Darius Rucker

While Mike was still in Afghan he found out Darius Rucker was coming to Fayetteville soon after he was scheduled to be home.  He is quite a Darius fan, so we took the risk of buying tickets, even without knowing for certain if he would be home.  Thankfully, it all worked out and Darius was our first date after Mike got home.  

If i'm being honest, big arena's aren't my favorite venue for concerts but it was still a good show and we had a great time. It didn't hurt that Darius threw some Hootie in the mix :) Not to mention we haven't been to a concert since before the kids were born--and the last one we were at together was The Beach Boys, haha.  For two people who really love some music, we gotta start doing better! 

37 Weeks and a Ball

Of course a ball was planned for Mikes new unit as i'm about ready to pop...and of course maternity evening dresses are nearly impossible to find--especially when you need one quick. still i found a simple black dress to squeeze into with the most comfortable shoes i could find and my handsome husband and i went to the ball to meet some of his new coworkers and start integrating into this new unit.  

Although this ball wasn't at a nice fun hotel in the middle of Waikiki, and we weren't surrounded by lots of friends, and i wasn't wearing some awesome dress and in tip top shape--ready to dance and party, we still had a nice time.  It was a good mix of formal and military tradition, while still being somewhat casual in atmosphere and fun.  There was a fabulous live band, the 82nd chorus came to serenade us, the speaker was quite a character and our table mates were an entertaining bunch that made us laugh quite a bit.  We may have been home by 930 pm (that includes a Bo's run on the way home because the food was horrible) and my back and feet were killing me from all the standing and sitting in uncomfortable seats...but it was nice to get dressed up and to have some time together in the midst of all our busy-ness. 

 37 weeks

Date Night

Since Hill has been here she has offerend to keep the kids a few timse so that Mike and I could go out. Our first outing was right before Halloween. Mike planned us a really fun night.

We started out with dinner at BLT---the restaurant made famous (or maybe just more famous) by Gordon Ramsey's Hell's Kitchen. Mike is a big fan of the show and was excited about this restaurant. The food was pretty great.

Mike had a shrimp salad for starters. The shrimp were huge and had eyes. I draw the line there.

With his Filet. It was pretty amazing. There was jalapeno mashed potatoes on the side. They were as green as grass and super tasty as well.
i had a special of steak and crab. the crab was okay and the steak was fabulous.
After dinner Mike had gotten us tickets to see a one time showing of the original Ghostbusters movie. It was a good idea but that good idea proved to be better than expected when we pulled into the parking lot and happened upon this....

THE GHOSTBUSTERS CAR!

and then inside....lots and lots of GHOSTBUSTERS! Look i even got to hold one of their proton pack guns! watch out world!

it was a fun night and always so good to spend some time with my best guy!

It's A Celebration

We stayed in the cabins at Bellows as a fun thing to do for Mike's birthday, but on the actual day of his birthday we did some other fun things---most centering around food, but that's cool. 'cause the food was Yum-O!

After packing up and checking out of the cabins, we had a birthday party at Cinnamon's-- full of Fantastic Pancakes, Homemade Cinnamon Buns, and Huge Omelets---and of course i can't forget the presents!

Mikes Red Velvet Birthday Pancakes!

Three.One.Whoa.

The Party

presents

The Much Coveted Keurig!

He loves his Rainbows!

getting "pinned" with his Best Son-In-Law Pin

hey dad, what's that?

trying out his new toy

but we didn't make coffee first---it was sweet tea!

That night, while Nana and Poppy watching the kiddos, i took my sweet birthday boy out to dinner at one of Oahu's leading restaurants, Sarento's Top of the "I", located in the Ilikai hotel (the same hotel we spent a month in when we first moved to HI). Before leaving though we had to get a few good pics to remember this fun day.

Daddy and his babies

doesn't he look handsome tonight?and just look at this show....absolutely gorgeous!

The restaurant was fabulous and we were able to watch the beautiful sunset from

28 floors up--over looking the harbor and the city of Honolulu. Pretty Cool. and the food wasn't half-bad either!

it was a super fun day. Mike, hope you had as great a time on your birthday as I did. Love You.

Date Day

After the ball Thursday night, Mike and I spent the night at the hotel and spent the WHOLE next day together. It was awesome. We woke up without any plans--except just to have a good day hanging out with each other.
First we had breakfast at the Ilikai Hotel. This is where we lived the first few weeks we moved to Hawaii while we were looking for a place to live. It was fun to go back to this spot and remember those first few weeks of our marriage and how excited we were about starting our lives in this new place.

After breakfast, we headed back to our hotel to hang out in their awesome "beach pool". The hotel is right on the harbor so there isn't a great beach access close by, but they made up for it with the cool pools surrounded by hammocks, sand, and palm trees. This pool was more for looks and cooling off your feet than to swim. It was only about 6 inches deep. The plus to this? NO KIDS. The kids all were downstairs at the real pool, so this really was very peaceful and serene. We spent most of the day right here.

For lunch we ate at the poolside bar. The atmosphere was so cool. Cute little green tables, pretty orchids, lights hanging in the trees and a very attentive waite staff. meet the amazing Frozen Coconut Mojito
wow, best drink of my life. if you are in HI... GO. GET. ONE. NOW.

After some more time in the sun, we went to Dukes for some music and food. This is one of our favorite places. We never pass up a chance to go here.

Crab and Mac Nut Wontons. Come to Daddy. the view.

Taken.

some real good music

Our date ended with a 3D IMAX showing of Transformers. It was So Good.

It was a wonderful day together and the first one we've had alone since the twins were born. But as much fun as we had, as soon as we got back home we had to sneak into the babies room and watch them in their beds sleeping. I couldn't let a day go by without at least seeing them!

mA big shout out to Amanda and Bobby Rackley for keeping our little ones and giving us some much needed momy and daddy time! You guys ROCK!