Our first full week in our new state

Scott had to start work right away so during our first full week in Hawaii the kids and I had tons to do.

Hannah had to get a TB test to start school here; Sam needed his 3 year checkup; I had to get car insurance in Hawaii, then get the car inspected and registered; we needed to figure out where we were going to live so I could enroll Hannah in school, then I had to enroll her. Plus, we very quickly learned we were going to need two cars here. Scott left his car in Austin because the Army only ships one vehicle per family. He, of course, wanted to pay to have his "baby" shipped but I found out it would be $1700. We figured we'd make it with just one car. Once we got here we realized neither one of us likes being stranded so he decided he wanted a jalopy just while we're here.

I can't believe how difficult it is to get info without a computer. I'm used to just looking things up and having the world at my fingertips. I found out there was an Army computer lab that I could use but a) it was about a 35 minute drive away and b) I had to take the kids with me to this little quiet room with a few computers in it. Those of you that know Sam well know that he doesn't do "quiet." So I only had a precious few minutes of computer time at the lab before he tried to shove things down the paper shredder, etc. I would try to get as many phone numbers as possible, then go back to the hotel and make tons of phone calls. I spent a lot of time on the phone that week. That was probably the most boring week for the kids since we've been here. After that it got much better for them. We started getting things accomplished and could focus more on enjoying our surroundings.

Here's a picture of what they passed a lot of time doing... playing on the balcony at our hotel. It was a pretty big balcony, as far as hotels go, so I bought them some bubbles and sidewalk chalk and they either played with that or we'd go downstairs and they'd just run around the grounds of the hotel. Luckily, the weather was perfect. I'm gonna get spoiled with the climate here.

I know it seems like I've been bragging a lot about their behavior in this blog but, seriously, they were so good at the hotel. Scott and I were going stir crazy but Hannah and Sam were such troopers. They never complained and they looked at each errand that we ran as an adventure. I learned a lot about looking on the bright side from them that week. I thank God for my babies.

The main thing that Sam had a problem with was the food situation. There was a refrigerator and a microwave in the hotel but no stovetop. Samuel was missing some "papita" a.k.a. home cooking. He didn't eat much the whole time we were at the hotel, which is very unusual for him. He was still in good spirits, though. That weekend we went to the Aquarium in Waikiki. I'll write more about that later.

Aloha!