Never Fails

Yesterday we packed up everyone in the Jeep and headed out to the Bellows to spend time at the beach.  The girls have been dying to go to the beach, and that is definitely something I'm not attempting alone with three little ones.  On the way to the beach we drove through some rain, and the clouds weren't looking promising.  Once we pulled up and got unloaded the skies were perfect.  I was nervous on our drive there, but we lucked out!  

I sprayed Riley with sunscreen and then off she went, running down to the water.  Then I sprayed Hadley and Emrey down.  I was attempting to take a picture of Riley by the water when I heard her scream and start running towards me.  I knew by the scream what was wrong.  She got stung by a man of war jellyfish.  Those suckers are nasty.  I know this because almost every time we are at the Bellows I always manage to get stung.  It's a burn that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy.  I walked Riley down to the lifeguard to have him spray her finger, but that wasn't calming her down.  The lifeguard told me to take her to the showers and run hot water over her finger for five minutes to kill the stingers from the man of war.  I convinced Riley to let me take her to the showers( she had been refusing to go) and the showers were closed.  The water in the sink was barely warm.  I took my still screaming Riley back to our blanket and sat her down.  She said she was getting hungry so I pulled out her lunchable and she calmed down.  I felt so helpless in the situation.  I know how badly it hurts and she just had to brave through the sting.  It seriously never fails for one of us(normally me) to get stung there.  

We were very careful for the rest of the afternoon by the water.  Madeleine must have pulled out six man of wars from the water while we were there.  They must have heard we were coming!  After Riley had lunch and calmed down it was a great day.  We managed to stay for 3.5 hours.  That's a long time for us.  Normally there is some type of meltdown that requires us to pack up quickly.  Every one was having a fun time.  Hadley finally made it down to the water and didn't want to leave.  The water was quite chilly at first, but I warmed up to it quickly.  Hadley on the other hand had blue lips.  She still didn't want to get out of the water!

Madeleine got all the beach stuff packed up while I got the girls rinsed off and changed out of their wet and sandy suits.  It didn't take long for the girls to pass out on the ride home.  They were all zonked from a fun day at the beach.

Madeleine wrapped Emrey up in a scarf because she didn't want her to be cold.  I said the girls are use to traveling in the Jeep with no windows in the warm Hawaiian weather.  Poor Emrey looks like she's from Pakistan!  I don't even think she knew it was on her head.  

Once everyone was bathed and cleaned up,  we ordered pizza for dinner.  After a day at the beach I definitely don't have the energy for making a meal.  Madeleine had planned a "neon pizza party" for the girls anyway, so this was the perfect time.  She brought the girls silly headbands, neon necklaces, and cups that light up and blink.  The girls were entertained.  It was a fun day!

Can you tell I forgot sunscreen on my face.  I think next time I should do my sunscreen before the kids so that I don't forget!  

Tuesday at the Zoo

The girls have been asking to go to the zoo for awhile.  I'm not brave enough to take my three little monkeys to the zoo alone, so what better time to go then when their Nanny is here visiting.  Of course, our zoo in Honolulu is nothing compared to the zoo in St Louis that Madeleine is use to.  Here, it's much smaller and it costs money to get in.  With that said, the girls love going and it's the perfect size zoo for little kids to be able to enjoy the entire place.  

Riley had to get up on every ledge and peek over the fences to get the best view possible.  She was loving every exhibit we went to.  

Hadley is now fascinated with alligators and crocodiles(or crocodonalds as she calls them).  She has been since she'd watch the show Swamp People with Trey about catching gators.  Here she is, face all up against the glass, staring hard at the alligators in the water.  She didn't want to leave.

One of the best parts of the zoo is the fact they have a kid zoo.  Riley loves to look at the fish.  And one of their favorite parts is getting to pet the goats.  I'm not a fan of entering that exhibit, so I volunteered Madeleine to go in with Riley & Hadley while I waited outside of the gate with Emrey.  

We all had a great morning at the zoo.  The girls were so well behaved the entire time.  I was so impressed.  I was even more impressed that I was able to get Hadley to use a public restroom.  She's doing wonderfully with being potty trained in that aspect!  The girls were worn out on the ride home.  Emrey didn't take a morning nap and was out in the first two minutes we were in the car.  Hadley quickly followed.  

