Aloha Again

Our friend Angel invited us to her 40th birthday luau. The girl really knows how to put on a party, roasted pig and all. We had a great time last night: great food, polynesian dancers and Gavin's favorite, the fire dance.

The downside: I'm back to wishing I were in the islands. I don't know that this feeling has really gone away but it's back in force. I keep emphasizing to Dan that this is a good thing. Hawaii is my justification to forgo all frivilous spending. When I don't feel like cooking dinner and I'm thinking hard about take-out, I envision white sand beaches and imagine the scent of plumeria. It cures my craving for Cafe Rio every time.

A New Look

I got up this morning and, for a moment, I thought we had a guest sitting on the sofa. Doesn't she look like a totally different girl?

Jolie's going to donate her locks to someone who needs them. This appointment with Ruth was long overdue. Jolie has been wanting to cut her hair for some time. I guess she was ready but I had to get there. I think her new do looks great and I'm happy that our days of me brushing and her crying... me taking the time to do an elaborate hairdo while she argues with me over how she wants it... her later taking said elaborate hairdo out and coming home with it all hanging in her face... are over (for now).

Spider Mom and the Superheroes

We celebrated Gavin's birthday with his friends, the superheroes. We had an obstacle coarse, a pinata, a game involving bean bags and rescue heroes, cupcakes, presents, and best of all, an impromtu battle with some villians (Catwoman, the Joker and Big Fat Ironman). Strangely, the three villains resembled Gavin's older siblings and one of their friends. We also made masks for each of the kids and Grandma used her superseamstress powers to make them each a cape.

Gavin's birthday fell on the windiest day of the summer. As the kids were finishing their cupcakes, there was an eerie breeze. I told them this often means there are villians nearby. Sure enough, the villians crashed our party and insisted that they were going to take all the cake and steal Gavin's presents. Lucky for us, there were granades (coolers full of water balloons) available to fight off the villians. The superheroes were able to win the battle and the evil villians left the party.

My favorite moment was when Gavin came looking for me about a half hour before the festivities began. I was in my closet trying to pull a costume together. I'd borrowed some things from my neighbor after failing to find an appropriate wonderwoman costume (everything I found had the word "sexy" before it). Gavin opened the door to my closet and the look on his face was priceless: wide-eyed and a BIG smile. My costume is a conglomeration of some things I had and some things I borrowed. I call it Spider Mom.

Back to It

We've officially started the new school year. Today was the big day.

I knew it was a bad idea to outlaw morning TV when I awoke at 6:15 to loud talking, laughter, keyboard playing, chasing, and other indications of general hyperactivity. That's when I realized that TV encourages kids to not only sit on their cans and do nothing, but it keeps them sedate and quiet so others in the household can sleep. Maybe it's not such a bad thing afterall. Jolie came in at 6:45 to ask what her jobs were. The new year hadn't even started and I'd already stopped caring about my newfound ambitious ideals (ideal #2: morning chores).

Once everyone was sufficiently decked out in their new clothes (we had a fashion show last night to determine whether Tristan should wear his white rocker t-shirt or black rocker t-shirt with his black and white plaid shorts); we took the customary photos on the front porch and headed out. It was Jolie's first day at her new school so I was expecting some nervous anticipation. Nothing. She's in a portable classroom which she reports is "awesome". At dinner she clarified that portables don't actually stink like people say they do. She also told Tristan that his lunch tables "rock" (this is the school Tristan has been attending since 3rd grade). They're round and they have individual seats, as opposed to the long rectangular tables at the other school.

Tristan is majoring in being cool this year. Of this I am certain because I just read a questionnaire that he completed today in class:

Question: "What am I proficient at?"
At home: "being cool"
At school: "being cool, history"

Hey, around here we celebrate everyone's talents. I can already tell that fifth grade is the big leagues. Tristan was more excited than anyone for school this morning. He couldn't wait to see the friends he'd been away from all summer. He's been in class with the same group of kids for two years now. I've also noticed a big leap of independence. He didn't have a lot of interest in us walking him to class this morning. I snapped a quick photo of him lining up outside and I could tell he was OK without me (and probably preferred it that way).

