A Morales Minute

Today we made it out to Pearl Harbor. It wasn't on Olivia's things to do on this trip but I couldn't bring all our kids to Hawaii and not go to Pearl Harbor. Lindsey and Aidan knew they wanted to go but Olivia and Tyler didn't really care if they went or not. But after we were here, and walking around reading the history of it they were enthralled.  I'm still amazed that this ship still lies under the water and the stack is tall enough to stand out of the water.  It is a very reverent place. I'm glad they got to experience it. I loved coming here when I was in high school. I wanted my kids to see it as well. See the names of the men who were buried here later is pretty humbling. They survived the Pearl Harbor attack but wanted to be buried in the watery grave with their comrades.  Olivia and Tyler said they were glad they came. I'm so glad because it's Olivia's senior trip choice and I didn't want her to feel like this was a boring waste of time....

We hiked the Kailua Pillbox There were some pretty steep climbs, which I enjoy.  Diana stayed back with Liandrew but everyone else made the climb.  Getting higher! The views of the ocean are so beautiful.  The pillbox is pretty much a war bunker.  Tyler climbed down inside.  With Aidan.  The tippy top! We've got some karate masters among us! Best friends. Lindsey was not going to miss this trip! She had to miss the family reunion to be able to go on this trip. Gotta make that money for school! We're all together. My kids are my best friends. I love when we're all together. And being that it's not all the time now I know to cherish it when we are together.  The entire hiking crew.  Marty and his kids. I love this.  Chris and Bel My hubby. He really will do anything for me. Heights is not his thing but I can't tell you how many times he's been up somewhere high just for me.  This is quite the fort. Just imagine the fun these kids could hav...

On July 19th because of cyber security breach called Crowdstrike our flight to Hawaii was canceled! The rest of Jaime's family was able to make it because they were flying on different airlines other than Delta. The girls were flying with Bel and Chris so they were able to make but Jaime, the boys and I looked like we weren't going to make it. I was so bummed! Brian hopped online and helped search for other flights that we could possibly get. We watched some seats get purchased right before out eyes so we missed out on other flights. Seats were filling up fast. I didn't want to wait a few days to fly out because then we'd miss half the week of the trip in Hawaii. We still had our regular return flight just no flight to get there. Brian was able to find us a flight the next day out of Portland. So Jaime rented a car and we drove from Pasco to Portland, stayed the night and flew out a day after everyone else.  What matters is that we made it! We drove from the airport to ...

I took the boys and their suits to my mom's so that we could get their pants measured and hemmed. Such handsomeness! Tyler sure has changed a lot the last few years. And just the last few months. Already the first pair of blue pants I bought Tyler are a bit snug because of his weight lifting every day. Glad there was time to buy another pair!