THE MINNOW SWIM CLASS IS OVER

Can you believe 2 wks have passed! Swim class has ended! Cooper loves the water, hates being cold, hates learning and loves playing! His report card is below. As you can see I had to un-crinkle it ... Cooper didn't care about a stupid piece of paper ... he wanted a medal!

Everything is pretty accurate, but the blow bubbles, making swimming motion with arms, and kicking motion are a far stretch. He would drink the water and spit... not blow bubbles. He would splash in the water instead of paddle his arms. I would tickle his feet to get him to move his legs. I don't think he even knows he has arms and legs! LOL!

PAUL PASSED HIS CHECK RIDE

As some of you know, Paul has entered a different phase of his pilot career ... Aircraft Commander. He is currently going through the process of AC Upgrade and after practicing in the simulator for 2 wks, he had his check ride today (kind of like a final) and he passed with flying colors! CONGRATS PABLO! You make us proud honey!

A DAY AT THE LAKE

What a fun weekend! We decided to head out to Lake Berryessa (30min drive) to hang out with the gang! Mike and Ash and Bobby and Julia each have boats so we were able to get everyone out there for a great day on the lake. We parked the boat on a little island in the middle of the water and the guys took off to go skiing while the girls lounged around and gabbed. Cooper held his own. He didn't want grown-ups around him ... he just wanted Cosmo (Mike and Ash's dog) ... see pics below.

Chillin' on the boat!


Me, Katie, Julia and Ashley gabbin'!

Paul and Mike showin' off! How manly! Studs for sure! LOL!

...and Cooper and Cosmo. Cos looks like he is about to eat Cooper if he doesn't give him that dang stick. Cooper would thrown it in the lake and Cos would go fetch it and bring it back to him ... they did this for hours!

Lunch ... Well, Cooper was the double-dipper of the group. He devoured the hot sauce...not so much the chips though! He would dip the same chip in and scoop out the hot sauce and lick it off ... only to dip in the same chip again and again! EWWW! Good thing our friends adore him.

Just gettin' a tan! He was so great at the lake! What a Coppertone Kid!

FIRST DAY OF SWIM CLASS: THE MINNOWS

The whole gang met up for day 1 of swim lessons. Our group is the smallest of all the kiddos ... The Minnows!

Can you tell Cooper is thrilled about swim lessons!

I am determined to get him to float!

Daddy is the fun one b/c he doesn't care about blowing bubbles or floating ... he just throws me in the air!

Lauren is determined to get Riley to blow some stinkin' bubbles, but Riley is having no interest in Motorboat, Motorboat.

Who is playing Motorboat, Motorboat? John takes his games seriously!

THE DOG GETS MORE LOVE THAN WE DO!...Thanks Ms. Carson

Spot goes everywhere I go.

Oh my God, I dropped Spot! The drama begins...

Spot, are you okay? I sowwee

Oh my God, Spot is hurt! I will give him hugs and kisses! So dramatic!

DADDY DAYCARE

Today was a fun-filled day at Daddy Daycare! Amanda, Lauren and myself decided to have a girls afternoon/evening. We went to see the movie, The Proposal, which was a must-see. I will now have to go buy it when it comes out on DVD b/c it was hilarious. After that, we went shopping and then headed over to Julia M.'s baby shower. We stayed out from 3:30 'til 10:30! It was great just spending time with the gals! Meanwhile, Paul and John opened up our house for Daddy Daycare and they watched all the kiddos.
The gals! (L to R: Me, Julia B.(hubby is KC-10 9th ARS), Lauren P.(Aggie Gator Girl w/me and hubby is C-17 Maint.Ofcr) and Amanda (OSC Exec board w/me and hubby is KC-10 6th ARS w/Paul)
While Madde was napping, they decided to fill up the pool in the backyard and let the kiddos play. Sarge is right in the mix ... you know he doesn't miss out on a good time!



You may notice that Cooper's hemangioma on his belly is getting better. The doctors are saying that it should go away within the next 3-5 years! But, for now, it has flattened out and the coloring is starting to look more flesh-colored! I am just thankful that it is not near his organs, b/c that would have been a real problem!

And the lovebirds are fighting again ... or is it flirting? I don't know. "Ugh, get off me, Poopie!"



But then the first sign of Cooper leaving drives her mad. "No, don't leave, Poopie."

"GIRLS! I don't understand! What does she want from me?"

"My man left me. (tear, tear)"

HAWAII: DAY 1 ALOHA

We landed in Kona, HI on July 7th, Paul's b-day. What a great birthday ... HAWAII! The best part was listening to the Beach Boys on the radio as we drove around in our rent-a-Jeep. HaHa! My dad would be so proud!

We stayed at the amazing Fairmont Orchid! God bless their 70% off for military!

We were starving after the long flight, so we decided to catch a bite to eat at the hotel. Well, note to self, don't eat at the hotel...it is expensive. 1 burger, chips/guac, and 2 drinks = $80. I know ... insane! I am too cheap to keep doing that 3x a day, so I had Paul go to Walmart in town and get food for the week. I can totally do tuna sandwiches and turkey clubs for lunch!

Paul could not wait to take a dip!

This was one view of our balcony-Oceanview room...

...and this was the other view. ahhhhhh

The lighting of the torches each night!

HAWAIIl: DAY 2 JENN'S PICK

Today was my day to plan and of course I chose a day of pampering!