And now we come to Gavin. Poor Gavin. Due to some bad information given by a completely incompetent school secretary, Gavin missed his first day of kindergarten. Yes, that's right. The first day of kindergarten: that single day in one's life that mothers take photos of, writers compose essays about, scrapbookers scrapbook about... yes, that day. Long story short, we arrived at 12:45 with backpack, camera, excitement and anticipation. That's when we ran into Gavin's little friend who was coming out of the school and who matter-of-factly announced to Gavin that "he missed it, it's all over." Needless to say, we did not leave with the same excitement and giddy anticipation (but I nearly had someone's head on a platter in their place).

I think Gavin was a little nervous about school, anyway. He wanted to make sure that I was going to be there the whole time (if not in class, in the building). He's also been obsessing about what would happen if he gets on the wrong bus coming home. The kindergarteners don't go back to school until next week, which is probably all good. We'll have a few more days to work through some of this. He's such a young one (turned five two weeks ago). I hope he does OK.

HSM2

The kids spent the last half of spring and the beginning of summer as Wildcats in High School Musical 2. After auditioning, they were both given parts in the chorus. Jolie was actually what they called a "lava springer" which was a combination of several small parts around the Lava Springs countryclub. She was also a cheerleader in the big numbers. She had several costume changes which she didn't mind at all. (Come to think of it, she's never minded changing her clothes fifteen times a day.)

I loved the fact that the performances were outdoors. There were two casts, an older (mostly teen) cast, and the younger kids. Tristan and Jolie's cast performed every other night for two weeks. Several of Jolie's friends came to see her and their grandparents and uncle from Virginia were able to come. Gavin and Mia went nearly every night. By the end of the play, Gavin was singing "Hey batter batter, hey batter batter, swing!" and Mia "Bet on it, bet on it". I was pretty involved in helping with rehearsals (crowd control, etc.) and backstage during performances. It was a fun time.

Thanks to Grandpa for the photos, this was during the time that my camera was DOA.

Daydreaming of France

I really, really need to do an update of our summer activities. We've been into some fun things these last weeks and I need to tell you all about them. Soon to come: lots of details about our HSM2 play, Jolie's baptism, a visit from the grandparents, Gavin's birthday fete, and many days at the water park.

For now, though, I'm dreaming of France. Nancy gave me an excellent book that has sucked me in. I'm so drawn to it that I've abandoned the one I'm supposed to be reading for Thursday's meeting with the Ladies of the Night (my book club). The Shack was getting on my nerves, anyway.



A Homemade Life is all about food and memories and well, Paris. If you've ever been to France, this book will take you right back. It will seem like yesterday that you were sitting on a balcony in Grenoble, eating caprese salad. Your mouth will be watering for pain au chocolat (oh, it's almost painful to think of it).

Incidentally, I made two batches of mozzarella last week so I could eat it on caprese salad made with tomatoes and basil from the garden. Have you ever made cheese? It's really not that difficult.

As though all this pining for France were not enough, last night I came across a DVD at the Redbox that made it worse. Months ago I heard about a movie that sounded like my kind of flick: Il y a Longtemps que Je T'aime (I've Loved You So Long). I looked for it but wasn't able to find it anywhere. It's a story about two sisters who are reunited after being apart for many years. It takes a while to figure out why they were apart and what has gone on during their seperation. It's serious and rather deep, but very good. If you do see it, please watch it in French with subtitles. I acidentally turned it on with the English dubbing for a few minutes and it was extremely irritating. Who can resist listening to the beautiful French language, anyway? I also love the song at the end of the film. You can listen to it here: Dis Quand Reviendras Tu (Jean Louis Aubert)

Gavin is starting his French Immersion program in exactly two weeks. I guess this is a sign of things to come. Many of my friends have opted out of the program, they seem to think that learning French is useless. I can understand where they're coming from, but I have to disagree.

Goodbye to a Loyal Friend

I nearly kissed the FedEx dude this morning when he appeared at my door with a brown box and a signature pad. I knew my good friend, my trusty Cannon Rebel XT, was back in my life. Things were looking up.

