Soursop, Papaya, Kona Coffee and Tropical Life

I am happy to report that we a no longer a Nomad family. We took the long flights from Boston, to Salt Lake City to Honolulu and finally settled in our new home on New Year's Eve. The Navy has loaned us some wicker and floral furniture until our actual furniture arrives.  I'll take this uncomfortable furniture any day, beats staying in a sticky hotel right off a busy freeway any day.

layover in salt lake city, utah

The flights were uneventful. I am not fond of flying so for this, I am happy.  The girls were excellent on both legs of the trip. Fletcher, well, he was our wild card but much to my delight, he slept for 1/2 of both of the airplane rides which meant only 2.5 hrs and 3.5 hours of keeping him entertained so his loud screech or scream wouldn't startled any of the passengers near us. We went from some cold weather in Boston to arrive on a lush green, warm island. It was an amazing difference.

Kailua beach, first day here

 The first and second day here, the weather was pretty agreeable but since we have actually moved into the house, it's pretty much been raining and incredibly windy but yet, not too humid.  What I love is that you can drive up the Pali Highway, or head up the H3, drive through the tunnels and the other side of the island is sunny and a bit warmer. So the sun is never truly far away.  I am told this has been an unusually wet "rainy season"  so maybe in a few days it'll clear up again.




The house is really cool. It's mostly 1 floor but the master bedroom has it's own level.  From the master bedroom balcony, on a clear day, we can see the most amazing mountains. Watching the sun rise, you see the orange reflection on the mountains. It is absolutely inspiring.

Our master bedroom has such a green tropical view, and mountains just off in the distance

Our yard has beautiful lush trees, an Avocado tree, a Papaya Tree and a Soursop Tree (http://www.collective-evolution.com/2012/11/23/can-soursop-really-cure-cancer/) as well as a Kona coffee plant! We have had two Gecko's take up residence in the house already but they have disappeared from our view so maybe they decided we were too noisy.

Soursop tree in backyard

I walked the kiddos over to their new school yesterday. We searched the campus grounds for the front office and what a quaint little school! It's only a 1 minute walk from home, I told the girls they will probably hear Fletcher scream during recess time we are so close.  I filled out the 1,000 pieces of paper for enrollment but then we had to take a drive over to base to enroll in Tricare for this region and get TB shots for the girls. They are required before they are allowed to start school, so these lucky ducks get 2 extra days off and will probably start on Monday.

They are anxious and excited.  Such troopers.  It must be hard to get up and move every 2 years, have to make a new set of friends, find your way around a new school and worry if your teachers will be super nice. But they have such beautiful personalities that I am sure they will make friends quickly and as for teachers, I tell them to always be nice to their teachers because it's a tough job. I remind them that I sometimes get mad at them and I only have to deal with 3 kids...not 18+ children.

Well,  we have been on island now for 4 1/2 days and jet lag is still getting to me.  I've been trying to go to bed later each night but I still keep getting up very early in the morning.  At least it's not 3 a.m. like the first day here, at the hotel nonetheless.  At least now that we are home, I can relax, catch up on my posts, and have a cup of coffee before my chaos begins.

I am anxiously awaiting our HHG. I want to share pictures of our scenery but I'm so obsessed about editing that I wont upload them until I get my regular computer here. So until then, please keep coming back. I'll post more regularly now that we are connected to the interweb and I'll share photos from my phone until I can upload my pictures from my camera.

Have a beautiful, creative day!