Grandma and Grandpa Robison visit Hawaii

My Mom and Eric came to visit! (August 28-Sept 4) We had a great time doing some things around Oahu! We went on a snorkel cruise, this time with all the kids too. It was a lot of fun, the water was pretty choppy so the kids didn't love being in the ocean, but they did love the boat ride and the flying fish. We went to the swap meet for all the fun Hawaii treasures and of course we had to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center. I wasn't very good at taking pictures while she was here. The kids had a great time getting to know Grandma and Grandpa a little better and hopefully Grandma and Grandpa had a good time getting to know Hawaii..

This was on the snorkel cruise. Once again we were the only ones with kids on a tourist activity, but they had a great time and everyone was pretty good with them!

Dolphin in the water!

The dolphins were pretty neat to see doing their own thing in their natural habitat!

Daniel stood in the same spot almost the entire boat ride. He loved seeing into the water and watching the flying fish. He loved the wind in his face. Eric stood by him most of the time. Daniel always has something funny to say, if you stand by him he will tell you a story too!

This is the Honolulu Tabernacle.

We went on Sept 3rd to the Polynesian Cultural Center. We had a lot of fun!

We are amazingly graceful. (Daniel and Sophia were just busy drawing in the sand!)

We were learning how to hula while in the "Island of Hawaii" at the PCC!

Daniel had found this nut/fruit thing on the ground and was determined that he could open it with this stick. He was working very hard at pealing away all of the soft bark. We had just watched the very strong Samoan man crack open the coconut with a rock and peel the husk and make milk out of coconut, so naturally Daniel thinks he can do it too!

At the PCC you can take a bus ride to the Laie Hawaii Temple's Visitor Center. The temple is closed for 18 months for renovations but the Visitor Center remains open. This is the first time we have taken the kids up there. They were pretty amazed at how beautiful it all was!

This isn't a great picture.. we will have to try again next time!

On their last day here Mom and Eric went to the Arizona, the Bowfin, and the Missouri. On the Bowfin you could get headsets that gave you a tour of things around the boat. James really enjoyed listening to all the information. Mom was interested in the submarine because her brother, Jim, was in the Navy and served on a submarine. I opted to stay home so Sophia could take a nap!

James is sitting at the anti-aircraft gun with a look of mischief on his face!

We had a lot of fun with Grandma and Grandpa and can't wait until they come again!

Packer Barber Shop

It was time for Sterling to have a hair cut.. and the kids really wanted to help. Why not???

Sophia really wanted the clippers too.... but the dust brush was enough to appease her!

THE ROAD WON!

This is with all the bandages and wraps. Looks like a horror film star of some sort!

This is at the hospital after the EMT had cleaned his wounds

and gotten the dirt and junk out!

This is at home right before we left for the hospital.. Sterling had tried to clean himself up some, but still didn't look too good!


Yesterday, August 4th, Sterling went on his usual early morning bike ride/workout. He went 20 miles, trying to get ready for a triathlon. After his workout, on the way back to the house in our alley he road over the road water drain and his tire was skinny enough it fit between the slats. So, down he went. He had his helmet on, but his face wasn't protected. He came into my room at 6:45am and he was covered in blood. He said he had already tried to clean himself up! I couldn't tell. He looked pretty amazing. So, I called some friends to cover for me at the school and I got someone else to take James to school. Sterling, Daniel, Sophia, and I left for the ER. They took him in right away, but then sent him to get x-rays of his face and nasal passages to make sure nothing was broken. After all of that they sent him back to the ER to get it all cleaned up. The doctor said there wasn't' anything they could really stitch back together. The wound right under his nose they couldn't decide if they could stitch it up or if they should just cut off the flap of skin. They opted to cut it off! The doctor said he may need some plastic surgery if the scaring is too bad. I took pictures before we went to the hospital and some all bandaged up. He looks like something out of a horror movie. I told him it was too bad it wasn't Halloween, he would be all set with his costume. The doctor said it would take about a month to heal from all of his scrapes and bruises. The good side is, they are only flesh wounds, no broken bones or brain injury. He got 2 days of quarters and 2 weeks of a no shave profile. Vacation the hard way!

