The Garden Island: Kauai

We just got back from Kauai on Tuesday night. We spent 4 days there and I was ready to come home...and drop off the kids and go back!!! We will definitely be visiting there on our own next time! Our camera broke so I didn't get pictures of all the pretty places we saw like the waimea canyon (Hawaii's Grand Canyon) or waterfall, etc... We figure we will get those pictures when we go back without "distractions"... a.k.a. kids! I am, however, going to bombard you with the few photos we have that did turn out okay. Mostly just pictures of the beach and the house we stayed in on the military post--if you are in the military definitely take advantage. It was wonderful and we basically had a private beach. There were never more than 5 or 6 people there with us and usually we were alone!! The beach had crabs everywhere first thing in the morning. The picture with all the mounds of sand is of all the crab holes that they had dug along the beach. They would be out and crawl into them when they saw you coming towards them. It was really cool. Also, some of the pictures of the ocean and beach you can see the neighboring islands, Ni'ihau and Lehua. The beach where we were staying was great because it had a depression that would fill with water at high tide and then stay filled for the afternoon. It was only about a foot deep so the kids had a great time playing in it without the fear of the waves getting them. Dave went surfing so that he can say that he has surfed on Kauai and there is a rare picture of me boogie boarding--since I am normally the one with the camera! We also went to Jo Jo's Shave Ice. It is supposed to be the best on Kauai--and it was GOOD! Instead of normal vanilla ice cream like we get here, it was macadamia nut ice cream under the shave ice. Very tasty. The kids thought it was a fun that it was called Jo Jo's since that it Jonas' nickname. Next time we go I will make sure to get LOTS of pretty nature shots because Kauai is gorgeous.

School Uniforms

I have been asked to post pictures of the kids in their school uniforms. They are just T-shirts or polo shirts with the school logo and then they can wear any bottom with it that they like. Here are a couple of pictures from their first day back to school. They started back on the 1st of August. They call the school schedule here a year round schedule but we aren't on the track system yet. We might be next year. It works out good because we get a really long Christmas break and a long spring break. That way we have enough time to go back to the mainland if we want.

The Dentist

We have not been good about getting the kids to the dentist. It has been about a year now. So we decided that we better go have them checked out. I was expecting tons of cavities...but there were none to be found. Hooray!!! We took them to a pediatric dentist who was just great. I was really glad that I chose him. London, Tank and Zeke were great. Jonas on the other hand...you can probably guess. They did x-rays and cleanings on the older kids and they were going to do a cleaning on Joe after the older kids were done. He was running around back and forth from the waiting/play area and wouldn't sit still for a minute. While I was finishing up with Ezekiel, one of the assistants came to Dave and said that they decided not to try a cleaning on Jonas since he seemed to be an "independent child". We figure that is code for uncontrollable troublemaker! When the dentist did his exam, though, he cleaned his teeth a bit and gave him a fluoride treatment. This was amidst screaming and kicking, of course. Before the cleanings the assitants let the boys play with the instruments to try to show Jonas that it was fun..it didn't work. He did, however, love playing at the sink where they brush their teeth. Zeke got extra prizes because his cleaning was less than fun and took a long time. That is why he has the forced smile on his face. The best part for Dave and I was seeing the x-rays of the kids and realizing how massive their adult teeth are!!! London's front teeth are getting close to finally coming in. the dentist told us that with her we pretty much have to plan on braces because she has a really small mouth with really big teeth. And Tank's 2 front bottom teeth are pretty close to falling out according to the x-rays. So that is something to look forward to!