW_g5_x7UiX_u4rVUAsWdOgl0jx-aP35VKgnrLUtGjDJx9f3g_G510N1QkdCzmUL09YZtLXAg/s16000/IMG_20211030_122316.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Itachi (from Naruto),</div></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTKQXI6jCyG39IwGDl1yyAW3EBXKtgZiAmbjN3e-w0MgmTcYwfqsY4cS2I6E6mhdXuOnacaOqKFsJ-yadCgbpnamNvdySgMgVVxDoYJ2kS9Egl4wuboLR3ZXYLRa7-GGM-Fj3XdYaupjF/s4048/IMG_20211031_181302.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTKQXI6jCyG39IwGDl1yyAW3EBXKtgZiAmbjN3e-w0MgmTcYwfqsY4cS2I6E6mhdXuOnacaOqKFsJ-yadCgbpnamNvdySgMgVVxDoYJ2kS9Egl4wuboLR3ZXYLRa7-GGM-Fj3XdYaupjF/s16000/IMG_20211031_181302.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">and an angel.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Halloween this year was everything I hoped it would be for the kids. Sky and Fire are old enough to go trick or treating with their friends so once we knew who they would be walking around with and made sure that they knew what time they needed to be home, they headed out. Water and Earth aren't quite ready for that so they walked around with D and some of their friend's families. Trick or treating here runs from 6:30 to 8:30 and all the kids were out for the entire time. The evening ended with all our kids, and a bunch of others, watching Hotel Transylvania 3 and eating as much candy as they wanted. We couldn't have asked for a better Halloween.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Pumpkin follow-up:</div><div style="text-align: center;">A little while ago I posted about having<a href="http://www.ourcharmedlife.net/2021/10/pumpkins-in-fridge.html"> a refrigerator full of pumpkins</a> and guess what?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS4Umnou54-ZyFOVepKwdK0X3vp20D67U_8626QSLKzYQwlJvCBk3WmBCjtvj_hlAi6gI0ZMnCZMYUl7ZSLy2yXZLSEm2W6aqgMUmb8OvM8eTuX1RjIzWBGWNC2U5w6b6UtjeQK9MOQgbE/s4048/IMG_20211031_182133.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS4Umnou54-ZyFOVepKwdK0X3vp20D67U_8626QSLKzYQwlJvCBk3WmBCjtvj_hlAi6gI0ZMnCZMYUl7ZSLy2yXZLSEm2W6aqgMUmb8OvM8eTuX1RjIzWBGWNC2U5w6b6UtjeQK9MOQgbE/s16000/IMG_20211031_182133.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">It worked! All the pumpkins stayed fresh and were really easy to cut. They didn't turn out instagram-perfect but the kids were all happy with how they turned out and they looked great along the road welcoming trick or treaters. I love that the kids are big enough to have agency over their own creations and young enough that they don't care what anyone else thinks of them.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p></div>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-3463833076347474042021-10-30T19:15:00.008-07:002021-10-30T19:15:00.180-07:00The End of a Long Road<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkmXAz6Crqmwm0FrE_XCUr2365zmruZH2x_R99JwIxmWV3FMjT0pxf96xETvBkfcQRDqEKuRgDG0vUodZVJgQaERlvd7WougpAGmEVXiNcuyfEUY9o0-tw4I5ZlUU9eNt6ktcc33HHLf2w/s4048/IMG_20210715_094747.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkmXAz6Crqmwm0FrE_XCUr2365zmruZH2x_R99JwIxmWV3FMjT0pxf96xETvBkfcQRDqEKuRgDG0vUodZVJgQaERlvd7WougpAGmEVXiNcuyfEUY9o0-tw4I5ZlUU9eNt6ktcc33HHLf2w/s16000/IMG_20210715_094747.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Earth is an American citizen!</div><p></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"> We received our <a href="http://www.ourcharmedlife.net/2021/01/n600k-interview.html">interview appointment in late December</a> and there was just no way we could make all of the arrangements we would have needed to make to travel in a month so we reached out to our senator's office for help in rescheduling our appointment. They were able to help us connect with the right person at the Honolulu office to get the appointment changed to July 16.</p><p style="text-align: center;"> We made our travel arrangements and held our breath that nothing would get in the way of the trip. July came and Earth and I traveled to Honolulu. I was just ready for everything to be over and while Earth was excited to be on a plane again, he hated being away from D and his brothers and sister. The day of the appointment finally came and both Earth and I were up early. It was wild to finally be doing what we had waited so long for. The waiting room was the same and the wait was the same as when we visiting for <a href="http://www.ourcharmedlife.net/2015/02/making-new-americans-or-how-to-wait.html">Sky and Fire's citizenship</a> I really hoped that the interview would be the same too, just a few questions and then back out again but it didn't turn out that way. I don't know why I thought that they wouldn't have the paperwork from my failed attempt to get Earth a green card but of course they did. His file was two inches thick! The interviewer asked me a lot of questions about how Earth joined our family and our relationship with his birth family, I suppose trying to clarify things from the earlier case. Eventually she turned to Earth and asked him some questions. When she asked him who I was he said, "Ms Amber" and I just about died! I had to scramble to clarify that since I work at the Library, that's what all his preschool friends call me when they come for story time. It thought for sure we were going to be in trouble, that she would accuse us of faking our case but she accepted my answers and moved on. D's address was still listed as Tucson and she did ask about that but I was able to show her his employment contract and orders for Kwajalein and to confirm that we had sold the house and she accepted that. I think the whole process took about an hour and half. </p><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"> Once we were done with the interview, she asked us to return to the waiting room without saying whether or not Earth had passed. We waited 40 minutes with no answer and I was just starting to convince myself of all the bad things when a young woman walked out with his certificate. She apologized for the wait and explained that they've just recently switched to digitally printing the photos and were having trouble with the system. We took our picture and then were free to go. Earth and I stopped in a bathroom before leaving so he could change into his citizen shirt and and walk out showing everyone that he was a new American.</p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJh3ZnUTdPmrT3CaTgV_m_faHW0Dym2ihjHPZRthitkjri23KeIT5Sm46GpUpvZc_2gCMIAkYzOyPClco4nOAPqjHHs0G398PUGEJ9L0Wz4T3CYmabHV98BP75rcprFE7ZpI8GuZxxd8be/s4048/IMG_20210715_095713.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJh3ZnUTdPmrT3CaTgV_m_faHW0Dym2ihjHPZRthitkjri23KeIT5Sm46GpUpvZc_2gCMIAkYzOyPClco4nOAPqjHHs0G398PUGEJ9L0Wz4T3CYmabHV98BP75rcprFE7ZpI8GuZxxd8be/s16000/IMG_20210715_095713.jpg" /></a></div> Since we were still technically in quarantine (we had special privilege to leave the hotel for the interview) we celebrated with all the screen time Earth wanted and ordering McDonalds for dinner. I'm beyond thankful that we've completed the process and that Earth is an American. Now, we can always be together as a family and no one can question if we belong together. I'm looking forward to putting all this behind us and moving on with whatever life holds for us. <br /><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><p></p><p></p>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-73631554863255481232021-10-28T19:30:00.006-07:002021-10-29T19:38:56.467-07:00Catching Up: Fire's Among Us Birthday Party<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijLC1bVQRonh4pzMspQPCdRAx0FVZWnoLVlGPfmeJT8UjwziR8WvIUud237AZB7kNvcGlPUsT_WqurUNpdEMfgLoEhf_uirrMKp9NwIpSc0s-FAHQQL9hK1viydGD2igq89bHjn5nSmW6k/s0/IMG_20210214_185107_1.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijLC1bVQRonh4pzMspQPCdRAx0FVZWnoLVlGPfmeJT8UjwziR8WvIUud237AZB7kNvcGlPUsT_WqurUNpdEMfgLoEhf_uirrMKp9NwIpSc0s-FAHQQL9hK1viydGD2igq89bHjn5nSmW6k/s16000/IMG_20210214_185107_1.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">There is a birthday boy Among Us!</div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Fire's favorite game right now is Among Us and he and his friends play all the time. We've even been able to set up a few sessions with his friends back in the States so they can talk on Zoom and play Among Us together.</div><div style="text-align: center;">We usually only do big birthday celebrations on the 5's (<a href="http://www.ourcharmedlife.net/2014/12/skys-frozen-fifth-birthday-party.html">Sky's fifth birthday</a> set the bar pretty high) but since Fire doesn't ask for much and it takes so little to make him happy, we decided to throw him a real Among Us 9th birthday party.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">We invited all the boys in his class and asked a friend who does party planning here to help with decorations. Another friend made his cake and I planned the games.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc117MjmZBPzC9QW_aPeqSWKThFUOEBS5AkIH4p79cit1VTok2kVGqPca4dtxQWqMZ8paw3em882_XJ7Fb_Khc8XIEsJtS2wpHA2JbkgZGqMdpGRmp7KxlcB7kzGBi1wVBKqXOEws9X683/s4048/IMG_20210214_170437.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc117MjmZBPzC9QW_aPeqSWKThFUOEBS5AkIH4p79cit1VTok2kVGqPca4dtxQWqMZ8paw3em882_XJ7Fb_Khc8XIEsJtS2wpHA2JbkgZGqMdpGRmp7KxlcB7kzGBi1wVBKqXOEws9X683/s16000/IMG_20210214_170437.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Decorated and ready for the party to start!<br /></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieitCBBKn6gpzQD8dEbOC8-iAFV2q5jYfYc2mn5j6l_QxYvSxkdaWDs-HUBkiMHtOAUgjduob7oy8NuLDTy0i2I_dDM1Y5KuMslYcq_UWl6UPaycR2Xlz5xC_gwepcGAmxXxUj7UJf4DgE/s4048/IMG_20210214_170439.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieitCBBKn6gpzQD8dEbOC8-iAFV2q5jYfYc2mn5j6l_QxYvSxkdaWDs-HUBkiMHtOAUgjduob7oy8NuLDTy0i2I_dDM1Y5KuMslYcq_UWl6UPaycR2Xlz5xC_gwepcGAmxXxUj7UJf4DgE/s16000/IMG_20210214_170439.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZrULiw8lD2FROLlVMWpR2Jpi75Y3c7bCTjgMPAu1rqngdPYzO-CFtxy6jSZ26n7ABzFzU01d8Lt0oRxCaSPjarDKaBny2jEfU2tKRlPjU9msOhHmwW2gOCDucbMCP9Qj7s_SqKZssH_rc/s4048/IMG_20210214_170443.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZrULiw8lD2FROLlVMWpR2Jpi75Y3c7bCTjgMPAu1rqngdPYzO-CFtxy6jSZ26n7ABzFzU01d8Lt0oRxCaSPjarDKaBny2jEfU2tKRlPjU9msOhHmwW2gOCDucbMCP9Qj7s_SqKZssH_rc/s16000/IMG_20210214_170443.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizZT7FxEc1pfaRp31dOgo6UEAxPiTA-NAU0qRrwDM8bdTmEz2gUTnX7vWtQJL1bcy4jMDNYDUb2QRNmg10_LiAJRGStTyJ6mCBJb-MX0KuQMRZYozR0aKvPvAbxTVFKl9nAg9PQg0kXiC8/s4048/IMG_20210214_170447.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizZT7FxEc1pfaRp31dOgo6UEAxPiTA-NAU0qRrwDM8bdTmEz2gUTnX7vWtQJL1bcy4jMDNYDUb2QRNmg10_LiAJRGStTyJ6mCBJb-MX0KuQMRZYozR0aKvPvAbxTVFKl9nAg9PQg0kXiC8/s16000/IMG_20210214_170447.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">The kids chose cards to see who would be crew mates and who would be the imposter and then headed out on their tasks<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6AqCLEtF-WLXxB3mFOI613zKMV-JnOV4OQTcd31dzE_QCFNt87BCS71G-gtuPGwUoJfbsCScdam_Z-s4Wb5SfSXVC5t1ztZjj-7EzGMk9zEDR1i6hpy6W7bjA8q7KUnWcKh3OwHJioDUC/s4048/IMG_20210214_165053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6AqCLEtF-WLXxB3mFOI613zKMV-JnOV4OQTcd31dzE_QCFNt87BCS71G-gtuPGwUoJfbsCScdam_Z-s4Wb5SfSXVC5t1ztZjj-7EzGMk9zEDR1i6hpy6W7bjA8q7KUnWcKh3OwHJioDUC/s16000/IMG_20210214_165053.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkCWQwtGPApD8bIaiD_P0bsg2p7KWFGOxQEMI2eTNfHWYKbpLH9WguluO-v9RBAuzcjkDGoI0GCeLDLzocHD8X_8u6k1AYCBfTCrZ4aS2VpQrPm140_Rb7NGqP1ijq8prhH7f00Tuz-b6p/s4048/IMG_20210214_165537.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkCWQwtGPApD8bIaiD_P0bsg2p7KWFGOxQEMI2eTNfHWYKbpLH9WguluO-v9RBAuzcjkDGoI0GCeLDLzocHD8X_8u6k1AYCBfTCrZ4aS2VpQrPm140_Rb7NGqP1ijq8prhH7f00Tuz-b6p/s16000/IMG_20210214_165537.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">Here are just a few of the tasks I created for the crew mates to complete<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBXgDkBpO_P7s8Q_jWCn1ALh0Cr3KenE3NaGCg8FzEnil7G75pxPvl4YCFC6wzC0JtnMYG9BlTlFjmeQqcRrTiQVa54BPloz2h8jqXLkW_TjksbosuWATzZaFbbM_X2IkkBylgZT7dXXmV/s948/Among+Us+Tasks.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="948" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBXgDkBpO_P7s8Q_jWCn1ALh0Cr3KenE3NaGCg8FzEnil7G75pxPvl4YCFC6wzC0JtnMYG9BlTlFjmeQqcRrTiQVa54BPloz2h8jqXLkW_TjksbosuWATzZaFbbM_X2IkkBylgZT7dXXmV/s16000/Among+Us+Tasks.png" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPpujroJ68DHGGgBxnLwC4Wb2RNG6jsMhMAa8_iMd3WueYXJM5qBCqoljOWYxZY6GMkjg_PTLVpYZhT8vls5NB68hD6vZGK5lcGhxMlHFjOxk8AB6bT_pg9-kawUy-_QqJq8teFh2GSkI1/s4048/IMG_20210214_165604.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPpujroJ68DHGGgBxnLwC4Wb2RNG6jsMhMAa8_iMd3WueYXJM5qBCqoljOWYxZY6GMkjg_PTLVpYZhT8vls5NB68hD6vZGK5lcGhxMlHFjOxk8AB6bT_pg9-kawUy-_QqJq8teFh2GSkI1/s16000/IMG_20210214_165604.jpg" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Of course, Fire wanted a pinata and it had to be red- he said it was the best color for an imposter!<br /></div><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY_1whoIhnKR_R3uAE1XYmJUoeovDys5ehGaamzHJWQuK0WqPRl7wThbQPOZF-I5fFxWnPSmar1NS1JUxqlprCjSlSuVt2UFC22uG2jE_gY7nEP0C35v83N_vZo63Bl7FyDkbfKF9VQvhX/s4048/IMG_20210214_174749.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY_1whoIhnKR_R3uAE1XYmJUoeovDys5ehGaamzHJWQuK0WqPRl7wThbQPOZF-I5fFxWnPSmar1NS1JUxqlprCjSlSuVt2UFC22uG2jE_gY7nEP0C35v83N_vZo63Bl7FyDkbfKF9VQvhX/s16000/IMG_20210214_174749.