Emerson's field Trip

In October (yes, I'm behind---again!), I got to chaperone Emerson's field trip to a farm on the West side of the island. The children got to learn all about farm animals and got to pet and feed them. They also learned about plants that are native to the island and how to farm plants that we use (fruits and vegetables). The children really enjoyed the whole trip, enjoyed a picnic lunch, followed by a game of duck, duck, goose, and gave the chaperones and teachers a treat---a quiet bus ride home, since most of the kids fell asleep. It was pretty comical to see all the adults trying to keep the kids from bouncing out of their seats and falling on top of one another!

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Random things that have been going on

Since it's been a while since I've posted anything, thought I would do a quick montage and update everyone. Eric and I got to go on a Catamaran ride with his co-workers to celebrate Dr. Judd's (Courtney) birthday. It was lots of fun, very relaxing, and a good time was had by all, especially since we had no children with us! There's also some pictures of the girls playing at one of the parks on base, in the backyard, and just some really cute pics of them together! We also got caught in a terrible downpour one afternoon walking home from school. Emerson thought it was pretty fun, but Macie was not too thrilled to be running down the street strapped in a stroller getting drowned by the rain. I thought it was pretty funny, and it felt good....it was really hot that day! And, finally, we brought chocolate chip cookies (Christie's yummy recipe!) to share with Emerson's class for her birthday. The kids sang happy birthday to her and she got to pass out the treats and goody bags to her friends. Enjoy!

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Labor Day Weekend 2008

For Labor Day this year, we decided to "get away" for a couple of days, so we went to the Hale Koa, a military hotel in Waikiki. It was really really nice, and we had a great time hanging out at the pools. We tried going to the beach, but it was just too rocky (second time we've gone to waikiki and it's been really rocky....still don't see the attraction!). Anyway, we had a good weekend, a break from our normal routine and plan on going back soon!

The Pool at the Hale Koa


Macie is ready to hit the beach!

...so is Emerson!

Daddy and the girls with diamondhead behind them.

Enjoying the pool. I don't know who enjoyed it more, them or us because they both could touch and weren't hanging all over us like a couple of monkeys!

What's new with us...

Not a whole lot is going on with us this month. Emerson is continuing to like school. She really amazes me with everything she is learning (the pledge of allegiance, America the Beautiful) every day. She is a little under the weather this week, though. We found out on Friday that she has pneumonia....who would have thought you could get that where the weather is so nice all time? She is feeling much better now, just has a cough that she's having trouble getting rid of.
I started working nights at the beginning of the month. I just finished my 2nd week this morning and am fighting to stay awake as long as I can, hoping I can sleep well tonight. I didn't adjust very well last week, so hopefully this week will be better.
Eric is trying to train for a marathon. He ran 8 miles tonight. He usually feels pretty good after he runs, but he is starting to have problems with his foot that has not been operated on....looks like he may have an operation to fix his right foot sometime after the first of the year.
Macie is learning new things everyday. Dawn (her childcare provider) is teaching the little ones the alphabet, and last week's letter was A. She kept saying ah, ah, ah...like apple! So cute! And she made some really cute crafts too!
That's about it for us for now. Aloha!

Macie's new tricks.....

Why are almost-2-year olds so funny? I don't know either, but just look at what Miss Macie has been up to lately!




update: we decided it was probably better not to post naked bath shots of our 2 year old on the computer....if you haven't seen the video and want to, please email us and we'd love to share with you!!

Mainland Visitors

We were so lucky to have our good friends from Oklahoma come visit us in August. Damon, Joanna, Brodie, & Layla came to see us for a few days before heading to the Big Island to enjoy time with Joanna's parents. We had such a good time, and the older kids had so much fun playing with each other. The little girls, however, either stared at each other or were yelling about who took who's toy (usually Macie doing the majority of the screaming!). Even though we shared waaaay more germs with each other than we wanted to (thanks to a nasty stomach bug that seems to attack every visitor we have from the mainland), I think a good time was had by all! Enjoy the slides!

