Boat Charter

We went with a great group of friends a few days ago on a snorkeling/diving adventure.

We left the kids with Tia and Cameron. We have been swapping date night babysitting for awhile. They are such a blessing to have here. It has been so nice to get to know them better and also to have some alone time with Rhett has been fantastic. They came over at 7:00 a.m. and watched the kids the entire day for us. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

We went over to the Ginowan Port to get everything on the boat. That's when Rhett noticed that he had read the email wrong. He had picked up a wetsuit from Kadena Marina, but thought that the boat provided all the extra gear for diving. Rhett was so bummed when he realized he may be snorkeling with me instead of diving. Thankfully, we had an awesome group and a few people said that they were only going to do 2 out of the 3 dives and would let Rhett use their equipment so he could dive.

We went over to the Keramus Islands and it was absolutely breathtaking. The boat ride was about an hour to get there and I had a blast sitting on the deck of the boat curled up with Rhett as the wind whipped through our hair.

We got to the first dive spot and all the divers headed out, including Rhett. We had 17 divers in our group and 7 snorkelers. I hopped in and snorkeled around and was amazed by all the beautiful fish. I even saw a sea turtle on the bottom just swimming around. :) The only down side to this first spot was that there were a TON a tiny jellyfish. I got stung twice. Once on my leg and once on my arm. It felt similar to between a mosquito bite and a bee sting. It was more irritating than anything and it freaked me out a little to see so many. I saw at least 30, but probably closer to 50 little jellyfish. It was hard to just relax and enjoy the fish when I was so concerned with dodging the jellyfish.

We then hopped back in the boat and headed to the next dive spot. It took about 30 minutes or so. We just sort of vegged out while we went. I was sort of a little nauseous from all the movement and it felt good to get a sandwich in my belly. It settled it quite a bit. They said Rhett could dive again, but he surprised me and said that he would like to snorkel with me this time. :)

We waited for the divers to team up and head in the water and then we took off. This was my all time favorite dive spot. It was absolutely gorgeous. The water a bright blue and so clear. They had the coolest reef and the coral was amazing. The way it stacked on top of each other was so cool. We saw tons of fish and had a blast holding hands and pointing out star fish for each other. I was so happy that Rhett was next to me. It was fun to see the same things and be able to share the experience with somebody that I love.

After that we ate again and everyone agreed that we wanted to go back down in the same area. It was completely awesome! We all took turns jumping off the top of the boat and just swimming around in the water. We did a 3rd dive and then it was time to head back home. Rhett and I sat on the deck again. I tend to get a little sick if I'm inside a hot boat without air blowing on my face. We snacked a little on the way home, but mostly I just visited with friends while Rhett slept. We got home about 6:30 that night and I'm sure Tia and Cameron were excited to see us. 6 kids 7 and under is a little difficult at times. They are great though and my kids adore them both.

It was a great day! My only regret is that when I was sunscreening myself I had shorts on. That means that the 5 hours we were snorkeling my butt was hanging out of the water without any protection on it. I noticed on the way home that is was hurting, but thought it was due to the hard boat deck. Nope! It was bright red. Sweet Rhett was so worried and took great care of my butt cheeks. He smothered them in aloe vera more times than I can count and even watched the kids and cleaned while I was up wishing for death. I can proudly say that I now can sit down without any intense pain. :) I'm sure in a day or two the only reminder I will have our our fun trip is the one picture I took and the constant peeling. :)

I love this guy so much...

and not only because he spent hours last night slathering me down with aloe vera... or because he took care of all the kids last night after I passed out from too much sun... or that he got up and made me dinner and got me medicine for the intense pain in my butt cheeks... or that he got up early with the kids and fed and took care of them until I rolled out of bed hours later... or the fact that he cleaned up the entire downstairs...

But last night while I was curled up in the fetal position wishing for death... he was taking care of this HUGE problem I have had---

It was this-

That's right folks. Rhett killed the bloody spider that has been lurking around scaring the heck out of me for a good week now and THAT is why I am so in LOVE with Rhett. He always has my back!!!

Thank you Rhett. You are the BEST!

Picnics in the yard-

We are loving being on Summer break. Everyday we jump on the tramp, play in the pool, and Mommy even let's us eat our lunch outside sometimes.

Hunter caught in the act of trying to dip his hotdog in the pool water. Yuck!

I love that my kids have been really getting along well lately. They love playing together and we look forward to doing more fun stuff together this summer. I love you little guys!

I thought this was cute. I had asked Carter where they wanted to eat and he immediately set up the picnic blanket on the lawn. They had a great time eating hot dogs, watermelon, carrots, and chips. What a fun little activity!

We also went to library and got a ton of books to read together. They have a fun summer reading program and Carter is so excited to be able to earn prizes for reading fun stories.

He was a skater boy...

One of the favorite pastimes lately in this house is skating. They go around and around the circle. They fall a lot still, but are getting so good at it. It makes me smile to look up and see different kids with the skates on. They all love to take their turn skating around the kitchen.

Here are a couple pictures of Taylor skating. I didn't pull out the camera when Carter and the babies took their turns. It was me just being too lazy. :(

What a cute little stinker I have!

YIKES...

So we had this large tropical storm a couple days ago and this ugly guy decided to move in with us-

I was doing the laundry and saw the babies chasing something excitedly. I look over right as Hunter reached down to grab this spider. I of course, like any good Mother, jumped on top of the washer and started screaming my lungs out for Rhett. The babies continued to try and grab him so they could play with him. He finally scurried under the dishwasher to escape the little ones.

