Aloha Means Goodbye Too

Chase just boarded his flight back to the mainland. Our Hawaiian Adventure is officially over. Ava and I have been back home for a while  now but I guess I always thought that there was a small chance that something wouldn't work out and we would be back over there. Not that I wanted it to, but you never know with the Marine Corps. 

I remember when Chase told me we were going to Hawaii, I cried and cried and cried. I cried the whole way on the plane and for days after getting there. I cant believe I ever doubted that living in paradise would be just that....Paradise! 

I am so thankful that we had this amazing oppertunity. We experienced things that most people will never get to in their lifetime. I hope some day we can go back and re-live wonderful memories we had there.  

Here are some of my favorite pictures of our life in Hawaii. 

our very first beach trip in Hawaii 

Daddy and Ava a Ala Moana Sunset

Gorgeous Suset from down town 

Papa comes to visit 

As far as i'm concerned, the tunnel that leads to the best part of the island 

Beach time at Ft. Hase beach just a quick walk from out house. 

Pearl Harbor Memorial 

Family picture with a beautiful view 

waxing surfboards 

Ava's very 1st time on a surfboard. 

Clear Clear water

real hula girls 

we loved watching daddy surf every day 

see.....

our favorite beach : north beach

I always wonder what they are talking about 

Maui was stunning 

big waves on the north shore

sporting her Georgia stuff after a game 

waiting on daddy to finish surfing : a normal 6:00 ever night 

Im gonna miss evenings like this

hang loose 

I hope she never ever forgets THIS moment in her life 

I know I wont 

Her very very last Hawaii Beach Trip. 

So I think I just set a record for most pictures in one post. 

Even though I am so sad to be leaving this amazing place, I know we are about to embark on some new amazing adventures for our family. I have nothing but wonderful things to say about Hawaii and if I had the chance I would pack up our things and go back in a half-a-heartbeat! For now we will settle in to our new place (that we don't have yet) in Florida and make new memories there! 

Aloha Hawaii and thank you again for these amazing moments in our lives. 

Way Behind.

I have been way off my blogging game. To be honest we have been enjoying Hawaii so much, we haven't had time to blog.

Mike and Melinda came to visit and we had a wonderful time. It was so nice to have family here. I think we wore them out. We went to Maui and did all the touristy stuff here which was so much fun. I cant thank them enough for coming out to see us. 

Halloween came and went and Ava was Bat Girl. She was a very cute Bat Girl if I do say so myself. She has a great time trick or treating. She kept asking days later if it could be Halloween again. 

Chase and I went to the Marine Corps Ball. We had so much fun. I am so fortunate to be able to experience something so moving. It really makes you proud to say you are an American and part of the Marine Corps Family. It was a lovely evening at the Hilton Hawaiian Village downtown.

Chase finished Ava's dollhouse. Seriously he has been working on it since before she born. It has moved with us 3 times. She loves it. Chase did an amazing job and it is beautiful. Hopefully Ava will pass it down to her girls someday. 

The most exciting thing is that Chase got selected for MECEP. We are so excited. He worked so hard for this and I am so proud. He will be attending OCS in January and then we will move to Jacksonville FL for him to finish school. Hopefully he gets a flight contract and can fly when he is done. Ava and I are leaving in December and wont be coming back to Hawaii. I am very sad about leaving this amazing place but I know it is best for our family and for Chases carreer. He promises we will come back.  

That was a quick update of everything. I am going to try and do better this last month we are here!! 

Loving this

new passion my husband has for surfing. It is awesome. Every day after work he puts avas bathing suit on, throws some towels in the car and we head to the beach....EVERY DAY! I love it. We have been only staying about an hour but it is such a relaxing part to my day. Ava plays in the sand and we both chill under the umbrella. He is getting pretty good at surfing and we don't mind putting in the time to help him get better :)

Our Little Artist

I try really hard to keep ava busy during the day doing creative things. As she gets older, its fun to try different things. This week we have been painting. She has always painted : finger paints, water colors.... We used a 40% off coupon at our local craft store to buy a pretty big canvas. I wanted it to be bigger, but Chase vetoed that idea, canvases can be pretty pricey. We started day one with purple pink and blue paint. I tried to pick paints that if mixed together they wouldnt create a brown "mess"

The next morning, Ava asked to paint first thing. We started painting Green and let that dry for an hour then came back after breakfast to paint orange. She painted until all the orange paint was gone and asked for more and i gave her a few shades of blue since she had covered all that up. Most of the blue ended up on her. We only have a few rules while painting and not getting it all over her is not one of them. She ended up looking like a very messy smurf. 

I think we painted purple and pink the next day and then today we finished with yellow and orange. She was painting and all of the sudden said... "its all done, what do you think?" and that was that.

We are going to hang it in my craft room for now. Next time she wants to paint I plan on painting over it with white paint and letting her start over. I love how she has so much freedom to do whatever she wants to do. I really can tell when she is serious in to it and has a vision. She is so focused and knows exactly what she is trying to do. She says painting makes her so happy, makes me happy too! 

A Little Surfer Babe

Ava went surfing for the first time ever in Waikiki yesterday. She was all set with her life jacket and her rash guard.  I will say I was a little nervous, but she is a natural. She loved it! Her favorite was jumping off of course. For some reason I left my camera at home so all we have are these crappy not so good camera phone pictures.

I was so proud of her, but her daddy, he was glowing. We treated her to subway and ice cream afterwards. It may have been the sitting out side on the beach,  but it was the best sandwich and ice cream i have ever had. Maybe I was just starving.

While You Were Out & Thanks

Daddy comes home in just 2 short days! We cant wait! Ava is so excited to show him all the things she can do now. So here is a little re-cap of what Ava has started to do since Daddy left. He is really coming back to a different child! I cant wait to see how the two of the react to each other. 

Ava can : 

Eat with a spoon and fork very well 

Go to sleep without a paci 

Drink out of a regular cup with no lid

Count to 10

Pick out all her colors and body parts

Draw a circle and an x

Jump with both feet off the floor

Swim underwater 

Hit a baseball off a tee

Use the potty like a big girl 

Dress herself 

Im sure there is much much more that she is doing now that she couldn't when Chase left. Be looking for homecoming pictures in a few days! 

Thanks to everyone who helped Ava and I get through this deployment. I couldn't have done it without my wonderful friends and amazing family. Also, thanks for sending chase your love and prayers while he was gone. We couldn't thank you all enough! We love you all and can never repay you for all you have done for all three of us!