Donkey Trail

One of our first adventures was this awesome hiking trail near the Botanical Gardens. My friend Amanda invited us to go with them. It begins as a pretty steep hike down the mountain.

Selfie 

This girl strips her clothes off ALL the time. At one point on this day, I turned around to find her sitting naked on a big rock using the bathroom. I suppose it appeared to be the perfect toilet.

The bottom of this mountain is so beautiful.

The boys collected coconuts for their "house". 

We let the boys be little Tarzans. 

When we got to the top at the other side, we had a pretty big scare. The path, as you walk back up, is along the side of a cliff. We got to the top. We were all talking and looking for whales while the kids were playing. Evan was running and tripped and rolled over the side of the cliff. This would have been about a 200 foot drop into the Pacific Ocean. God must have stepped in and threw a patch of viney grass for Evan to get caught in. As he wiggled to try to get up, the grass was tearing away from the edge. I threw Madeline behind me and went toward the edge after Evan. When my foot hit that grass, I realized there was nothing underneath it. My left foot fell and I leaned backward to pull my bodyweight back. I grabbed the collar of Evan's shirt and his hair, a lady grabbed my arm, and we pulled him out. All of this happened probably within 10 seconds but when it plays back in my head, it seems like forever. It was by far one of the scariest times of my life. Brian carried Evan the entire way back to the car. So we learned that these gorgeous cliffs on the side of the ocean, can be deceivingly dangerous.



"Two Tickets To Paradise"...more like 5 and...

I have promised that I would try to keep up with at least occasional blogging while we are in Hawaii. So I'll write about the good, the bad, and the ugly about moving my whole family for a temporary travel position, about what it's like to live in "paradise", and about places we visit while we're here.

How it started: Back in September or October, I got an email from a company I used to work for about jobs in Hawaii. I asked a friend who still works for the company. Shortly after someone called me about it. I was somewhat interested but when the recruiter didn't call me back, I just blew it off.

During Christmas break someone from the company called me several times. I finally returned their call the second week of January. I listened to what they had to say, Brian and I talked about it, and we decided we couldn't do it for the price they were going to pay me. They called back the next morning and asked how much we would go for. After lots of calculating and thinking and praying, we gave them a price and thought we were done with it. They called me back the next morning and accepted my offer. They asked if I could fly out at the end of the following week. There was no way I could have possibly made that work but we decided to leave about two weeks later.

As most of you know, that two weeks was crazy. We tried to sell some things. We subleased our house. Our parents were with us most of that time helping pack, move, and clean. I was busting my butt trying to make sure my sweet babies at Capital Area Speech were in the best hands. I was trying to make sure the therapists covering them were prepared.

In all that chaos, some of our closest friends stepped up to help out so much. The Todd's housed us for a few days. Denise even cooked the most awesome Texas meal...full spread meal. My mouth waters thinking about that deliciousness. Caren watched kids for us while we moved. Ashley and Zac watched kids for us while we cleaned. Jason, Jeff, Scott, and Kelsi helped us move almost ALL day. Kristen and Jeff had us over for a yummy meal and fun friend time. Kim and Joe had us over from more yummy food and friend time. Jamie has been very supportive even though it wasn't the easiest situation for the office. Countless people have prayed for us, lent an ear, and asked how they can help. I can't even express how grateful we are for all of you. We really do have the best family and friends there are.

So here we are in "paradise", right?

November recap

We had a busy month in November.

 

We squeezed in a trip to the park with these cute babies.

We went downtown with the Gohean's for the Christmas parade. 

I ran my first ever 5K with one of my favorite people. 

My biggest excitement was getting to go to Chicago kid-free for a long weekend. I can't thank everyone who helped get me there enough. It was so much fun! 

I got to see my friend Myra while I was there. 

My friend Lauren and I spent some time together without our kids for the first time ever. We enjoyed eating in peace and having uninterrupted sleep. 

Thank you to the McNeil's for coming to help while I was gone and for Luc's surgery. He had his adenoids and tonsils out and tubes in his ears. He was quite a trooper. In fact, he has been asking if he can do it again. 

Trick or Treat

We had fun with our friends Ashley and Zac on Halloween. Thanks for letting us join you.

 

Here is my big banana and the cutest little monkey ever.

 

Typical McNeil family picture  

That hair!

 

My little astro guy 

 

And the one who threw a huge fit before trick or treating because he changed his mind about his costume. He still looks really cute even if he did refuse to wear the helmet and boots. 

 

And the cutest little ballerina with monster/alligator boots 

 

Homemade costume=doesn't last long 

 

Who is that lady with the gorgeous blonde hair creeping on the kids? 

 

Something was creepy 

 

It took a few seconds to brave this house...it was much darker in real life 

This house was awesome. And the lady was "SUPER nice". 

Fall Camping: Lost Maples State Park

This year we went to Lost Maples State Park for our fall camping trip. It was a pretty long drive for us (3 hours) but it was a really pretty drive. It is very hilly down there. There are big beautiful trees. In mid-late October, the maple leaves begin to change and it is even more beautiful. I was sad that we missed that.

You do not want you tent to look like this during a thunderstorm.

This was above poor Madeline. During the night, Caren noticed that water was pouring in on her, Zadie, and Madeline. We ended up moving to sleep in the cars. 

This girl didn't seem to mind. 

Anderson found something really cool. 

The kids stayed pretty busy playing dominoes. 

"Can I have a drink of that?" 

There may have been a tantrum or two. 

This place offered these cool explorer backpacks to rent for the kids. It had binoculars, a compass, a sketch pad, a journal, crayons, a pen, a track finder, and pamphlets to identify plants, animals, insects, and other stuff. It was a really cool idea but I think they are intended for older kids. 

Luc and Maizie had me take pictures of things they were exploring. 

Brian tasted a Texas persimmon. 

The kids did too. I bet early Texans had some stained teeth. 

This baby thought she was big. 

Maizie got injured. Luc helped her walk all the way back to the campsite. These two are too much. 

We always have major post camping meltdowns. Everyone, including Mama and Daddy, are exhausted. On this day, the kids were fast asleep by 6:30. I think Brian and I were in bed by 8:30. Whew... 

Here is our typical camping trip: we get there, set up the tent, go on a hike, have dinner, put the kids to bed, hang out with friends, go to sleep, have breakfast, go for a hike, pack up, then drive home. We all decided that we are ready for weekend long camping trips from now on. There is way too much work involved to only stay one night.

Although, this trip was pretty crazy with a broken tent, storm, and really far drive, I do recommend this park. It was really pretty. The park ranger was really sweet and helpful too. He actually came around to all the campsites late that night to let everyone know that a storm was coming.