family time

We've gotten to have lots of family time the last week or so before Jeff leaves. It's been nice just to hang out and also get out and do things together. Friday we celebrated Jeff's birthday with a few presents, cheesecake, a trip to the swimming pool (with both kids going off the diving board and slide repeatedly) and finally Ice Age 3 during which charlie fell asleep and Cameron was so vocal about the movie we had to go out of the theatre. Today we got a late start (as usual) but went for a long hike to a lake in the middle of the island. The laguina hike was fun and climbed around 1200 feet over the 2 hours up. The kids did great on the way up complaining a bit but it was quite an uphill battle most of the way. On the way down we went to some scenic spots but had a run in with slippery rocks, blackberry bushes blocking the path, a cow field and an electric fence (jeff). The kids were less enthusiastic about the way down but short naps re-energized them to run around the sprinklers and slip-n-slide for a birthday party when we got home.
Yesterday we got to meet Heather's teacher. There had been a lot of concern with the first grade situation but after meeting her teacher all should be OK. She's in a 1/2 split class with 9 first graders and 6 second graders but she's with two of her friends from kindergarten and some other kids whose dads will be deployed at a similar time to Heather. She reads at a mid-first grade level so she should do well with the opportunities to be around some more experienced readers. School starts Monday.