Dad's 3 Week Visit

Since Dad is in his first year of retirement he planned to come and visit me in Hawaii while Kyle was in California for training.  The only problem was we thought we'd have a house by then, but as you know we didn't.  So Dad switched his flight to September.  Well...he still wanted to come sooner than that and he found a great deal, so he flew out here on April 28th.  All the times we flew into Hawaii we were never greeted with a lei.  When I flew back in February, my friend greeted me with one and I thought it was AWESOME! So from here on out I am greeting those I pick up from the airport with a lei.

Here is Dad's manly lei I bought

There were a lot of things that Dad and I were able to do while he was here.  It was fun to be able to show him around a part of the island he had never really spent time at before.  It was also wonderful to have see our home and show him around the base...our home for the next 3 years.  Here is a recap of our time together:

A mentor/friend of Kyle's, Marcus Koss, has a little girl in first grade and she wanted to send us Flat Stanley.  So Dad was able to help me take Flat Stanley to different places on the island.  We are at Pyramid Rock Beach on base in this picture.

At the top of the Pillbox Hike in Lanikai! 

At the Pali Lookout! Always get great hair pictures there! Holding onto my skirt for dear life ;)  We had some long-time friends from Colton take a Hawaiian cruise, so we offered to pick them up when they ported and drive them around for the day to wherever they'd like.  We took them here and...

Ho'omaluhia Gardens.  Randy loved this place.  It was beautiful and only 10 minutes from base!

With Randy and Valerie at a Makapu'u Lookout.  Another windy spot :)

Dad helped me put up the rest of the curtain rods! We have metal studs! :/ Definitely not fun to drill into.  He also helped me move in the bookshelf, but I still need to get a picture of that for you! And pictures of the rest of the house will be coming soon :)

The Avengers premiered while Dad was visiting so we went and saw it opening day! :) Dad LOVED these posters! He asked the manager if he could buy them and he said that there were 3 total and they were at $100 a piece, BUT you had to buy all 3!

I left Dad on Cinco De Mayo to go out with my neighbor and already friend, Rachael (in the orange dress to the right of me).  It was a birthday/Cinco de Mayo/Homecoming dinner.  Her husband got home from Afghanistan on the 18th.  I God knew what he was doing by making me neighbors with her.  She reminds me SO much of my best friend from college, Amanda Rodriguez, who was also in my wedding.  They sound alike, look similar and just have the same personality! I love it :) Sometimes I'll catch myself wanting to call her Amanda!

At the beginning of Koko Head Crater hike...1600 steps. YIKES!

We made it! In about 32 minutes! Legs were shaky, but it was a GREAT workout!

The trail back down...

After the hike we treated ourselves to our favorite little shrimp shack in Waimanalo.

This is what Dad did a lot! He was contemplating on bringing his clubs or not, but then he decided to look on Craigslist here in Hawaii.  Well, he found a great set that we bought the day he landed and he was able to golf on base and at a few other courses which he enjoyed! This just so happened to be the 3rd most difficult course in the U.S.! He didn't find that out till he started ;)

Dad and I would watch my neighbor kids be VERY creative and use flattened cardboard boxes to slide down a steep hill.  They are so cute! A few times, the boys would have nerf guns or swords they would slide down side-by-side and then shoot or hit at one another! Sorta made me want to get out there and play :)

The first time I did the flowers! I LOVE IT! Got my toesies all pretty for Kyle when he came home. I'm sure he really appreciated it ;)

I bought beautiful orange tulips to fill the twine wrapped vase I made to get it all pretty for Kyle to come home and see! He loves it! :)

Well...we went to The Avengers AGAIN.  This time with Kyle since he got home (YAY!) and also in 3D!  Dad had asked about those big banners again...they were up to $150 a piece and you still had to buy all 3.  Didn't think Mom would go for that ;) But Dad asked about the movie poster and they said they couldn't find it, but the manager went back and looked again and found it! So he found us in the theater before the previews and gave Dad the poster :)

The Awesome Poster!

Dad took us out to dinner his last night here.  We went to Buzz's which is in Kailua and it is DELICIOUS! We parked at the beach park across the street and I made the guys take pictures on the beach. 

Beautiful Kailua Beach

Needless to say, Dad's trip here was so much fun! He had never seen Game of Thrones and since Kyle and I have season 1 on Blu Ray we started and finished I think the first week he got here! :) Then, I got a call about FINALLY becoming a working woman again! I got a job at the Youth Activities Center on base.  I will be working with 7 to 14 year olds (I'll fill you in more in another post). I started my training the last week Dad was here, but I'm glad he does a good job at fending for himself :) He just took advantage of golfing and hanging out with Austin Shelton (a friend of Tyler's who went to Colton and his Mom was my 6th grade teacher).  He and his three friends who we also know live here, so Dad ended up going out on a sailboat during one of my training days.  I was jealous! 

Looking forward to MORE family coming to visit! :) And I will try to make it a goal to post once a week.  Family: Keep me accountable! :) Love you guys! And thanks for coming to visit, Dad! I had so much fun showing you around where I live...gosh I still can't believe I live here!!!