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Snorkeling at Shark's Cove

Eric and I went with Beth one day in August to Shark's cove, a rocky cove on the North Shore, where the snorkeling is great! That is, if the surf is down.....we didn't get to go out over the deep water because the surf was pretty rough that day, so we just hung around the rocks in the shallow area. Although the water wasn't as clear as we had hoped, we got some pretty cool pics and got to try out our underwater case for our camera. We think it turned out okay! Enjoy!

Here is the state fish, a Humuhumunukunukuapua'a (or you can just call it a trigger fish!)

beautiful......

Emerson's First day of Kindergarten

Yes, Emerson is really in kindergarten this year. I was a little skeptical at first, sending a 4 year old to kindergarten, but she is really doing well. She even told me to "Go on, Mom!" one morning as I was dropping her off. (my first rejection!) I think she really likes going.....we'll see in the coming months how long she keeps it up!

The obligatory walking to school picture! (no, Dolly is NOT allowed at school!)

Standing in front of the sign at her new school

Settling in at her seat doing "quiet" activities while waiting for the other children to arrive.

Getting LOST in Hawaii

Yes, my friends, we have become LOST fans. I mean, who wouldn't? We watched it when it first came on and then kind-of drifted away, but now we are hooked, and Eric was given the first season for his birthday (so we could catch up!). We actually have to get caught up on 24 first, but LOST is next in line! Anyway, as many of you may know, LOST is filmed almost exclusively here on O'ahu. So, we started doing some asking around, and research and found a beach where they film a lot of the scenes. We made the drive up to the North Shore one Saturday morning and arrived to a beautiful, almost deserted beach. Then we found out that this particular beach is more well known for it's turtle population than being a site for LOST. There were 7 or 8 in the water right by the shore. We must have stood there and watched them and played with them for almost an hour! It was so much fun to be that close to them. The girls loved it too! When we finally made it over to the filming location, which is easy to spot b/c of the orange fence they have surrounding it, we were a little disappointed b/c there wasn't anything there. You could see back in the woods that things were under tarps and the "groundskeeper" was there watering the trees and grass, but there were no sets like we had hoped to see. We did find out from a nice lady who lives in the area, though, that shooting was supposed to start back up later on in August, and there used to be a large set there, but that had just finished tearing down the last bits of it the day before ....figures.
But, the highlight of our trip was the sea turtles. And, since we were on the North Shore, and it was about time for lunch, we had to stop at Cholo's and get our Mexican fix!

A sea turtle (honu) coming up to say HI!

Eric getting a little too close to the sea turtle!

Family Pic

The remains of the LOST set....

The Waikiki Aquarium

In our quest to do as much as we can in the 2 years we have remaining here in Hawaii, we ventured off to the Waikiki Aquarium one Saturday recently. It was pretty cool, kind-of small, compared to some other aquariums we had been to before, but we had a good time. We also found a convenient parking place that's free, and a great hamburger joint! In true Baroni fashion, we had our camera, but didn't have a back-up battery, so the battery started dying after we had been there only about 5 minutes. (Good thing it's not that big at the aquarium!)

Here's Eric and the girls in front of the big aquarium where there are reef sharks and big fish.

And of course, we found Nemo......

Here's Emerson in front of the big aquarium again.....

Then the camera died! Oh well, maybe we'll have better luck on our next outing!

Happy Birthday America!

The 4th of July was a little more exciting this year than last (remember....we laid on an air mattress in our unfurnished house and watched fireworks on TV.....BOOOORRRRING!). At least Eric and the girls had fun. I, on the other hand, had to work---this shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone who has known us for any length of time. Eric and I rarely get the same holidays off. Anyway, enough griping.....Eric and the girls, and Beth and James went to Bayfest, which is held at Kaneohe Marine Corp Base on the 4th of July weekend. There is a fair and all the fun and games that come along with the fair. Enjoy the slide show....the music is a throw-back to Eric's band days....National Emblem is/was one of his favorite marches!

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Yard Work

Many of you have wanted to see pictures of the house, and being as efficient as I am, I have not gotten around to it. One reason was the front of the house looked terrible. It was the first thing we said when we walked up to the house.....those giant plants HAVE to go! So, a year later, we enlisted the help of a landscaper (who also cuts our grass--thank goodness!) who really spruced up the front for us. I thought I had a finished product...and one at night, too with all the lights lit up. Will have to search the archives a little better for those!

