Golfing in our backyard

If you look on the horizon you can see the ocean.

Hazel has really come a long way in her swimming ability since we moved to Guam. When we arrived she was timid and always wanted her floaty. Now she loves snorkeling all over the pool. We're excited to take her to the ocean.

5k loop

It rained and was overcast this morning so we all went on a walk around the Leo Palace complex. During the 3 mile loop we counted 60 squished frogs and 16 slugs. 😝

Bananas

We have a court yard between our house and the attached duplex.  Our neighbor pointed out to me the other day that we have bananas!  I had never noticed them and honestly I couldn't have told you what a banana tree/plant looked like.  Well now I can but I'm not sure how to get them......

Recent Happenings

Easter was fun.  I really miss my family and friends but we have been having such sweet times with the 5 of us.  On Easter we went to church then came home had lunch and a little egg hunt.  The our house phone rang (I didn't even know we had a phone).  I answered it and it was a pilot and his family who invited us over for dinner and another egg hunt. Only on Guam would pilot scheduling give out your house number.   (Thanks mom for the girls dresses :) )

A pilot and his family that live a few doors down invited us out on their boat.  We saw lots of flying fish and an old Spanish bridge from the 1500s.

I could hear the girls really laughing and as I walked down the hall I could smell power and I knew it wasn't good.  Hayden just wanted to "Make Ivy white".

Gun Beach

Making our own lei

                                                           Taking our babies for walks

Picnics and lots of daddy time

Our House

We live at a place called Leo Palace.  Leo palace is a resort that was built by and caters to the Japanese.  http://www.guam.ne.jp/  It is out of "town" and a family friendly area.  There is a two mile road from a main road to the entrance of the complex. Leo Palace has a golf course (designed by some famous golfers), a track and work out facility, 5 swimming pools, soccer and baseball fields, several restaurants, their own water and power source (nice since outages are common on Guam), security and garages.  When we tell people where we live they say, "oh, pilot-vil".  And it's kinda true, there are 5 pilots that I know of in our 40 duplex area.  There are also at least 10 girls under the age of 8.  Neighborhood friends, neighborhood pools and all the frogs you can catch.  It's a great place for us on Guam.

 The front of our house.

The back of our house.

The view across the street from our house looking over the golf course.

                             

 Frog catching is a favorite nightly activity.
                                     
Inside looking out our backdoor.

This is our dishwasher. ;)

Living Room

There is a 5K loop around the Leo Palace complex

The track with the hotel and condos in the background

Leo Palace kids pool

Are you still out there?

We've been on Guam for over a month now and I feel like I'm finally surfacing.  From the time the movers came in Oklahoma, flying 18+ hours with three children, living in a hotel for 2 weeks (sounds more fun than it actually is) and unpacking a house I've been in a survival fog.  But now we're starting to settle in and get a routine.

Since we've been here David has flown to Japan several times, Hong Kong, Manila, Australia and lots of pacific islands.  And now that we live in the same place that he is based he has only been gone 2 nights this month!  Over the years we have become accustom to him being gone several nights a week. It's been an adjustment to have him around so much but one that I've enjoyed.


Here are some highlights from the past month:

 Guam Hilton

This is the view from our room looking out onto Tumon Bay and Ypao Park (Yee pow).  The hotel was nice and had amazing pools (5 total) and the view was great.  Someone who lived on Guam told me before we came that "Guam is like a third world Hawaii."  It's a lush tropical place but when you look closely some beaches have lots of trash and most places aren't maintained well.

There is a lot of this when you're living in a hotel for two weeks with three children. 

And a lot of this.  The pools at the Hilton were wonderful.  The girls went from timidly going down the water slide with David on day one to going down backward or face first on their tummys on the last days.  The hotel had a really cool infinity pool that looked over the ocean and a nice hot pool.

Unfortunately there is a lot of this too. Eating out or making food in the hotel.  I was so ready for a kitchen.

And some of this.  We had two hotel rooms which was really nice.  The girls pushed their bed together and made one giant bed.

There was a lot of sweetness and I was really proud of how well the girls did.

Firsts:

 Yikes! Gas is expensive.  And you might be thinking 'diesel?" because of the green gas handle but no all the gas handles are green.  Not the last strange thing about Guam.  You might also be thinking, 'The island is only like 30 miles long.  How much gas can you use?".  Well, let me tell you that most of the gas used is when the car is idling.  The traffic on Guam is horrid.  You can easily wait at a light for three cycles.  And although the distances aren't far there is never a direct route.

Riding a water buffalo. Hazel actually rode on this guy.  She has no fear when it comes to animals.  Hayden wanted no part, not even a picture with the beast.

Markets.  I pray David did not buy one of those coconut head things.  Those kinds of things are right up his alley. ;)

Beautiful flowers: I love birds of paradise and hibiscus.  The island has the most amazing flowers with vibrant colors.

Lots of new or slightly different foods.  The food prices on the island are super high and the lack of items is super low.  Economics I guess but really annoying sometimes.  I go to the grocery store with a list and a plan but then usually have to go to plan B.  This is sometimes a fun game but not really. :) I joked that it is sometimes like shopping in the end of times with empty shelves a common sight.  One time I was with Hazel and she saw a package of pepperonis which the girls like to eat sometimes as a snack.  She yelled "Mom, pepperonis!  Get those!" It was the last package in an nearly empty cooler case.  Some strange instinct hit me and I snached the package up.  I felt like I was ravaging the last package of pepperonis for my young. With that said there is plenty of food, we're definitely not starving and I have really been enjoying cooking and eating together as a family.

Hazel ran her first 2K race.  I'm not sure who was more excited me or her but it was a lot of fun.  The race was really well organized and ran.  She did awesome!