That was before I opened the box and found not only my camera inside but also his obituary. His official cause of death: "Moisture: repair to exceed replacement cost." If you're familiar with this camera, you know that's a pretty steep replacement cost. (Maybe this death in the family isn't the only reason I have a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.) I also found a hospital bill of $105 which had already been charged to my visa. Needless to say, I picked up the phone. I'm soon to receive autopsy photos of the corrosion on the inside of my camera. As for the charges, they were for servicing my lens which I sent attached to the camera (which was totally fine). After 50-something minutes on the phone (which resulted in multiple catastrophes here at the homestead), I convinced Cannon to reverse those charges.

I'm wearing black today. I'm in mourning, you see...

(Just looking at the cruddy photos below (taken with the "stills" setting on my video camera) confirms to me what a fine friend my Rebel was.)

July 4th Catch-up

We spent the morning of the 4th at Grandma and Grandpa's carnival and breakfast. The kids love this carnival as they have an old-fashioned dunk tank, a High Striker game where you swing the hammer and try to ring the bell at the top, inflatables to bounce on, air-brushed tatoos and plenty of other fun. The kids and I each took a turn sitting in the dunking chair (yes, me). Jolie did it over and over. I should have listened to her when we were leaving the house and she asked for a towel (I told her she wouldn't need one, underestimating how wet a bucket of water can really make you).

In the afternoon we decided to see Up at the theater. Grandma came over to sit with Mia while she was taking her nap, which was a huge gift to me. I haven't sat all the way through a movie in years.

We were big old party poopers the evening of the 4th, didn't go to see fireworks or anything. I actually worked in the yard, pulling some of the thousands of weeds that took over the front flower beds while we were in Hawaii. The kids came out and did a little bit of helping and a little bit of playing. Jolie sang and danced to her HSM2 CD, showing me the dances in her play. It was a little difficult to watch our neighbors having a big patriotic barbeque and party, and we started to hear fireworks when we came in. We put the kids to bed amidst much whining and knashing of teeth. They did manage to watch part of a firework display from the boys' window after going to bed.

Flashback to the 80's

Between the recent death of Michael Jackson and today's shopping trip to Justice for Girls, I've found myself reminiscing of the glorious 1980s. Have you been to your local tweenie clothing store? Never in my wildest dreams did I think these hiddeous fashions would EVER come back. Guess again. And the little girls LOVE them (as much as we did).

My camera has been shipped off to the Cannon rehab clinic in Virginia so I can't show you what Jolie and I bought this afternoon. My favorite is the hot pink and black zebra striped "arm warmers" (remember those fingerless gloves?)with the silver chains. Jolie had to have them and she's been wearing them most of the day. We also bought hot pink knee-highs with sequined peace signs, peace sign jewelry, hot pink leopard print tights, a hot pink vest, and the swimming suit we went in there for. The kids' HSM2 performances start next week and she needed the suit as part of her costume.

I've been watching a lot of the news coverage about Michael Jackson. His music is like a soundtrack to my adolescence. My girlfriend, Lori, was a Michael Jackson maniac. She even wore one sequined glove on her (left?) hand. That was a little extreme for me but I did (and do) love his music and I still love to see him perform. RIP, M.J.

Homesick for Hawaii

Tonight when kissing Tristan goodnight he told me he's been feeling homesick for Hawaii. I understood completely.

We took a red-eye home from Honolulu Sunday night / Monday morning. We spent Sunday on Oahu, seeing Pearl Harbor and visiting with my cousin, Teresa, and her family. We were pleased to be able to visit the USS Arizona Memorial as this was one of the things we were hoping to see when we originally planned to spend our second week on Oahu (the other was the Polynesian Cultural Center). I overheard Tristan telling Gavin to look for a sunken WWII ship when we were landing in Honolulu. At that point we didn't know whether we were going to be able to go. We ended up getting our rental car and heading straight there. We made the last tour of the day. We saw a film about the bombing of Pearl Harbor and took a ferry to the site. It was a very reverent place, I hope we all remember what we learned and the sacrifices made there.

We visited Teresa and her family, they live in East Honolulu. Teresa and her girls drove us along the coast which was beautiful. Until seeing the coast, Honolulu reminded me of San Diego. I'm so glad we decided to spend our second week in Kauai. Oahu was beautiful but I really think it was the right decision for us. The kids had a great time playing in the WWII bunkers near the Makapuu lookout. We drove to Teresa's house and had dinner and caught up. It was so nice of them to have us. From there we drove to the airport and flew home. Our red-eye was an easier flight than our trip from Salt Lake, the kids all slept part of it. I was able to watch a movie but neither Dan nor I slept.

