Catching Up!

Geez, what a blogging slacker I've been!  I'm going to chalk it up to the marathon illness that has swept through our household these past many weeks....  Really dreadful.  I hope all have you haven't had the pleasure...

Anywho....  Despite being sick, life must go on.  While the preference would be to curl up in a ball in bed until we're feeling better again, the Hawaii trip was already paid for.  So, off to Maui we went!

Here are some photos from that trip. 
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151291669343159.479004.523908158&type=1&l=39521e72cc

We spent 10 days on Maui.  We'd rented a 2 BR/2 BA condo in Kihei, just steps from the beach.  Stephen was only with us for 5 days as he had to get back to work.  But the girls and I were there for 10 days total.  Stephen was getting over the illness (weeks of coughing, congestion, respiratory distress, headaches, fevers, chills, etc), but Alicia and I were feeling pretty poorly.  Tess, living in her own place, hadn't gotten it... yet. 

Even though we were ill, we still were able to enjoy lots of what Hawaii has to offer.  We spent lots of time on the beach, Alicia building sand castles, Stephen and Tess snorkeling, and me just trying to breathe and remain lucid.  The girls went ziplining, and we took a snorkel boat trip to see dolphins and whales.  That same night (our last on the island) we went to the Drums of the Pacific Luau.  We had planned to do the boat trip and luau a few days earlier on Alicia's 8th birthday, but we spent that day having her seen at a walk-in clinic instead.

To say the least, our Hawaii Adventure wasn't at all what we'd dreamed of, but it was still wonderful to get away from Alaska in the winter time!

Two days after we returned from the islands, we held Alicia's birthday party.  She'd completed her Z-pack prescription and was feeling mostly better by then. 

Her party was a winter campout with her Brownie Girl Scout troop.  This was so far to the other end of the spectrum from lounging on the beach in Hawaii, that it was almost painful!  But, we survived it and everyone had a pretty fun time...  ;o)

Here are some photos from that:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151326228078159.480833.523908158&type=1&l=4522cca671

Speaking of Brownies, we just had a fun Brownie meeting this week.  The girls have been working so hard at different patches and projects, that I thought it'd be fun to just let them have a Spa Day for this meeting.  So, we did their nails, gave them a foot soak, and a facial.  They really enjoyed it as you can see from the photos located here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151363111323159.483708.523908158&type=1&l=c1c33a364a

I'll try to be a more diligent blogger.  But, no guarantees!