Happy Mothers' Day

We decided a few weeks ago that we would take a year off of our annual Mothers' Day party. That gave me the opportunity (maybe the last chance) to surprise Kim with a Mothers' Day party. Nicholas almost kept the secret.
We had a lot of fun with several of our friends. The food was from Herman's Modern Bakery (established on Saipan in 1945 during WWII), and the music was provided by an Hawaiian trio of two electric ukuleles and a bass. They joined us for a swim and entertained us with songs like "Coconut girl in a high-fashion world" and "Long before there was Clark Kent, there was a Hawaiian superman", as well as versions of "Black Magic Woman" and "Big Yellow Taxi".
Happy Mothers' Day, and see you at the 5th annual party in Nashville!

Hike to Forbidden Island

Ryan had the day off, so while the kids were at school, we hiked to Forbidden Island (so named because of the unexpected high currents and poor accessibility). The hike down was about 45 minutes and included some rappelling on the steep parts. When we got to the bottom, there was a gorgeous beach surrounded by cliffs and rock pools. After a swim, we headed back up, which wasn’t as bad as I was expecting.

Trip to Kansas City

As many of you know, my step-father of 20 years, Paul, passed away in late February. I went home to K.C. in March for nearly two weeks to spend time with family and participate in a lovely memorial service. Although he never tried to take the place of my real dad (who died of cancer when I was 11 years old), Paul actively participated in my life. His enthusiasm for travel helped plant a seed in me that lives on to this day! Ryan and the kids survived well in my absence.
Pics at the memorial service: my girlfriends and I (we sang a song together for Paul at the service); Mom, sister Kelly, and me; niece Chloe and my dog Nisa.

Nicholas turns 5 and Easter pics