Rider. And other important friends.

There are so many important things I should be doing right now, but here I sit with my hummus and garden veggie straws, in desperate need of a break. It's hot. Like- my glasses fog up when I roll out of my air conditioned car. So, I'm at my desk with a fan in my face and a beautiful view of the ocean while the girls sleep at the same time, giving me at least an hour of quiet. We've been living back on campus lately, and it's been quite an adventure. Jordan's busy in L.A. with the Circuit Rider outreach team, and we miss daddy a lot! But girls time is super fun too...

This afternoon we were so hot we melted our way down to the campus pool and jumped straight in. Usually it feels cold at first. Today it just felt good. Have I mentioned that it's warm outside today? Ok, so we're back at home, showered off, and I find myself standing in the hallway with one eye on my hilarious Anabelle still enjoying the left over bath with a freezing cold drip from the faucet, and the other eye on Raegan, who is chasing Rider around the kitchen. And even though my hair is dripping wet, and I'm freshly clean, I'm beginning to sweat again. For the love!!

Who is Rider, you might ask?

Oh, just a kitten that lives across the hall in the laundry room. Each dorm building has a cat. Ours had a baby during the summer session, and was appropriately named [Circuit] Rider. Raegan's in love. Adores this little fur ball. I gave in, and it's been having "play dates" at our house. Anabelle scares the poor dear with her squeals of excitement, so we limit these dates to once a day. I know, who am I? What kind of hippy farmer have I become?

Sigh.

Last week my parents came, and it goes without saying that it was a highlight week of the summer for these girls!

Posing outside "Kona Joe's" Coffee Plantation:

Incredible view of the ocean and trellis-grown coffee plants:

Grandma and Anabelle laughing on the swings at our favorite park:

Raegan started preschool!

Picking her up from school on a HOT day:

On a wall in our bedroom:

Grandpa and Raegan exploring the lagoon:

Sisters, going out to dinner:

Almost every one of these shots was taken with my mom's Iphone! I'm seriously impressed, yet again, with Mac. Ok, back to work...

Much needed family day

After a month full of booked Saturdays, we were so thankful to spend the entire day as a family, enjoying quality time together in this beautiful place called Hawaii. Jordan's cousin Lauren joined us too! Doughnuts and coffee for breakfast, lots of pool time in the bright sunshine, naps for everyone, more pool time, nachos and rice krispie treats for dinner, and a walk across the street to watch the sun set over the water.

I literally cannot believe what a great swimmer Raegan has become this summer! She jumps in, swims all the way across the pool, climbs out herself, and does it all over again. In and out, in and out for hours. She's still 3 years old people! It's really amazing to watch.

Swimming across the pool:

The perfect pencil jump!

And a little ring diving:

I probably should have learned my lesson by now. It's possible to go to a beach and "just put our feet in," right? No, it's not possible. Not even close to possible! Try covered head to toe in salt water and sand. I guess in the back of my mind my mom-instint kinda knew what would happen since I managed to swipe a towel off the back of a chair while walking out the front door tonight. It was warm still, and it was gorgeous. And Raegan was giddy with excitement over the sand between her toes and the "pink striped sunset!"

Sweet dreams.

Mauna Kea Exploration

My hubby and I have just a few main things in common, and one of my favorites is our love for spontaneity! So when the last minute invite from our friends came over text, we loaded into the car and raced the sun. (And stopped for pizza at Costco of course) After an hour we rounded the back of the mountain and started the trek up the winding road. Soon the hazy weather we were surrounded by was beneath us, and the orange glow above the clouds as we looked down on them was unexplainable.

I'm glad I didn't google the place before we left, because the butterflies in my stomach as we drove up the mountain would have been more like flying monkeys! I've never experienced high altitude like that before (14,000 feet), and we didn't last long at all. I was dizzy! We watched the sun melt into the horizon and then immediately drove back down to the star-gazing visitors center at 9,000 feet...

The sky was packed full of the closest, most vivid stars I've ever seen. It was jaw-dropping. Hot chocolate in hand, we each peeked through an enormous telescope and saw the ring around Saturn while we listened to a guide tell stories about the stars. My camera gave it a good ol' college try, but couldn't capture anything close to what my eyes saw. Let's just leave it that way.

So, I googled it.

Wow!

Check this out...

The website says "The 4,200 meter high summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii houses the world's largest observatory for optical, infared, and submillimeter astronomy."

These domes are TELESCOPES! We parked right next to one.

They're huge.

So cool!

Beatin' the heat.

Target not only has air-conditioning...

...It has slurpees too.

And "friend carts."

Mommy the flight attendant.

This morning we packed our pink suitcase full of princess gowns and took a flight to Disneyland. Well, we pretended anyway. A genius move on my part actually, because once the in-flight movie was playing and the flight attendant (me) had come through the cabin with snacks and a complimentary beverage service, the oldest traveler insisted that the pilot (also me) sit down and "drive the plane!" So, I actually sat and drank a cup of coffee. Brilliant.

It wasn't until this morning that I realized how similar the life of mom is to that of a flight attendant. Think about it. We constantly serve drinks and small sized snacks, we make our customers comfortable, smile with patience, search the cabin for blankies, sleep strange hours and rarely sit down. I guess the big difference is that mom's don't get paid, and it's a 24 hour job.

Well, my job satisfaction is high even though the pay is lousy! These girls are friends now- playing with each other and loving tender hugs and time together! Anabelle is a wonderful little friend to her big sister!

My husband, the teacher.

Last week we were honored to spend some time teaching and praying for the Korean Married Couples Seminar that's running on campus right now. We teamed together on this assignment, and it was a blast! Here's a great shot of Jordan teaching. His heart is alive. Can you tell?