I Love You, California!

Today the Badgers played in the Elite Eight tournament, so Will and I went out to Yard House in Waikiki to catch the game, some beers, lunch, and hit the beach after the game. We were happy to watch a Badger win! Yummy yards of beer! After the game ended, we stepped outside to see cloudy skies and rain. We putzed around a couple stores and ABC store hoping that it would pass. When it didn't, we decided we wouldn't let the rain hold us down, and that we were going to play tourist in our own city. We got some tropical drinks at a few spots along the beach, and were pleased to find that one beach bar even had live music through the rain! There's just something special about a plumeria in your drink! Having fun even though we're soaked from walking in the rain! There was even a beautiful sunset. After the sun set we walked around a bit more, and stumbled upon this hotel's arcade room which was completely open! We went inside and Will played som

I've had some requests for pictures of my school. I think the main purpose here is to prove that I really do work and I'm not just playing around in paradise all day everyday. However, I'm sorry to say, that I even work in paradise, so life really is as beautiful as it seems! I'd love to post some pics of my lovely students, but really can't do that. So since this week is Spring Break and the keiki aren't around, I snapped some pictures around our school. The campus that I work on is over 600 acres, set along Kapalama Ridge in Honolulu. Just over 3,000 students in K-12 attend, coming from all over the island of Oahu, and some middle and high school students board here on campus. Kamehameha Schools is a beautiful, special place, all because of Princess Pauahi. We are so lucky. Entrance to the elementary campus Courtyard Classrooms along the lanai One of the bus areas/parking That's Honolulu and the ocean behind the tree! M

Often I wake up in the morning and can't really believe that 1. We live in Hawai`i, but 2. That we have these gorgeous, spectacular views right from our home! I wish I could get pictures that showed how truly beautiful the views are, but you'll just have to come visit and see for yourself ; ) The other day I woke up and it was pretty ominous outside, but was clearing up off to the East. The clouds looked pretty cool. Then tonight there was another beautiful sunset. It's easy to take these everyday views for granted, but I really try to step back and enjoy and appreciate them as much as I can!

For Christmas this past year Will got me a certificate for a whale watching tour off the North Shore (my favorite place in the world!). The day our tour was scheduled for ended up being a pretty crazy day out on the water. There was a high surf and it was pretty windy, but we were able to go out anyway. One whale put on a good show with its tail, flapping through the water. We saw a couple brush the surface of the water, and lots of spouts. We also came across a large pod of Spinner Dolphins that swam right under the net of the boat! It was amazing! We didn't see as many whales as we would have liked, but we saw the dolphins, and had a crazy ride on the big waves, so we still had a great time. It was also spectacular to see the North Shore from the water, a vantage point we had yet to experience! Plus, lucky we live Hawai`i - we can always go back and do it again! Haleiwa Harbor - love this bridge! Headed out to sea!

I just can't get over how cute our little girls are. And they are so sweet, too! They're so well behaved (we can leave them for three days on their own!), and we just love them to pieces. Ava and Aurora don't snuggle with each other all that often. If Ava had her way, she'd be snuggling Aurora all the time, but Aurora is a girl who likes her space, so it really melts my heart when I see them snuggling. This Sunday morning Will and I were having breakfast and reading the newspaper when I went to see where the girls were, and caught them here snuggling! I think Rory was also being a little extra sweet since she knew Ava wasn't feeling the greatest from her teeth cleaning and tooth removal. Soaking up some morning sun together.

For a while now, Vets have been telling us that Ava's teeth needed a deep cleaning, and that she may even need an extraction. Those of you familiar with pet care know that in order to do said cleaning, the animals have to be sedated, and that in addition to an extraction come at a cost. Will and I put it off for a while, hoping that if we brushed her teeth ourselves her teeth would get better. Time went on and her teeth did get a little better, but it was time to finally take care of her before other health issues developed. And much to my surprise, February was dental month, so even though her cleaning wasn't until March, since we did her initial consultation in February, we got a 20% discount, woo hoo! So Will dropped her off in the morning, and I was checking my phone all day for updates while at work. Finally it was time to pick her up. She was certainly woozy, but she was a trooper! They even gave her a Certificate of Bravery! How sweet!