My Favorite Date

That's a tough one. I'd have to say April 25th. Because it's not too hot, not too cold, all you need is a light jacket.

But seriously my favorite dates are when Jake and I get outdoors and go hiking.  So that is what we did when he got back.  We tried our first Hawaii ridge hike.  We tried one that was a little easier just to build our experience and we are glad we did.  It was a pretty narrow ridge with plants hiding the drop offs.  We hike Kamanaiki Trail off of Likelike Highway.

These stairs started right off the sidewalk in an urban neighborhood, and almost looked like it went up to a house.  Not a traditional start to a hike

Strawberry Guava, we have a tree in our front yard, but these ones were growing wild and a lot bigger,

Some views

A really steep section where someone added a cable to hold on to.  It literally was a TV cable.  But no matter how ghetto, it held up.

Jake by an old water tank, which is no longer in use.

The start of the hike was urban, like this.

This doesn't look too steep, but trust me it was.  We were glad for the lines someone had added.

Sorry for this picture overload, but it was a really beautiful hike and truly one of my favorite dates.

Of course there was all kinds of fun when Daddy came home.  We had a little Hawaii staycation (which is so easy to do in Hawaii).  We took Jake to Manoa Falls, because he wasn't able to go with us the first time.  And we all went to check out a new beach, Secret Beach on the Marine Corps base,which is quite possibly our favorite beach so far.  Great for snorkeling and calm and shallow for the kids.  The coral is absolutely amazing and there was lots of fish and turtles.  Someone told us it was a breeding grounds for hammerheads, so we kept an eye out, but didn't see any.  But by far was the best snorkeling I have done since being here on Oahu, and the best part is that there is no crowd.  On a holiday, there were only a couple other families there with us..

A cool Banyan tunnel along the path

Pace floating on Secret Beach

We went on a cloudy day, but those are the mountains in the distance.

Our boys have also been a source of lots of cute pictures, as always.  So here are some highlights.

Decided to get out "water table" toys, and it was a hit

Yes, Louis finds the most comfortable places to sleep.

Black bean soup eyebrows

Crawling into the toy shelf

Also, I need to mention that Jake had his military ball.  It was by far the most enjoyable millitary event I went to.  They changed it into a Luau, which meant it was more casual and had more entertainment, games, and fun.  I got a henna tattoo, played hawaiian "bowling" (don't know the real name), and threw javalins while we were waiting for it to start.  Usual events involve just standing around socializing.  And the location was beautiful at Paradise Cove.

Jake threw a bulls eye