A Little of This & That

I dropped my mom off to head back to Tennessee this morning. It was a very short visit with her for me but great for my boys! I hope that she can come out again sooner rather then later. Most times we only see them twice a year if we are lucky. My dad is still here & off fishing with Paul for the weekend. They took two of the boys so my house seems super quite. It's nice since I managed to get an ear infection on our return from vacation. Silly allergies then flying just messed my left ear up. Thankfully I got right into my doctor & hope to be able to hear again soon. I am also enjoying some much need stay at home & lounge time. I am super tired from all the activities even though I enjoyed everything.


 Now to address the following:
We had someone ask me how we where able to afford a trip to Hawaii when we fund-raise for Banyan constantly? Even though it's not really anyone's business I did realize others may wonder as well. Here are my thoughts on the subject.

1. This is the first vacation in 16 years Paul & I have taken together alone w/out children out of state. So I am pretty sure after four consecutive deployments we earned a vacation.


2. Tax Money- we used cash to pay for everything.


3. Hale Koa R&R/ Block Leave discount. When your soldier is on either from OIF or OEF you get 30% off your stay- HUGE MONEY SAVER!


4. My amazing parents paid for 1 of the plane tickets as Paul's Welcome Home / 40th Birthday/ Happy Father's Day gift. They had no idea what to get him while he was deployed so I had them save all the cash & chip in for our trip.


It may seem we where unwise to spend money on a vacation, but trust me we did not splurge- we where extremely frugal. We had fun & enjoyed every moment , I'll never regret going. Paul & I needed that time to reconnect as a husband & wife. It's hard to get quiet time with 4 boys in the house. I hope anyone else who thinks we are unfair in fundraising while going on one trip takes time to read all my posts about our Army Life- then readjusts their thinking to realize one vacation is not breaking the bank or taking advantage of others wonderful generosity helping with Banyan.

Now I am going to sit back relax & read some more of my books I have been waiting to read. I managed to get through 3 while on vacation & I have 9 more in this series to go. Have a great weekend everyone. 

ALOHA

We went to Oahu , HI for our first ever in sixteen years kid free vacation! It was magical from the time we stepped off the plane into the tropical breeze. Paul & I couldn't get enough of the beautiful flowers, clear blue waters, & beaches. We snorkeled, we drank yummy tropical drinks,we shopped , Paul fished, & we swam with a real Sea Turtle! It was an amazing vacation that was long over due for just us two. So many times as a military wife you push aside alone time for fear of not letting the children have their time with dad. Fear that if you go away by yourself your being selfish because you have no idea when or if he will get leave again anytime soon. Not this time, this time I was not feeling guilty one bit. Did we discuss the boys, yes. Did we miss them yes. But did we want the with us - NO! We did decide to take some tax money come February & catch a MAC fight back to the Islands with the four boys so they too could experience the wonders of Hawaii. But I would not change one moment of this time with my husband.
 Here a few pictures, but honestly we just snorkeled a lot, cuddled, & acted like we had just got married- it was AWESOME!

The beach in front of the Hale Koa where we stayed

FIrst day on the beach- I was singing " I got my toes in the water Arse in the sand" hehe

Can you tell I was excited to be sitting in sand in 85 degree sunshine!

  My handsome husband

Hanauma Bay a Sealife Reef that is protected. We snorkeled & it was amazing!

Paul fishing on a Flat's Boat- was a really fun day! We saw so many Sea Turtles & beautiful views. Our guide was hilarious & kept us laughing all day.

Lau night was a lot of fun!

We snuck over to the West side of the island on one day for some snorkeling we heard was amazing! It was at the Lagoon at the Disney Resort. What a great quiet beach & Paul found me a Sea Turtle! We where able to swim right with him for about ten minutes! I was thrilled! Paul was so great following him around when I couldn't see him good to make sure I kept right with him. I love Sea turtles they are one of my favorite animals.

This was one of my favorite spots in the hotel. It had beautiful flowers that these pictures don't begin to do justice.

I couldn't have asked for a better getaway with Paul. I am so lucky that the grandparents came to babysit so we could escape. It was nice to have the time to reconnect & enjoy some much needed down time. Now we are home & I am jet lagged. But it was so worth it & I would do it again next week if we could. I can;t say enough about how nice the Hale Koa was. If your husband is returning from a deployment go check them out for a getaway. There is plenty to keep you entertained on site & they offer a generous 30 off as a Thank You to our returning soldier's. There is a lot of family activities if you choose to take your kids as well. But I highly recommend taking some time away with your guy if you can. It was nice to be reminded hy I fell in love with this man & have stayed married to him for the past sixteen years. It is memories I can hold on to should the Army decide to send him away again anytime soon. They are special moments I'll never forget.

Still Around

With the husband finally home & block leave about to begin in a few days, blogging will take a backseat for awhile. We have a lot of family activities planned since my soldier rarely get's more then a couple days off here & there. Some of you think no way we hear about four day weekends & leave. Well my soldier has OVER 130 days of leave!! He deploys so often we have yet to even begin to get to cash in on all the so called "free" leave days. That is about to change finally!! Here is a few things we have planned for July & we are so excited!

None of the pictures are ours just wanted you to get the idea of the fun we are about to have!

These are just a few things already planned . I'm sure we will fit a lot more into the next four weeks. Don't be surprised if the blog is super quiet until Block Leave is over. Then I'll have a lot of fun posting all the great pictures of all our fun.

Continue to be on the look out next week for our LINK to sign up for the Chelsea Hutchinson Virtual Epilepsy Walk. Team Jeremy & Banyan will have their own page where you can join us! More details to come as soon as they open up the website for registration. This virtual walk you can sign up for anytime & I WILL post all the information before we leave to go camping. It's for a super great cause.

Have an AMAZING Friday everyone & enjoy your family as much as I plan on enjoying mine.