OAHU- our first week!

Hudson at Kailua Beach

Our first week has been very busy and very fun! We have moved out of the Hilton and into our new place at the Royal Grove. It is so interesting to be back to where we first started our journey a few years ago. The hotel has not changed and it still has the same people working there. It is about 3 blocks to the beach and is in a wonderful location to the grocery store, shops and restaurants. We made our first Wal-Mart trip and stocked up on groceries and have not really been eating out this week. We are lucky to have a full kitchen so it is easy to eat at home.

Brian has been such a dedicated and hard worker at finding a job! He has had a lot of luck and has interviews scheduled for next week. I am so thankful for such a wonderful husband and AMAZING daddy to Hudson. I am so lucky to have Brian as my other half and best friend.

I know he can't wait to throw on the aloha work attire and start his new job!

We rented a car on Tuesday to move our things into the Royal Grove and to also drive to fill out paperwork for my new job. I think we have decided to look for an apt/condo in Waikiki or Ala Moana area. We drove to some other cities that we thought we might be interested in, but we love being in Honolulu. It is so easy to walk to the beach, shops, restaurants, parks, the zoo, aquarium and it is so easy to take a trolley or bus if we need to. There are lots of childcare options and it will be an easy commute. I have met some other mothers and they have recommended certain areas of Waikiki that are the most affordable and child friendly.

We had a great time driving around the island. We only had time to make it around the Windward side, but it was gorgeous! I had forgotten how much I missed seeing those Koolau Mountains...they take my breath away every single time I see them. The drive over the H-3 to Kailua is so amazing, and you are able to see the mountains so closely that you can count the waterfalls!

We had a great 4th of July and a wonderful birthday weekend. We were able to watch fireworks, enjoy the beach and attend church on the beach at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. The church service is one of our favorite things to do, and they had a very patriotic service for the 4th!!

Hudson is having such a great time at the pool, beach and learning all about the new things that he sees everyday. He LOVES to swim and can float by himself, jump off the side, the stairs, go under and blow bubbles. He has gotten very brave and loves to wear the water wings and goggles. Somehow, Hudson has not gotten sunburned. He has gotten a little tan though. We keep the SPF 85 on him! Brian and I both also keep on the SPF 50 and spray down at least 3 times a day. I found a great deal at Long's drug store where the spray sunscreen was only $5, so I stocked up with about 8 bottles. Sunscreen here is usually around $12!!

Today Hudson learned about different ships, sailboats, flowers and birds that we saw at the beach. There was also a box jellyfish warning in Waikiki so we did not go in the water! The water is very clear and blue, so the jellyfish are sort of easy to spot, but we are not taking any chances!

http://http//www.staradvertiser.com/news/newswatch/20100708_Newswatch.html

Baby #2 is doing great and still due Sept 20th! He is kicking and flipping all day, and I feel HUGE! The weather here is great for pregnant women, because it's just not hot and we always have the refreshing trade winds. My feet have not been swollen since we left Alabama!!

We believe that we have a final list of baby names, but are going to keep it hush hush until we meet him. We are excited to get settled in our new place to get ready for him and set up shop. We have lots to do, but hopefully we have enough time to get everything done. I don't go back to the doctor until the end of July, and then I will be going every 2 weeks. I met a woman on the flight over to Hawaii who has 4 kids and offered to give/sell most of her baby things that she doesn't need any more. She has lived on the island for 5 years and her family was precious! She was able to point me in the right direction for baby stores, the best hospitals, doctors and child care. I suppose you never know who you are going to meet!!

When we went to meet with my new co workers and boss in Mililani, I was able to find out that I will be working as a SLP on Schofield Barracks, which is the largest military base in Hawaii. It has a very interesting history and I am very excited to be working there!!

From the map, it looks like my school is really far away from our potential apartment in Honolulu, but we made the drive the other day and it is about 30 minutes or about 22 miles. A much better commute than when I worked in Ewa Beach! I am hoping to be able to use the child care that Schofield has on base. Rumor has it, that if you work for the Dept of Ed, your children can take advantage of the preschools and childcare on the military base, but I am still investigating!! It would work out great if so!

The school is close to the Dole pineapple farm and is in the middle of nowhere, but definitely surrounded by beauty!!
http://www.doleplantation.com/Home

Tomorrow we are meeting with a realtor and she is going to drive us around and show us different apartments. I still can't quite believe that we are here!!! We are also meeting with a teacher friend tomorrow night and have a birthday party to go to on Saturday. I will try and update the blog more than once a week! ALOHA to all!!

Hawaii- Here we come!

We finally made it! I decided to attempt at blogging to keep our families and friends up to date with what is going on in our lives, so we will see how this goes:

The journey over here was interesting and laughably long, thanks to an 8 hour delay in Seattle, but we made it. Hudson was quite the trooper and we were able to entertain him at the airport with a back up bag of toys, snacks, DVD's, and lots of talk about different airplanes. He loved exploring the airport, meeting new people and especially staring at the AirBus. It looked like a cruise ship had landed!

We arrived in Honolulu around 11pm Hawaii time, which was around 4 am to us. Walking through the Honolulu airport brought back so many memories. The Honolulu airport is like taking a step back in time, and smelling the plumeria is all part of the experience.

The tropical breeze is almost breathtaking and such a welcoming feeling after being SO sleepy! We had to press on for another hour or two to get all the bags, a cab/van and find our hotel. Needless to say, we slept very soundly once we got to the hotel with our 12 bags, 2 strollers, 1 car seat, AND 1 sleepy Happy Feet. My grandmother named Hudson "Happy Feet" when we were living with her last month. She said she could hear his happy feet pitter pattering, no matter where she was in her huge house. We loved living with her and the memories of that month will stay with us forever. I think everyone should live with their grandparents for a while...there are just no words to describe how special that time is together. I tried to get grandmother to come on the trip with us, but she says it's too long of a flight. Maybe we can convince her one day, but until then, we will always have our memories of our special time together.

Being back here is very over whelming, so we are trying to take everything in, one day at a time. For now, we are enjoying the view, the beach, the weather and the pool. We are staying at the Hilton Prince Kuhio in Waikiki, http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hotel/HNLWAHF-Hilton-Waikiki-Prince-Kuhio-Hawaii/index.do and it is actually down the street where Jenny and Ryan used to live. It is a great location and a 5 minute stroll to the beach. We have reunited with an old friend, Tim, who Brian and I used to spend a lot of time with learning about Hawaiian culture, family and music. He was one of the first people we met 5 years ago and he hasn't changed a bit. His parents own the hotel, The Royal Grove, that he now runs. We are supposed to stay there when our Hilton Honors points run out in a few days. http://www.royalgrovehotel.com/. Yes, it is hot pink, and it is rich with Hawaiian culture. The staff and guests even do a pot luck dinner a few nights a week and then get together and play beautiful music. Brian sometimes takes part and plays along with his ukulele!