Weekend With Darbs

Obviously, I wasn't able to attend Alumni Weekend in Boise this past Friday and Saturday. Instead, Darby and I had one CRAZY weekend...here on Oahu...minus the 32oz PBR's. Next year I will make sure to attend the Bronco Soccer festivities...watch out!

We took a stroll from our house to the "I LOVE KAILUA FESTIVAL". Lot's of good food, hula dancers, local artwork and great boutique baby "stuff". I ended up buying a cute little dress for Darby's one year pictures. Here she is enjoying all the people and veggie puffs.

Tuckered out from all the fun. She finally let go of the balloon that was as big as her!

This is what I have to do on Alumni Weekend when a husband is never home. You're all jealous aren't you? The side of our house had a major tree mess encroaching on the structure...so I had to attack those buggers sooner than later! That tree mess is now sitting in the bed of the truck waiting to be dumped...ugghhh...where's TONY???  Man, this picture doesn't do the pile justice.

 

Our Plumeria tree is in full bloom...MMM...smells so good.

Here is the after shot...never took the before shot, so pretend that looks nice!

 

Saturday we went on a hike up to Manoa Falls with Saiders...in the pouring rain.

Exploring buddies...

It's like Jurassic Park out there!

That's the weekend in a nutshell.  Doesn't quite compare to hangin' with the oldies in B-Town...close enough.

Strawberry Cupcakes

So, I'm not much of a cake eater but every now and then a piece of delicious wedding cake or a Sprinkles cupcake hits the spot. For our Saturday brunch last weekend, I decided to make some homemade fresh strawberry cupcakes with strawberry buttercream. It sounded good and the recipe didn't look too involved, so I cooked up a batch of about 32 courtesy of Martha Stewart.

Well, I think they were a hit with both the kiddos and adults...mmmm...so good! This recipe is a keeper!

Darby managing to get mostly sand in her mouth and no cheerio.

My happy baby!

The ride back to the Marina...she zonked RIGHT out!

Sandbar Fun!

Our boats for the morning...

Our friends sailing away on their boat...

Our little morning brunch picnic...Sandbar completely exposed at a VERY low tide.

 

It's kind of funny to watch the Asian tourists get off the boat, hold hands and walk the sandbar slowly...ha!

Darby socializing as usual.  A little meet and greet with baby Rowen.

Captain Bryant and his sidekick Peyton...our tour guides for the day :)

Darb's finally fits in the smallest size life jacket...although she fell flat on her back a few times from the unfamiliar weight.

5 Years!

Whoa! As Tony says "5 years is a long time to be married!" We're experts aren't we Tone? Let's see...4 moves, 4 different houses, 3 different states, 2 deployments, a Sadie puppy, and one little Darby later...here we stand! We've had our fair share of ups and downs for sure, but we wouldn't be where we are today if it weren't for life's little curveballs (so cliche, I know). I'm by no means a poet, and I have never been one to journal, let alone get all lovey-dovey with words; but, as I type away this evening, Brad Paisley's "Then" comes to mind:

And now you're my whole life
now you're my whole world
I just can't believe the way I feel about you
Like a river meets the sea,
stronger than it's ever been.
We've come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then

So true!! 

Today was a fantastic day spent with the Darbs as Tony is in Yuma working his tail off at WTI!  We've got a lot of celebrating to do end of May and a 5 year old bottle of wine waiting for us courtesy of Amy Wirshing.  (A fantastic wedding gift I might add.)  My mouth is watering as I think about taking that first sip.

The past 5 years have been fantastic!!  I've had a blast going through our old wedding pics remembering what was one of the best days in my life!

Here's a little cyber cheers to 5 years Tone!  See you in May when we can really celebrate! 

Oh, and one more closing thought...The Darbs started to REALLY walk this afternoon.  I looked up from the kitchen and there she was cruising towards me from the living room.  Happy anni to us!!!  I'll always remember the day she started "walking".

Easter Sunday

Darby found an EGG!!!

There was an egg sitting out in plain sight...just for the Darbs!
Trying to keep up with the big kids!

Who cares about the eggs with Chocolate inside. I want to eat the leaf.

Sitting at the brunch table. She kept me VERY busy.

Yesterday was Darby's first Easter Sunday. Tone is up in Yuma for another 5 or so weeks, so the Darbs and I had a girl's day...again! My intention was to get up and go to the 630 Sunrise Service on the beach, but that didn't happen. We missed a morning rainbow and hula dancers :( Oh well...maybe next year.

We did spend the afternoon with the ladies of 363 who have the hubbies that are currently deployed. Champagne Brunch at the O'Club at Hickam AFB and then an Easter Egg Hunt for the kiddos. Bottomless mimosas makes for a very relaxing afternoon...

Janie and Jack

So, I walked into Janie and Jack about a month ago searching for an Easter dress for Darby, and happened to come across their brand new Sunny Hawaii line. I think another trip to Ala Moana is in store. Darby MUST HAVE the hat and maybe a suit for our trip to Maui. Oh, those shoes...maybe the swim coverup...UH OH...WAY. TOO. CUTE! Check out the collection!

http://www.janieandjack.com/shop/dept_mixandmatch.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374303717730&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524443463039&bmUID=1269908883081

Letter to My Darbs

View of the K-Bay Marina.

View of Kaneohe Bay, the sandbar, Koolau Mt. Range, and the runway.

Dear Darby - Doo,

I'm writing this letter in hopes that you'll read this when you're 16. You have no clue right now how cool it is to be a little Hawaiian princess. We will have sailed this ship back to the mainland long before you are old enough to appreciate all of our daily adventures in paradise. So, here's for you to always remember...

I decided to finally document our nightly walks up KT Tower...the highest point at K-Bay. I've always been captivated by the beauty that surrounds us throughout the whole hike, but today for some reason, was extra awesome.

Maybe it was all of the whales breaching in the deep blue waters. They were going CRAZY!! This time of the year, sunrise and sunset, is the best time to whale watch. The babies have all been born and the whales are very active as they prepare the trek up north to Alaska for the summer. Too bad you were way too preoccupied with holding Sadie's leash. You took the job of walking Sadie very seriously. Screw the whales :)

Or, maybe it was the sight of the two 53Delta Helo's (that dad flies) hovering over Kaneohe Bay, causing the water to mist out around them. My camera wasn't ready to capture that...maybe next time. Dad gets to fly over these waters and get paid for it...although it comes with much sacrifice. Pretty cool!

Or maybe it was just a combination of the perfect weather, the perfect time of day (5:30pm), and the fact that this base is surrounded by the most beautiful beaches in all of Hawaii - and we get to see it all every night close to sunset. I would say this is motivation enough to get my butt up that hill, not once, not twice, but three times a night! Hey, I've got to lose all of that baby weight :)

From the top of the hill if you look southeast you see our little town of Kailua, Kailua Beach and the two little islands called the Mokes. Look south and you see the Koolau Mountain Range, the Marina full of all the boats, and of course Kaneohe Bay. Work our way North and northwest, and you see the never ending Pacific Ocean where the whales were dancing around. Pretty cool wouldn't you say? And this is where we call home!

Can't wait for our next little walk!!!



Just through the brush you can see Kailua beach...didn't get the Mokes in this shot.

All you wanted to do was hold onto that leash!