Paul was immediately growling at me for packing such a big bag of what he likes call "crap." He couldn't understand how I thought we needed so much when we were going to be relaxing all day. Well, hello, I need my tanning lotion, brush, make-up, water bottles, Tylenol (for headaches), Rolaids (acid-reflux that I have had since I was prego), snacks, the big ol' camera, the cell phones, and a change of clothes. Not too much, just necessities.

We started the day by sitting in the sauna. Then we went outside and sipped iced tea and waited for our massagists.

I was becoming one with nature. LOL! Since day 1, Paul had been making fun of my connection with all the animals and creatures haha. I was loving this lizard and I had been feeding and talking to the squirrels, birds and frogs. I am Dr. Doolittle here. LOL!

When our massagists came to get us, we went over to a private cabana that overlooked the ocean. We got hour massages each and we just laid there and relaxed to the sound of the ocean. It was amazing. We didn't want to get up!

Just taking it all in!

This is just a pic of the sea turtles that were swimming around in front of us.

After the massages, we had a private cabana on a cove that overlooked the beach, for the entire day. They provided a cooler with some snacks and drinks which was great b/c it was pretty hot. We did hop in the water for a bit and went snorkeling and then we went over to the beach cafe for a steak and fish dinner. It was delicious! Perfect ending to a perfect day! Little did I know, I would wake up the next day burnt to a crisp!

HAWAII: DAY 3 PAUL'S PICK

Since it was Paul's day to choose what he wanted to do, you won't be surprised when I tell you we went fishing ... for 4 hours!

This is us leaving the Honokohau Marina at 7am. It was a beautiful morning and who can deny that all of Hawaii is breath-taking, so I really thought that the fishing experience might be kind of fun. I was being optomistic for Paul's sake. LOL!

So, they began by putting us in the hot seat (I don't know what it is really called, but that is my fishing terminology) and instructing us on how to reel in the fish.

Yes, I have a jacket on ... I didn't not want to burn my burn!
Overall, it was a relaxing morning. Unfortunately, Paul was pretty bummed b/c the fish weren't hungry. Not even a nibble today. Oh well, he loved just being out on the boat. I, on the other hand, did not do well with the motion of the ocean. After 30min I got sick. Paul came to the rescue with Dramamine, but if he wanted me to stay awake and enjoy fishing w/him, Dramamine was not the drug of choice. I had no idea it puts you into a coma. Literally, I fell asleep sitting up for 3 hrs. HaHa! I felt well-rested to say the least!
After a long day on the boat and a lot of sleeping, we headed over to Tommy Bahamas for some drinks & appetizers. Luckily, we were stuck on Cali time, so when we were hungry at 4pm, it worked in our favor b/c it was Happy Hour!

Cheers!

Chug-a-lug!

He just has a drinking problem! LOL! (jk honey)

HAWAII: DAY 4 THE BIG HIKE

I had heard from the locals that the Pololu Valley Lookout was amazingly beautiful and so Paul and I drove almost 2 hours in our rent-a-Jeep to go see the scenic cliffs. If you notice, the sign also says Kohala Forest Reserve...no one mentioned to me that you can hike down the mountains to the black sand beaches. If they would have, oh lord, I would not have taken Paul, b/c I just knew he was going to drag my a-- down the mountain and right back up...and so he did!
This is why we should not be hiking on vacation!

These are the mountains that we were going down to get to the black sand beaches.

This is my girly Rocky pose! HaHa! I can't believe I hiked down this thing... now I have to go back up ... S*&%!

Pablo posing on the black sand beach. He wasn't really up for the Sports Illustrated look! LOL!

Can you tell we were missing Coop? (I know, I know, we will eat those words when we get back) I wanted to write Ol' Sarge in the sand too, but Paul wasn't havin' it!

Day 4 and we still look happy...haven't killed each other yet!

Paul...just being a kid! I told him that the rope swing was going to hurt his hands, but you know Paul, he has to figure that out on his own.

Okay, so the hike was fun, but I would not do it again. LOL! By the time we hiked back up it, I was drenched in sweat ... mmmm! After we cooled down, we drove through some of the small towns that Hawaii has and we stopped in Hawi to eat at a great restaurant called Bamboo.
As you can see, Paul's golden tan is beautiful. I tried the bronzer that Paul got me before I got burned. He said it had SPF in it...he failed to mention that it was SPF 4. Lord! Damn, my burn hurts! I actually had a jacket on before this picture so that my shoulders and chest would not see the light of day, but I had to take it off for all pics so that I did not look ridiculous w/a jacket on in Hawaii!
This sunset dinner cruise was actually a lot of fun. I think that besides the beautiful views, the people on the cruise made it great. We met a couple on their honeymoon and we chatted it up the whole time. There was another couple that was celebrating their 15th anniversary and seeing as how they were drunk before they got on the cruise, they definately made the evening fun. At one point, the boat was playing, "It takes two to make a thing go riiiight" and let me tell you sumpin' ... they can get down like nobody's business. She even started mooning everyone. What a hoot! Somehow, my stomach barely tolerated the motion of the ocean, but I was in no shape to get up and start shakin' my rump shaker. LOL.

Amazingly beautiful!...and we have about 20 pics of the same thing to prove it ... haha ... Paul loves taking multiple pictures of the same thing and I can't figure out why ... I love him anyway! No worries, I will now bore you with 20 pics of the sunset.