It's been a challenging couple of days, trying to get over the lack of sleep and adjusting to the 4-hour time change. In fact, I was in a stupor most of Monday. The hardest thing of all, though, is missing Hawaii. I didn't expect to fall so in love with the place. Ofcourse it was great to be away from the drudgery of everyday life and be surrounded by beauty, but there was something else about Hawaii that I loved, I guess you'd call it the aloha spirit. Those who've been there will understand. I talked to my friend, Lorraine today. She's been many times. When she asked me how our trip went I didn't have to say anything. I just sighed and she understood. She told me to hold onto the aloha spirit and keep it in my heart as long as I could. Good advice.

I've already started our next Hawaii fund. I'm shooting for 2 years from now. No more eating out or buying clothes, I'm going back to paradise.

Na'pali: The Jewel of the Pacific

I couldn't conclude my Hawaii saga without posting about one of the best parts of our trip, the Na'Pali coast. It was breathtaking. Na'pali is fifteen miles of rugged coastline on the northwest shore of Kauai. It's inaccessible by car and it's unbelievable. You have to see it by boat or kayak, or you can hike an 11 mile trail to get there. Lisa and I spent Saturday morning on a catamaran excursion headed there.

So we headed out and along the way, we met up with a pod of dolphins. They were Hawaiian spinner dolphins and they spent 10 or 15 minutes swimming and jumping alongside our boat. Our guides said the dolphins like the feel of the pressure wave created by the wake of the boat. They were racing and jumping all over the place. I was able to get them on video so the kids could see them.

The coastline was gorgeous. I don't think there is a word in the dictionary to describe it. Magestic, sheer cliffs with rock cathedrals created by centuries of erosion, all covered in beautiful green vegitation. All of this falling steeply to the ocean with the waves crashing. There were caves and waterfalls and even sandy white beaches along the way. The water was a deep clear blue, like looking through a blue glass. Half way through the trip they anchored the boat and we snorkelled. We didn't see anything extraordinary, in fact the snorkelling was kind of a waste of time. It did feel good to get in the water, though. Have I mentioned how warm the ocean is in Hawaii?

On the way back to Port Alen where we enbarked, we ate lunch and had some fun. Our captain offered the "trampoline" to the adventure-seekers in our group. They laid down on their stomachs and held on for dear life while we hit some big waves. Those lying on the trampoline flew up in the air superman-style. It was fun. I was actually thinking how much Tristan would have enjoyed that.

This brings up a good point: whether or not to bring ones' children when going to Hawaii. A lot of our friends told us we were crazy to bring the kids along. You take the kids to Disneyland and leave them home when you go to Hawaii, they said. There's no question that our trip would have been more of a vacation without the little ones. We would have been able to sit by the ocean with a book, take naps, have romantic dinners by candelight, sleep in, and the like. We probably could have rented a convertable and cruised serenely down the coast. The problem is, we would have been missing them the whole time and we would have spent the whole trip wishing they were there to experience it with us. Plus, there's nobody on Earth who can handle taking care of them 24/7 for two weeks (or even one). Our week with Dad and Nancy was also intended to be for the kids. So I guess you have to decide what kind of trip you want to have: exciting and memory-filled or relaxing and serene, but probably not both.

Waimea Canyon

Today we drove up Waimea Canyon which is along the west shore of the island. Again, the diversity of these islands is amazing. We discovered that the west shore is dry, much different than even the south shore where we're staying. It's not that far away (20 minutes?). When we first entered the canyon, we noticed that the soil was red and the vegitation much drier. It felt like we were in southern Utah. Once we got into the canyon it became greener.

We stopped at a couple lookouts, the first allowed us to see Waimea Canyon, an amazing sight. Imagine the Grand Canyon on a smaller scale. We could see waterfalls across the canyon as well as helicopters for those willing to pay for a closer view. We stopped to eat our picnic lunch at a pullout along the way. The final lookout allowed us to see along the Na'pali coastline. It was breathtaking. Na'pali is considered the crown jewel of the Pacific and it's not accessible by car. While we were up there it was raining a misty rain and the cloud cover was pretty thick. It was quite foggy but I took a couple of pictures.