Deployment Picture

I just wanted to share a picture of Trey in action on his deployment.  He's under the helicopter sticking a pole in the bottom of it.  I thought it was a really neat picture.  He's doing really well.  I've gotten to talk with him on Skype a few times and on the phone, briefly, a few times.  I love how advanced technology has gotten so that I can see my husbands face while he's on deployment.  He looks great.  He's already lost a bunch of weight, so I guess I better get my butt on the weight loss train too!!  

Enjoying the Fresh Air

 Trey's mother, Madeleine, arrived on Thursday evening.  The girls were excited to have a visitor, especially one of their grandparents.  I think they know they get spoiled when there is a grandparent around.  Madeleine hasn't seen the girls since Emrey was born, so she was excited to spend time with them as well.  There was no warming up period needed, the girls chatted their Nanny's ear off as soon as we picked her up from the airport.  That was a plus.

It was a beautiful day outside today and I thought it would be perfect to take Madeleine and the girls to feed the koi at Moanalua Gardens.  The girls absolutely love going there and it doesn't drain the bank account taking them!  When we arrived and went to purchase some food to feed the koi the little shop was closed.  The sign said "Closed on Monday 5/28 for Memorial Day."  I was confused because it was Sunday, but there was nothing we could do.  Riley was terribly bummed out.  We still walked over to the pond so the girls could look at the fish and ducks, which Hadley was excited about.  Riley wanted nothing to do with just looking at the fish.  Riley wanted to feed them.  She was also bummed because normally we get a smoothie after feeding the koi, and she knew that wasn't happening with the shop being closed.  So, while Riley pouted, Hadley had a blast.  

Hadley was obsessed with this duck!

Cake Face

The girls and I made Emrey birthday cupcakes.  Emrey enjoyed her birthday treat!  It wasn't her first taste of sweetness, but she was thrilled to taste it again!!  Can you tell??

Happy 1st Birthday, Emrey Belle!

 The day has arrived.  Our sweet little Emrey turned 1 today.  I have to say this was the fastest year so far.  I can't even believe that a year has passed since Emrey was born.  I remember that day like it was yesterday.  I have to admit today was bittersweet for me.  Normally, when one of my babies is celebrating their first birthday I'm already expecting another baby.  This year is much different.  Emrey is 1 and she's my last baby.  I definitely got teary eyed today looking back at the pictures of Emrey when she was born.  As happy as I am for Emrey to start the toddler stage of her life, I'm sad that I'm done having babies.  Three is definitely enough for us.  I just know I'm going to miss it.  But, like Trey says, four kids won't fit in the Jeep!  

The girls and I went out and got some balloons to help celebrate Emrey's birthday.  Hadley was happy because she got a purple balloon.  Riley picked out a princess balloon for Emrey and pink balloons for herself!  Emrey was amazed by the balloons.  She got so excited every time she held one and couldn't take her eyes off of them.  

As excited as Emrey was about her balloons, she was even more excited for presents.  Riley assisted in the unwrapping of gifts.  I think Riley was just as excited, if not more, than Emrey.

Emrey, you have been the perfect addition to complete our family.  We love you to the end of the earth.  Thank you for being such a sweet and loving baby girl.  I can't wait to see what the next year brings!

Smiling Faces

Just For Daddy

 It's only been a week since Trey left.  The girls are doing pretty well.  It's me I worry about!  It's such a lonely feeling waking up and seeing his side of the bed completely untouched.  It honestly makes me feel so sad.  Then I remind myself, he'll be home before I know it.  Then the sound of "mom" echos down the hall and my day is focused on the girls.  

It's after bath time that the girls really start talking about their daddy.  That's the time when he's chasing them down the hall and getting them all riles up, right before bed time of course!!  They miss their kisses goodnight from daddy.  Hadley, in particular, misses her daddy at night.  She starts crying asking for him.  I remind her that he's at work on the boat.  She just looked up at me tonight and said, "pwweease mommy.  pwweease, I just want daddy."  My heart literally sunk into my stomach and the tears ran down my cheeks.  How do I comfort this little girl from missing her daddy so much.  It's a hard concept for her to understand.  I can only hope it will get easier as the time goes on.  

I thought it would help if I told them we needed to send daddy some pictures to say goodnight.  It's never easy getting them all to look and smile.  But here are some shots for daddy of his girls says goodnight to him!  We all love you, Trey!!!