Is it really summer?

It's been forever!!!!!! I have focused more on my food blog, than my family blog. Here is the real reason. I suck at taking pictures! I have no pictures to post, and I hate that I don't. However, Jared just got a new waterproof camera that I have with me in my purse, and I'm going to take it wherever I go.
Living in Hawaii for almost a year now makes me realize that there is no change in seasons here. Summertime is less rainy, but the same temperature year around. It is hard to gauge what month it is much less the season. It is hard for the boys to know what time of year it is because weather does not change.
Back in April I was able to go to the mainland without my kids and go to my sister's wedding. That was fun to be back in San Clemente/Carlsbad. The concept of the freeway going on and on for miles was funny. I was excited to go home, only because I was flying to a vacation destination. It was so nice going away for a couple of days without responsibility! I felt like a teenager except with the benefit of parents not telling me what to do, it was awesome.
During the time I was away, we were deep in the trenches of remodeling our kitchen. It was chaos, but it all turned out nice. We moved into our house in mid-May, and we have been doing house projects ever since. There is so much left to do with our house, but we are REALLY happy about our purchase. We get an awesome ocean breeze because we are up on a hill, and the kids love playing in the backyard.
We have a mango tree in our backyard, and started having ripe mangos in May. THEY ARE SOOOOOO GOOD! I have never tasted anything better. Jared was eating 3 a day! I made mango muffins, and mango salsa, and many smoothies. This mango tree is probably 50 years old, which is about how old our house is. It is HUGE, and we are so glad we have it. We also have a mature lychee tree, but we don't know when that is going to start giving us fruit. Jared built a tree house in the mango tree for the boys. They are pretty excited. Cameron wants to always go up, but I'm a little nervous for the little man. We found out during peak mango season that he was allergic to the mango sap. He got really bad hives. He can eat the fruit itself, but the skin of the mango has sap on it, and that is where he was having a bad reaction. Poor thing, he loved collecting the fallen mangos with Jared, but now he can't.
Brent starts school on August 2nd! He is super excited and so am I. We need a change of season in our family. He has been board, and driving me crazy all summer...he is definitely ready. All of my friends say that he is going to be exhausted when he first starts because of all the stimulation. It will be interesting to see how he handles it.
Life is good in Hawaii. We may be going to the big island in November for a family trip/Jared's conference. I can't wait for that. It will be fun to go see the volcano's w/ the boys. Plus, I don't think they really get where they are, and so flying up in the air and landing on another island may give them some perspective. I try and show Brent on a map that we are a little speck in the pacific ocean, but I still don't think he gets how far away we are from everything.