Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch . . .

In my dream life, I would take the kids to Hawaii with us and also bring Halie to watch them so Jason and I could have some time together. In reality, four additional airfares to Hawaii and a second hotel room is just not in the budget. So Ron and Peg were nice enough to watch the kids for us so that we could go to Hawaii by ourselves. I left the kids a surprise for each day that we were gone and somewhat stuck to a Hawaiian theme. I didn't want them to feel forgotten about and wanted to help them understand we missed them and were coming back.

Joshua's favorite surprise was definitely the squirt gun. I was tempted to get a Super Soaker, but wasn't sure he could handle the responsibility, so we are starting out small. In light of the number of squirts to the face, that was probably a good idea.

Besides the surprises, they did other things too. Joshua went to soccer and scored a game-winning goal that involved him going the length of the field. We were really disappointed to miss that.

They also got to spend some quality time with Benjamin.

And Joanna and Kirk were in Manhattan for a wedding, so Peg and Ron took the kids over there to meet them. They seemed to have a fun and full week and we are so thankful to have been able to take the trip.