I went to do the dishes the next day and he had the nerve to come out and run right at me. I screamed and almost wet myself- While Rhett is laughing and telling me to stomp the bloody spider. You have got to be kidding me. I had bare feet.

So, anyway... I didn't do the dishes for two days straight, but finally ran out of clean dishes and anything paper. I asked Rhett to pick up some paper plates on his way home and he told me firmly to face my fear and do the freakin' dishes.

Rhett came home to me doing the dishes in my tall winter boots. I was ready for stomping if it came to that. Rhett asssured me that it had probably already made it's way up to my bedroom. EWWW!!! Thanks a lot Rhett! I hate NOT knowing where it is in my house.

Other little crawlies that came in during the storm are-

3 furry or hairy caterpillars. Yes, I'm pretty sure they are poisonous.

2 grasshoppers. The babies were thrilled about these.

2 worms. They were just a flipping and flapping away on my kitchen floor.

3-4 little spiders and 1 BIG FAT UGLY DADDY ONE!

NOT COOL!

Oh and while we are on subject of the tropical storm--

It was really rainy and pretty windy. I told Rhett that we should go outside and flip the brand new trampoline over so it wouldn't go anywhere. Rhett ran out and checked on it. He assured me that it wasn't going anywhere. We continually checked on it up until we went to bed that night. It was still firmly where we had placed it. I again asked Rhett if we should just run out and sand bag it. His reply again, that it wasn't going anywhere.

Well, the next morning we woke up and Rhett looked at me a little bit panicked and said, "Oh crap... the trampoline is gone." I looked outside and sure enough it was nowhere in eyesight.

We ran outside together and saw it down at the bottom of the hill. In my panic I didn't really think about my attire. I was wearing a white tank top and a pair of pajama bottoms. You'll see why this is so important soon enough-

We trudged down the hill and grabbed the tramp together. It was still pouring sheets of rain and it was so hard to pull it up the hill. I lost my footing and slid down the hill on my back while Rhett was cracking up on the other side. For the record, he did ask if I was okay before he started laughing. I got up covered in mud and grabbed my side of the trampoline and we finally got it up. He flipped it over and pulled the sand bags over the top of it. That's when Rhett started laughing again. I looked down and sure enough you could see EVERYTHING through my tank top. I mean everything... it looked like I had entered a wet t-shirt contest. I quickly covered up and ran to the patio hoping and praying none of the neighbors saw the show!

Oops.

The trampoline is just fine and Rhett learned that it is always better to listen to me than risk me saying, "I told you so!" :)

Anyway, this has been a crazy little adventure living over here. The bugs are HUGE. Oh, and for the record because I sound like such a baby...

I am only scared to death of SPIDERS. I go out grasshopper hunting and hermit crab hunting all the time with the little boys. I find spiders terrifying and thought our year in Hawaii would have cured me because of all the cain spiders, but it has just made my fear even greater.

Hunter and Ryker LOVE insects. They bring me everything from beetles to grasshoppers. Hunter even brought a little spider to me the other day. I believe his words were, "Look at this cutie spider. It's so liddle." Sorry buddy, but no spider is cute!

Our on-base house

I feel like it has been a couple months. I should post a couple pictures of the new place. We are so excited. We miss our view, BUT there are way more pros to this place. We love the yard for the little boys to run their energy out in and we also love all the extra space that off-base didn't offer. We also love that Rhett is home in 7 minutes now versus the 45 it took before. We see him so much more now! :) Overall, we are very pleased with being on-base.

The backyard. We bought a new trampoline since this picture was taken and haven't put the enclosure on it yet due to typhoon season, but the kids love jumping and play on it several hours a day! We also have a glider and two chairs out on this patio.

Half of the living room-

The other half- I realize that right now it looks a lot like a furniture store, but I couldn't throw out the old loveseat. It was still good. We will get rid of it when we leave and just take the new couches we purchased. It is AWESOME for movie night though. Plenty of seating. :)

Dining room- Isn't that painting killer?!?

The other side of the dining room-

Our bedroom-

Carter's room-

The little boys room. Taylor sleeps on the top and the babies sleep together on the bottom. They sleep better when they can snuggle each other.

Anyway, we also have 2 1/2 bathrooms and plenty of closets not pictures.

Sorry this is kind of a boring post with really nothing cool at all-- I would have liked to see what the difference in size from the states though before we moved over here.

A nice break from the naughtiness-

Well, Summer is here in full force. It is HOT outside. HOT and HUMID!!! We had taken to filling up this pool and cooling off daily now. They play between this and the trampoline while I make lunch. We then have a fun picnic outside and play a little while longer until the babies head down for a nap.

It is so fun and relaxing. I usually just lay on the glider and read my kindle while they play around me. We also use a lot of bubbles. They are Ryker's very FAVORITE thing right now. He loves loves loves to blow bubbles. It is a nice break to head outdoors and still be able to cool off. The babies run little buckets of water over and drench my feet every few minutes so it's fun for everyone.

Carter loves to dump water on the babies and they actually seem to enjoy it for the most part. We have been doing quite a bit outside lately. I'll have to get caught up on the blog. We love heading to the beach, zoo, and pool.

I had my last volleyball game last night and it was bitter sweet. It was such a nice break that I wish it was year round, but my house and kids need a little more attention so I'm sort of glad that it's over. I'll have to try to do a couple pick up games here and there. It really was a lot of fun.

Here's a couple updated pictures of the kids playing in the water!

That's right- this kid is so RAD that he wears his sunglasses in the pool. I'm pretty sure he thinks they are goggles. lol. Those must be some pretty leaky goggles. :)