Sewing Party

Today was Kara's actual birthday party.  6 little girls (plus Clay-Clay and Chase) arrived at chez Johnson for a "sewing party".  Kara has been interested in sewing and got a kid sewing machine for Christmas last year.. No, I haven't learned to sew (yet) but my friend Kamdon is an expert and she graciously provided the sewing expertise for us today.  Each little girl "made" a sundress and flip flops.  We had a sewing themed cake (I assisted Kamdon on it's creation) and the girls must have eaten 10# of fruit as well (oops).  Kara had a grand time and, at one point, I heard a little girl say "This party rocks"!!  How funny!!!!  

  

Hawaii Wrap Up

Well, our first official vacation as a family has come to an end.  The kids and I flew back to Anchorage, got in this morning about 4:45.. this was my 3rd or 4th overnight flight with the kids.. they do great, all in all, but I still HATE the stress of flying all night.  Nonetheless, we made it home safe and sound.

After the birthday extravaganza, we had a few days to hang out with Clayton before we left.  Here are some more photo highlights. 

Getting ready to board the train at Dole Plantation (think "The Thing" at Stucky's on the way to Wilcox only lots more high tech and more expensive.. a total tourist trap nonetheless).  Obviously, this train ride was a highlight for Clay :)

These are pineapple plants in case you're wondering.. don't ask me why I took this picture.

Super yummy shave ice on the north shore. You know Clayton made us ride around from beach to beach on the North Shore even though it was the wrong time of year for waves...

OK, so Clay is petrified of the pool but he's not afraid of the ocean.. I know...anyway, one night, Clayton took him boogie boarding at Waikiki (very close to a lot of the freaks I was talking about earlier).  Clay had a GREAT time.

Clayton carried Clay on his back and they "caught waves" together at sunset.

Kara, on the other hand, was afraid of the ocean after a "jelly fish" day.... she preferred the pool.

Fireworks after body surfing.  Clay deemed this day "the best day he ever had in my whole life".

One of MANY popsicles.. we were HOT in Hawaii.

Some random hula demo on Waikiki on Saturday night.  We never made it to a luau but this was a close second for Kara.. the dancers and musicians were fab even if the 2 ladies in the band were very transvesite-ish to me!

Sunday at the beach.  Clayton and I took turns snorkeling off this beach and it was AWESOME!  This pic is of Clay-Clay in his anti-sun gear.

Kara eating her last sushi lunch on the beach.

The kids and Clayton in the pool (me taking pics from our balcony) about an hour before we left for the airport last night.

It was a super fun vacation.  Clayton comes home at the end of the week.   I can't believe the vacation has come and gone already.

Kara is 6!!

Kara had her sixth birthday while we were in Hawaii.  She had all kinds of grand plans for herself when it came to celebrating her birthday.. so much so that Clayton started to veto some of them! Clayton worked most of the day so the kids and I were on our own for the morning/afternoon. Kara asked for pancakes for breakfast so I took the kids to Denny's which was right across from our new hotel (we changed from the Hilton to the Outrigger half way through b/c the Hilton wouldn't honor the government rate any longer... cheap b#$%ards... the bell clerk told me that the Japanese will pay ANYTHING to stay at that hotel so the Hilton clears out all the discount guests (!!) to make room the the Japanese when it gets busy..nice).   After pancakes, we went swimming in the hotel pool.. then it was onto Baskin Robbins for lunch. YUM!  Once Clayton got home in the late afternoon, I took Kara for a pedicure... she is such a girl!  The icing on the cake of our day was dinner at Roy's.  Kara wanted sushi "at a fancy restaurant" so Roy's it was :) Our waiter treated her like a queen.  All in all, it was a fun day and I think Kara felt honored.

It's hard to believe that our tiny little 4# baby is 6.  We love you baby girl and we are so proud of the little girl that you are becoming.

Hawaii Observations

1.  Hawaii has a disproportionate amount of weirdos.. and they make me feel unsafe.  For example, we saw this homeless guy wogging (walking/jogging) down the beach shadow boxing with big Freddy Kruger gloves that had rusty nails pointing pointy side out.  I couldn't help but asking "Is that legal?".  No one seemed to notice but me.

2.  Just because you can button it/pull it up/pull it OVER doesn't mean that it fits.  (shorts, swimsuits, dresses)  This seems to me a rule to live by.

3.  $5 for a can of coke is immoral (HILTON HAWAIIAN VILLAGE, this means you).  

4.  Speedos should be outlawed in the USA.  Seriously.

5.  Women look beautiful with flowers behind their ears, almost universally.  However, if I put a flower behind my ear in Alaska, it would be weird.

6.  Two Coach stores within 1 city block, alabeit on opposite sides of the street, is a bit much.  BUT, I did see Japanese women with a Coach shopping bags RUNNING into the one in front of me.

7.  Speaking of the Japanese, I think they singlehandedly support the high end shops in Waikiki. 

8.  Still speaking of the Japanese, they are everywhere.  This is not bad, it's just an observation.

9.  Back to swimming suits.. I wouldn't wear a bikini even if I was stoned... however, I have more business wearing one (which is none at all, if we're being honest) than 50% of the bikini wearers on the beach.  Frightening.

10.  I would choose to live in Anchorage any day over Honolulu.

Aloha!