BEFORE

DURING

Oh well, I can't seem to find the full after pictures. But, I'm sure you get the picture. No more "little shop of horrors!" We are soooooo pleased!

Emerson's Preschool Graduation

Emerson graduated from preschool this past Friday night. We had no idea it would be such a big deal, but apparently it is here in Hawaii. A tradition we were not aware of is that you are to bring leis for friends/classmates and share them after graduation, so that by the time you are done, you have leis up to your eyeballs--literally. Too bad we didn't know this little tradition, b/c we won't be around for another graduation in Hawaii (hopefully!).

We had a small "party" at the house for Emerson and James & Beth came over to help us celebrate. Emerson was excited about her cake, but was concerned because I had forgotten to add the birthday candles! It didn't stop her from eating it, though!

Enjoy the pictures!

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News about D.C.

I know a lot of ya'll are wondering if we have heard anything about the D.C. job, so we will share the latest with you. Eric had a great trip to D.C. and loved everything about getting around the big city and the whole atmosphere of that setting. However, he was not chosen to be one of the next PA's to serve in the White House. We are disappointed, but know that he gave it his best shot and for what ever reason was not the one the panel chose to select. We will keep you all posted on any updates we hear about his upcoming deployment, etc......

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support this last week. We all really felt the prayers and enjoyed a week filled with a peace that we haven't felt since we got to this island. Now, we have to try to find that peace again and deal with the daily struggles that living here presents.

We love you all and miss you dearly!! Please keep praying!

MiMi & Pop Pop come back to Hawaii

Mom & Dad came back for a visit to Hawaii this month. We were able to see Lanikai beach (sooooo pretty) and we hiked Diamond Head (without the kids, thank goodness!). Eric took them to see the Polynesian Cultural Center and to the Iolani palace. They had a really great time and got to spend a lot of time with the girls. After their loooong trip home, which included an unexpected stop at the ER in Salt Lake City, it may be a while before they get back on a plane to come see us again! Enjoy the pictures!

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BIG BREAKING NEWS!!!!!

We have some news to report here in the Baroni household.......

Many of you may have known that Eric applied for a position at the White House to be a PA there.

WELL......he got asked to come for an interview in a couple of weeks!! We are very very excited, and hope that he gets it! He will be flying out on the 22nd and will be interviewing on the 24th and 25th at the White House. This would be a great opportunity for Eric as well as us as a family. We definitely appreciate your prayers on these days regarding this matter, both if Eric gets the job, and if he doesn't, b/c then we would be facing another 2 years here and that could be very difficult.......

Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know!!! How many of ya'll thought our big news was we were expecting? Are you crazy?????? Not yet!!HA HA HA

Memorial Day fun

We FINALLY got to go on a short trip over Memorial Day Weekend. We went with our friends Beth and James and really had a good time! I think we squeezed as much into the short time we were there! We left Oahu around 9:30 on Saturday morning and got to Hilo around 10:15. Once we picked up our rental cars, we were off on our road trip! Our first stop was the volcano!

James is checking out the steam vents where steam from the volcano seeps out of cracks in the Earth's surface. These obviously are man-made, but you can find them all around the park!

Family pic in front of the volcano. This eruption started about 2 or 3 months ago and caused a pretty big hole in the side of the crater. Pretty cool to get to see it!

Emerson and Macie posing in front of the crater at the observatory.

This is the Thurston Lava tube, where lava flowed during an eruption many many years ago. You can walk all the way through it.

This is inside the lava tube. No clue who the random stranger is in our picture or why he is looking back at us and "posing"!!

Because of the eruption currently happening, we weren't able to travel all around the national park. (too much dangerous air and sulfur dioxide to be safe). So, we ventured down route 130 where there is a lookout where you can see the lava hitting the ocean, and you can see where the lava damaged and took out an entire neighborhood back in 1983 or 1984. Pretty neat stuff!

Even though she doesn't look it, Emerson is thrilled to be standing on lava!

Here we all are (minus Eric, he's taking the picture) walking to the viewing area where you can see the lava.

