Hawaii, Day 1

We went to Hawaii (the Big Island) to celebrate Alison's graduation!

Our first stop was to find a snack, to help us adjust to the time change.  We ended up just going to a grocery store and picking out random things.  Turns out random things at a Hawaiian grocery store are delicious...I had seriously the best sushi of my life here.

We picked up some things from Target and then went to check out our hotel.  We picked this spot specifically for the location.  It had it's own little cove, if you will, with calmer water and a quiet beach.

It was nice that the water wasn't freezing, but we could have done without the humidity.

After dinner, we went on a little walk to explore the area a little.

We debated about going to a Luau and to our pleasant surprise, you could see it right from our hotel.  So we got to enjoy a drink and show, on the house.

Alison's last day of school!

Alison finished her work a few days before the boys and we had a party!

After I finished up work with the boys, we went to Dutch Bros and then our special rock spot.

For dinner I made her favorite: pigs n' blanket, chips and queso and fruit salad.

Then we gave her a few gifts; one was a complete yearbook.

Working on a slideshow, but here's a link for now: Slide show

Alison's Senior Pictures

Just a few of my favorite of my beautiful girl.  I can't even believe that it's time to post these.

Easter!

Easter started on Saturday, when Ben and I started making Varinky.  I realized that it's been so long since we've made it that no one remembered what it was.  I stopped making them because they seem so simple, yet are super hard to get right.

Last time we made them: 2009

Sunday morning, we went to church and it just worked out that everyone coordinated pretty well.

After lunch, the kids found their baskets.

Then, Ben, Colin and I went to the beach.   They surfed, I rested :)

Then, it was time for our feast!  The varinky turned out great and I was pleasantly surprised by the polish sausage I found at Frasier Farms.

I have no idea how my grandma made so many of these for our whole entire giant family!  She was talented, that's for sure.

 

Eli's 15th birthday

Presents!  I tried to be fun and bought party favors of smelly play dough...they smelled terrible, but it gave us a good laugh.

Some traditions stay strong and we went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch.

Then we went to see the Minecraft movie.

And stopped by Dave and Busters on the way home.

Ben got a free appetizer, so we all split some fries.

We stopped by home for a bit and then went out for sushi.

It was a great day celebrating our favorite Eli!

 

School Lately

 Eli is in Biology this year and we've started dissections.  First up, a good old fashion worm.

We also went to the tide pools to try and find a starfish.  We only found crabs, but still had a fun time exploring.

Eli and Alison are also doing Home Ec this year.  This week they planned a meal, bought the groceries and cooked the meal.