Hello from sunny-cloudy Waikiki Beach :)  The kids and I made it safe and sound, without any major drama (meltdowns on the airplane, etc..) on Thursday night.  We are loving the sand and sun...for the most part.  We all have the odd patch of sunburn that tattles on how poorly the sunscreen was applied but nothing too serious (in case Karen is reading.. my kids now say "If we get sunburned, Miss Karen will kill you, mommy...).  We are logging some serious beach time during the days as Clayton is working 5:30a-5:30p EVERY DAY until next weekend, our last 2 days will be the only days we have with him around.  SO, without a car and with little kids, we don't venture very far but that is OK.  We're having a great time!   

Daddy brought us leis to the airport.  The kids weren't very impressed.

Looking a little beat down at dinner after we flew in..... it was like 9:30 AK time so we were all a little tired :)

Clay-Clay... I don't really understand his need to act like this in every picture...I hope it ends soon.  It will serve him right when these end up in a wedding montage someday :)

Kara at the beach.

Mother's Day 2009

We had a fun day on Sunday... a big family breakfast before Clayton left for Oahu followed but an afternoon at the Alaska Zoo (not very impressive facilities but fairly impressive animals who always seem to be out playing).  Sunday night was our good-bye to the Saylors as well as a mini-birthday party for Jake and Kara (well, only a cake with candles and singing....but better than nothing).   

Kara was complaining that her lips were burning from the salt on her popcorn...

My sweet kiddos... well, Clay is usually pretty sweet.. he was ready to go home (he isn't a big fan of this zoo.  That is a result of growing up initially with the Fort Worth Zoo which is like Disneyland compared to the Anchorage Zoo).

A yellow cake with chocolate frosting at Uncle Jake's request... the only thing was, he couldn't taste it due to stuffy nose (I think his body was having a hard time dealing with the clean mountain air..ha ha).

Good Job, Kara!

Among the exciting things last week was the end-of-the-year AWANA program at church. Kara has really enjoyed going to AWANA and plugged away at learning all her memory verses.  Despite a late start, she finished her book and got an award for doing that.  The pictures are not great but she's in there getting her certificate and ribbon.  Way to go, Kara!!  We're so proud of you :)

Alaska Adventures with the Saylors!

So we've had a super fun time with Aunt Jennie, Uncle Jake and Baby Hugh over the last week or so... the weather has been FABULOUS and we took full advantage of the sunshine and warmer temperatures.  The kids thoroughly enjoyed having Hugh around and they played long and hard with their Aunt and Uncle.  We are so thankful for their visit...  Here, for your viewing pleasure, are some of the photo highlights...  This is but a sampling of our many Alaska Adventures with the Saylors :)

A hike at Eagle River Nature Center.. it was SUPER muddy, mosquito ridden and laden with fresh bear tracks (seriously....either that or it was a dog from hell.. no, a bear for sure).  

Kara loved sitting by Hugh in the mornings on the couch.  He was entertained by her most of the time, I think.  We got to babysit him one night while Jenn and Jake went to dinner with some friends.  I got to give him his medicine and take him out of the tub while Clayton got to do the rocking and giving of the bottle... So fun!

Clayton and Jake (missing from the shot was Jake's friend Jake) on top of Mount Baldy in Eagle River.  Clayton tried to sever his right hand by slicing at the wrist of his right hand while falling on the blade of his snow shoe.. a few phone calls and a visit to the flight doc a few doors down yielded no stitches but an ugly gash and much pain.  

We drove to Talkeetna for a view of Denali (it's in this picture, you just can't see it).  Jenn and I got a wild hair at lunch and, surprisingly, with the encouragement of our dear husbands....

Ooops.. story above to be continued after a picture of Clay-Clay and Hugh in the car.  These boys logged many miles in the car together and were pretty cute. It would be a toss-up who was happier to get out of the car at the end of each day :)

Now, back to our adventure...  Jake and Clayton sent us on a flight-seeing tour of Mt McKinley.  Jenn and I, our pilot Ed, and some random FAA guy did a 90 minute tour around Denali and surrounding mountains.  TRULY AMAZING!  Obviously, the big mountain is Denali.. the tallest mountain in N. America (20,300ish feet).

One super cool thing was that the plane landed on skis on a glacier.  Here is said glacier.

The girls on a glacier!!!!  It wasn't that cold, surprisingly.  Behind us and the clouds is Denali (or so we were told).  The small plane is not my favorite thing but I did OK until the return flight from the glacier back to Talkeetna.. I had the barf bag within reach and both Jenn and I thought we would have been putting the barf bags to use given another 10 minutes in the air.. So much fun.

My uber-cool cousin Monty is the AF air field manager at Elmendorf.. he gave Jake, Jenn and I the red carpet tour of the airfield and we were able to see Clayton take off up close and personal.  Thanks, Cuz!  (Clay and Hugh were at Miss Kamdon's house)

Lastly, I'll leave you with Hugh's interpretation of his trip to Alaska.. you can insert your own thought bubble to this picture.  Heaven knows the rest of us already have :) 

We were so thankful that Jake and Jenn came to AK with baby Hugh.  We had a blast and are sorry to see them go (though I'm thinking they are probably ready to be rid of us for now).