The Adventure Begins- The Move To Hawai'i

Never let anyone tell you military life is terrible. 

Sure, there's some hard things about it but when you focus on the great...Life feels pretty good.

My Colonial has taken me to Hawai'i for 3 years. 

You will be seeing many posts about our adventure here.

It all started with an 11 hour flight on June 17th, 2015, in which I came down with a terrible cold halfway there. The way I was sneezing, I'm surprised they didn't toss me into the Pacific.

Chris and I survived, looking forward to seeing Ken on the other end.

We were greeted with leis in true Hawaiian style.

It took Ken and three Airmen to pick us up, our luggage, and the pets. 

Soon, (well actually it took an hour and a half for the pets to be released) 

we were arriving at our new home!

About 6 weeks later, Ho (my Rav4) arrived.

And 2 days shy of 8 weeks our household stuff arrived. I am still unpacking.

That's the short of it, but stayed tuned for some beautiful sights from the Island of Oahu, Hawai'i. 

The 3rd largest of the 8 main islands and most populated.

Hawai'i has 137 islands.

We are not in the Northeast of the US any more...

But things will always remind us of home.

Just When You Think Family Time Can't Get Weirder or A Family Easter

Holidays in Massachusetts can sometimes be a little quiet. Not this year, We had Danielle & Gabrielle with us and made the most of family time.

We did the traditional Easter Egg coloring, Easter baskets, and Church on Sunday morning.

Oh, and of course, board games.

We made our own egg dye this year. 

Why have I been buying the little box with the bunny on it all these years, it's so easy!

The girls chose some eggcellent colors!

This Easter Ken came home with a new Easter tradition- Peep Jousting.

If you know Ken, you know his love for Peeps. So, this was something we had to try.

Fortunately, Ken had some Minion Peeps in the cupboard. (extra exciting)

They jousted with toothpicks.

Maybe next year we'll get cocktail swords :)

The arena- the microwave.

Capturing the event was a challenge, but it was a team effort;

Gabby filmed, Ken manned the controls, Danielle controlled the music 

"Let's get ready to rumble" and "Eye of The Tiger",

I snapped pictures :)

They kept falling over :(

We found out chick Peeps are the best for jousting.

After debate- we pronounced Gabby this years Peep Jousting Champion.

I wonder if they Peep joust in Hawaii?

Brielle Hope Lute

Brielle is two months old now and what a beautiful grandchild!

We finally had the opportunity to meet her when she was three weeks old.

It's amazing how you can instantly bond with a grandbaby. I didn't want to put her down.

I was fortunate to be in Lockport for my niece's bridal shower 

and got to be with Brielle again when she was about 5 weeks old.

Here's a few favorite I stole from Kate's Face Book page :)

By the way, she does have parents!

Thanks Justin & Kate for making such a beautiful baby!

Maple House B&B and aBout

For my birthday this year, Ken took me to Maple House B&B in Rowe MA, 

which was about 40 min away. 

 

It was up in the Berkshire Mountains and it was a beautiful snow covered weekend. 

The place itself wasn't the most pristine atmosphere but the people were friendly and interesting and the home was welcoming. 

We had a beautiful view out our windows of the land surrounding the Inn.

The little town of Rowe was really adorable.

Even Dr Who must have visited!

We had hoped to snowshoe but neither of us were feeling too healthy 

so we did a lot of driving about. 

We even visited Florida!

Florida, MA that is :)

A highlight was seeing one end of the Hoosac Tunnel. 

This is a 4.75 mile tunnel that was the first to connect the rail system from Boston to Albany. 

It is still the longest rail tunnel in N. America this side of the Rockies.

It was built between 1850-1875. 

200 men lost their lives in the dangerous conditions 

and there are some pretty cool ghost stories about the tunel.

We tried to find the other end of it in North Adams 

but it's deep in the woods and kept barricaded when not in use. 

We searched  out Western Gateway Heritage State Park in North Adams 

that had a museum telling all about the tunnel.

The Park is built in an old freight yard, with shops, restaurants, and museums.

We also looked for The Natural Bridge, 

which is in an abandoned marble quarry. It is the only marble dam in N America. 

As you can see from the pictures- 

there was so much snow we really didn't know what we were looking at.

Your guess is as good as ours- we'll have to go back when the snow melts!

I think what I enjoyed the most was just looking around as we drove through the mountains.

  ken was so patient as I kept asking him to stop so I could take pictures.

It looks like a frozen waterfall- it's just along the side of the road.

From down the road it looked like there was a naked women trapped in the snow :)

Loved the steel bridges.

The Berkshires are absolutely gorgeous!