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7NPb0aVJCHC7RJxcDfye4ZH9AOUCeUagGPBhk3Gm39aiC0HsF3NelaEVqXUNnxwvGPCa0iJkPgKnpMyQ_SDVf3Q6qML3PEmbXOPpHWauiHjh3sHdDDJZsKbVt_7LiZu93ID-GTKH8-p24/s4048/IMG_20210214_175754.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7NPb0aVJCHC7RJxcDfye4ZH9AOUCeUagGPBhk3Gm39aiC0HsF3NelaEVqXUNnxwvGPCa0iJkPgKnpMyQ_SDVf3Q6qML3PEmbXOPpHWauiHjh3sHdDDJZsKbVt_7LiZu93ID-GTKH8-p24/s16000/IMG_20210214_175754.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinGKahcGoALTN1I5KNhyphenhyphenkK39e5LwpY7nYtbam1lr-eCXiYjF2lw8AoEDD_Sa9Uh6kIodFa1t3QPnNtsGT3qioO8-wHOzRsTWzhCCGva4Bm904tzo0eRkW6oWVA-Dx0xOXl9uaR9ftHnLAh/s4048/IMG_20210214_175918.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinGKahcGoALTN1I5KNhyphenhyphenkK39e5LwpY7nYtbam1lr-eCXiYjF2lw8AoEDD_Sa9Uh6kIodFa1t3QPnNtsGT3qioO8-wHOzRsTWzhCCGva4Bm904tzo0eRkW6oWVA-Dx0xOXl9uaR9ftHnLAh/s16000/IMG_20210214_175918.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkh8QEok4IlwjarsEIBfdY29mIvzpUxMppyVRk9TQHebdCUGFdWc9rbDNkYQlW-gAVb3Rdp_xPjFUM1xGb6xHF-QQToerT08rimLi-GqnCCYux4pzfyUo_BmPFFekGxRHCZUUbP5C9wx93/s4048/IMG_20210214_175900.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkh8QEok4IlwjarsEIBfdY29mIvzpUxMppyVRk9TQHebdCUGFdWc9rbDNkYQlW-gAVb3Rdp_xPjFUM1xGb6xHF-QQToerT08rimLi-GqnCCYux4pzfyUo_BmPFFekGxRHCZUUbP5C9wx93/s16000/IMG_20210214_175900.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6SAzKWcAMrf0hlTR8WINS7FgQY16xdFgBGNoKswepkLPJaLm-5EteahxJq0C_dxiHcrZwISIa_8xOjSvQ3AtduGomaBpnrXElZL0iLwCkxE6YjnzxEgHyuVNKi8u85Y2PRYES7SqI3tWM/s4048/IMG_20210214_180114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6SAzKWcAMrf0hlTR8WINS7FgQY16xdFgBGNoKswepkLPJaLm-5EteahxJq0C_dxiHcrZwISIa_8xOjSvQ3AtduGomaBpnrXElZL0iLwCkxE6YjnzxEgHyuVNKi8u85Y2PRYES7SqI3tWM/s16000/IMG_20210214_180114.jpg" /></a></div></div><div> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Cake time! <br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg0S37DDP9ufaGTGFoAkYTw8vYB9uYDIJnvGdwRyvlLO3gcn0pQhjZRLUVHzyXCcjM7vEqF7Ia8x5ZIIzIsv9zyKBPMQa9o1t3kk-YLcgtl2lB7UA_tMojrQEYW7FhxGRKkNKYsp2in1qv/s4048/IMG_20210214_180850.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg0S37DDP9ufaGTGFoAkYTw8vYB9uYDIJnvGdwRyvlLO3gcn0pQhjZRLUVHzyXCcjM7vEqF7Ia8x5ZIIzIsv9zyKBPMQa9o1t3kk-YLcgtl2lB7UA_tMojrQEYW7FhxGRKkNKYsp2in1qv/s16000/IMG_20210214_180850.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Unfortunately, the heat and humidity here meant that some of the crew mates on top of the cake were looking a little rough by the time we pulled out the cake but the kids still thought it was amazing.</div></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyae_DoGLfmlVM89uB5YpRTHJA4J5E6Yc5M7MrvJnHnoUhps7OsBCGmYOxzmYn3URVqNabFBeq3Yx1qw_jcwVzE6bthr86I8dU2sB3PwofOXsuL6oiyUedwXBrUaFSoW6ujh3rSa6FJQcR/s4048/IMG_20210214_185104_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyae_DoGLfmlVM89uB5YpRTHJA4J5E6Yc5M7MrvJnHnoUhps7OsBCGmYOxzmYn3URVqNabFBeq3Yx1qw_jcwVzE6bthr86I8dU2sB3PwofOXsuL6oiyUedwXBrUaFSoW6ujh3rSa6FJQcR/s16000/IMG_20210214_185104_1.jpg" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7SlKLdc55pOdcGRXeU9dLRh3U0sWSN5YftRaw7L7ZFfIq8KXtgO_bIO_0f99PszRYEa4Q6p32vrldGuPWImCoSxedU_g8MOo78GIn1Y1Tz_DLJgyC9Iv1vRnCXYuvVaoSdrPv0PjKGG-c/s4048/IMG_20210214_191444.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7SlKLdc55pOdcGRXeU9dLRh3U0sWSN5YftRaw7L7ZFfIq8KXtgO_bIO_0f99PszRYEa4Q6p32vrldGuPWImCoSxedU_g8MOo78GIn1Y1Tz_DLJgyC9Iv1vRnCXYuvVaoSdrPv0PjKGG-c/s16000/IMG_20210214_191444.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMuqBHrNnOE5hCTWkHk647QFVAc-cngqL4J4tHMyzTpWf_Ck0BPSYgx6tx69_cqKTIV5xC6iC6yy83Pja6uEQ958PD_sQLR3sRhX38Nxv2pas0sC2fmqvin9IT7-IgJey-ZNqF86LfNJMD/s4048/IMG_20210214_191449.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMuqBHrNnOE5hCTWkHk647QFVAc-cngqL4J4tHMyzTpWf_Ck0BPSYgx6tx69_cqKTIV5xC6iC6yy83Pja6uEQ958PD_sQLR3sRhX38Nxv2pas0sC2fmqvin9IT7-IgJey-ZNqF86LfNJMD/s16000/IMG_20210214_191449.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz8MAf8fifFjELnnqa3Tgl4PGdxd3VVbJnL4kVy2OKlLPh2ElaOEx7tKxNMXutdWheqySk-BtFenRqJUhZwMTbI06bhdWIrJE28XL2e_elPR_7UwWbpnUusbk7sRF1NPhIa7NT9-YEti9V/s4048/IMG_20210214_192035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz8MAf8fifFjELnnqa3Tgl4PGdxd3VVbJnL4kVy2OKlLPh2ElaOEx7tKxNMXutdWheqySk-BtFenRqJUhZwMTbI06bhdWIrJE28XL2e_elPR_7UwWbpnUusbk7sRF1NPhIa7NT9-YEti9V/s16000/IMG_20210214_192035.jpg" /></a></div></div><div> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Fire has a very hard time expressing how he feels but I think this picture pretty much sums up what he thought of his party<br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXjLEyssxf8M8rjPuhMCVPINuZ90pVZzBID3YjriXHhijP_w1BE7El9oHOytSzoaObGay8do5Y3_rEuWd0mwkwHiEY3L_wEzMN664EPf0_2sKDoNyPWhOG-ZHi8UU5jxusRXc5mWj1x4yo/s4048/IMG_20210215_060931.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXjLEyssxf8M8rjPuhMCVPINuZ90pVZzBID3YjriXHhijP_w1BE7El9oHOytSzoaObGay8do5Y3_rEuWd0mwkwHiEY3L_wEzMN664EPf0_2sKDoNyPWhOG-ZHi8UU5jxusRXc5mWj1x4yo/s16000/IMG_20210215_060931.jpg" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">It was more work than I wanted to put in but knowing how happy it made him made it all worth while<br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-49900888334303791822021-10-27T19:21:00.001-07:002021-10-27T19:21:00.217-07:00Swim Meet Highlights<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF5tL0m2LRUOL55UJ1AnwVgvI-Vk5K1KzbRwAMZUrFSObxPiWuS_DyTDq_OAUfsh5R0GWVsRJoJ6F_CZsXKP35gmPtKS2TbP4V3P7GHmbxrkRlWW6QZYyyFLify_td_TBHS_Vvp_Tmv6Bz/s4048/IMG_20211025_085006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF5tL0m2LRUOL55UJ1AnwVgvI-Vk5K1KzbRwAMZUrFSObxPiWuS_DyTDq_OAUfsh5R0GWVsRJoJ6F_CZsXKP35gmPtKS2TbP4V3P7GHmbxrkRlWW6QZYyyFLify_td_TBHS_Vvp_Tmv6Bz/s16000/IMG_20211025_085006.jpg" /></a></div>Time for another swim meet! <p></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDzo7aRl5gsAW_4GE7xVUlmZzyRAuDTEyAT9paKvKrdU7SYr0PyCJ_fcKUV2-4pzhuanSz4TRqDIMtQmourHQ9tapowrhXc_AKy02HPJl44EhmeBB8BJrQwhmgQqGZ1q_g1XqKKDB-EmRG/s2592/IMG_20211025_085025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="1944" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDzo7aRl5gsAW_4GE7xVUlmZzyRAuDTEyAT9paKvKrdU7SYr0PyCJ_fcKUV2-4pzhuanSz4TRqDIMtQmourHQ9tapowrhXc_AKy02HPJl44EhmeBB8BJrQwhmgQqGZ1q_g1XqKKDB-EmRG/s16000/IMG_20211025_085025.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Only Earth wanted to have me take a picture of his race numbers. Check out the looks on these two:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBxVMe9Nss879F4Ld3e7XAsaMK3-9ZJnFvr3WeA9SjNesoVQzN2WEMv5PtvcQ5MmfYKLhseycyGB00DqCQHKibcBEboq_CBvsrsiD282rES8JlH4MPhHvACOUWDaxK4TzSbmEDnRIQd4iy/s4048/IMG_20211025_085126.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBxVMe9Nss879F4Ld3e7XAsaMK3-9ZJnFvr3WeA9SjNesoVQzN2WEMv5PtvcQ5MmfYKLhseycyGB00DqCQHKibcBEboq_CBvsrsiD282rES8JlH4MPhHvACOUWDaxK4TzSbmEDnRIQd4iy/s16000/IMG_20211025_085126.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Xg9NAS8pF_RJVKdD47VtZ9hi6tJP7oZ5_TRb6qDbnxSG5tS3QzFUCz1XoCtwmE-4fp4rjyAg7BtzAgGpOL0VmjjI6Lh5UgOWL4o7VmxoMXhs__2GKUdOaj5YPBdjwtyg8ZwQwkyTfFK5/s4048/IMG_20211025_084905.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Xg9NAS8pF_RJVKdD47VtZ9hi6tJP7oZ5_TRb6qDbnxSG5tS3QzFUCz1XoCtwmE-4fp4rjyAg7BtzAgGpOL0VmjjI6Lh5UgOWL4o7VmxoMXhs__2GKUdOaj5YPBdjwtyg8ZwQwkyTfFK5/s16000/IMG_20211025_084905.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I promised Sky this would be the only picture I would take of her outside the pool this meet and still couldn't get her to smile. Moms are embarrassing!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMJCHZO80QMKDKdkRmknIn4rsI9km_3QsUp8me2hMVIM07Ciuh29akPrIRXv0Tqvn_j2LiS9tOGF2W-_NLXGl149CQwxr_vaJhY8ySr72gpTBt4sK8mZdM3-k7oKAwR2shVNlUqFcwuUFo/s3036/IMG_20211025_085317.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMJCHZO80QMKDKdkRmknIn4rsI9km_3QsUp8me2hMVIM07Ciuh29akPrIRXv0Tqvn_j2LiS9tOGF2W-_NLXGl149CQwxr_vaJhY8ySr72gpTBt4sK8mZdM3-k7oKAwR2shVNlUqFcwuUFo/s16000/IMG_20211025_085317.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Killing time before the meet starts with a staring contest</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQbw4YgoU-Qf3NbKtIqf5Y63orJNP-8KsExaT2lxP-dhrINI-okbYQUXIafQf3CC5KrDi4y8u2K9cxqbER6W_5jCsr6R5qfOB6GiK8z81O6BGaTyKhYKv-uNa6Eels7c5u5YmaNfVCEEr9/s4048/00007IMG_00007_BURST20211025091354.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQbw4YgoU-Qf3NbKtIqf5Y63orJNP-8KsExaT2lxP-dhrINI-okbYQUXIafQf3CC5KrDi4y8u2K9cxqbER6W_5jCsr6R5qfOB6GiK8z81O6BGaTyKhYKv-uNa6Eels7c5u5YmaNfVCEEr9/s16000/00007IMG_00007_BURST20211025091354.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I didn't get too many pictures of Sky since she's in the middle of her heats and because she swims close to the water line anyway, there isn't much to capture. She had a pretty good meet with a few personal bests and swam her fastest when she was the anchor leg on an IM relay with other kids in her school class.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2OSA2yXOL4l7SuBDw3k-S7DHlO7sFjsrStBRJuiE6d2Oq3V5BZcEgZ-NAXNVB3AY97z31JNMBK13KFzw-QJAcmcfjPk1lfOAv1QzIWGFkLrW1uQrT8_FJxMymTvybLhMwnSKc-hhbflBK/s4048/IMG_20211025_093843.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2OSA2yXOL4l7SuBDw3k-S7DHlO7sFjsrStBRJuiE6d2Oq3V5BZcEgZ-NAXNVB3AY97z31JNMBK13KFzw-QJAcmcfjPk1lfOAv1QzIWGFkLrW1uQrT8_FJxMymTvybLhMwnSKc-hhbflBK/s16000/IMG_20211025_093843.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRIqQ-tWHgdsqa_mGTku7htSjpH5lhWLOkWPswhOKPir3wQ1E_C_VWPM7u38udKWBcYhtaZOw6YQNWCeuIJ0iHOS2RFQOx7xx5I4vzK9xfp8ZaLG3_ssG7EB6bWH2SGUYq6tnk9rZEHxSA/s4048/IMG_20211025_092321.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRIqQ-tWHgdsqa_mGTku7htSjpH5lhWLOkWPswhOKPir3wQ1E_C_VWPM7u38udKWBcYhtaZOw6YQNWCeuIJ0iHOS2RFQOx7xx5I4vzK9xfp8ZaLG3_ssG7EB6bWH2SGUYq6tnk9rZEHxSA/s16000/IMG_20211025_092321.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Earth is a good swimmer but since he's still so young, he was only in three events: freestyle, backstroke, and a relay. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLteA5TtUJXsGKY9uiW4yMO39p90DiU5vSO1db6He9x2hHUapg0qJr-mYLS98KA1969-K5sHpT1wn501ZnsMj74n-8DzbyH-X4E_q-fFS9CJ4rY21M37ON1N18VfSBXsa83eWyIbcTxR12/s4048/IMG_20211025_095741_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLteA5TtUJXsGKY9uiW4yMO39p90DiU5vSO1db6He9x2hHUapg0qJr-mYLS98KA1969-K5sHpT1wn501ZnsMj74n-8DzbyH-X4E_q-fFS9CJ4rY21M37ON1N18VfSBXsa83eWyIbcTxR12/s16000/IMG_20211025_095741_1.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7DeJX1TIdj2BfSJQkqMh2E7F7WaC3SmymaZDTFYhtrBfsTNqviZ0A6siqd_DeFcBH48k8JbtK9qvfNjPyEwNdwVFL6xZBEONV-tiTuLh1d76t4_9a2cz-hK_-XGAWIdTRLRmntdoX5bFs/s4048/00000IMG_00000_BURST20211025113637_COVER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7DeJX1TIdj2BfSJQkqMh2E7F7WaC3SmymaZDTFYhtrBfsTNqviZ0A6siqd_DeFcBH48k8JbtK9qvfNjPyEwNdwVFL6xZBEONV-tiTuLh1d76t4_9a2cz-hK_-XGAWIdTRLRmntdoX5bFs/s16000/00000IMG_00000_BURST20211025113637_COVER.jpg" /></a></div>Earth was really nervous before his leg of the relay because he'd never jumped off the bulkhead wall before and was afraid he was going to jump on his team mate. When he finally did jump, he cleared her by a good three feet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS5kojlVOAqHX6b-nG7AjhwRSBHZIeDDzj0VKWEbqFuJlzw1ckZ9Q4bNu5WwImgyfQKocLOfvUhI3xkC9tMMd5mL0swivrKwdmp9KK6ddkzvMJDTjMGky4gghCop-pTJ2KigyttOXtjyyL/s4048/00028XTR_00028_BURST20211025113637.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS5kojlVOAqHX6b-nG7AjhwRSBHZIeDDzj0VKWEbqFuJlzw1ckZ9Q4bNu5WwImgyfQKocLOfvUhI3xkC9tMMd5mL0swivrKwdmp9KK6ddkzvMJDTjMGky4gghCop-pTJ2KigyttOXtjyyL/s16000/00028XTR_00028_BURST20211025113637.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Allow me to introduce the Kwajalein Swim Team's newest coach:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8wjkb8C-gUu9FgZsZK47Pi8HB9woRQQqqbP7TvbUQkZnfeWmOoaqWzZp5iKE-8-FGmC05jkW1GMKFlF7bxB5_4QM0eekKtN-BpiS5GmSEOjfz074Znx4B2QK7QedJOeSnvD_XtWkBY-v1/s3036/IMG_20211025_103123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8wjkb8C-gUu9FgZsZK47Pi8HB9woRQQqqbP7TvbUQkZnfeWmOoaqWzZp5iKE-8-FGmC05jkW1GMKFlF7bxB5_4QM0eekKtN-BpiS5GmSEOjfz074Znx4B2QK7QedJOeSnvD_XtWkBY-v1/s16000/IMG_20211025_103123.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;">This is A, one of the swim coaches here and Water adores her. She also helps out with the afterschool program and is always so patient with all the kids. They all love her but she's Water's favorite person in the world right now.</div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX6vIfQyxWq-ZvS1c3lRWbGdtDfrP4ELFmYcu0YjTyzocOY2JFO3xaXoIkr_48QD8Ly8MGnFcLagqBqEE7cZxkKct4TvuuSVw9GFOr0NMlxaeySOEc4m9g04FKbREZXTZAexXn38L0sYjA/s4048/IMG_20211025_102747.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX6vIfQyxWq-ZvS1c3lRWbGdtDfrP4ELFmYcu0YjTyzocOY2JFO3xaXoIkr_48QD8Ly8MGnFcLagqBqEE7cZxkKct4TvuuSVw9GFOr0NMlxaeySOEc4m9g04FKbREZXTZAexXn38L0sYjA/s16000/IMG_20211025_102747.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Sky and Earth had good meets but this was really Water's turn to shine. He improved by 2-3 seconds and earned personal bests in every race<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjtZlNPmnG-X-DrSKXzw-Ai6qGORHuXpxE21YbKjoVMMgtWhJWRjFm69887x-SpbtgC-YJay_ktrkjIEZxBECEUrI6MbZUMq-TkAe7CLJzQKnBEzkm1nUx5Lw3VQXt5n5NhWZcdT3Z-HFx/s3788/IMG_20211025_095915.