Tales of #MOMLIFE

Friday afternoon we decided to take a drive up to the North Shore. It is quite the drive so we stopped at a beach park to let the kids run around a bit and get some of their energy out. They loved seeing the bigger waves and rocks. After checking out the beach we went to go get some shave ice! Which I have been wanting since we hit the island. I mean, did you even visit the North Shore if you don't get shave ice? The kids were super excited and I think it exceeded their expectations. They weren't sure what I meant by ice. haha 

Since we don't have a house yet we can't get our baggage that we sent to the island early. I shipped all of our beach stuff with that. Since we don't have access to it we decided to do a low key beach day and hit up Hickam Beach. It is a small beach located on base but it is pretty calm and has gorgeous blue water. The kids were blown away by the blue water and the girls especially took straight to the water. You would think they have spent their lives in the ocean. Aiden is a little more hesitant but he had a ton of fun playing in the sand as the waves broke. 

It was a lot more crowded than I remember it being. We will definitely have to go earlier next time to get a good place to hang out. It was Saturday though so more people can be expected. Ethan and Aria rented a Kayak for a bit and took it out. I think Ethan is hooked on getting one now! Aria enjoyed it a lot. 

I can't wait to get our beach things though because we will have the wagon and tent and can spend full days at the beach! We have an appointment to look at a house on Tuesday so if we like it we could be moving into a place this week. It has been weird living out of a hotel. It kind of feels like we are in limbo and just waiting for life to begin. It's hard to explain. We love having a pool right here though so that we will miss. (Probably the only thing though. haha) 

Keep us in your prayers as we look at homes and start to get things together with Aria going to school and trying to get used to a new normal. The kids have been amazing and are so resilient and go with the flow. We are both really proud of them. We can't wait to get them a home with a back yard so they can start really enjoying their new life here in Hawaii. 

Now, I will start off by saying this is something we chose to do after much consideration. Our insurance would not cover the COVID test unless it was medically necessary and the military would not reimburse us. The military pays for much of our PCS, but there are still a lot of things we have to pay for out of pocket. This was just one thing we thought was not worth the money. Boy do we regret that! 

But after 10 days of not leaving the hotel room, 10 days of children who were going stir crazy and a 2 year old who finally decided this was a good time for the terrible 2s to officially hit, we made it out! Now if by any chance anyone who is PCSing stumbles across this blog during this time, we stayed at the Surf Jack in Waikiki and they have been amazing! They delivered all of our groceries and meals to our room with a smile and Aloha. They called to check in on us and we received fresh towels every day. I would 100% recommend them, especially if you need a pet friendly hotel. 

So what did we do when we finally got out? Well we definitely wanted to let the kids at least dunk their feet in the water. We don't have a rental car quite yet so we were restricted to what we could walk to. We are in Waikiki so there is luckily a lot to do. So Evie got her first glimpse of the ocean and the kids go to wander a bit. We ended the day with the pool, even though it was freezing! 

 Hopefully this week we can actually get out and do some things. I'm really looking forward to hitting some botanical gardens, hitting up some shopping, and spending some time at the beach. Also, can't forget that house hunting! 

Now, as most of you who will read this blog know, this isn't our first time in Hawaii. When Ethan joined the Air Force his first duty assignment was Hawaii. We were newly married, very new to military life and very nervous about moving to our first base. I'm not going to lie, the first time around had some major ups and downs. It was hard to be away from family, especially after we had our first child. Not to mention starting our careers in a place where we knew no one. I got home sick, which overshadowed all of the things that I loved about the island and I was more than ready to move closer to my family. Once we did move back though, we realized that we missed Oahu more than we thought we would. It was, after all, the place where everything started for us. 

Now, almost 6 years later we are back again. And this time, we have vowed to do it right. So I wanted to restart this blog to hopefully document all of our adventures this time around. I always said I wanted my kids to experience things. To see and engage with the world and I feel like now is our chance to put that to the test. To really get out there. After a year apart while Ethan was stationed overseas, we can kind of get a fresh start on things. 

Now, I already miss my family and my awesome girl tribe back in Georgia. That certainly sucks. But I'm no stranger to this kind of life and I do truly enjoy being a military spouse. 

So anywho, we are currently in a hotel on the beautiful island of Oahu, but as Ethan put it earlier today we feel as if we are in limbo. We are doing a 10 day quarantine at the hotel so we aren't allowed to leave the room and our views leave a bit to be desired. But hang with us and I'll have lots to share soon. Until then, pray we survive 10 days in a hotel room, outnumbered by our children!