Wordful Wednesday-Donkey Balls...

Donkeys???? Who knew there were donkeys in Hawaii????
On our trip to Hawaii we saw this little shop in Kona. It's a coffee shop that also sells chocolate covered macadamia nuts. We thought it was pretty fun, hysterical actually. On our first trip to Hawaii 3 1/2 years ago, Ryan and I hit a donkey while driving down the PITCH BLACK highway in the middle of the night (no street lights at all...don't ask me why). We're always joking with each other about donkeys, so this was pretty funny to us. We went inside to browse and saw such specialty items as Blue Balls?????....Hairy Balls????? SERIOUSLY???? Uummmm....doesn't sound to appetizing to me.

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Random Things...

Just a few things I wanted to mention...

1. Payton is going to the FHS Bulldog Basketball Camp this week and is really enjoying it (hhmmm...who would have thought?). The Ramay Junior High coach asked him yesterday if he was going to play for him next year. They just can't wait to get their hands on him, but they'll have to wait at least another year. :) Today he won the Hot Shot competition and came in 3rd in the obstacle course (the first place winner was an 8th grader who beat him by 1 second). Pretty impressive, I must say.

2. I'm lovin' the Bachelorette this season! I just think Jillian is so cute and she was one of my favorites last season. Last night I was SO glad to see Psycho David get the boot! That guy has some serious issues. Can you say stalker??? I still like Kiptyn (so cute) and Jake (although I'm starting to think it's not going to work out for Jake) and I'm really starting to like Reid (aka Chandler Bing), Ed (precious), Robbie D!!!!, and Jesse (although he could stand to lose the newsboy cap). So many to choose from! Can't wait til next week to find out who has the girlfriend...Wes anyone??? By the way the highlight of the night for me was not having to listen to him sing that LAME song again!

3. We're off on a road trip to St. Louis tonight. Ryan has a doctor's appointment bright and early tomorrow morning. Since they have done several MRIs in the past 8 months and have found nothing, they've decided to do a muscle biopsy (ouch!) to see if that gives them any clues about what is going on with his leg. The chances that the test will be helpful are slim, but at this point we're willing to take those chances. So keep Ryan in your thoughts over the next day or so. Hopefully the doctors will be able to give us some news!

******UPDATE*******

Ryan's biopsies went well today. They took a little piece of nerve from his ankle and a little piece of muscle from his calf. It will take a couple weeks before we get any results back. Ryan is doing well...just can't walk very well yet, has to kind of hop along. Poor thing. And Elyse (like always) was a trooper on the trip. She did a great job on the car ride, sleeping in the hotel, and hanging out at the hospital all morning. Thank goodness she is so easy!!

Top 5 Favortie Things About Summer...

1. Long days lounging by the pool (or at the beach)

2. BBQs with good friends and lots of laughs

3. Sitting on the patio in the evenings enjoying the sounds of summer

4. Early morning runs

5. No alarm clocks!!!!!

Summer Has Arrived...

Summa 0-9 is finally here!! Here are some pics from our first week of summer vacation...

Austin's Birthday Party at Mona's house - playing baseball in the yard after swimming.

Payton up to bat!

The Team.

Elyse watching the game.

On the way to dinner at Kobe. Our little reader.

Elyse and Michelle (MiMi) at the Penne's BBQ.

Haley, Ashley, Jennifer, and Christy celebrating the end of the school year.

It's been a busy weekend so far!! But our summer is definitely off to a great start!

Bittersweet...

Today was a very bittersweet day for me.

One one hand it was exciting because Payton is now officially a 6th grader. He is done with elementary school and is movin' on up middle school. He is so excited about it and can't wait to have a locker and switch classes and all that fun stuff! Payton is definitely ready for the next level academically and I am so excited to see how he grows and what kind of young man he will become over the next several years.

On the other hand it's kind of sad because he won't be at the same school with me anymore. No more seeing him in the hallways. No more sitting with him at lunch. No more watching his programs and talent shows during assemblies. No more poking his head into my classroom to say hello or ask a question. No more help carrying all my heavy bags down the halls in the morning. No more being able to know every single little thing that is going on with him so easily.

It's hard to see your kids grow up so quickly. If only we could slow down time...

Field Day...

Whew...what a day it has been!

Today was field day at Holcomb... and boy was it a busy day!! We spent the morning playing outside and letting the kids do different activities like water balloon fights, jump rope, Dance Dance Revolution, soccer, play on the playground...and of course what Payton spent his whole morning doing....basketball. Are you surprised? Neither am I.

After a morning of playing we had a teachers vs. 5th graders softball game. Payton scored the only run for the 5th graders when he hit a pop fly out to center field and I somehow missed it. Oops! I really didn't do it on purpose. I promise. Really. The teachers ended up winning 7-1.

After the softball game the school headed back inside for a variety show. Payton and some of his friends did a dance that was a big hit with the audience. (Payton is in the back row in the gray shorts and red shirt.)Here's the video of it...

Payton's 5th Grade Graduation...

Tonight was 5th grade recognition at Payton's school. He received several awards including Principal's Honor Roll (all As all year), crossing guard certificate, and a Presidential Award signed by President Obama for maintaining a high grade point average throughout elementary school. Way to go Payton! We are extremely proud of you!! After the ceremony we went out to eat with several other families. Here are some pictures from our evening:

Elyse coloring at the restaurant.

Kaleb and Collin at Red Robin.

Caleb and Payton.

Elyse and Aunt Cathy.

The Coopers, Pennes and Siscos.

Caleb, Payton, JJ, Taylor and Mollie.

Ryan, Christy, Elyse, Payton, Curtis after the graduation (and Caleb jumped in the background).

Payton and Curtis at graduation.

Mason and Payton. BFFs Lookin Good!!!

Antonio, Payton, Noah and Caleb hangin' out before the ceremony began.

Aloha, Part 2...

Here is the second set of pictures from our trip to Hawaii. One of the highlights of the trip was going on a zip line tour through the rain forest. I included a video from the tour at the end of this post as well.
Christy, Payton and Ryan after the zip line tour. We had a blast, but we were soaking wet and muddy from all the rain. It was fun riding in the hummer through the rain forest.

Me and Ryan in the rain forest. We saw 4 different waterfalls on the tour.

Ryan and Payton.

Christy and Payton.

All suited up for the zip-line tour through the rain forest. Payton's helmet said Pee-Wee. Ha!
Payton and Ryan inside the lava tube. It was REALLY dark in there, so the flash was pretty bright. :)

Payton, Elly, and me in the big section of the lava tube. Only the boys continued on to the pitch black section from the picture above.

Elyse, me, and Payton at Mount Kilauea...the volcano is in the background.

Steam from the volcano.

Cousin Katie and Elyse practicing their ballet moves.

Aren't they cute? Elyse wanted to be just like Katie...monkey see, monkey do.

Christy and Ryan at Akaka Falls.

Elyse, Christy and Payton at Akaka Falls.

Katie, Alex, Elyse and Payton.

Payton going across the last and BIGGEST zip-line. Woo hoo!! This one was a little bit scary because it was 1,000 feet across, it was pouring rain, and they told us that small people had gotten stuck part way across before. You can hear the guide telling Payton to "run, run, run" because he wanted him to build up enough speed to make it all the way across. Luckily we all made it! You could see a waterfall to the right and the ocean to the left as you went across the valley. So beautiful!

This trip was such a great experience for us. We were able to experience so many amazing sights. We are one lucky family!! Aloha!