Surfing - the 1st

Anticipation

Saturday was Dave's weekly "board meeting", rescheduled from his usual Friday afternoons, so he invited us to join him. I don't know if he was breaking any official work protocol, but we had a great time. The kids are now very enthusiastic about surfing, and I anticipate spending a wad of cash on surf boards and paraphernalia. I opted to stay dry and be the offical photographer for this first outing, but I WILL learn to surf while we are here... so WATCH OUT! For more pics, check out here.

Dave almost there

B's first attempt. She succeeded in standing up on her first day.

Z helping D get situated with the boogie board. You can't really tell by the pictures, but the surf was really pounding.

WIPEOUT! Look at Z's face.

Z almost up

And... he's up!

A very rare moment in sibling helpfulness

Success is sweet! A on her knees

Hanauma Bay - the 1st

Beautiful panoramic, click to enlarge

Last Saturday we took the kids to Hanauma Bay for a fantabulistic snorkeling excursion. This is a beautiful underwater nature preserve situated in a quiet bay with reportedly the highest concentration of fish around the island for your viewing pleasure. It's a bit crowded, but the perfect place for a day of snorkeling, especially with the kiddos. We didn't have an underwater camera, so the pics will not include the awesome fish we saw, but the bay itself is pretty spectacular even without the fish.

Gearing up for another run

Growing up WAY too fast

Proof that I was there

Operation Hele On

Can you see A with bullet injury on her leg?

I do believe I am as up to date on the blog as I'll get, so I'm going to go ahead and start posting more current/relavant family adventures. Last Friday was Statehood Day. It is held the 3rd Friday in August each year to commemorate Hawaii's statehood. This year marks 50 years. The kids were happily off school, and Dave was off work. We had signed the oldest three up for Operation Hele On, an all-day mock deployment held at Hickam AFB so children can appreciate a little more what their deployed parents might have to do. As you can imagine, Z was a little less than enthusiastic about it at first, but they all seemed to enjoy themselves regardless.

They were probably around 150 kids, give or take, ages 9-14, that participated and were divided into 8 'squardons' complete with TIs sporting their wide brimmed hats and barking orders. The kids marched in formation chanting 'jodies' to keep cadence, competed against each other as squadrons, toured tanks, handled rifles, watched military dogs take down a few guys in 'fat suits', and engaged in mock battles, complete with mock injuries. Z had a lovely looking bullet wound on his arm.

The awards ceremony

Z was proud of his injury

Ghetto-dise

So, some peeps have been buggin' me about pictures of my ghetto-dise. Here you go!
This is our very inviting entryway.
Our living room/office - very light and airy.
Our patio, or lanai- as they call it here.
Dining room from lanai, kitchen seen behind, living room is off to the right.
Dining room from kitchen entry
Kitchen
Kitchen - take 2
Hallway - 1/2 bathis off to the left, storage room ahead
Entryway
Upstairs laundry room.

There are no bedroom pictures, because there were no bedrooms even remotely presentable; which, sadly is the cast 9 times out of 10. (sigh)

Family Reunion - Klings (part 5) - Sundance

What a view! This is the backside of Mt. Timpanogas

That Wednesday, we headed back down Provo Canyon to Sundance Resort to ride up the ski lift - a bit less challenging than the previous hike. We were able to take a few family pictures (minus Dave) as this was the first time we were all together since before India.

Mom, Dad & us 4 kids - yes, my ridiculous brothers are holding hands

The whole Kling Family (minus Dave)

Going down

This was the view from the cabin when we returned.

Family Reunion - Klings (part 4) - Deer Creek Reservoir

Girls in Canoe

That next Tuesday, we drove a whopping 5 minutes South to Deer Creek Reservoir with our rented waverunners for a day at the beach. It was a fantastically beautiful day, and the waverunners were ginormous and smokin' fast, I believe Eric topped the speed charts at 57 mph. The big boys enjoyed being crazy and irresponsible as they tried to throw each other off the waverunners with great sucess. And several of us determined that the altitude does affect your reaction to sun exposure, as we were sporting painful sunburns the rest of the week, some complete with blisters. OUCH! We also loved riding in Grandpa's canoe that he has owned since 1960. Love that canoe!

My 'little' brother Adam and Z

Adorable Amanda, my niece

Sunbathing beauties

Family Reunion - Klings (part 3) - Creature Encounters

Holy Frustrating Batman! I just lost this entire post - AFTER it had been posted for over a week. How does THAT happen. I may, or may not, get to it again. Arggggg!