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2841" data-original-width="3788" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjtZlNPmnG-X-DrSKXzw-Ai6qGORHuXpxE21YbKjoVMMgtWhJWRjFm69887x-SpbtgC-YJay_ktrkjIEZxBECEUrI6MbZUMq-TkAe7CLJzQKnBEzkm1nUx5Lw3VQXt5n5NhWZcdT3Z-HFx/s16000/IMG_20211025_095915.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0HFSPY7321KbGoYjV437x4IdZM30Hp6ft_Mc40YUZiIJoYSKfAAhCLLOJuaAGLRDn2fR62ZP3D48CyfcW3L5IobwSJfO7ZvvbEVtrnnkKszsTWo1lJ8b3uhF0Gt7WtT3CUapG8IkpyTE/s2048/IMG_20211025_092654_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0HFSPY7321KbGoYjV437x4IdZM30Hp6ft_Mc40YUZiIJoYSKfAAhCLLOJuaAGLRDn2fR62ZP3D48CyfcW3L5IobwSJfO7ZvvbEVtrnnkKszsTWo1lJ8b3uhF0Gt7WtT3CUapG8IkpyTE/s16000/IMG_20211025_092654_2.jpg" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm0CD6QluX8G7uaeBp8rAZFx1SvOeT8JPfgeM-HMNwdGzeSjvNXahLFR_yvcrAMwTHAu_FbG7vVEtpXm6dybL-Jlu2qVoTgX2kraUWJ1Kwgk4SVpzmX9l0hgYv0knAdoXysCSbz_L2sy5u/s4048/00000IMG_00000_BURST20211025102003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm0CD6QluX8G7uaeBp8rAZFx1SvOeT8JPfgeM-HMNwdGzeSjvNXahLFR_yvcrAMwTHAu_FbG7vVEtpXm6dybL-Jlu2qVoTgX2kraUWJ1Kwgk4SVpzmX9l0hgYv0knAdoXysCSbz_L2sy5u/s16000/00000IMG_00000_BURST20211025102003.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">You may have noticed that Fire wasn't in this meet. We let each of the kids choose if they wanted to participate in every meet and skip two practices or attend every practice and skip one meet. Fire chose the latter and this was the meet he skipped. I would have preferred that the kids do all the meets and all the practices but since we're insisting that they do swim team, giving them the choice of how they participate still gives them some control and that's a compromise I can live with. </div><br />Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-55671275642292791412021-10-25T20:33:00.001-07:002021-10-25T20:33:00.255-07:00Catching Up: 10 Years Home- Sky's Family Day<p style="text-align: center;"> 10 years! Our energetic, clever, amazing girl has been home for 10 years. It seems like such a short time since I can remember exactly how I felt when we were waiting for our court date- like the day would never come- but when I think about everything that's happened in those 10 years, time stretches back out. As always, I'm beyond thankful for this wonderful girl that made us parents. Sky, you are a treasure and it brings nothing but joy to my heart to watch you grow.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">As we always do on family days, Sky chose what she wanted for dinner and what our family activity in the evening would be. Since she chose a walk to the park, we took our family day pictures there:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinJAFQEp7I4EgFfiFJwlqbPnZ0DuP2DyZ8lfxdX1XWJBH3pwtdMqUcJk6Dvxrw2SdRVzWUfMKEfdtwaGBzyL86iICMgecCh2R-jlxlTNOj2s7rzpQxDCD2I1EqEKl2f6oVVJ6XQOYst7N-/s800/P2260417.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinJAFQEp7I4EgFfiFJwlqbPnZ0DuP2DyZ8lfxdX1XWJBH3pwtdMqUcJk6Dvxrw2SdRVzWUfMKEfdtwaGBzyL86iICMgecCh2R-jlxlTNOj2s7rzpQxDCD2I1EqEKl2f6oVVJ6XQOYst7N-/s16000/P2260417.JPG" /></a></div>2011<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisDzZQ2M_lggtejFCWP12wPvU6N3o87m-HI7pU5d_47bHfKV_rVJucvonop817SxpbVVe39gU4FiqkuAv6B_MDawokmkfgZLDsnZi0y5NfBuFlxewTTmGve4PH1L9YbbX5lH_dIXx65ME_/s4048/IMG_20210225_191732.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisDzZQ2M_lggtejFCWP12wPvU6N3o87m-HI7pU5d_47bHfKV_rVJucvonop817SxpbVVe39gU4FiqkuAv6B_MDawokmkfgZLDsnZi0y5NfBuFlxewTTmGve4PH1L9YbbX5lH_dIXx65ME_/s16000/IMG_20210225_191732.jpg" /></a></div>2021<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4mNHyH-zxxY2XHHDXTh3vcU_tFD-EwfXstfCxZji7exUid7FlVMIL8HYUBUda36jpmg08Z_I-15kwYBSufGWG1pzM-vcETV6aBC78BY8mBJ2CcBJfrKOc0xZlO2Agmm2LZrIH_LlC0kqZ/s800/P2260412.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4mNHyH-zxxY2XHHDXTh3vcU_tFD-EwfXstfCxZji7exUid7FlVMIL8HYUBUda36jpmg08Z_I-15kwYBSufGWG1pzM-vcETV6aBC78BY8mBJ2CcBJfrKOc0xZlO2Agmm2LZrIH_LlC0kqZ/s16000/P2260412.JPG" /></a></div>2011<br /><div><br /></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdxzXhI-oqEa9pxzJT7f56KvSDP1XRNXbZiu-wpMkqo1Xprb2hYevJYwjkU3FaFXc8LmdgeKj7V264PNadReiv7kh2cCocVxF743fzqyL0glFKPSPJ7XGZ73WejsAxtfuNK2D8ovkz_C1K/s4048/IMG_20210225_191750.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdxzXhI-oqEa9pxzJT7f56KvSDP1XRNXbZiu-wpMkqo1Xprb2hYevJYwjkU3FaFXc8LmdgeKj7V264PNadReiv7kh2cCocVxF743fzqyL0glFKPSPJ7XGZ73WejsAxtfuNK2D8ovkz_C1K/s16000/IMG_20210225_191750.jpg" /></a></div>2021<br /><div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p></div></div>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-36673134626587986682021-10-23T21:20:00.000-07:002021-10-23T21:20:38.189-07:00Seeing Kwaj in a Different Way<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqZmuFSApsLbwgZOj0qzVS5zQZrj1SMugUJ-FCrPAC4AGIQaco8st7kBq_ke6WX_e4vAlIilu5VUuwjjnw-K85DOJ2efUXXj-3LwHsXeEC-sTWnixKjDITJ-95g3ICNLXC1Y_HD0jcLWP-/s2048/DSC_0028+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1375" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqZmuFSApsLbwgZOj0qzVS5zQZrj1SMugUJ-FCrPAC4AGIQaco8st7kBq_ke6WX_e4vAlIilu5VUuwjjnw-K85DOJ2efUXXj-3LwHsXeEC-sTWnixKjDITJ-95g3ICNLXC1Y_HD0jcLWP-/s16000/DSC_0028+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a></div>I bought a second-hand DSLR camera when I lived on Ebeye and have been using it here to try and capture Kwaj in a different way. Here are some of my favorites so far:<p></p><span></span><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmJkDSnrAn-thR7gdfD88xSoUrqaidANAjBVeafos8U-6ErxSP_hOTfmkrNIxk6CzAflHOW6HtiT69GeLOb4YL0M_7sqVQ_DFyoY7oGo4YlShjiSaUpGGP9L5h4KPaR_q-4Vs1ndZUQ8BX/s2048/DSC_0036+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1395" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmJkDSnrAn-thR7gdfD88xSoUrqaidANAjBVeafos8U-6ErxSP_hOTfmkrNIxk6CzAflHOW6HtiT69GeLOb4YL0M_7sqVQ_DFyoY7oGo4YlShjiSaUpGGP9L5h4KPaR_q-4Vs1ndZUQ8BX/s16000/DSC_0036+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhepiUSgdXDDvZB4m9JSV36chrEi-ZEIK_UX4A7WQfvA8R31WDoniFy1npmpjFrnctLopGseLCzPFBngEqkh8eDTbxCbYog8HGp0q4WGThhDxIk6gVVuP8RB1rtwbGkDBCD2oP9ZrDaXbdE/s2048/DSC_0050+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1375" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhepiUSgdXDDvZB4m9JSV36chrEi-ZEIK_UX4A7WQfvA8R31WDoniFy1npmpjFrnctLopGseLCzPFBngEqkh8eDTbxCbYog8HGp0q4WGThhDxIk6gVVuP8RB1rtwbGkDBCD2oP9ZrDaXbdE/s16000/DSC_0050+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFbnfOEA7q_juTBigCMoniZDQ7zYZpMJpY2gTp-f44gWjTj5N1Qh3gMtxeVJzF8tQos28GrXh5pWGGhpUx_CHxJCY7ITiLiqq7LeAoysSceXxVxlS92CQ_gU7yvOH2QT4BA5z203aOSMfS/s2048/DSC_0079+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1374" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFbnfOEA7q_juTBigCMoniZDQ7zYZpMJpY2gTp-f44gWjTj5N1Qh3gMtxeVJzF8tQos28GrXh5pWGGhpUx_CHxJCY7ITiLiqq7LeAoysSceXxVxlS92CQ_gU7yvOH2QT4BA5z203aOSMfS/s16000/DSC_0079+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3MMLtLxq9Uq0brTdG0njxe6PPCAhjqWZbc98XREvHe5TEtpnFFqhdEgCExaKvsQw2XamH1pDPC_tLCRKkPbCcxm1J6RWr1xYztp7Y73GnDDl3Q2QLDU5AURJscwrYSokr3LOVnlb0xgJw/s2048/DSC_0088+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1374" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3MMLtLxq9Uq0brTdG0njxe6PPCAhjqWZbc98XREvHe5TEtpnFFqhdEgCExaKvsQw2XamH1pDPC_tLCRKkPbCcxm1J6RWr1xYztp7Y73GnDDl3Q2QLDU5AURJscwrYSokr3LOVnlb0xgJw/s16000/DSC_0088+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvSm0DirAuLaGT8IgrkqSCKGtBEEsKJP4vVdX7OOP2rchxlIpch9_QqQlM1XsWBow6-4LkyOI-6mw24oWRNbEGtn6flVw4bJTbOVi7kA7y7lBMRihBRNq95Ypv4mh6k5ZCR2Caa7kechDy/s2048/DSC_0119+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1374" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvSm0DirAuLaGT8IgrkqSCKGtBEEsKJP4vVdX7OOP2rchxlIpch9_QqQlM1XsWBow6-4LkyOI-6mw24oWRNbEGtn6flVw4bJTbOVi7kA7y7lBMRihBRNq95Ypv4mh6k5ZCR2Caa7kechDy/s16000/DSC_0119+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgww9OkgtXART6O6X1o6D-sxFxR7nru9FQQxxcn6dcf2u8T5WKISNeFLqiyA3Di11vMzo5pG4-_RlGIplaaQ2PSQeuar5zDa3_GZWxoifxXW75OViOrU5ngd4k4-mZXJmtG6cePRXI37hTs/s2048/DSC_0135+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgww9OkgtXART6O6X1o6D-sxFxR7nru9FQQxxcn6dcf2u8T5WKISNeFLqiyA3Di11vMzo5pG4-_RlGIplaaQ2PSQeuar5zDa3_GZWxoifxXW75OViOrU5ngd4k4-mZXJmtG6cePRXI37hTs/s16000/DSC_0135+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLM2e8ZuPCThI_4wlwf8TEzAPPEyHbEAK8a0C_A42tlE5VDhlgFmUv49GuRni4fZ8Qp-MxJlvE1EnsK9WmJnGIpmbdWLC7tSYNhNK5_6Au4OWouJKSR1x2c-NybqW_EhKnjuSEuW_zIiDs/s2048/DSC_0151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1375" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLM2e8ZuPCThI_4wlwf8TEzAPPEyHbEAK8a0C_A42tlE5VDhlgFmUv49GuRni4fZ8Qp-MxJlvE1EnsK9WmJnGIpmbdWLC7tSYNhNK5_6Au4OWouJKSR1x2c-NybqW_EhKnjuSEuW_zIiDs/s16000/DSC_0151.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-f_M0BACVZvi4K7O_nvYYFquUVtCCMnbRG-V_70gdf-36lKsfFJ7gqyHQgY-0_ks-VNxxKem3b4PqCE7PLyLeyLMwbpUXab9ro9ckjtHGomELnvnEzNAdn1zaYrvKd8tLUvWliZ9Eges9/s1943/DSC_0158+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1943" data-original-width="1631" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-f_M0BACVZvi4K7O_nvYYFquUVtCCMnbRG-V_70gdf-36lKsfFJ7gqyHQgY-0_ks-VNxxKem3b4PqCE7PLyLeyLMwbpUXab9ro9ckjtHGomELnvnEzNAdn1zaYrvKd8tLUvWliZ9Eges9/s16000/DSC_0158+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgGhG25hyphenhyphenSh1L_7Vwc3_lubMczKg3UTQOCCMFFiZO_BAyQe7E4ih1JfrSAs9CDxcEsDKzKkVUsd0hyi2DJoc47J5T1zP2IhyphenhyphenSq7j48sbIBxyiyMYltAsfbXFS7bes0MgfzFTKBGRztwVz8/s1943/DSC_0170+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1943" data-original-width="1497" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgGhG25hyphenhyphenSh1L_7Vwc3_lubMczKg3UTQOCCMFFiZO_BAyQe7E4ih1JfrSAs9CDxcEsDKzKkVUsd0hyi2DJoc47J5T1zP2IhyphenhyphenSq7j48sbIBxyiyMYltAsfbXFS7bes0MgfzFTKBGRztwVz8/s16000/DSC_0170+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHjFbt8Iii7Yc0QUN3_G5gxYxOi12s61FNLeQY693jdoGWmK9bZyokrrcYFG9WN4nmgUxxX90MN4nsX4_1TD5eKL4A5dDlpwMG6l8FsI3M6uZisO9Tw4rzKZXNrHgfWnyQ37Rmsm_qVOk5/s2048/DSC_0174+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHjFbt8Iii7Yc0QUN3_G5gxYxOi12s61FNLeQY693jdoGWmK9bZyokrrcYFG9WN4nmgUxxX90MN4nsX4_1TD5eKL4A5dDlpwMG6l8FsI3M6uZisO9Tw4rzKZXNrHgfWnyQ37Rmsm_qVOk5/s16000/DSC_0174+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-6889150394422524762021-10-22T20:34:00.003-07:002021-10-23T21:04:39.867-07:00Pumpkins in the Fridge<p style="text-align: center;"> My fridge is full of pumpkins right now...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqYRkl_FIJJ37tAbOQN7B-o26FxlB_A9HpdgssM0eI0Z5SX-e6aDj8pR_NDVCZNKOz8X-AneSvX0q7eWHx9YhXwqUCw3inxwVXZq_fHAUHTRr1BotqZp4Z_4VQRULNPteB9oxFio-RBOWG/s3822/IMG_20211024_143101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2866" data-original-width="3822" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqYRkl_FIJJ37tAbOQN7B-o26FxlB_A9HpdgssM0eI0Z5SX-e6aDj8pR_NDVCZNKOz8X-AneSvX0q7eWHx9YhXwqUCw3inxwVXZq_fHAUHTRr1BotqZp4Z_4VQRULNPteB9oxFio-RBOWG/s16000/IMG_20211024_143101.jpg" /></a></div><span><br /><a name='more'></a><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;">Between the time it takes to get pumpkins here and hot, humid weather, pumpkins don't always last long enough to be carved. We had some bad luck with <a href="http://www.ourcharmedlife.net/2011/10/gearing-up-for-halloween.html">pumpkins rotting before we could carve them</a> and gave up for a while after that (<a href="http://www.ourcharmedlife.net/2012/11/halloween-pics.html">ghost-conuts</a>, anyone?) </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">But this year, the store was selling half-size pumpkins, which are still big enough to carve but small enough to try keeping in the refrigerator until just before Halloween</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTjzJrAFu14qrHwtJuoW2g9N7VI1MgQ7Og4AGlsZ_KIwqrN_8f_tCzBpYSZZJkQNjVX_VU13E-Chg-R3f9x2xlSZeqGOmytvEsS8pIaCXQ_QdWMHl9MXlbcSbcaMrm64zrC49zuVPeX-8Z/s3968/IMG_20211024_154419%257E2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3968" data-original-width="2987" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTjzJrAFu14qrHwtJuoW2g9N7VI1MgQ7Og4AGlsZ_KIwqrN_8f_tCzBpYSZZJkQNjVX_VU13E-Chg-R3f9x2xlSZeqGOmytvEsS8pIaCXQ_QdWMHl9MXlbcSbcaMrm64zrC49zuVPeX-8Z/s16000/IMG_20211024_154419%257E2.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Kwaj is a unique place and sometimes you have to think outside the box. I really hope this works out! The kids are excited to carve pumpkins this year and they're almost all old enough to do most of it on their own. Stop back for my Halloween post to see how my experiment worked!</div>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-30178819658192503362021-10-20T21:51:00.001-07:002021-10-20T21:51:00.241-07:00Catching Up: Happy Birthday, Earth!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfEmNt9f20yeohDlusL405T6atQs01ip6kNxTwg25MnGcJ_0zy1nGvnZ2uHw08dQw_EvNELnz5qerfdLxpXlZvIlniaiuEaoSgjJeOU_R8HZkMs47yUT-f73Umf1i-eAuQ53mr_bIO5c10/s4048/IMG_20210913_180847.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfEmNt9f20yeohDlusL405T6atQs01ip6kNxTwg25MnGcJ_0zy1nGvnZ2uHw08dQw_EvNELnz5qerfdLxpXlZvIlniaiuEaoSgjJeOU_R8HZkMs47yUT-f73Umf1i-eAuQ53mr_bIO5c10/s16000/IMG_20210913_180847.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Earth, our sweet, energetic, surprise baby, has turned 6!