And here is where the lava meets the ocean. Every once in a while you could see flashes of red as it hit the water, but mostly you just saw steam. Pretty darn cool, though!

If you look closely, you can see the steam coming up out of the earth as the lava flows from the site of the eruption, down the mountain and into the water. The lava is flowing underground and you can only see the steam escaping through the vents.

On our last day, we went to Akaka falls. Fans of Fantasy Island may remember these falls, as this is the one used in the opening scene (I believe). Pretty cool to see such a huge waterfall!
And Emerson and I stood next to a GIANT fern in the rainforest to have our picture taken! Can you believe how big this thing is?!?!?

We definitely enjoyed our trip to the big island. We hope to get back there sometime soon to do some more exploring!!

My sincere apologies!!!!

Okay, I'm sure a lot of ya'll are wondering if we fell off the face of the Earth....well, no, we didn't, we (I) have just become very lazy and didn't post a whole lot in the month of April. Okay, well, not at all. SORRY!! One reason, excuse, whatever you wish to call it, is that we purchased a new camera, and Eric didn't have a chance to download the software until a few days ago. Soooooo, what follows are some of the most recent things we have done around here. I have been trying to get a video clip of Emerson singing in church, but I think it's too big....the computer just kind of freezes after a while and doesn't do anything. We were so proud of her...she sang and did the motions and everything....too cute!

And, I took Macie in for her 18 month well-baby check up today. How in the world is that possible? I have no idea. For all you LOST fans out there, I am really starting to believe that there is some sort of space-time continuum, or whatever the guy on LOST keeps talking about when the people seem to lose time.....it must be an island thing. As far as I can tell, Island time flies by, isn't slow like I thought it would be! Where has the time gone?

Anyway, I hope you enjoy seeing pics of the girls. You can kind-of see Em's new haircut in some of them. I can't find the pics from the day she got it cut, and Eric is asleep right now, so I don't dare wake him up!. We were inspired by Aubree's haircut! She gets soooo many comments on it--even when it doesn't look so cute! Thanks for being such a trend-setter Aubree!


ENJOY!!!

Emerson's first hula performance

Here is a little clip of Emerson's first hula "performance." The preschool she goes to offers a hula class once a week, where the kids learn all about the history of hula and it's importance to the culture of Hawaii, not just a dance routine. The kids showed us some of their other moves, but this was the one clip that most resembled "hula" that most people would recognize. (And, the class only started in January, and didn't meet for several weeks, so they are all very much beginners!)

Enjoy!

Hawaii Children's Discovery Museum

Eric was able to be a chaperone for one of Emerson's field trips recently. They went to the Hawaii Children's Discovery Museum, which apparently is a great place to take the kids. I haven't been yet, but Eric said the kids had a blast. Maybe we can all go one day!

Here is some of Emerson's classmates and one of her teachers before they all went inside the museum.

Eric had charge of Emerson and another little girl named Mandy. Here they are sailing away! And being very safety conscious, wearing their life jackets!

I think this is the grocery part of the museum. The kids can take turns shopping, and running the register and checking out the groceries....lots of hands on experience!

One area of interest for my two family members was the theater area.......I don't think I have to say anything else!

Hawaiian Waters Adventure park

We tested out the water park here on Oahu a couple of weekends ago and had a BLAST!! It was so much fun watching the girls have so much fun! We went with our new friends James and Beth and just wore ourselves out! The fun wasn't all for the kids, though, the adults were able to sneak away and get a few rides on the big slides.

Here's Macie going down one of the little slides. She wasn't scared of the slides at all....when she'd get to the bottom, she'd turn around and say "gin...gin" and try to climb up the slide!

When we finally took a break to eat lunch, Macie discovered how much fun it is to dip your fries in ranch dressing and ketchup! Here is a shot of her with her ketchup mouth!

Remember I said the kids didn't have all the fun? The big splash on the left is Eric, and coming in second place is James, on the right. Why they think riding down the Wedgie slide is so much fun I'll NEVER know!

And finally, here is Emerson coming to a stop at the bottom of the slide after going down all by herself! At first she wouldn't go down unless she was sitting in one of our laps, but after a couple of times, she was going up and down, up and down....we couldn't hardly keep up with her! She had a blast!