Crazy Hawaii weather

We must have brought some of Seattle with us. Except we all agree we would rather have it all cold or all hot. The weather yesterday was a combination of everything but snow. The sun would peak out so the boys went to play some tennis in the morning. It rained hard at one point then the sun came out again. We tried going to the pool then the wind and rain came in between spots of sunshine. We decided to try walking to a cute train and got hit with a bunch of wind and sprinkles. Walked back to grab the car and decided we would drive and go shopping. Ashton fell asleep and When we woke up we told Him we would do the train a different day. We had to tell him the train doesn't go if it is raining. Hopefully it doesn't rain the whole trip!

We drove only 10 minutes to Lahaina and the weather was warm, sunny and beautiful. Our hotel must be in a convergent zone. Crazy!

Last night and this morning the wind is howling like crazy. Unfortunately we have tickets to go on a snorkel cruise early this morning. We drive half an hour to get there So lets hope this weather really is just at our hotel!

For an update on our health situation; Ashton is coughing less. Marks cold continues to be there but he seems to be functioning fine. I feel the cold in my chest and when I get colds it isn't pretty. Filling up on my vitamin C this morning. Ben and Hannah are great! Let's hope they stay that way.

Travel day

It was a tough travel day. I think taking multiple planes is hard for a little one. The rest of us can manage ok, but he was not liking his car seat by the end of the day. We debating for weeks about bringing his car seat on the plane and we are glad we did. I think it made it more comfortable for a couple of the naps. It was more constricting, but at least he knows he has to stay seated. Ben and Hannah seemed to occupy themselves good. They were easy to be with. Ashton on the other hand was good but I don't think I could stand his whining voice by the end of the day (Are we there yet? Why aren't we there yet? When are we going to be there? Why Isn't the plane landing yet? Why does daddy have to get a car? Where's the hotel? Are we there yet? And the list could continue on and on... ... )

During our plane time, Ashton's cough got worse and Mark started sneezing and by the end of the day Ashton sounded awful and Mark felt miserable with heavy cold symptoms.

Luckily our Hotel room seems perfect for us. (We did check into one room and it didn't have enough beds so we had to pack up and move to a different one. I called twice to confirm our bed arrangements prior to coming so we were surprised by this) minor set back and the new room is great. Found a grocery store across the street and filled up on some basic foods since our room has a kitchen. We figure we could have a few meals there and save on the cost.

To conclude our day yesterday, Ashton was climbing on the coffee table when we were all busy getting settled in (how odd since he has never climbed on anything like that before) and he fell off and cut his lip and scrapped his chin. Lots of blood at first, but it looks tiny now. Boy O boy - travel days are tough!

I must add this morning that I am not liking the three hour time change. Ashton was up at 4:30AM. His cough is still there and I will have to monitor it today. I am hoping it is just part of the strange viral infection he had, but he seemed so good on Wednesday. We are watching TV and trying to keep quiet so poor daddy can sleep away his cold. I am working on a huge pot of coffee and hoping Ashton will take a nap later so I can snooze too!



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Ashtons swim card day!

Today ended another session for Ashton's swimming lessons. He has been counting down the days and looking forward to getting his swim card. He was worried yesterday that he wouldn't be able to come to swim because he was sick. Luckily he woke up fever free and running around everywhere. (unlucky for me that is was around 5am since he went to bed so early the night before.)

After he got the swim card we read it and it says he is moving up to level 2! He was so excited that he cleared level 1! (since he loves video games, he is associating it with clearing the levels on a game) he asked me how to clear level 2 and I told him he had to do everything teacher Hannah tells
Him to do, and then he could eventually clear it. What a funny kid

Ashton

It's almost time for vacation.  We have all been counting down the days, especially Ashton with his calendar fixation.  In his room he crosses off the day every night.  He likes to know what the next day brings and mentions Hawaii often.  He even told us last week that he was going to be sick on March 25th.   He was a few days off. His cold started around the 22nd, but it was really cute how he is trying to understand the concept of days.  He knows that preschool is every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  He knows that his swim class is every Monday and Wednesday; sport camp falls on Thursdays and Fridays change every week. We all love Saturday and Sunday because Daddy doesn't have to work! We have come to realize that we need to put some sort of flexibility into his schedule.  He seems to not understand that if something else comes up it is ok and that change happens. I think we are hoping he will not become as rigid as mommy when it comes to schedules.  (but I know he watches me too closely......)

Last week Ashton's preschool had a "Daddy and Me bowling" night. It was loads of fun! 5 of his friends from school were there and they all bowled with their dad.  I had to come to take pictures since He hadn't really bowled before, but stayed in the background.