</div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidnVH_Iu08FveRa26Bfq9W1T_pUS1KOeWbCoJQFVsn486IKnh9P_A3bvelaSfeORtLedaqiFLzaHVrBVlhah5Vtn4EfBic4KhFPtZ1K8T3Fs5MmV0asECkbIE7B2KjM9cBXOlIur33sOWv/s4048/IMG_20210913_181035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidnVH_Iu08FveRa26Bfq9W1T_pUS1KOeWbCoJQFVsn486IKnh9P_A3bvelaSfeORtLedaqiFLzaHVrBVlhah5Vtn4EfBic4KhFPtZ1K8T3Fs5MmV0asECkbIE7B2KjM9cBXOlIur33sOWv/s16000/IMG_20210913_181035.jpg" /></a></div>We celebrated with our traditional two parties, one for friends at the beach and one for family at home. <p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;">Earth wanted chocolate cake for his party with his friends for only wanted ice cream sundaes for his home party (which meant we had to sing pretty quickly!)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-8yXRaDtGl61LEv9xUmi-KNWrarwLAJ7qEDG6l_tNKKwbP9xYYiIoqe_xACPCogy2avq9rPrIne8UxLcOKGlPVll1UicoY8zlDTBX1HrBZ3PeFoM6leNQHFXlGSwgDuuMGV0b9z4eAo61/s4048/IMG_20210917_201615.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-8yXRaDtGl61LEv9xUmi-KNWrarwLAJ7qEDG6l_tNKKwbP9xYYiIoqe_xACPCogy2avq9rPrIne8UxLcOKGlPVll1UicoY8zlDTBX1HrBZ3PeFoM6leNQHFXlGSwgDuuMGV0b9z4eAo61/s16000/IMG_20210917_201615.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeMlesVzW9rWc_srtHUUY3AukorlcyOATsH9p-MTHKB3d4_s4szwDNvhUQklnAgtRbGTL16hBHgkszGFRbKdD3kiP6KQXv5_sBvhVrDo-yeaqk7sq8x7zOgmO4ANC1b_4qvcpqth9re1Os/s4048/IMG_20210917_201622.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeMlesVzW9rWc_srtHUUY3AukorlcyOATsH9p-MTHKB3d4_s4szwDNvhUQklnAgtRbGTL16hBHgkszGFRbKdD3kiP6KQXv5_sBvhVrDo-yeaqk7sq8x7zOgmO4ANC1b_4qvcpqth9re1Os/s16000/IMG_20210917_201622.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzy_R82O-7gEfhNgLnhtnc4h-hyN5qPEABEuk2cEJxI3UsoTHM72OxbnvAVxo254eDWDX9FPpoi919HbFBDyhPH2iwlJ756lJ0ayAF9DVtgenoeLVmB_-9BsZD6ubpO3yaIzbBri8fgsCM/s4048/IMG_20210917_201715.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzy_R82O-7gEfhNgLnhtnc4h-hyN5qPEABEuk2cEJxI3UsoTHM72OxbnvAVxo254eDWDX9FPpoi919HbFBDyhPH2iwlJ756lJ0ayAF9DVtgenoeLVmB_-9BsZD6ubpO3yaIzbBri8fgsCM/s16000/IMG_20210917_201715.jpg" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Earth didn't need much for gifts but loved the ones he got- a game to play with his friends and a video game to play with his brothers</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_sRx8HcG8rF8Cf-gkEGBoC37GoHRwrSNAFFTJxwLQBI2t_myzxWgYbxoYYUaVl0o97wTAvRsG6bWSR-y44kS5RqCNEa0pBCgCKyiT-XMsembhgQLFjc3eRmnEkl1IaaMPBH0W-60WDBnf/s4048/IMG_20210917_202250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_sRx8HcG8rF8Cf-gkEGBoC37GoHRwrSNAFFTJxwLQBI2t_myzxWgYbxoYYUaVl0o97wTAvRsG6bWSR-y44kS5RqCNEa0pBCgCKyiT-XMsembhgQLFjc3eRmnEkl1IaaMPBH0W-60WDBnf/s16000/IMG_20210917_202250.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeNiUyfLDctpKdDI0sf6wL41o-oqnSi9C1hW4BtfFYCsEj5yGzgY4U3tsjn2TRwphQMTpinKjcVd8ZcoHaeYD9fOgmzfA7BOi40W0u8rBkUA-NAp4wParxCnHbcmgGuzSelD_DftRpH9o0/s4048/IMG_20210917_202312.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeNiUyfLDctpKdDI0sf6wL41o-oqnSi9C1hW4BtfFYCsEj5yGzgY4U3tsjn2TRwphQMTpinKjcVd8ZcoHaeYD9fOgmzfA7BOi40W0u8rBkUA-NAp4wParxCnHbcmgGuzSelD_DftRpH9o0/s16000/IMG_20210917_202312.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFqLGIkfIDf8yPkVXk4iMhmpbK2PW5udF8d0yXYOvDq9wTeET7H4FBMCFCCZPZqa23RklGhEAwvbK5tVW45u1BueUvH5ssvijKNqYFmXPcmjXpf3y7Y4t4Wk_JYVf0Cc-Ho3PwL30TqGb6/s4048/IMG_20210917_202347.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFqLGIkfIDf8yPkVXk4iMhmpbK2PW5udF8d0yXYOvDq9wTeET7H4FBMCFCCZPZqa23RklGhEAwvbK5tVW45u1BueUvH5ssvijKNqYFmXPcmjXpf3y7Y4t4Wk_JYVf0Cc-Ho3PwL30TqGb6/s16000/IMG_20210917_202347.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Happy birthday, Earth! </div><p></p>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-1603741977591578492021-10-18T12:09:00.006-07:002021-10-19T02:15:49.479-07:00Catching Up: Water's 7th Family Day<p style="text-align: center;">Water: the baby we waited and prayed so much for. We thought it would take years to bring you home and then there you were, all in a rush. We wouldn't be us without you, our sweet, kind, and loving boy!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCG-vEw__RrCO5CJeAw3RIYWoVjrPHi1FYM_n5gJjGEcVoTyqTgEmHQ3ldIT8Ag3qXJjDzDF7hgwmf4EZI9pTh0GfNePHr6wY4QVH5qdGMQJ_VVjqRvNE3ATEaH7LOiCdbHRw5lgL6Ezk3/s960/Kai+A1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCG-vEw__RrCO5CJeAw3RIYWoVjrPHi1FYM_n5gJjGEcVoTyqTgEmHQ3ldIT8Ag3qXJjDzDF7hgwmf4EZI9pTh0GfNePHr6wY4QVH5qdGMQJ_VVjqRvNE3ATEaH7LOiCdbHRw5lgL6Ezk3/s16000/Kai+A1.jpg" /></a></div>2014<span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSUaz-1bT0AsEZt8ufob5iYmWEq3IQY797sFvitG4SwRmLWsD3tPT5xUhXZDXbqEefAhUGyjRFm47U2aPCjpt9nfEIsqsqfhHmu9ZVXzNLCPKHATsyXOQoURojOAAeGF56pJ6X3vg10IVZ/s960/Kai+A2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSUaz-1bT0AsEZt8ufob5iYmWEq3IQY797sFvitG4SwRmLWsD3tPT5xUhXZDXbqEefAhUGyjRFm47U2aPCjpt9nfEIsqsqfhHmu9ZVXzNLCPKHATsyXOQoURojOAAeGF56pJ6X3vg10IVZ/s16000/Kai+A2.jpg" /></a></div>2021<div><br /></div><div><span style="text-align: center;"> It's so easy for life to just get busy on Kwaj- there's usually something happening either for the kids or for D and I and it can be hard to pin the kids down any more for these kinds of photos. We celebrated Water's family day on time this year with dinner from Burger King and a walk to the playground but it took a few more days to get these pictures taken. I love seeing how the kids have changed and grown every year but I don't know how much longer I'll be able to pick Water up for!</span></div><div><br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhoac1gGEDzkzJBs8oTuG3wMt05ML6mWzfe9M4_AuU41kswgKWtMjkApExj_U14IVvUjNWnmdCwzK7nldBTYjRyL8aNBwBXhxpT1OP_6JqwJ6E61Cvbvmp9rFskkfD99R38lZgn6osEObS/s600/Kai+D1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhoac1gGEDzkzJBs8oTuG3wMt05ML6mWzfe9M4_AuU41kswgKWtMjkApExj_U14IVvUjNWnmdCwzK7nldBTYjRyL8aNBwBXhxpT1OP_6JqwJ6E61Cvbvmp9rFskkfD99R38lZgn6osEObS/s16000/Kai+D1.jpg" /></a></div>2014<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpjElt6PmdGqCWxBmbUpmcJKslpudrwJXGaZmQ8Rz01yiuEcVce8To9R5Py4AgCxl-ykhfdpNzRgoFLkTxoHTYLuxjD6l6FhMnIvzt7tm1iNsqC8EPU0cR74OIvyFjdoGHz8K3s_uwI0Vr/s960/Kai+D2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpjElt6PmdGqCWxBmbUpmcJKslpudrwJXGaZmQ8Rz01yiuEcVce8To9R5Py4AgCxl-ykhfdpNzRgoFLkTxoHTYLuxjD6l6FhMnIvzt7tm1iNsqC8EPU0cR74OIvyFjdoGHz8K3s_uwI0Vr/s16000/Kai+D2.jpg" /></a></div>2021</div></div>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-1518430128166867682021-10-17T12:04:00.000-07:002021-10-17T12:04:14.512-07:00Shaving Cream Social<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTfEzKG-hsts0mI8R744wtK-v_z0w8zLdl_QWs4D-cDW9TB3npjEIFOTtHFgQErGqkZeFgSy1f84ZOrK-f1VrGV_acIk9qUFLEdmBQvRpcp_sYf4cbA-cDu_gTj97ZxalyWNvYIdKzczuS/s4048/IMG_20211016_171529_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTfEzKG-hsts0mI8R744wtK-v_z0w8zLdl_QWs4D-cDW9TB3npjEIFOTtHFgQErGqkZeFgSy1f84ZOrK-f1VrGV_acIk9qUFLEdmBQvRpcp_sYf4cbA-cDu_gTj97ZxalyWNvYIdKzczuS/s16000/IMG_20211016_171529_1.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">This Kwaj tradition get more fun every year!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrJmhxHCzeKYiauaTMOS7aXlMRKPUESoC64aY3-8Iu2cyqA5nlbwERbtcr2athT3eRkswSFh_SaJyrnEZQ5Dn2qUHtJ-6k92IxNaPW2emR2SWPIOvj17bTijxxPLd1_bymaJrJFSgz4MU/s4048/IMG_20211016_164339.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrJmhxHCzeKYiauaTMOS7aXlMRKPUESoC64aY3-8Iu2cyqA5nlbwERbtcr2athT3eRkswSFh_SaJyrnEZQ5Dn2qUHtJ-6k92IxNaPW2emR2SWPIOvj17bTijxxPLd1_bymaJrJFSgz4MU/s16000/IMG_20211016_164339.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Two days before the event, a small ravine near the softball fields is flooded with about a foot or so of ground water and then fenced off. There are different age groups to make sure that no one gets smooshed and parents have to go in with the pre-schoolers. I'm not sure how I feel about finally having kids that can go in to the ravine without me- it's kind of a happy/sad milestone. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisfcmj4NU1hqS6DCw9F2bufsJAB3pNPOufiOg9KKyiVdf4jcaiTOheuvw4Ai5iN45O0B21PCDHjDSWDgO4q2N0Yy3MCCIB2I7TU27ng_LTgT8GWHIu40S3-0I2Hk0rDSCXkQTEnGCsk50w/s4048/IMG_20211016_164415.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisfcmj4NU1hqS6DCw9F2bufsJAB3pNPOufiOg9KKyiVdf4jcaiTOheuvw4Ai5iN45O0B21PCDHjDSWDgO4q2N0Yy3MCCIB2I7TU27ng_LTgT8GWHIu40S3-0I2Hk0rDSCXkQTEnGCsk50w/s16000/IMG_20211016_164415.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4NQdfz71JuAkqKFlA13XEfa70ye_LsLvpMnb5_wTnpuhqOV-3vaeB7fT_NyNa3Ci5hygjYKb522ng-j4oiPWaAyutZrm1tQuk_me84Us2U2VtnhZ5IxBZDXVbEY7IUgBb5ZZKYrTb8qph/s4048/IMG_20211016_165123_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4NQdfz71JuAkqKFlA13XEfa70ye_LsLvpMnb5_wTnpuhqOV-3vaeB7fT_NyNa3Ci5hygjYKb522ng-j4oiPWaAyutZrm1tQuk_me84Us2U2VtnhZ5IxBZDXVbEY7IUgBb5ZZKYrTb8qph/s16000/IMG_20211016_165123_1.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuwxX9D6oDBJ4m8-XHw9m5mByXibvJzOfeAE_bB3phD-nRZI8B1q8AJ1gCnTd7eHMWWQPJTjvjG-hcKXLHLn4JvbT5c1ncwOAlyUb5kXl0LT7-_EOjotFzLBKARarbyuoTVdsy4xnsIA4W/s4048/IMG_20211016_170101_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuwxX9D6oDBJ4m8-XHw9m5mByXibvJzOfeAE_bB3phD-nRZI8B1q8AJ1gCnTd7eHMWWQPJTjvjG-hcKXLHLn4JvbT5c1ncwOAlyUb5kXl0LT7-_EOjotFzLBKARarbyuoTVdsy4xnsIA4W/s16000/IMG_20211016_170101_1.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGmBnWeUogurjtKQBPGDFLYR1Tg-jAFPV7ohDylg5OUtKt4eAMEa-TE4EN9oVbXrMMfKtk5i3wfVs-bmpnqEPIklP4O8MOflsX9gfQO3ezXGjI0-b8_BGkird51Vjz6lZCNcZp-0StfkS0/s4048/IMG_20211016_171035_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGmBnWeUogurjtKQBPGDFLYR1Tg-jAFPV7ohDylg5OUtKt4eAMEa-TE4EN9oVbXrMMfKtk5i3wfVs-bmpnqEPIklP4O8MOflsX9gfQO3ezXGjI0-b8_BGkird51Vjz6lZCNcZp-0StfkS0/s16000/IMG_20211016_171035_1.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>The weather was perfect, all the kids were excited to play with their friends, and everyone had a great time. I love these sweet traditions that make Kwaj so special!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_1iwMzbGQYOHZXr341DPqxiBeAL0E_0uXF9Pg9YYXSDzGxhMkemOJvsZuYIygSLJwF0ENsQhKXVyvtpuL5qyOMVwHwvnlju9tBUOjtz6c-YDHTHDmtwUwI7snWjUpJDfz-llw253xnTJ9/s4048/IMG_20211016_171035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_1iwMzbGQYOHZXr341DPqxiBeAL0E_0uXF9Pg9YYXSDzGxhMkemOJvsZuYIygSLJwF0ENsQhKXVyvtpuL5qyOMVwHwvnlju9tBUOjtz6c-YDHTHDmtwUwI7snWjUpJDfz-llw253xnTJ9/s16000/IMG_20211016_171035.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihQDARnfoqBz6QXamOBLQkR88C0dLA9GMrqPw6ipDpo6R-29o09vqIElZI8qjaXjAE-kBW66q7NWB-E-Mc6L17klPqMAQTkusCkduWk5vgnTESOzpxf4Ar8BYRrupyUtOJVH9a6l2FVPwL/s4048/IMG_20211016_171424.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihQDARnfoqBz6QXamOBLQkR88C0dLA9GMrqPw6ipDpo6R-29o09vqIElZI8qjaXjAE-kBW66q7NWB-E-Mc6L17klPqMAQTkusCkduWk5vgnTESOzpxf4Ar8BYRrupyUtOJVH9a6l2FVPwL/s16000/IMG_20211016_171424.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">One of sky's friend's hurt her foot recently and had her foot in a cast. I know E would have preferred to be running around and chasing her friends but I'm thankful that they were able to work out a way for E to be a part of things and that her friends made sure she was included</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiua4KNFxKVWld1WoFH8OQMqZnYyWKh1IaWIsz7b5V3NEuKnbyXQgBWcFN70UGIpDT3gyQdsrOt1rQ7PVQdFbJMIQ6XwaN977R2c7Z2kcnE8ZKaaqnGpbDssL8-edYPW9OXvZOD4dWECIBc/s4048/IMG_20211016_171529_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiua4KNFxKVWld1WoFH8OQMqZnYyWKh1IaWIsz7b5V3NEuKnbyXQgBWcFN70UGIpDT3gyQdsrOt1rQ7PVQdFbJMIQ6XwaN977R2c7Z2kcnE8ZKaaqnGpbDssL8-edYPW9OXvZOD4dWECIBc/s16000/IMG_20211016_171529_1.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhfqTL_a7LFMF4VxlqSUUVXyqRWQd_dp-HgEd47z-ibHMIm0avRRQ_qp6YswOj4vciwHoVZ27s7bMEozVFAJQqIwWHeGJcqyF3xfXkhgVgalu7Yy-HcpDOSeTwXqugdQL-tHq2_A208D7/s4048/IMG_20211016_171830_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhfqTL_a7LFMF4VxlqSUUVXyqRWQd_dp-HgEd47z-ibHMIm0avRRQ_qp6YswOj4vciwHoVZ27s7bMEozVFAJQqIwWHeGJcqyF3xfXkhgVgalu7Yy-HcpDOSeTwXqugdQL-tHq2_A208D7/s16000/IMG_20211016_171830_2.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div> It made Earth's night when he got to use Ms C's megaphone to tell the big kids it was time to get out!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSzq72RVH0Ft27ABd3__nEs1S7qwT5EEzi1SS2sxucqomRQb0Y4tTnl-6bJMwzEk71Dvd_IyJKVTRzV8fPxwEXH0PaszPzYtiZ1TZLfXniZMVd-f-AEVX4F93vWFChi-RZsQLrLcd931Zj/s4048/IMG_20211016_172806.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSzq72RVH0Ft27ABd3__nEs1S7qwT5EEzi1SS2sxucqomRQb0Y4tTnl-6bJMwzEk71Dvd_IyJKVTRzV8fPxwEXH0PaszPzYtiZ1TZLfXniZMVd-f-AEVX4F93vWFChi-RZsQLrLcd931Zj/s16000/IMG_20211016_172806.jpg" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjN2FBCIJ2xmEv48DsKNaxRizxrAExrGbWwAFDp83jN9ro1fKOujnqb0PnEMEqwtHCXxJu4YgrViRivl-vm5M5nvu5WlcfC8bzd7uuUzyM7hG9gB5SeIIOwomDm5Zxe7BFEEfKRpYsFPna/s4048/IMG_20211016_174328.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjN2FBCIJ2xmEv48DsKNaxRizxrAExrGbWwAFDp83jN9ro1fKOujnqb0PnEMEqwtHCXxJu4YgrViRivl-vm5M5nvu5WlcfC8bzd7uuUzyM7hG9gB5SeIIOwomDm5Zxe7BFEEfKRpYsFPna/s16000/IMG_20211016_174328.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Another great shaving cream social in the books! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">For a little look back, all the way back in 2013: <a href="http://www.ourcharmedlife.net/2013/10/shaving-cream-social.html">Sky's first shaving cream social</a></div><p></p>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-45622577443432898632021-01-27T19:59:00.001-07:002021-03-10T21:22:03.447-07:00Home Made Valentines<div style="text-align: center;"> Yours truly completely forgot to buy boxes of Valentine's day cards for all the kids. The mail has been super slow lately and by the time I realized that I'd forgotten, there was no way they would have gotten to Kwaj in time for the holiday. I decided that we would make home made ones instead and set out to replicate the ones I made for Sky when she was little:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJ8g3zrVXL5Vpqkj5ZpxghCjrTMaAKxB1k0uca4n7xQuiugHVYEq1k3c_n2pHRsSRwcgTsn4Ws5qsR2UY8iPnIZECNgXDFBEV3LWRvnzwX5gVPHmTwl6OAabnxiZv1Ulu8AXJSsGIHR7T/s1600/Sky%2527s+valentine.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJ8g3zrVXL5Vpqkj5ZpxghCjrTMaAKxB1k0uca4n7xQuiugHVYEq1k3c_n2pHRsSRwcgTsn4Ws5qsR2UY8iPnIZECNgXDFBEV3LWRvnzwX5gVPHmTwl6OAabnxiZv1Ulu8AXJSsGIHR7T/s16000/Sky%2527s+valentine.JPG" /></a></div><span><br /><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2kuno4njprYJi4SFxAUxH_AD46iIXkDeBu0TxoQ7ij6PgeJfhyn7eIY5Ze1KbB3H8IollKZVdvecO1z8QvVB7Mix2G7fVBiylVJ1EkmFklcYZEn3QrbEDG_E13kG5u7bl1tZC9q7r_xl6/s4048/IMG_20210122_120631.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2kuno4njprYJi4SFxAUxH_AD46iIXkDeBu0TxoQ7ij6PgeJfhyn7eIY5Ze1KbB3H8IollKZVdvecO1z8QvVB7Mix2G7fVBiylVJ1EkmFklcYZEn3QrbEDG_E13kG5u7bl1tZC9q7r_xl6/s16000/IMG_20210122_120631.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">All the kids loved the idea and were really excited to take their pictures<br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEnXRVpteS9GYmXeOTJVUOqW0iGkyVEXinMjuqAtvXYQ1dDURVbgylT5R01SAI2NkUETkVClKZhWwaO4RyDhw8CjMEh9pTW8jSsvVKItMnECuTReDp-fK7KyOTE5uV_CcbbxjGyygD4OSH/s4048/IMG_20210122_120942.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEnXRVpteS9GYmXeOTJVUOqW0iGkyVEXinMjuqAtvXYQ1dDURVbgylT5R01SAI2NkUETkVClKZhWwaO4RyDhw8CjMEh9pTW8jSsvVKItMnECuTReDp-fK7KyOTE5uV_CcbbxjGyygD4OSH/s16000/IMG_20210122_120942.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzAwJYxqh2ei-0Qj21ziZ-WovMmNP-4tSGQ3v0gF5kRBwNfckpxgwCdj3QXgI21blJMEDGyRwuP4ctlPs72U5tGAt8f9-FCY8d2rursxiqbFIp56UlUIztCGWaJcP3713k8Yg8I2gzrCbW/s4048/IMG_20210122_121154.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzAwJYxqh2ei-0Qj21ziZ-WovMmNP-4tSGQ3v0gF5kRBwNfckpxgwCdj3QXgI21blJMEDGyRwuP4ctlPs72U5tGAt8f9-FCY8d2rursxiqbFIp56UlUIztCGWaJcP3713k8Yg8I2gzrCbW/s16000/IMG_20210122_121154.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBHZTEanAP4ntOzykjuIKktFaFXaV2F6u9yMhuwPyS11wG7WjdK41i61NKFOJPZRbJtxauIht_RTeUHBf8F6LT7DcCW6gweeGBMvnoMbbAhEppZGZWYuqPW2EFSPEv2otonLJsnyPUUEot/s4048/IMG_20210122_165113.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBHZTEanAP4ntOzykjuIKktFaFXaV2F6u9yMhuwPyS11wG7WjdK41i61NKFOJPZRbJtxauIht_RTeUHBf8F6LT7DcCW6gweeGBMvnoMbbAhEppZGZWYuqPW2EFSPEv2otonLJsnyPUUEot/s16000/IMG_20210122_165113.jpg" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sky only has 8 kids in her class and finished her valentines really quickly but I knew it took the boys a little longer so we started a few weeks ahead. They sat down with their class lists and wrote names and then glued their pictures to the paper.<br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaN9JTViFjL-dsOGhyAVPvFp3Wv_w6Rl8Yx13SiEDsGGfpk0uG1Suml1ZWIVI_EoIpsYOQH3-0xv7OBGeUVRzt7jA-KMAxdQm_bpAgrdEwQxXME9J7cBsTnbtAXcb45aVT30kuvaVgGpRm/s4048/IMG_20210204_193119.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaN9JTViFjL-dsOGhyAVPvFp3Wv_w6Rl8Yx13SiEDsGGfpk0uG1Suml1ZWIVI_EoIpsYOQH3-0xv7OBGeUVRzt7jA-KMAxdQm_bpAgrdEwQxXME9J7cBsTnbtAXcb45aVT30kuvaVgGpRm/s16000/IMG_20210204_193119.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4RmFBsTeGRGQUa17OyLDS8cVqeehZEpUiMchpm_cb0PfIDAq6bV1O2I8P9AvVGYkeSSJgTtjBoxIRaRwzPhD_oj4KTBavbH55cSU8m1aA-1O36e0ifoMezxSBzvordGC6LEwWWPwkmhKR/s4048/IMG_20210204_193111.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4RmFBsTeGRGQUa17OyLDS8cVqeehZEpUiMchpm_cb0PfIDAq6bV1O2I8P9AvVGYkeSSJgTtjBoxIRaRwzPhD_oj4KTBavbH55cSU8m1aA-1O36e0ifoMezxSBzvordGC6LEwWWPwkmhKR/s16000/IMG_20210204_193111.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I helped with the cutting part and then they put the suckers in and taped them down. I don't have any pictures of the finished product but they were all very happy with how they turned out and enjoyed giving them to their friends. <br /></div><div><p><br /></p></div>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-75693999338038212922021-01-25T21:28:00.004-07:002021-03-10T19:56:47.567-07:00A Weekend on Roi<div style="text-align: center;">We have always loved Roi. It's where D and I lived when we first moved here so it has a special place in our hearts. I had hoped to take the kids up there sooner but the flights always seemed full- because of the travel ban, Roi is the only vacation option for people on Kwaj and we never seemed to be able to get seats for six on the plane. </div><div style="text-align: center;"> When some family friends said they were going up, it seemed like a great chance to head up there for a little get away. We flew up on Saturday afternoon and back on Tuesday morning and the kids had a great time. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">All smiles to be back on a plane and heading somewhere new!<br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh58rFRooAAqgNUXleezBUGFCQqzwGq4_Pz6vR1_dxovUc58Fipz2qILImDAhsg9MY31oxhinWbhX35eTAmikzWth0AJLHACP20SdmGY2uudkVhkHgevEJ4vuiEGUenOMUMCbWrPzrM1k9J/s4048/IMG_20210130_145129.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh58rFRooAAqgNUXleezBUGFCQqzwGq4_Pz6vR1_dxovUc58Fipz2qILImDAhsg9MY31oxhinWbhX35eTAmikzWth0AJLHACP20SdmGY2uudkVhkHgevEJ4vuiEGUenOMUMCbWrPzrM1k9J/s16000/IMG_20210130_145129.jpg" /></a></div><br /><a name='more'></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCe-Y3CqzvQE2pFUUnktsn8M0JtF9fpOtBeTIrzeATYPA4v2FtSU9HSeTl0CuPA673DTXredkHrfC4sQWifLRVpTFqW6QuITzB5Xw68QtSYn4Z2Tml3RYFdkL9NG4owMHGhtmxPlJtgW-S/s4048/IMG_20210130_145135.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCe-Y3CqzvQE2pFUUnktsn8M0JtF9fpOtBeTIrzeATYPA4v2FtSU9HSeTl0CuPA673DTXredkHrfC4sQWifLRVpTFqW6QuITzB5Xw68QtSYn4Z2Tml3RYFdkL9NG4owMHGhtmxPlJtgW-S/s16000/IMG_20210130_145135.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCySZ0UuIK1qcVF1J1NrR5jRwVbm5ldjQKOm8C02sFAEXeC5LNN1LT737spdErbf5RDQrnKTztqC2BgkNenjIItcunnlJBkvK7WiQTR5jI-OKviOXYdFYcpYE5CEIxY0eIw5d85aPMaE0V/s3264/IMG_20210130_145144.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCySZ0UuIK1qcVF1J1NrR5jRwVbm5ldjQKOm8C02sFAEXeC5LNN1LT737spdErbf5RDQrnKTztqC2BgkNenjIItcunnlJBkvK7WiQTR5jI-OKviOXYdFYcpYE5CEIxY0eIw5d85aPMaE0V/s16000/IMG_20210130_145144.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-7ztar0sVsszi1_2GEL5Rq7fHoVJtGRTG3d4ssYahRUnlU7uUvoyHaTQghDGYWjuuFJrzkXPBTBlatzigPY08DCKjdtzgJzl_x_2575IB70R7qaQeSObFok6AJdVGTnsPflvFgODISOj/s4048/IMG_20210130_150556.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-7ztar0sVsszi1_2GEL5Rq7fHoVJtGRTG3d4ssYahRUnlU7uUvoyHaTQghDGYWjuuFJrzkXPBTBlatzigPY08DCKjdtzgJzl_x_2575IB70R7qaQeSObFok6AJdVGTnsPflvFgODISOj/s16000/IMG_20210130_150556.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;">We spent the first evening settling in to our rooms and playing on the porch at the bar. The kids played baggo, cards, and tag and Fire took pictures of it all with my phone.<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjloRvBrXrAnZ1J-goDX9PTbEszRsfK4TsQwCapOwpw_t8WgLhVxjNxNDXRsdw4NFmdmQRtvya3AX-NrNYaWZjcuNJ0cAerUUm-g8V2SYkaQaDtCku6X3FYWFLr3szyIsoYpmmUPN4Dr8tK/s4048/IMG_20210130_155148.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjloRvBrXrAnZ1J-goDX9PTbEszRsfK4TsQwCapOwpw_t8WgLhVxjNxNDXRsdw4NFmdmQRtvya3AX-NrNYaWZjcuNJ0cAerUUm-g8V2SYkaQaDtCku6X3FYWFLr3szyIsoYpmmUPN4Dr8tK/s16000/IMG_20210130_155148.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRnjVICpmftcMP69KO8wHZAvEhAxaxvhRuuvd4Wx3zij9l7JhR1qUz-tyzuqMqcv9siEI0mxa0GpZRUK9H4exSzeWmWrpFQo96NKlTXabTdN-8ljEipnA3uzRdsKgyfIh2koi5Im-sbPwK/s4048/IMG_20210130_155237.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRnjVICpmftcMP69KO8wHZAvEhAxaxvhRuuvd4Wx3zij9l7JhR1qUz-tyzuqMqcv9siEI0mxa0GpZRUK9H4exSzeWmWrpFQo96NKlTXabTdN-8ljEipnA3uzRdsKgyfIh2koi5Im-sbPwK/s16000/IMG_20210130_155237.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaFD5m4LknGSAeDkKvd7RaxCD1w7y0PWna0Vx19tPEDMqqOchLnmTrV9ovaKR3iNWr1h7A8iIVBwkSrVOyMpgGlrOSin97nkHhIQwzVSiNqy-SOEH1pGXryUOV9Rz4csy8g-RHH0ELFeIy/s4048/IMG_20210130_155412.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaFD5m4LknGSAeDkKvd7RaxCD1w7y0PWna0Vx19tPEDMqqOchLnmTrV9ovaKR3iNWr1h7A8iIVBwkSrVOyMpgGlrOSin97nkHhIQwzVSiNqy-SOEH1pGXryUOV9Rz4csy8g-RHH0ELFeIy/s16000/IMG_20210130_155412.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8pg1KOl8o_JNpzfPR3AAclhON0dhsHMRYI59djE4pm3qZkHBr7WaK0bUbthO8-ieNI2kGi2bQTjct1qFS6xPc8zlgOZQpV6OtOG6-w_uAjukFv_06ZxGnKEu7r9YVVVtwXt1hFUD-lrDR/s4048/IMG_20210130_160007.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8pg1KOl8o_JNpzfPR3AAclhON0dhsHMRYI59djE4pm3qZkHBr7WaK0bUbthO8-ieNI2kGi2bQTjct1qFS6xPc8zlgOZQpV6OtOG6-w_uAjukFv_06ZxGnKEu7r9YVVVtwXt1hFUD-lrDR/s16000/IMG_20210130_160007.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;">I'm so thankful we followed a friend's advice and brought the Nintendo Switch! I know some of you might say that it's frivolous but being able to replicate the kids regular routine of a little bit of screen time after breakfast made things go a lot smoother. We've learned that behaviors in new places are easier to manage in a framework that includes as much of their usual schedule as possible. <br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyI3GVBHp_FsF7soVRXvgOgOWtovHWfyQm_9uWLJRM2GkD9au8a5pUuPVhSblWL64IVGnuHCD1w9dw2LXKGSJm5SbTcJuGdyyFdNwATaTYBvs9tcJleV9d6y-DrmzzwvWoeS0ErTj2oZz9/s4048/IMG_20210131_065103.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyI3GVBHp_FsF7soVRXvgOgOWtovHWfyQm_9uWLJRM2GkD9au8a5pUuPVhSblWL64IVGnuHCD1w9dw2LXKGSJm5SbTcJuGdyyFdNwATaTYBvs9tcJleV9d6y-DrmzzwvWoeS0ErTj2oZz9/s16000/IMG_20210131_065103.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;">We got a cart that morning and our first stop was to see if there were any chickens at the northern end of the island. Sky in particular was looking forward to feeding them since she remembered doing it when we lived here before but we never found any.<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4hpjT0VAltDeHAXVBc2ftZ_lTPsAkJkR9ECd1cuvVOivwVb94MV382x9aWEkp1POwMUcg9hlHeLVzay0GR0YCThgWlCU7z_bYopmS3UlzZng62Hz9dggrUI9W2wKUDoWK_JPdzsjoGsMD/s4048/IMG_20210131_083858.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4hpjT0VAltDeHAXVBc2ftZ_lTPsAkJkR9ECd1cuvVOivwVb94MV382x9aWEkp1POwMUcg9hlHeLVzay0GR0YCThgWlCU7z_bYopmS3UlzZng62Hz9dggrUI9W2wKUDoWK_JPdzsjoGsMD/s16000/IMG_20210131_083858.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Fire is really into World War II history so we piled back into the cart to see all the buildings left over from the war. All the kids were really impressed and Fire asked a ton of great questions.<br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUia6T5hPEhiAzZYQevAPC2MdFhJWo2eSq8yXAkWmsu2x41C_buo7qKoXMQt-8NRnhHF3UxliPEZtXkrxphKvFKeAJIHCYThkzslPLt7s_ni0jsJhw4smqZb1XsTinTfGX_VMN2pwlGBgk/s4048/IMG_20210131_084725.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUia6T5hPEhiAzZYQevAPC2MdFhJWo2eSq8yXAkWmsu2x41C_buo7qKoXMQt-8NRnhHF3UxliPEZtXkrxphKvFKeAJIHCYThkzslPLt7s_ni0jsJhw4smqZb1XsTinTfGX_VMN2pwlGBgk/s16000/IMG_20210131_084725.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiGtZWG9Tjeq9mY8o94b3J8bcqEJmrAAxa9-Rktk_N5MzBSpyqdWRMexZ3yzsvMZj3AF1WeS_D0IWr3sCw7NYoncgKeBj9k4eFJgMZ8dD6m9UrbbWbxH4x6pWZzx6JyBXb1CsZuCaPriSE/s4048/IMG_20210131_084521.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiGtZWG9Tjeq9mY8o94b3J8bcqEJmrAAxa9-Rktk_N5MzBSpyqdWRMexZ3yzsvMZj3AF1WeS_D0IWr3sCw7NYoncgKeBj9k4eFJgMZ8dD6m9UrbbWbxH4x6pWZzx6JyBXb1CsZuCaPriSE/s16000/IMG_20210131_084521.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8CR5hK8Ls0XugkBsIEH3WceHdXlYJaFVay64JM-TErrO0Yf02JMwfk9gHw9AuYI13AJjYhXIm-mS0yC2RiwgRfB_Za7G9LnkPOhhlXXuBMktwAWydV9W8uLD1Ufy9skRCr4C3X7ZBmqWk/s4048/IMG_20210131_085143.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8CR5hK8Ls0XugkBsIEH3WceHdXlYJaFVay64JM-TErrO0Yf02JMwfk9gHw9AuYI13AJjYhXIm-mS0yC2RiwgRfB_Za7G9LnkPOhhlXXuBMktwAWydV9W8uLD1Ufy9skRCr4C3X7ZBmqWk/s16000/IMG_20210131_085143.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk6xZV4npIuoU8rk7fgTT2zzeMLCX_3csrCFimsZYMzMDM7Ju1W6uRJVqVeVR0UZ8LHbsZ_CnTXzObH3a8N041AsuxSguWnkrw_5xYOMv7OCgXhDki72C5W8ny_bU6_330ISOrBZNMw8E6/s4048/IMG_20210131_090138.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk6xZV4npIuoU8rk7fgTT2zzeMLCX_3csrCFimsZYMzMDM7Ju1W6uRJVqVeVR0UZ8LHbsZ_CnTXzObH3a8N041AsuxSguWnkrw_5xYOMv7OCgXhDki72C5W8ny_bU6_330ISOrBZNMw8E6/s16000/IMG_20210131_090138.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Sometimes, you just need a lift from Daddy...<br /></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd_aNYM8aTQq9gF3bZ79ELFQ1p283JrKS9ueeRR0zZcXtjSqsvPFp2XRC6cl-rkK3pbQm1gFbR3r97KRG5mrCsVsmqFIPzvdr0jSgvfKq6Nq6ueEhZ7mYIfj3IWS7Vy9hPcb4pK9vIXK3b/s4048/IMG_20210131_090330.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd_aNYM8aTQq9gF3bZ79ELFQ1p283JrKS9ueeRR0zZcXtjSqsvPFp2XRC6cl-rkK3pbQm1gFbR3r97KRG5mrCsVsmqFIPzvdr0jSgvfKq6Nq6ueEhZ7mYIfj3IWS7Vy9hPcb4pK9vIXK3b/s16000/IMG_20210131_090330.jpg" /></a></div> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Me and my girl!