Lisa and I are treating ourselves to a boat ride along the Na'pali costline tomorrow morning. It's expensive so we decided not to take the whole family. The kids feel cheated that they don't get to go but they'll probably be just as happy in the ocean or at the pool (and we'll be $600 wealthier).

On our way home we sampled another version of shave ice (not shaved ice). This one was Jo Jo's in Waimea and it was good. I've come to like the tropical flavors. I had mango, lilikoi (passion fruit) and guava. I've abandoned my blue guidebook because I discovered that everyone else on the island bought the same book before they came here. All of the recommended places seem to be ruined. One's own instincts are always the best way to go, anyway. Right?

**I do have photos and they're amazing. Just can't access them due to battery issues (see below).

Kayaking the Wailea

Yesterday we hired a guide to take us up the Wailea River by kayak. Mia was too little to participate so Dan stayed with her at the resort. After kayaking down the river, we hiked about a mile and a half through the jungle to Secret Falls. We ate lunch, took pictures and (ofcourse) we swam under the waterfall. Some in our group chose not to do so. Being the adventure seekers that they are, my kids were all in the water before the food came out of our packs. It was tempting to stay dry and well-coifed but that would have been terribly dissapointing to my adventure seeking children. We all swam in the ice cold water and even went under the 100-something foot waterfall.

Tristan and Jolie did well kayaking. Gavin had the envious job of sitting between me and Tristan (down the river) and between me and Jolie (up the river). He felt a little left out not having an oar so he used a stick to help paddle part of the way. He did amazingly well on the hike. Much of the hike was along a river bed so there were a lot of rocks and tree roots to negotiate. It was also steep in some spots. Gavin's amazing climbing skills proved to be an asset for once. John, our native Kauaiian guide, was awesome. He was barefoot the whole way!

On the ride home we had a discussion about the kayaking portion of our trip. Tristan had a hard time understanding that all things are not a race and a competition. He was frustrated with me (down the river) and Lisa (up the river) for not aiding him in winning what he perceived to be a race. I don't know that he came around to our way of thinking (Tristan is an intense person. I don't know that he'll ever see things that way) but at least he understood why we were slowing down to take pictures, letting others by, etc.

The kids all say the kayaking / hiking trip has been their favorite part of Kauai so far. We'll see if that holds true.

Sidenote: I'm having some "issues" with my camera after getting it a little, um, wet, on the kayaking trip. Dan is trying to fix the problem. Hopefully there will be photos to come soon. No, I didn't drop it in the river. I just dipped a little bit of the lens in while helping Gavin cross a stream. I think I should be rewarded for being a good mother. Why haven't they invented waterproof electronics, anyway?

Spouting Horn

After yesterday's wild adventure we decided to spend the day close to home (did I just call this our home? Wishful thinking). This morning Lisa, Mia and I made another trip to Costco for some essentials and Dan took the other kiddos to the pool. We have the coolest pools here at our resort. They're the same type of black-bottom pools that we had in Maui and the water is filtered from the sea. The water feels very soft and tastes slightly salty. There are multiple levels to the main pool and a bridge that you can pass under. There's also a "relaxation pool" for those who are into that sort of thing. I don't know much about it, you'll have to ask my Diva sister about that one. I'm sure it's very quiet and serene without children or other distractions to ruin your day. My favorite is a secret little kiddie pool that's RIGHT on the ocean. There's a row of lawn chairs there, one end touches the edge of the pool and the other edge sits against a railing that drops off to the ocean. If wishes were fishes, I'd be there by myself with my book from sunrise to sunset.

Tristan prefers the ocean to the pool. There's a big swell right now on the South shore so I'm a little nervous about him going in the water without Dan or myself. This afternoon he spent some time exploring the rocks. He was trying to catch a crab with the bottom half of a soda can. He was rather annoyed at my attempt to photograph him doing so.

We headed over to Spouting Horn before dinner. It's very close to where we're staying. We drove through Koloa town where I ran to get some groceries a few days ago. I've decided that I want to move here and open a little grocery store. We could make a fortune selling pancake mix and peanut butter to visitors from the mainland (then again, maybe it really does cost $8 to import a small box of pancake mix to the most remote island chain in the world???) In any case, I'm trying to figure out what we could do for a living if we decided to move here permanently.