2 posts in 1 day?

I had uploaded a bunch of pictures the other day, but never actually posted, so I'm posting again, with round 2 of pictures from the lives of the Stickley gang.

Thursday afternoon means gymnastics! The girls both really love gymnastics.  Juneau is actualy quite good, but often her energy gets the most of her, and it is hard for her to actually focus on the classes. But we are seeing lots of improvement in spite of this, and she really seems to enjoy it.

So cute with thier little buns!

Thursday is also "Take the Baby to Work Day".  I work on the North Shore on Thursdays, and the laid back office setting, along with a bit of a lighter schedule (and an amazing Nursing Assistant who functions really well using just 1 hand to take blood pressures and enter vitals while bouncing a baby on her other hip) allows me to bring this little cutie with me sometimes. Today he was a bit of a handful, and insisted on being held pretty much the entire day, but it was still really great to spend the day with my baby while still doing my job.  This would pretty much never fly in the Army, so it's one of the times I glad I have the opportunity to work as a civilian doctor now!

Jude has had a couple of big pool outings....and he loves it! He doesn't mind the cold, and enjoys floating and splashing around. It's so fun to watch him getting acquainted with the water!

Wednesday is my usual day off, and also happens to be a pretty light day for Cris as well.  Now that Cris' Tenure Dossier has been submitted, he's been a little more willing to sneak way from the university to hafe some daytime hiking dates.  This was pretty much the coolest hike I've ever done. Ever.  We are at the top of the first peak of the hike, and you can see the 2nd peak and the really point 3rd peak behind me.  It took us almost 4 hours, and pretty much all the energy I could muster, but we made it to all 3 peaks, and had a wonderful time enjoying our beautiful island, and a rare moment of time alone!

Self portrait from the top

One of my favorite times of day is between 6 and 630 am, when the kids slowly start to wake up and pile into our bed. By 630 everyone is all smiles and giggles and it's a really special time together (at least when we are not rushed to get out of the house and running around like crazy people!)  Here are all 3 of the kids at about 630 in the morning. I Love each one of their beautiful smiles so much!

Another hike I had been wanting to do in Hawaii (whih I can't believe I have never done after all these years!) is the Koko Head Crater hike.  It basically consists of a straight up trail of railroad ties....you can see the peak way out in the distance.  This was a really strenuous, but very rewarding hike, and I got a great workout, and then enjoyed some beautiful views from the top.

More Koko Head

And to finish off the day's posts...take a look at this little cutie. I actually forgot it was picture day (which was actually heartbreaking when Nova arrived to school and saw all of the other preschoolers in their "Aloha Wear" with curls in their hair, and she had on her school uniform and a ponytail...one of my worst-parenting moments!).  Luckily, some kind soul must have combed out juneau's hair, and then they put her in this graduation outfit, and voila! Our little graduate! When I look at this picture I can't help but fast-forward 13 years and imagine her as a graduating high school senior!

Aloha for the night.  We are going to drag our old, tired selves to bed, and hope to catch a little sleep before Jude wakes up for his midnight, 2 am, 4 am, and 6 am bottles :)