<br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxbJre_f7rltOieonWjgKajvHbfHAkHfO_83RRw4OlAZHlO-xH6yGpncfswfEe5Arx_T0t2419peUC5o7b69g8R8lVZyVJsMDtuGX4VrhGw7qErfa2hjJ8QTUebnoQadUEhXc2o5y_x1R4/s3264/IMG_20210131_091335_1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxbJre_f7rltOieonWjgKajvHbfHAkHfO_83RRw4OlAZHlO-xH6yGpncfswfEe5Arx_T0t2419peUC5o7b69g8R8lVZyVJsMDtuGX4VrhGw7qErfa2hjJ8QTUebnoQadUEhXc2o5y_x1R4/s16000/IMG_20210131_091335_1.jpg" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Water took a picture of me-<br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGItoO_v92wnnmKtwrTc08Jb39AGJQljs9c6OOlkj2EuU7cOcaq7kpw6SvuETRDUUHHzYL8iwVZJlmvwLVrJ_iURXgF1B1EMF8QFfFIvrp3_tH3Req4h2Ao8xCbrIuXlI_cZSoPSaAiSST/s4048/IMG_20210131_091421.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGItoO_v92wnnmKtwrTc08Jb39AGJQljs9c6OOlkj2EuU7cOcaq7kpw6SvuETRDUUHHzYL8iwVZJlmvwLVrJ_iURXgF1B1EMF8QFfFIvrp3_tH3Req4h2Ao8xCbrIuXlI_cZSoPSaAiSST/s16000/IMG_20210131_091421.jpg" /></a></div> </div><div style="text-align: center;">and then we made faces for the camera!<br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO7lvcq-TCLF0Zer-amL0P1ztNdyJqB9vsaAVPigtpoRfcLHYhzfUAUGMS7JgIu4oAes7YpBtDcDndyh7Xki4qtVSlu-fey3FG3PXVmve1CF6PJwDBQEcWJcsr4NXX_8GgWaLA4M6yehJh/s3264/IMG_20210131_091515.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO7lvcq-TCLF0Zer-amL0P1ztNdyJqB9vsaAVPigtpoRfcLHYhzfUAUGMS7JgIu4oAes7YpBtDcDndyh7Xki4qtVSlu-fey3FG3PXVmve1CF6PJwDBQEcWJcsr4NXX_8GgWaLA4M6yehJh/s16000/IMG_20210131_091515.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Afternoons on Roi have always meant beach time and we were really excited to take the kids to our favorite one. We spent so much time here when we lived on Roi and it still feels a little like home.<br /></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPeB9BdlUIu9yPMVnydLIbCvIxziSZ7CpEBt_eRBacXamXmaV0s1_K5jmf2jc8-wpZtbAehFTr0eIMIYZU2AFH2S-sTwUP7vBfCkBrAcHR91bnURHWTk4lupPt3rf_Qv-H_BGgkJBVjsCM/s4048/IMG_20210131_095650.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPeB9BdlUIu9yPMVnydLIbCvIxziSZ7CpEBt_eRBacXamXmaV0s1_K5jmf2jc8-wpZtbAehFTr0eIMIYZU2AFH2S-sTwUP7vBfCkBrAcHR91bnURHWTk4lupPt3rf_Qv-H_BGgkJBVjsCM/s16000/IMG_20210131_095650.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuaOgBtdpVREq84vP89TLXu-ukON5QiBcqxJYMAJDOC9RZLNIcVY_k-q8Ewnhy-wYjgGfxc3glW6rMsQHewMHq7voggTM5bcTKZIZ0NVwzmOj9grza6mVsiPB9uGQeREPB2ZCaQWkFIUXr/s4048/IMG_20210131_095656.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuaOgBtdpVREq84vP89TLXu-ukON5QiBcqxJYMAJDOC9RZLNIcVY_k-q8Ewnhy-wYjgGfxc3glW6rMsQHewMHq7voggTM5bcTKZIZ0NVwzmOj9grza6mVsiPB9uGQeREPB2ZCaQWkFIUXr/s16000/IMG_20210131_095656.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtE2eWJXYxTHmW0K53q2_TZOILxie7b1htcDBirZp7W-YFkflDmcoD3fzZYeJUxVKhjITcZnS6blGL0INsqNDyvcO_KUrDlUiqlE0b-DuDV-819PjFt8uvqPeaLT1Ci2lVJ1q3snvnIC6U/s3264/IMG_20210131_095717.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtE2eWJXYxTHmW0K53q2_TZOILxie7b1htcDBirZp7W-YFkflDmcoD3fzZYeJUxVKhjITcZnS6blGL0INsqNDyvcO_KUrDlUiqlE0b-DuDV-819PjFt8uvqPeaLT1Ci2lVJ1q3snvnIC6U/s16000/IMG_20210131_095717.jpg" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sky, always creating and building<br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglJ7n70ihY1YBiOMrEwN1xO5UQa4cbK5oCGIqKX_0SHVV4cFB9zTykY6O_Tlyhk1kkoICYwJsmvV8_L7kqIAMs2j1BSHh1AFm-6AnYnOP3QeoV5EW0lMD3Y-oy-g28KY7nDD4_wjQN1Lzy/s4048/IMG_20210131_104449.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglJ7n70ihY1YBiOMrEwN1xO5UQa4cbK5oCGIqKX_0SHVV4cFB9zTykY6O_Tlyhk1kkoICYwJsmvV8_L7kqIAMs2j1BSHh1AFm-6AnYnOP3QeoV5EW0lMD3Y-oy-g28KY7nDD4_wjQN1Lzy/s16000/IMG_20210131_104449.jpg" /></a></div> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Another thing I was excited to share with the kids- hermit crabs love potato chips! If you sprinkle a few crumbs in the sand, they'll come running for them<br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbL3S82RJRYLQZp524Bj2A_zgL-RJu2hfQ5OWXPvwjkI8GZl145zHgHNT1JPm2Xn_2BdRWfa9DA9FIKUMTHGFvWtTkCHzrHDsMsH2Kcorf_f1UgLbNJZKRlcRxrIYDbFTDAZtrPdTiy6Ll/s2592/IMG_20210131_110000.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="1944" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbL3S82RJRYLQZp524Bj2A_zgL-RJu2hfQ5OWXPvwjkI8GZl145zHgHNT1JPm2Xn_2BdRWfa9DA9FIKUMTHGFvWtTkCHzrHDsMsH2Kcorf_f1UgLbNJZKRlcRxrIYDbFTDAZtrPdTiy6Ll/s16000/IMG_20210131_110000.jpg" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Getting artsy with some broken machinery on a seawall<br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitTVwhpGrJ_XCjFdx-T-zitKSUTC5i_uGp_O9ySdtlEkgmww401wt6q5YSAfc_jkhWBGKLL4C076iEeJvpWYjh5XdIJXNB3Zi_YO-kYxUmNztHg0rR9K6U7d4fkIdV9lqvjtMexpF_ymwj/s4048/IMG_20210131_104830.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitTVwhpGrJ_XCjFdx-T-zitKSUTC5i_uGp_O9ySdtlEkgmww401wt6q5YSAfc_jkhWBGKLL4C076iEeJvpWYjh5XdIJXNB3Zi_YO-kYxUmNztHg0rR9K6U7d4fkIdV9lqvjtMexpF_ymwj/s16000/IMG_20210131_104830.jpg" /></a></div> </div><div style="text-align: center;">We had a picnic dinner at the Gabby shack that night to watch the sunset. The kids played, the grown ups talked and the sunset was gorgeous- the perfect end to the day.<br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3bsd5D6fAW3jUyrVCnpF6khQhzAcW9mlkDmaP15WefOgbscWH1mxW0JG-5WC9veqdMPcmN_e5gTtuEnx2p7Evlv7XuAy6jZ_7riIaIK09Tpz7E3tN0Sodn-idiXlVBcRQKwFK3kIosXu4/s4048/IMG_20210131_182410.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3bsd5D6fAW3jUyrVCnpF6khQhzAcW9mlkDmaP15WefOgbscWH1mxW0JG-5WC9veqdMPcmN_e5gTtuEnx2p7Evlv7XuAy6jZ_7riIaIK09Tpz7E3tN0Sodn-idiXlVBcRQKwFK3kIosXu4/s16000/IMG_20210131_182410.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh47NMFE59-Q3Ugrf0cnEqJ0uRqDXKs7TYyPp0517AGyF0fIIcYLhqzD3Zmt1P8bBiu74wLKz6E_GTjV3tNZbV4QHCK5IVVhwJcLNsIaMwjwpYbboZjopXcWlZxsLNUeYEcN6sq_CzKuyL3/s4048/IMG_20210131_183209.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh47NMFE59-Q3Ugrf0cnEqJ0uRqDXKs7TYyPp0517AGyF0fIIcYLhqzD3Zmt1P8bBiu74wLKz6E_GTjV3tNZbV4QHCK5IVVhwJcLNsIaMwjwpYbboZjopXcWlZxsLNUeYEcN6sq_CzKuyL3/s16000/IMG_20210131_183209.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieTgawM5-UwEntNeRdpadXpl7Vv8gP1aABxjjQjKK38og8ZdYdaIqcTs8Nl6J-1QGZhzaAHq4-470Pb3cHjEUmxpNNuUmNZYC4aW5ZRSweaUsHkmp_1DyNXxv_9ASvvubRW6MCqQ4gmlFk/s4048/IMG_20210131_183249.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieTgawM5-UwEntNeRdpadXpl7Vv8gP1aABxjjQjKK38og8ZdYdaIqcTs8Nl6J-1QGZhzaAHq4-470Pb3cHjEUmxpNNuUmNZYC4aW5ZRSweaUsHkmp_1DyNXxv_9ASvvubRW6MCqQ4gmlFk/s16000/IMG_20210131_183249.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOnoC3Aw_3Xm0J9vmLI0t_ugmlXFdqVoLbm8S8GlqCkEFqDQlvW6JRbfV9KURIsFC4PMG3vVeXIPnhHPnJ6LYaklXDP9iZLMgpnVCl1AuIm4WRSbNdsSbPJTofaMinmQwRIXh3og3OOF6m/s3415/original_bfc8f214-3ab4-44a7-b805-9984218aacfb_IMG_20210131_183727.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2749" data-original-width="3415" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOnoC3Aw_3Xm0J9vmLI0t_ugmlXFdqVoLbm8S8GlqCkEFqDQlvW6JRbfV9KURIsFC4PMG3vVeXIPnhHPnJ6LYaklXDP9iZLMgpnVCl1AuIm4WRSbNdsSbPJTofaMinmQwRIXh3og3OOF6m/s16000/original_bfc8f214-3ab4-44a7-b805-9984218aacfb_IMG_20210131_183727.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlmzcUJU5BUFlPZG3x4CH8mxD9aEx6aVhlyyljvpqW4C28d71_YKu4E71ZS4mLsCkqCdOVmzIce60zthUH5tTUgNuEjTgnjCr2LQC8RsDK0YEnt6emep5m98sqk8q_Yv8He42L4bHdowNQ/s4048/IMG_20210131_185426.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlmzcUJU5BUFlPZG3x4CH8mxD9aEx6aVhlyyljvpqW4C28d71_YKu4E71ZS4mLsCkqCdOVmzIce60zthUH5tTUgNuEjTgnjCr2LQC8RsDK0YEnt6emep5m98sqk8q_Yv8He42L4bHdowNQ/s16000/IMG_20210131_185426.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFyX4jEY2hyCEaL95ELjPFaZshDhkYJuYm7u5pHg2ctK1cI8JiGtwjRirmk0nI2aVbqiLR4TZMtfSQObLyn-ukVGw5OIkjH-7jMtFDcQ_HzGDtWWd82dOstNF8WB5d_gr8bglSy1EYSLni/s3264/IMG_20210131_191105_1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFyX4jEY2hyCEaL95ELjPFaZshDhkYJuYm7u5pHg2ctK1cI8JiGtwjRirmk0nI2aVbqiLR4TZMtfSQObLyn-ukVGw5OIkjH-7jMtFDcQ_HzGDtWWd82dOstNF8WB5d_gr8bglSy1EYSLni/s16000/IMG_20210131_191105_1.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuWmxrJUEhLOvgBxlIBCojjsZ2D7NKsNsGjKlGaQML6hTDj7nBwWMTcuDFNjj5DqBtT9wyFCX01oJ9-_vGrQXoUGCxOftBx8zvb2J-Q579EhFr9LngWvLOijJEVUHmpvu9JCU70pB7AVR3/s4048/IMG_20210131_191132.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuWmxrJUEhLOvgBxlIBCojjsZ2D7NKsNsGjKlGaQML6hTDj7nBwWMTcuDFNjj5DqBtT9wyFCX01oJ9-_vGrQXoUGCxOftBx8zvb2J-Q579EhFr9LngWvLOijJEVUHmpvu9JCU70pB7AVR3/s16000/IMG_20210131_191132.jpg" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The next morning started with some tree climbing while we waited to pick up the cart<br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKjMpPzGPj4oz6cq9YdG_oIKVbs_w8O18wVBcCYHrkmGO4Bzrm-sfO48RdeNd2rJqQgetYIalwa1s6crpZBOD-Psk5R0EDFNoi8HSakFk0dQF01IV7NRejfJnfc4K4GT4LIFOf_D-CixdV/s4048/IMG_20210201_090118.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKjMpPzGPj4oz6cq9YdG_oIKVbs_w8O18wVBcCYHrkmGO4Bzrm-sfO48RdeNd2rJqQgetYIalwa1s6crpZBOD-Psk5R0EDFNoi8HSakFk0dQF01IV7NRejfJnfc4K4GT4LIFOf_D-CixdV/s16000/IMG_20210201_090118.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">And then we headed to one of the more remote beaches for some exploring<br /></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii4yGkp7EhzNu6WRVdERgAY6nfqwQWqz-oWj6ie6wPaWbWLQS0Q6WmbFwQTkXSsrKWjHSxfZ8glkcK2inf-Bd51IfaG6bEty1uz8pMuO0Q3MDhPDs0vYRZTxQeni3ZhO1ZZp6s-V7h48Zi/s4048/IMG_20210201_091139.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii4yGkp7EhzNu6WRVdERgAY6nfqwQWqz-oWj6ie6wPaWbWLQS0Q6WmbFwQTkXSsrKWjHSxfZ8glkcK2inf-Bd51IfaG6bEty1uz8pMuO0Q3MDhPDs0vYRZTxQeni3ZhO1ZZp6s-V7h48Zi/s16000/IMG_20210201_091139.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCdPoKns1s3BNLF5QPuSWAHUuuyVp1iWgCFx0ctzZcOan9A1cVh0Tr5ABXBRtNUP0oPI66o-4zHCFd93EdmFtNT7-AwujBqwCR7RW_xdjRwAuIeyPJ4ksfQ-c7DpkdJFIyOU5BqG5FsIYu/s4048/IMG_20210201_091635.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCdPoKns1s3BNLF5QPuSWAHUuuyVp1iWgCFx0ctzZcOan9A1cVh0Tr5ABXBRtNUP0oPI66o-4zHCFd93EdmFtNT7-AwujBqwCR7RW_xdjRwAuIeyPJ4ksfQ-c7DpkdJFIyOU5BqG5FsIYu/s16000/IMG_20210201_091635.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvGq6cG3q7jRqLlOvMsYPz9OcuALIyCgqN-gIL9Bhz3njj0kCFd4nUzM4OkNZjcMsiJhM3xx1d5LtFkt7f0TB_-hyvE57Lw9yusnOChrMdVLTtWjAe1_P8r8U4sfrvnW2j4OQvCjvKbPfa/s4048/IMG_20210201_091720.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvGq6cG3q7jRqLlOvMsYPz9OcuALIyCgqN-gIL9Bhz3njj0kCFd4nUzM4OkNZjcMsiJhM3xx1d5LtFkt7f0TB_-hyvE57Lw9yusnOChrMdVLTtWjAe1_P8r8U4sfrvnW2j4OQvCjvKbPfa/s16000/IMG_20210201_091720.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">If you can climb it, you can jump off of it (although I'm not sure the kids should have been doing either)!<br /></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3tE2RmL38rfdpr_6v6AmZtMWFaSQB_4_1LTVBtPpneBc9DMSOc8ozT6cn2dIIXrjwi9Gaa2RFinu5OF70-1F84bmQaM44-8yqh_V2NX9M67iRCsDgvipWAJJWJ6rzcBugojSMWIhG45pW/s4048/00009IMG_00009_BURST20210201091745.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3tE2RmL38rfdpr_6v6AmZtMWFaSQB_4_1LTVBtPpneBc9DMSOc8ozT6cn2dIIXrjwi9Gaa2RFinu5OF70-1F84bmQaM44-8yqh_V2NX9M67iRCsDgvipWAJJWJ6rzcBugojSMWIhG45pW/s16000/00009IMG_00009_BURST20210201091745.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxT2465I6CVUnzhFJUIX3ie_BEKbQFyhS46gzJAmfbI-UKIN3xSUnHJxmq7G2yxl-bmYAHtwtM0EFsXNsSgvvY4_Y4GcQIMLvLj9x3oRK6xpQra4vabTUzFTfJaCWd9EbQe7qJ9CFIbnP0/s4048/00000IMG_00000_BURST20210201091840_COVER.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxT2465I6CVUnzhFJUIX3ie_BEKbQFyhS46gzJAmfbI-UKIN3xSUnHJxmq7G2yxl-bmYAHtwtM0EFsXNsSgvvY4_Y4GcQIMLvLj9x3oRK6xpQra4vabTUzFTfJaCWd9EbQe7qJ9CFIbnP0/s16000/00000IMG_00000_BURST20210201091840_COVER.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjABRWCtzHHW1jSs5aR3BP4RgVYKuwuc-EYEY0eEIHGrJvzpCAu9BBg18CF4rjO3md_3WOk1s_BYAhHhjivG399G0wDNO2J7XWSt-GGM-kWXH8xpONocFWVO-R-Z6GKkYw64V9qMLOzkZrq/s4048/00002IMG_00002_BURST20210201091913.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjABRWCtzHHW1jSs5aR3BP4RgVYKuwuc-EYEY0eEIHGrJvzpCAu9BBg18CF4rjO3md_3WOk1s_BYAhHhjivG399G0wDNO2J7XWSt-GGM-kWXH8xpONocFWVO-R-Z6GKkYw64V9qMLOzkZrq/s16000/00002IMG_00002_BURST20210201091913.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ6tfbcOHI8YRAIP3xkYsi3VKmhHG7owVSTy18wBF8zvwzI6Mn3Me4JTs8oNVXUATYFEH6Cqn54BbWICc6J4wsMtzLz2K0u0NMnl5fh35P79BZ2nNLTeTYurXW-gu-IVPPlM3p2erFmj6S/s4048/00013IMG_00013_BURST20210201092004.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ6tfbcOHI8YRAIP3xkYsi3VKmhHG7owVSTy18wBF8zvwzI6Mn3Me4JTs8oNVXUATYFEH6Cqn54BbWICc6J4wsMtzLz2K0u0NMnl5fh35P79BZ2nNLTeTYurXW-gu-IVPPlM3p2erFmj6S/s16000/00013IMG_00013_BURST20210201092004.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtCqjOKDNZjQWdMRR7t6P9h-qAybE-Z-28f1Ymx-xA8J3wl6P5k7phgcknmBjGlTLemaQjoAATwEzsdGhL-o92CL89iLWLJCYmR4d-FszbT877Kb3l7g7x7LHAbPL_OgwrWjEl9eW4e_WO/s4048/IMG_20210201_093840.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtCqjOKDNZjQWdMRR7t6P9h-qAybE-Z-28f1Ymx-xA8J3wl6P5k7phgcknmBjGlTLemaQjoAATwEzsdGhL-o92CL89iLWLJCYmR4d-FszbT877Kb3l7g7x7LHAbPL_OgwrWjEl9eW4e_WO/s16000/IMG_20210201_093840.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguCPpJe1XTzdCICa1vuZ25K6P2C9HRSHq-Q3oQsT5Up9YwNU9thsxiGIN3EIMiSkjrdFm96NEZoXK6Hg3e990ca_av_7bRvI_N5k5BWtP0XlMKwkMQKsjRajf_Oyx0_uKy9ihk6z91uncn/s2592/IMG_20210201_094035.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="1944" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguCPpJe1XTzdCICa1vuZ25K6P2C9HRSHq-Q3oQsT5Up9YwNU9thsxiGIN3EIMiSkjrdFm96NEZoXK6Hg3e990ca_av_7bRvI_N5k5BWtP0XlMKwkMQKsjRajf_Oyx0_uKy9ihk6z91uncn/s16000/IMG_20210201_094035.