USS Hawaii comes to Pearl Harbor

The tug boats were spinning in circles and spraying water into the air

to announce the arrival of the USS Hawaii into the Harbor.

This is the submarine with the sailors on top entering the Harbor.

The USS Hawaii, adorned with a lei and all!

Making it's way to his home port!

The kids and I went to see the USS Hawaii - submarine come into Pearl Harbor it's home port for the first time on July 23rd.. The USS Hawaii is a Virginia Class submarine and the first of it's kind. It was fun to see all the ALOHA SPIRIT and the fanfair that was put on for the welcoming of the USS HAWAII!

Dole Pineapple Plantation

On Saturday July 18th we took the kids to the Pineapple plantation. The kids had a good time going through the maze and riding the train, but the highlight for all the kids was feeding the fish at the fish pond. While we walked around the gardens we found a pond that had lots of tiny and some huge koi fish that we could feed. All of the kids said that was their favorite part of the day! Sterling and I really enjoyed the gardens with all the different plants native to Hawaii, the kids just liked the fish! To each his own!

Utah's Hogle Zoo - Packer Family Day

On Monday August 13th we went with the Packer Family to Hogle Zoo. It was also Glade's birthday so we were able to celebrate with Glade and wish him a happy 22nd birthday! The kids had a really great time at the bird show, Sterling even got to be the volunteer that the bird took money from! Daniel was partnered with Maddie. They were so cute holding hands and keeping track of each other! Each child had a partner in hopes of keeping everyone together. Daniel loved playing with Rais, he was excited that there was another boy, not many on the Packer side. There are 11 grand kids on the Packer side, only 4 of which are boys. Harrison was in the stroller the whole day so it just left Rais, James, and Daniel. Daniel has renamed Rais as "My Cousin Racer". Daniel has started making up things that he and "my cousin Racer" have done together. It is fun that they could spend some time together and build some memories. After the Carousel and the train and walking around the zoo until there was no more to see we went to Hillary's house to have Ice Cream Cake for Glade and to play a game. Lynette wasn't able to come to Hillary's because she had a long drive back to North Ogden with tired kids. Grandma and Grandpa came and watched the game for a while. My kids and Hillary's stayed and played together down stairs and had a good time! It was fun to have some family time and enjoy the Packer side!
We had a great time in Utah - no amount of time is long enough! There are always things we should have done, people we should have seen, and places we should have visited. Maybe next year!

Oquirrh Mtn Temple Open House

On Saturday, July 11th we went to the Oquirrh Mtn Temple Open House. When I say we.. I mean the whole family was there were (29 of us!) It was a lot of fun to go through the temple with the kids and explain what things were and why things were. It was also fun to be there with family. Chase, again carried Daniel through the whole temple. Daniel loves Chase! We had an interesting experience while we were there. During part of the tour they seat you in one of the sealing rooms and a cute young couple talked to us about the joys of being sealed for eternity and the peace that it brings. While they were talking Daniel was looking around the room. The room has mirrors on opposite walls giving the effect of eternity. There are un-numbered reflections that go on and on. Daniel really liked the reflections. We also had a moment to just sit and look around the room and Daniel pointed to another little boy and not so softly said, "Mom he looks like me, he has a million freckles too!" I didn't realize that Daniel felt that it was an oddity. I guess in Hawaii there aren't many red head boys with "millions" of freckles. I never knew that he felt singled out. But he was so excited to see this other little boy who also had red hair and freckles. People do remember me as 'the lady with the little boy with red hair', but I had never really thought about him feeling any different than the rest of the kids here. After walking through the temple we got to enjoy some yummy cookies and took a picture on the lawn near the temple. (Daniel charmed several cookies out of the cute volunteer ladies!)