This is the view of the base golf course off of the lanai.

We have finally arrived in Hawaii! After a long month of packers and travel, it’s nice to finally feel as if we are on the road to getting settled again. We arrived Saturday at around 5:00 p.m. after a very long and arduous flight. The boys did great on the flight from St. Louis to Dallas. However, after that, things went downhill for Brody. Luke fell asleep for the first three hours of the flight. Brody, on the other hand, didn’t sleep AT ALL. After having gotten up at 5:30 a.m., the poor little guy was exhausted. He was loopy, mean, tired, grumpy, silly, and just plain difficult. I know the people around us were ready to get off the plane. We were “that family” that everyone kept giving dirty looks. Trying to get Brody to sit for the approach into Honolulu was a bit like trying to wrestle an alligator. I literally have large bruises all over my legs from where he was kicking me. As soon as we got off the plane, he fell asleep.

Tom’s sponsor and his wife picked us up from the airport, and we checked in to our temporary house without any problems. It’s an older (think 1960’s) furnished three bedroom townhouse. I think it is old staff NCO housing. It’s a pretty good size and has an amazing view of the golf course. There is a wonderful little park across the street, and we’ve already been there four times. The boys love it, and I love it too because it helps tucker them out. Upon our arrival, a friend brought us some milk and cereal and such to get us through the night and the next morning. It was a godsend to have such a gift.

The kitchen and dining room.

The funky 1960’s lamp. Who in the world thinks orange and yellow are good together?

I went to the commissary yesterday. Let’s just say that if groceries are “cheap” at the commissary, I’d hate to know what they cost out in town. For example, I had been getting the boys organic milk in NC. It ran about $3.50 per half gallon at the commissary and Sam’s Club. When I went to pick some up yesterday and noticed it was $5.50, I decided that the organic milk wasn’t feasible anymore given the large volumes of milk these two little monkeys consume. They had another brand ($5 a gallon) that doesn’t use growth hormones, so I went with that. It was fun to look at all of the different Hawaiian brand foods that are on the shelves. They actually sell Hawaiian animal crackers--think dolphin, whale, octopus, etc. Pretty cute.

The weather has been warm mixed with clouds and a bit of rain every now and then. It is windy all the time. I’ve noticed that when the wind blows through the palm trees it sounds like rain.

We are going to go exploring this weekend, so there will be more to come. Thanks for all of the well-wishes and know that we miss everyone!