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">After lunch we hit the Surf shack for one more afternoon at the beach. D and I caught up with old friends while the kids played in the water and everyone had a good time. <br /></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw15U5B-6KNJNMOQjyhKI7T9hT2I_cTUbFaXvwLBIrMwSLbEm36SLnAm1FogPUWyPEoprt6wRVk9yOcFrfRH8xQTixi0FctI18obiVI76CI_KOV0aBJltsDLi3ehEk27N_QnXPX9S6jOcQ/s4048/IMG_20210201_174824.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3036" data-original-width="4048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw15U5B-6KNJNMOQjyhKI7T9hT2I_cTUbFaXvwLBIrMwSLbEm36SLnAm1FogPUWyPEoprt6wRVk9yOcFrfRH8xQTixi0FctI18obiVI76CI_KOV0aBJltsDLi3ehEk27N_QnXPX9S6jOcQ/s16000/IMG_20210201_174824.jpg" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> While there were definitely some challenging parts to the weekend, I'm glad we went. It was great to get away with the kids and explore some place new. Going with friends added it's own joys and challenges but now that we've done it once, everyone knows what to expect and we can have even more fun next time.<br /></div><div><p></p><span><!--more--></span><span><!--more--></span><span></span></div>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-61025405680369169242021-01-20T20:29:00.001-07:002021-03-09T21:05:54.224-07:00Twins<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3VoG_emfnFoS5nAmU3Ii6H3-e4xP2Tz7PIiYxPwTdfsez3V69JAG2adXLVZn4ihnnHSlToqBNc4GKlVRLgWdWR6g-lAQV8t6GgYWeFHActIMDR9zRDxZqn0BIGHjcGl1ab1xr34rFVu4M/s4048/IMG_20210128_071253.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3VoG_emfnFoS5nAmU3Ii6H3-e4xP2Tz7PIiYxPwTdfsez3V69JAG2adXLVZn4ihnnHSlToqBNc4GKlVRLgWdWR6g-lAQV8t6GgYWeFHActIMDR9zRDxZqn0BIGHjcGl1ab1xr34rFVu4M/s16000/IMG_20210128_071253.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;">Earth was so happy that Water's new shoes matched his that he insisted I take a picture. Water played it cool but I think he secretly liked twinning with Earth too. These two used to be so inseparable but a year apart took a toll on their relationship so I'm glad they're reconnecting at least on little things like this.<br /></div><p> </p>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-5996527549003079412021-01-19T19:09:00.010-07:002021-03-09T21:07:28.423-07:00First Swim Meet of the Season<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVa0Fvuqt1ccPA6Q73Fxxyy1OHsOEe1YdY0zGAi-XpdVsEhThwJpqf1DMIATAj8s5-nMz2r_H3lAEMJ4OAO6PahV4JNHmaTlcD1bE5lpX7xGlr9b2OIzOfr1PHdZyng0BTaDm1O9Z6cnmk/s2048/00006IMG_00006_BURST20210125092751.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVa0Fvuqt1ccPA6Q73Fxxyy1OHsOEe1YdY0zGAi-XpdVsEhThwJpqf1DMIATAj8s5-nMz2r_H3lAEMJ4OAO6PahV4JNHmaTlcD1bE5lpX7xGlr9b2OIzOfr1PHdZyng0BTaDm1O9Z6cnmk/s16000/00006IMG_00006_BURST20210125092751.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here we go, diving in to another swim season </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: center;">Look at that fabulous belly flop in lane 4!<br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6HeLAT-10gnhI9DVVoZCJXEoq8rJXjwjNzONvzRPRE77fTzlvLqDIGKBc0rsD2Ata31hEMUXJ5av3bnZhYLvabTWHOl0H4rcb5wVSb4FLnJtgUzDUc2Sul3El_TjJ5WTzQIegEteS6SjR/s2048/00007IMG_00007_BURST20210125120209.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6HeLAT-10gnhI9DVVoZCJXEoq8rJXjwjNzONvzRPRE77fTzlvLqDIGKBc0rsD2Ata31hEMUXJ5av3bnZhYLvabTWHOl0H4rcb5wVSb4FLnJtgUzDUc2Sul3El_TjJ5WTzQIegEteS6SjR/s16000/00007IMG_00007_BURST20210125120209.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;">Why do we really go to swim meets? You know it's for the shave ice!<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV2lniZBYdGtumdNQtRt_qTTR90udmKYg99EIWp77aSQaJndKwCqRDdHuuZtjCqljxnliGfASYIIjPmbwdw1ZPbm21BTZWoSvT_IWhtVDEBBKhCYZz4g5u8oEGZ1ud75aPh-A3TyubC2L3/s2048/IMG_20210125_093838.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV2lniZBYdGtumdNQtRt_qTTR90udmKYg99EIWp77aSQaJndKwCqRDdHuuZtjCqljxnliGfASYIIjPmbwdw1ZPbm21BTZWoSvT_IWhtVDEBBKhCYZz4g5u8oEGZ1ud75aPh-A3TyubC2L3/s16000/IMG_20210125_093838.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeMWyzvgZhqu58lfgXBog7ucE6kuRC3LE3wqE-3inoAxNdNux8wmUbKuP5opbKlpKGStIv90IbNY_kxZMnl084w17XK-BrWfvP_QpajIubG-2OUaG55AD0cFscEIbuSwfk9fK8SpVmEUi0/s2048/IMG_20210125_093857.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeMWyzvgZhqu58lfgXBog7ucE6kuRC3LE3wqE-3inoAxNdNux8wmUbKuP5opbKlpKGStIv90IbNY_kxZMnl084w17XK-BrWfvP_QpajIubG-2OUaG55AD0cFscEIbuSwfk9fK8SpVmEUi0/s16000/IMG_20210125_093857.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;">Sky still says she wants to quit swim team but look at her in lane 4- ahead of everyone on the way down<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjSRti0baRx7XJ86UjCMLC-rMflEzzm9LwMZbG1QY2vy46LZpmA7qm2PGcAqLoQIiAbYVdCWywhBmvjeLY8K1iiqVUBTBiVlU0aGe8CGge2OQodokFDhgVJkGtMv40v9Fnd3e3yFS-fMoC/s2048/IMG_20210125_095535.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjSRti0baRx7XJ86UjCMLC-rMflEzzm9LwMZbG1QY2vy46LZpmA7qm2PGcAqLoQIiAbYVdCWywhBmvjeLY8K1iiqVUBTBiVlU0aGe8CGge2OQodokFDhgVJkGtMv40v9Fnd3e3yFS-fMoC/s16000/IMG_20210125_095535.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">and on the way back<br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj444KND04QQr9QDjDfCvQsP6B2U_qCS4kKb5Ies0jkh72yp4X0R5zbXeDK0mV9gLdV6kNgSpkXHxwvZBoKl_AMdn64KY02jOV2GAtOwtPbqbduKzJZ6q22HsIAjffMMhY0JDyUxU3Vznjy/s2048/IMG_20210125_095603.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj444KND04QQr9QDjDfCvQsP6B2U_qCS4kKb5Ies0jkh72yp4X0R5zbXeDK0mV9gLdV6kNgSpkXHxwvZBoKl_AMdn64KY02jOV2GAtOwtPbqbduKzJZ6q22HsIAjffMMhY0JDyUxU3Vznjy/s16000/IMG_20210125_095603.jpg" /></a></div></div><div></div><div> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Grape shave ices mean purple tongues!<br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXEuz79mGOssFKVr9SEO14OBQGe5xxJfs8EjZDflpREjUj2BUr1znGsekzMxYOwaRCqGk1c3FQNFDXLFWxV8WVI-cdQTYxX4BYOTYnaU2dd-eG9t7ti4b_xZofhPMAf4b2FEjHxEHPsDXO/s2048/IMG_20210125_095837.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXEuz79mGOssFKVr9SEO14OBQGe5xxJfs8EjZDflpREjUj2BUr1znGsekzMxYOwaRCqGk1c3FQNFDXLFWxV8WVI-cdQTYxX4BYOTYnaU2dd-eG9t7ti4b_xZofhPMAf4b2FEjHxEHPsDXO/s16000/IMG_20210125_095837.jpg" /></a></div></div><div> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Fire is right on track with his group in the backstroke<br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCSZfzR-ulk67heRvcvne1ZnHaGO28_ous5cFsEJph7fx92WlbzX1C_ZWovJhYibrTeyapblPTt83i6sGtfTNEbTQMb4CILj3VkwFp4hKGJmmWNgYfBV7PHU3-qrM-DR9uO6SGj4GGUpOg/s2048/IMG_20210125_102004_1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCSZfzR-ulk67heRvcvne1ZnHaGO28_ous5cFsEJph7fx92WlbzX1C_ZWovJhYibrTeyapblPTt83i6sGtfTNEbTQMb4CILj3VkwFp4hKGJmmWNgYfBV7PHU3-qrM-DR9uO6SGj4GGUpOg/s16000/IMG_20210125_102004_1.jpg" /></a></div> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Sky, killing it again at breast stroke - that's her in lane 4 <br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuUss4NTedA9ShaA9GbmlGax6cQ3NxO4HNRjbgUxn0bMaXAWaxlGOFwEtorBdu40TaWOMbvI4dc-7NKlq3-hGew8oMVpCeoS_yiL6Btz6xHheNP7DteGukFveOYbNLLnfPQmuFzcXlRaM2/s2048/IMG_20210125_112417.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuUss4NTedA9ShaA9GbmlGax6cQ3NxO4HNRjbgUxn0bMaXAWaxlGOFwEtorBdu40TaWOMbvI4dc-7NKlq3-hGew8oMVpCeoS_yiL6Btz6xHheNP7DteGukFveOYbNLLnfPQmuFzcXlRaM2/s16000/IMG_20210125_112417.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz2EnxvlWXJCY8bTGj7-bVCLM4daRLHV7I5-G0i5O89GbVEcowqMlahAZZgf3pcqY2D8k6UhI_lx71bjB-iS-tGIb87Rie6H4M_wdNiYNx0swb72n3fJizTCOaR1UtCLKpnZS_Mh5hOSvQ/s2048/IMG_20210125_112500.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz2EnxvlWXJCY8bTGj7-bVCLM4daRLHV7I5-G0i5O89GbVEcowqMlahAZZgf3pcqY2D8k6UhI_lx71bjB-iS-tGIb87Rie6H4M_wdNiYNx0swb72n3fJizTCOaR1UtCLKpnZS_Mh5hOSvQ/s16000/IMG_20210125_112500.jpg" /></a></div> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Fire diving in. He may not be the fastest swimmer but I love how he tries every time<br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6A0PQQL6x_NwFll3KBpdduqLkC6QSvN0m4zuQ0v5HGrPGTVxmaJ_l4bPta9t3sUsTumLIKjtpvFMjI8BWHDb2AMBmK9fB4q_46mgyVntPP4RAERjE_sUReUreN6UQ-vMG8G1Tava5H5v7/s2048/IMG_20210125_113937.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6A0PQQL6x_NwFll3KBpdduqLkC6QSvN0m4zuQ0v5HGrPGTVxmaJ_l4bPta9t3sUsTumLIKjtpvFMjI8BWHDb2AMBmK9fB4q_46mgyVntPP4RAERjE_sUReUreN6UQ-vMG8G1Tava5H5v7/s16000/IMG_20210125_113937.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Fire doing his best at the breast stroke<br /></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc8iI0C6gFp6bxfGz_GJ1DPcQON00_i2Y6n8lb-I-1iTsY_ZPiAM8qsfOkZjWF8FS-ClXpPp3XOvRHOydn6J5LkoI0DRtBrYcAfbhjC74n2Cin5ykmg6oNOo4aJK-15R6ra6fTJIlFwk6x/s2048/IMG_20210125_113944_1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc8iI0C6gFp6bxfGz_GJ1DPcQON00_i2Y6n8lb-I-1iTsY_ZPiAM8qsfOkZjWF8FS-ClXpPp3XOvRHOydn6J5LkoI0DRtBrYcAfbhjC74n2Cin5ykmg6oNOo4aJK-15R6ra6fTJIlFwk6x/s16000/IMG_20210125_113944_1.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Water's best stroke is the butterfly. He just has such strong arms and shoulders that it comes easy to him<br /></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCkq9Sq5Bh6ZdqD8QjdhLSaFYtpFOWr9_9ExXQkPWRSwaV4_6XiOPTYNQNStWV3bWRJ8NTq14T7heKT6_gLKjfeY4MefK4035NlOTfzK-teyNHgYkpvT3TyqS7hoIIwjrF9A7xxWSeS_Cu/s2048/IMG_20210125_120217.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCkq9Sq5Bh6ZdqD8QjdhLSaFYtpFOWr9_9ExXQkPWRSwaV4_6XiOPTYNQNStWV3bWRJ8NTq14T7heKT6_gLKjfeY4MefK4035NlOTfzK-teyNHgYkpvT3TyqS7hoIIwjrF9A7xxWSeS_Cu/s16000/IMG_20210125_120217.jpg" /></a></div><br /> <p></p></div>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-54002302979932184572021-01-16T18:50:00.001-07:002021-03-09T19:36:50.985-07:00Movie time!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibiTygekOOh2_CBZyCpTeivRSiM7lnfR6he0b8ha9gzkgg6t87PHIKQTucFZLNO-3irHf1l8GfjPoWUN8iRaLq7-t7B9UZG3o4O47pbPq5D-xUL1yda6jWweAZw2X1SV_jLicAPaydpGsR/s2569/20210122_171443.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1224" data-original-width="2569" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibiTygekOOh2_CBZyCpTeivRSiM7lnfR6he0b8ha9gzkgg6t87PHIKQTucFZLNO-3irHf1l8GfjPoWUN8iRaLq7-t7B9UZG3o4O47pbPq5D-xUL1yda6jWweAZw2X1SV_jLicAPaydpGsR/s16000/20210122_171443.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;">Sky got creative and decided to share her morning screen time with some folks from the Marvel and Star Wars universes.</div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: left;"></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlptqI4e9Lh9l7mQZFtWrZT1n7mzdBbQMbV2zE5l8g3nmzJIVaLkI23LmtkIvs_cPi_P3djR6InQ7dcefIRTMMjM7xuGWuD-dKL4jsQy1xOyGGltQnWFrVfYWqLfbow5H3Yk-Pcnj2wM9B/s2569/20210122_171538.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1224" data-original-width="2569" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlptqI4e9Lh9l7mQZFtWrZT1n7mzdBbQMbV2zE5l8g3nmzJIVaLkI23LmtkIvs_cPi_P3djR6InQ7dcefIRTMMjM7xuGWuD-dKL4jsQy1xOyGGltQnWFrVfYWqLfbow5H3Yk-Pcnj2wM9B/s16000/20210122_171538.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"> I love how even though she's growing up and maturing, she's still playful and uses her imagination for things like this. She even set the Hulk up as a bouncer in case someone tried to sneak in without a ticket!</div><p> </p>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-31011856653970490832021-01-15T21:13:00.001-07:002021-03-09T19:31:03.248-07:00Crocogator<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT7Rg37xIKP1KLZCa0vOfc7AZIrrC-Ocq4raU0xfkoi6q1ax0OjpqbqA4i4K3gDjDw2cvnseR8-zcLPo1Kb0OQgX4oRw1nc3YaGvnaB1NuaW4iXKeBMWDU1VAc9h44cfYNjFa_mW_Omefl/s2569/20210123_171400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1224" data-original-width="2569" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT7Rg37xIKP1KLZCa0vOfc7AZIrrC-Ocq4raU0xfkoi6q1ax0OjpqbqA4i4K3gDjDw2cvnseR8-zcLPo1Kb0OQgX4oRw1nc3YaGvnaB1NuaW4iXKeBMWDU1VAc9h44cfYNjFa_mW_Omefl/s16000/20210123_171400.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"> When you're five and don't want to put your own shoes on for school but are happy to put both your brothers' shoes on and pretend to be a wild animal...</div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8BYO1Hsabno" width="320" youtube-src-id="8BYO1Hsabno"></iframe></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-11263837951036966562021-01-15T21:12:00.002-07:002021-03-09T19:15:40.335-07:00N600K Interview<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5mDvtqTIdq9xoVQQFS3cL-NC6spdNnyHHEHWk8LhmLWbHVu07V-k0Suis-yW8OsvOWch1KYsAqpXv-pu4oQez-bYfwj9JiELvxu1JMz-SN45BxniQfesaahvoQ6tCfw4pfYvOow_Wm6SP/s1315/Interview1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="708" data-original-width="1315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5mDvtqTIdq9xoVQQFS3cL-NC6spdNnyHHEHWk8LhmLWbHVu07V-k0Suis-yW8OsvOWch1KYsAqpXv-pu4oQez-bYfwj9JiELvxu1JMz-SN45BxniQfesaahvoQ6tCfw4pfYvOow_Wm6SP/s16000/Interview1.png" /></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;">Look what came shortly before Christmas!