Aloha from Hawaii

Time for some Hawaii updates! We've been over here for over two weeks now, amazing how quickly it has gone! I'm going to post some of the general pictures, and then more localized pictures as separate posts.
We heard rumors of work on Hawaii for many months, so it was actually kind of surprising when Jason called to say that we were actually going. With one weeks notice, we were able to book my ticket identical to his (& retain all of our arms & legs), Jason brought the trailer home, we winterized everything, packed, enjoyed & relaxed for a couple days at the church family camp, and made it to the airport all in one piece. If you are feeling relaxed after reading that, awesome. It was NOT a relaxing experience, with the exception of family camp!!! Every new experience brings its own challenges & lessons... the big one for this experience was that I need to absolutely work off of a list, not trust anything to my memory, & I need to schedule a sitter so there is a time of absolute quiet to concentrate. To other mommies out there, perhaps you can relate? :)
Children are such an important part of the culture here... outings take longer because we are often stopped as strangers ooo & aaah over Miss Kimberly. Of course she absolutely hates it & forces herself to grin and drool & look cute.

View from our hotel room... we often see rainbows as the rain rolls through.

Kimberly standing by the flowers all by herself... no steps yet, but she stands for a while these days.

Heading home from the North Shore of Oahu... pictures don't do it justice. Funny that I was looking for shots of the mountains rather than the ocean... :)

Agriculture is in our blood... this picture is for our dads. :)

New Kitchen, Tiny Kitchen

1 mama, 1 stroller, 1 diaper bag/purse, 1 baby.

Guess that I wasn't blogging too much when we changed campers this past spring to accommodate food and family, but I will fill you in on one of the best my favorite features: the fridge and pantry.
We went from one single camper size fridge/freezer that is perfect for a weekend of camping to a two door fridge/freezer that can hold a week's worth of groceries. Having spare food is a security blanket of sorts for me.
Fast forward 3 months and we were back to California, down to one vehicle and I not only learned how to grocery shop for a week at a time, I embraced it! One trip and the cupboards were loaded: food for meals, snacks, Jason's candy cravings, Kimberly's growing appetite, and my "what-if" fears were settled.
Fly to our present location, where the blues in the ocean are constantly changing in the light, we can hear the roar of waves from our open window, and we have a new food challenge.

Our Fridge:

Our Cooker:

Our total "kitchen":

Ahhh... people do this all the time in big cities! Surely there is a blog on "how to master this", right?! ;)

4 blocks away is an excellent grocery store - stocked with all foods American, Japanese, & touristy. All I have to carry this food is the opening line, plus Jason in the evenings, but with no place to store food, daily or at the least, every other day, grocery trips are necessary.

However, yesterday I turned a corner in the challenge... we finally dined in... eating an excellent American meal... Kraft Mac n' Cheese made in the microwave. With 3 more boxes in reserve for another meal time.  :)