At first daddy was helping him get the ball to the lane, but eventually Ashton did it on his own. I believe they were 6 lb. balls. 

Love the little bowling shoes the kids had!

They had bumpers up all night.  It was so cute to see the kids drop the bowling ball and it went so slowly down the lane.  There were quite a few times that the people that worked there had to shove their balls all the way down. It got a bit better as the night went on.  Mark started to take advantage of the bumpers and try crazy things to have the ball go back and forth and bounce of the bumpers. 

Goofy Ash......and one of Ashton's best buddies! They sure loved bowling with their dad!

Ashton is enjoying his sports camp on Thursdays!  Grandma and Grandpa took him last Thursday and he loved it!  The coach is trying to teach 4 boys the fundamentals of some sports. Last week was soccer. I didn't get to see it, but I heard he had a blast!

Coach Dan and Ashton

We noticed that he is able to listen to the coach and do what he is told, that we are thinking about putting him into the tennis camps on the weekends. They are for 4 year olds, but Ashton can hit the tennis ball well and we now know that he will be fine in a group setting. We think he might be ready so we will try it next month.

Yesterday we took him to the movies.  We were all excited to go see "The Lorax".  We didn't really know what it was about, but it was a Dr. Seuss movie, and a few of my friends took their 3 year old to see it.  We got there, found our seats, ate our treats and the movie began.  Unfortunately it had a few dark scenes and eventually Ashton had a melt down.  In one scene two huge burly men knocked a kid off of his motor bike.  Ashton started crying loudly and said he wanted to go.  It was really sad.  We had no clue he would react this way. He was pretty loud that we left so we wouldn't disturb the other families in there any longer. When we thought more about it later, we realized that most of his movies at home are cheerful or about animals and trains. It must have hit closer to home when the show is about a kid and then he sees the kid not treated nicely.  We didn't get a refund for leaving, but we were able to get 3 tickets to come back sometime.  He is excited to see Madagascar and Ice Age, so perhaps we will try again in the summer.

Less then a week left and we are off on our vacation!

The Past Few Weeks......

Once again the past few weeks flew by us. Since then Ashton has learned to actually swim under the water. It is only for a few seconds but he is proud of himself and really likes his swim lessons.  He used to be hesitant into going twice a week, and now he can't wait to get in there and swim some more. I think a lot of it is his teacher Hannah. She is wonderful with him and a great swim teacher. We got really lucky to have her.

Grandma and Grandpa came to watch me swim! (My camera lens was fogging up in the beginning with all the warm moisture in the air.)

He used to borrow his swim goggles, but we bought some that he seems to be getting used to. 

On Thursdays Ashton started a new Sports camp at Mark's work.  When I first signed up he was the only one on the list.  I posted it on my FaceBook page, and I had 3 other friends come join us for the class.  He had a blast.  It was fun to watch too. At first they started with Duck Duck Goose and stretching. Then it was dribbling, catching and kicking balls.  They then moved to Baseball.  Ashton was amazing with hitting the ball when Coach Dan pitched to him.

Coach Dan trying to explain Duck-Duck Goose.

Getting some stretching in before starting.

Trying to Dribble

"Home run!"  It was so fun to watch the boys try and run to the bases.  They felt like they had to go get the ball they just hit and then go to first base.  It was so cute!

Running around the bases for fun!

Isn't this Painting beautiful.....

Hannah painted this in her art class.  She has such talent. The pieces of art that she comes home with is truly amazing!

She even won an award. For the month of February the theme was Creative. Hannah's science teacher actually nominated her for this. She truly deserves it!

Hannah has decided to take a break from tennis.  She is doing Jazz Dance on Monday's and still loving her indoor soccer team on the weekends.  She is one of their star players.  The don't get to ever practice because they would have to rent out time in the indoor facility, but she goes once a week to have fun with her friends and try to win the game.

Ben's Tennis season with his team just came to an end last weekend.

We are missing one boy in the photo, but this is Ben's Jr. USTA tennis team.  They are all wonderful kids and we enjoy spending time with their families as we all sit and watch the kids play.  They had a great season. Won all but one of their matches.  I captained their team and Mark helped coach when necessary.  I hope we have enough players to do this again in the Summer.

The reflection on the windows at the club made it tough to get great photos, but he still looks great.  His match was a tough one. He was down 1-4 and came back to win in a tie-break against an older kid from Mercer Island. It was fun to watch.

Watching Ben play tennis.  Ashton has really gotten into watching and looking at the score cards. 

Ashton and Daddy