</div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The email that I'd been waiting almost a year and a half for finally came. All I could think after I read it was how different our lives would have been if the email had come a year ago but it didn't and here we are. Unfortunately, as grateful as I was to finally have a scheduled interview with the travel restrictions in place right now there was no way Earth and I could go to Honolulu in time for an appointment in early February. </div><div style="text-align: center;">One of the reasons I didn't post about this right after we received it was because I didn't know what rescheduling would look like. I called the USCIS hotline day after I received the email and found that the system has changed and is now much more automated then before. It used to be that you could find your way through the telephone prompts to reach an agent with higher level questions but now, even asking repeatedly for an agent and clearly stating what I needed help with led to my being hung up on multiple times after being told by the system that "I don't think we can help you now". The sixth time turned out to be the lucky one and I was able to reach an agent only to be told that because of the type of case, they weren't able to reschedule the interview in the computer and my only option was to mail a letter to the Honolulu field office requesting a new interview date. I sent one out by priority the very next day asking for a date in July or later but two weeks later, it still hasn't been received<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">We've been in contact with our senator's office since all this began in 2019 and as a precaution I reached out to my contact there again for help. She tried emailing them directly using a line of communication that had previously been open to government officials only to be told that it was now closed. </div><div style="text-align: center;"> It's beginning to feel pretty hopeless- we'd finally gotten the interview we wanted but can't get to it. As always, I'll keep you posted.<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-89947300203325045062021-01-11T21:10:00.000-07:002021-03-09T19:16:09.109-07:00Coconut Crab!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxo88UZVP4RlkTwp7ybQxM52vleS1gaELUZDIybdQn9JNaaY1LbovXd3Hlx0jbqmErsEZWbEo1o9C0JcwaGUB1ovuljLRNINeL7NmBzyZnJVKT5Orxrq6vTdfM3n_oj9NSxT3nP8aVJDS8/s2569/20210116_100147_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2569" data-original-width="1224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxo88UZVP4RlkTwp7ybQxM52vleS1gaELUZDIybdQn9JNaaY1LbovXd3Hlx0jbqmErsEZWbEo1o9C0JcwaGUB1ovuljLRNINeL7NmBzyZnJVKT5Orxrq6vTdfM3n_oj9NSxT3nP8aVJDS8/s16000/20210116_100147_HDR.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Water and Earth found a coconut crab on the porch over the weekend. It was still immature enough to need a shell on its back like a hermit crab but big enough that its pincers could have taken a chunk out of a finger. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: center;"> Since our house is just a short distance from the ocean this time around, we've been seeing a lot more "wild life" than last time. This is the first coconut crab we've found- it's usually large land crabs or mice. Since they're a protected species, D let the boys keep it long enough for some pictures and a short biology lesson before letting it go.<br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOSAGhnDQDnhyOZpxGhhuJBIxGQTxOoUK4KXDorK5K0xLRdVk5QCELzoCpWTItbiwMhvZftQ_4u_vep8uQ48m1BWnzZgRB0fXFP08hQXvQ_41px2AP8zcGHI8lk1H7ZshgUBwliQGKUpRw/s2569/20210116_100209_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2569" data-original-width="1224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOSAGhnDQDnhyOZpxGhhuJBIxGQTxOoUK4KXDorK5K0xLRdVk5QCELzoCpWTItbiwMhvZftQ_4u_vep8uQ48m1BWnzZgRB0fXFP08hQXvQ_41px2AP8zcGHI8lk1H7ZshgUBwliQGKUpRw/s16000/20210116_100209_HDR.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcPuk7XvMlVuRsIyf3Dd4UzIiHDYdFkuL2YkDx6xqlzZYd4I2NIy4WG8CSTmj7iHjJPAD7SMbhXaKJG3QlyUpwzGsb-tuN1_aIZD0BvdyxgvgLxXNRZlZEpu1n_ZAWFRlCifbTFT9e9xDU/s2569/20210116_095646_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1224" data-original-width="2569" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcPuk7XvMlVuRsIyf3Dd4UzIiHDYdFkuL2YkDx6xqlzZYd4I2NIy4WG8CSTmj7iHjJPAD7SMbhXaKJG3QlyUpwzGsb-tuN1_aIZD0BvdyxgvgLxXNRZlZEpu1n_ZAWFRlCifbTFT9e9xDU/s16000/20210116_095646_HDR.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"> Unfortunately, just as the boys set the crab down in the yard, it decided it was done with everything and hopped out of its shell to get away. While it provided a chance for the boys to see a hermit-type crab without its shell, it's stressful and unsafe for the animal so D did his best to encourage it back into its shell.<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfeFyxCfJFOsUiqNO4f6op8mrWsOxP_LHg_ozVcH_DSSqt65ZFCtCwZP0hRA3vqgo5uqZHf14WEBmnh9qIKAIwurQInUdYcuIsFvkmQq-K6QCB0vYXgUCdFaZQbwYGP3-D6gQkPtXr0nSp/s2569/20210116_100845_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1224" data-original-width="2569" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfeFyxCfJFOsUiqNO4f6op8mrWsOxP_LHg_ozVcH_DSSqt65ZFCtCwZP0hRA3vqgo5uqZHf14WEBmnh9qIKAIwurQInUdYcuIsFvkmQq-K6QCB0vYXgUCdFaZQbwYGP3-D6gQkPtXr0nSp/s16000/20210116_100845_HDR.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C7Zf1JbVeeY" width="320" youtube-src-id="C7Zf1JbVeeY"></iframe> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p><br /><br /><br /><br /> </p>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-88372670870331763072021-01-10T21:09:00.001-07:002021-01-26T21:50:30.706-07:00Bits of Life<div style="text-align: center;">We're just over here a the end of the world, living our lives. While I'm still figuring out what the focus of the blog should be from here forward, I thought I'd give you a little snapshot of things at our house.</div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoWWnYZVxLDYbonvBS9rJpuL9mdTHnxVqk1TOpmMA2mH6knPiVY9qHV3X4UIKpO01NB5MAUmzeepDAHwhsN1fUfAbSgpgBBLCTLeUSXucKcu1wSDb2TnDI0vLhjBCnEXGdPxrXvjeHi6VD/s2569/20201228_140511_HDR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2569" data-original-width="1224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoWWnYZVxLDYbonvBS9rJpuL9mdTHnxVqk1TOpmMA2mH6knPiVY9qHV3X4UIKpO01NB5MAUmzeepDAHwhsN1fUfAbSgpgBBLCTLeUSXucKcu1wSDb2TnDI0vLhjBCnEXGdPxrXvjeHi6VD/s16000/20201228_140511_HDR.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sky loves building gingerbread houses. It's her thing during the holidays and has been since kindergarten. For that entire time, her brothers' thing has been to slowly pick the candy off bit by bit. One afternoon, I caught Water slowly wandering back and forth in front of Sky's gingerbread house and decided to try and distract him from sneaking bits. I kept jumping in front of him and saying, "Nothing to see here!" and he just stood there and stared at the house. I'm not usually the funny parent so I was shocked that he was able to keep a straight face the whole time- that kid should be on stage, he's such a good actor!</div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrR9jazacLwQP2ZFCU8K7uol2yLeWBkDIYziKimFoRg0t4cgiOMXgL0QgVzp6YtpfYpxMt5hy-FPKjG79iRlvtDv24PnBTaQP_7WSuwxKvx00inBjMv_bt8-1B14wNx_Oq22v_ytxTuUzn/s2569/20210101_175130.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1224" data-original-width="2569" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrR9jazacLwQP2ZFCU8K7uol2yLeWBkDIYziKimFoRg0t4cgiOMXgL0QgVzp6YtpfYpxMt5hy-FPKjG79iRlvtDv24PnBTaQP_7WSuwxKvx00inBjMv_bt8-1B14wNx_Oq22v_ytxTuUzn/s16000/20210101_175130.jpg" /><br /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrR9jazacLwQP2ZFCU8K7uol2yLeWBkDIYziKimFoRg0t4cgiOMXgL0QgVzp6YtpfYpxMt5hy-FPKjG79iRlvtDv24PnBTaQP_7WSuwxKvx00inBjMv_bt8-1B14wNx_Oq22v_ytxTuUzn/s2569/20210101_175130.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>Board games and card games have been all the rage in our house lately. Sky loves play the game of Life and Water's been looping everyone he can into playing a card game he learned at school called Trash</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi36VYUh2_Uq8sYYNASFY-FQn_LFuowIRjwiSV2RkISl2sz27mNex2TMjFkPZDmOvmp_Cse88xIoPvJacVHWx_BZEruQkY6aLEG2-_wDpugoZQal8Hk_FtIfO_rm2Q08fQvs1Z1sgxXTDZD/s2569/20210117_163610.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1224" data-original-width="2569" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi36VYUh2_Uq8sYYNASFY-FQn_LFuowIRjwiSV2RkISl2sz27mNex2TMjFkPZDmOvmp_Cse88xIoPvJacVHWx_BZEruQkY6aLEG2-_wDpugoZQal8Hk_FtIfO_rm2Q08fQvs1Z1sgxXTDZD/s16000/20210117_163610.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">D is famous! <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ZLIIQpWv0ChLE2F-e6ozpHSUzdseymLgNYR0Mfz47wFZFVL8CBOV-5clCSM0jTb2mgUTxBfzw2KCjTO0PlEHDyAMtedVl3pmvSt_2vxLRv9sGPyTYX6_w92JLitnpX1im3XJqIkS4s39/s2016/FB_IMG_1609030686892.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ZLIIQpWv0ChLE2F-e6ozpHSUzdseymLgNYR0Mfz47wFZFVL8CBOV-5clCSM0jTb2mgUTxBfzw2KCjTO0PlEHDyAMtedVl3pmvSt_2vxLRv9sGPyTYX6_w92JLitnpX1im3XJqIkS4s39/s16000/FB_IMG_1609030686892.jpg" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">An old friend sent this screenshot to D- the picture that George Clooney is looking at is D's winterover group at South Pole Station from '04-'05. D found the original on an old hard drive:</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzwxlYkGgAb_AnX2vw8YIoiYXdbT79b_6nfs0P5c20ODkUxSDJAcYsTUs2dSfByEVdCGebc0s2U3t4KXoEpamTGGNJzjY8ObSvybWHZbDPVDphgmO3kgc8d8LOQDs7MKuUL3vZEn6xpqGP/s960/FB_IMG_1609030693266.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="639" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzwxlYkGgAb_AnX2vw8YIoiYXdbT79b_6nfs0P5c20ODkUxSDJAcYsTUs2dSfByEVdCGebc0s2U3t4KXoEpamTGGNJzjY8ObSvybWHZbDPVDphgmO3kgc8d8LOQDs7MKuUL3vZEn6xpqGP/s16000/FB_IMG_1609030693266.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">It took us forever to find D in the photo. Turns out we couldn't see his face because he's the one in the front row with his face covered!</div></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyRVfroZWBjl9KMxaXb-Mhy2MGK0seko6BAjbCYfz4L8Gy9i5LbZht0nWhPbcZrGPNvX6lqu8mrJ5scjiL24WnXdKo_Q9edL7yR_Lkcivj1qx8IRTrtLgB8Ty74w1H8lFE97iAB5mbSGPJ/s2569/20210104_154030.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2569" data-original-width="1224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyRVfroZWBjl9KMxaXb-Mhy2MGK0seko6BAjbCYfz4L8Gy9i5LbZht0nWhPbcZrGPNvX6lqu8mrJ5scjiL24WnXdKo_Q9edL7yR_Lkcivj1qx8IRTrtLgB8Ty74w1H8lFE97iAB5mbSGPJ/s16000/20210104_154030.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Poor Earth stepped in a fire ant hill and got bitten up really badly. He reacted so badly that his skin erupted in itchy welts all over. We dose him with Benedryl but to help him feel better faster, D stripped him down covered him with baking soda paste. Since then, Earth has been stung by a wasp and his reaction was the same. Sky reacts the same way so at least we have some experience dealing with it.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7248074140541353174.post-22399386209935327322021-01-07T21:10:00.001-07:002021-01-26T21:05:47.892-07:00Swim Awards<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoAoI-ZtVV5BUWq_bx5zTnod_2LdWFEWp3d9okQol9rx4cLKTgxH6XDYabc2e9w3HKlRS2pun84mztrYFoEg3219SlA7q9FKN9z8Vik66z8DWnfTfdjnUZ82Pn7Xjccy2VHoYhh99bcJmh/s4048/IMG_20210122_064729.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoAoI-ZtVV5BUWq_bx5zTnod_2LdWFEWp3d9okQol9rx4cLKTgxH6XDYabc2e9w3HKlRS2pun84mztrYFoEg3219SlA7q9FKN9z8Vik66z8DWnfTfdjnUZ82Pn7Xjccy2VHoYhh99bcJmh/s16000/IMG_20210122_064729.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Fire won the coaches award for his age group! That means his swim coaches thought he had the best attitude AND the most improvement over the season. He also got first place in his final freestyle race</div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI-_k23AzJlQhzA3UAkaExUD6oOQwidgoA4oNpZB0qzwCFTm6EB8woEzu_5WUxIHcK4A6U0Ydv9FYGx4XlBlTZ4bdbeU1MeFFm20ozbhP_Ia1gnpRPFCFHb08DxW293oxbeLV0b7_R3-o2/s4048/IMG_20210122_064901.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI-_k23AzJlQhzA3UAkaExUD6oOQwidgoA4oNpZB0qzwCFTm6EB8woEzu_5WUxIHcK4A6U0Ydv9FYGx4XlBlTZ4bdbeU1MeFFm20ozbhP_Ia1gnpRPFCFHb08DxW293oxbeLV0b7_R3-o2/s16000/IMG_20210122_064901.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sky won a gold medal for having good attendance and participation</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-OMURCGhqBxHXQKIJwpd8YL7BHAQs3dJM_9l58W_7dPcNUCH-6wi0AgBkk0vVTz-iA2_LfzncNFbTHsJC5TS7hqbxR-O_heiysuIYzBf4O6fXlQwr5Yt1M_CFhBI1116DfexXxq7BFYZ7/s4048/IMG_20210122_065043.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-OMURCGhqBxHXQKIJwpd8YL7BHAQs3dJM_9l58W_7dPcNUCH-6wi0AgBkk0vVTz-iA2_LfzncNFbTHsJC5TS7hqbxR-O_heiysuIYzBf4O6fXlQwr5Yt1M_CFhBI1116DfexXxq7BFYZ7/s16000/IMG_20210122_065043.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Water won two medals, one for participation and one for the most improved, (honestly, when you're a ridiculously strong and sporty six-year-old and starting from zero, it's not hard to be the most improved in your age group!) and three first place ribbons.</div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">We told the kids we wanted them to do swim so they could be active and make friends and I'm so happy they're excelling at it even though it's not their favorite activity.</p><p> </p>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03592227803635297874noreply@blogger.com0