Third Birthday!

Happy third birthday!

At the PCC Haunted Lagoon Canoe Ride. Kenz knew something was not quite right with these people.

Happy Labor Day...and random pics.

Kenzie's favorite beach swing. Looking for crabs.

Kenzie likes to go outside, lay on the weight set, and predict the weather. It usually goes something like this: "Hmmm...I think it will rain today...maybe, sure."

Pretty accurate forecast for these whereabouts.
At the Te Manahua Maori Cultural Competition 2010 (haka competition). The makeup and costumes were intensely intimidating (the ladies wear green lipstick and thick black eyeliner to accentuate the whites of their eyes when opened wide, and the males paint their faces and blow spit all over the place), but I guess that's the whole point of the dance...to scare your opponents. Sitting in the third row, Kenzie and I were definitely scared. Teams from England to New Zealand teams came out to compete, but the Laie/Hawaii team took overall honors.

Summer in the 808

So we are going on our 10th month of Summer here in Hawaii and have managed to keep ourselves somewhat entertained. Here are some of our recent Summer happenings...

Watching fireworks at the Turtle Bay Beach Resort.

Creating "Where's Waldo" Waimea Bay edition.
Stealing the neighbor's sprinkler when she isn't home.

Learning to surf.

Twirling the poi balls New Zealand style.Watching a Tahitian dance competition. Kenzie calls them the shake-a-bootie dancers and if you've ever seen traditional Tahitian dance compared to all other Pacific Island dances, you'd know why.

Wandering aimlessly around the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) with our season passes getting tattoos. I was worried they wouldn't have one big enough to fit around my bicep, but they managed.

Drawing sidewalk chalk stories about princesses and centipedes.

Dressing like "Little House on the Prairie" and making friends with local critters.

Wandering aimlessly around the PCC making (and shortly thereafter destroying) crafts.

Prego

Due Jan 30. Anyone want to hire a new grad who is pregnant? Any takers? Regardless, we are excited (and tired and sick and tired, etc.) for this addition and hope she/he looks like Kenzie (if a girl) but with around 20% of Kenzie's intensity.

This weekend we had some family in town from Idaho and were looking for some fun activities to do while they were here. About 2 blocks from our house is Laie point. The point has about 30 foot cliffs that are perfect for cliff jumping! It was a blast!Shauna jumping the point. No hesitation at all. Funny thing is there were a bunch of locals that were trying to psych themselves into jumping. Shauna walked right past them and jumped! After that the local guys kind of felt like they had to. All except one, he sat on the top and held the rocks down (weak sauce).

Me jumping the point. Notice how clear the water is. That helped because you had to aim for the sand patches to avoid the coral (I'm trying to make it sound dangerous, but there was a big patch of sand and the water was about 15 feet deep where we were jumping).

We also went to see the USS Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor. Here is Kenz on the boat ride out to see the memorial. In the background is the USS Missouri where the truce was signed with Japan ending WWII in the Pacific.

Kenz getting a little geography lesson from a family friend. Jacob was showing her where we are but all she wanted was to to see Arizona.

Kenz at the steps up to the memorial wall at National Cemetary of the Pacific (Punchbowl). We visited the day after Memorial Day. It was pretty humbling to see the names of so many who died in the service of their country.

Snorkeling at Shark's Cove

This weekend, our adventures took us to Shark's Cove, a popular snorkeling/scuba diving area on the North Shore. Here we are entering the Cove. Me sporting the snorkel gear, feeling like my eyeballs were being suctioned out of my head. Me snorkeling. I could try to tell you how amazing it was to literally swim next to fish of all shapes, sizes, and colors, but it would seem utterly unfair to the fish to do so. Hopefully next time we will have purchased an underwater camera.

Kenz found a safe haven from all the scuba guys who look kind of scary to a two-year-old with all of their crazy gear on.

Throwing rocks (my favorite bootie shot!). Also, I can't handle this swimsuit...pink and fluffy, just like she likes it...thanks Aunt Sara!

Overall a fun and free adventure. Can't wait to do it again!

We went down to the point to fly Kenzi's kite. We also looked for the spot where people cliff jump into the ocean. This is the only spot without rocks below, so it must be it. I want to try it with Brett and Brad when they come out in a couple weeks. Need to confirm this is the right spot first. Thought about throwing Kenzi in to see if she came up all right but Mom probably wouldn't approve.

Here we are flying the kite. There's always a good breeze blowing here. Kenzi loved it. She wanted me to tie her to the kite so she could "fly like Peter Pan".

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day! Boe and Kenz made this lei for me from the plumeria tree in our front yard. This is version #2 because Kenz (surprise, surprise) destroyed the first version. What makes this impressive is that Boe had to thread each flower individually onto a thin string without breaking the delicate flowers.

May Day Celebration

Waiting for the big May Day production by La'ie Elementary, held at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

I don't know why kids do this. I asked Kenz to smile "pretty" while we were waiting for the show to begin, but all I got was this cheesy grin.The show began with an introduction of the May Day Court, complete with conch shell blowers, spearmen, a princess and kahili bearer (feathered banners) representing each of the seven Hawaiian islands, chanters, a kapu carrier, royal kahili bearers, crown bearers, the King and Queen, Royal ladies in waiting, and Ho'okupu (a gift for the royalty in the hopes of receiving acknowledgement).

Each grade chose a country to represent with dance as entertainment for the May Day Court (see the Court sitting behind the performers). This grade represented New Zealand. Perfect for Cinco de Mayo, the pre-K represented Mexico. After a very energetic Mexican Hat Dance, they continued to the limbo, seen below.

Next came England and an ode to the Beatles. Some of the kids got a little crazy with the head-banging.

Arabia.

Greece

Phillipenes

America

All in all, the production may have been the coolest thing I've ever seen come from an elementary school. Most importantly, the students loved every minute of it.

Swings and beautiful waters

Kenz would spend every waking moment on a swing, singing "You Can Fly" from Peter Pan if she could.

Swinging at Malaekahana Beach.A pic taken during our Sunday stroll. Of course on Sundays the waters tend to look like this.

Disney Princess Collection

Sorry for yet another music video, but it rains A LOT here. So instead of singing in the rain, we sing very comfortably (and very dryly) out of the rain inside our house.
Kenz presents the Disney Princess Collection:

The mystery fruit and the mystery drawing

These mysterious fruits just started showing up on a plant outside our house. They looked like they could be delicious, but I wasn't willing to bet my famous last words on it. Turns out they are a type of passion fruit ("lilikoi"), consistency like a loogie, but phenomenal tropical taste (somewhere between a pineapple, pomegranate, mango, with a hint of coconut).

Picasso would have been proud. The head kind of creeps me out. Kenz has named this abstract piece, "Lady with a Beautiful Dress".

Easter serenades

For your Easter listening pleasure, Kenzie presents two bunny songs:

Gunstock Ranch Egg Hunt

At the annual Easter egg hunt hosted by Gunstock Ranch.

Of course the Easter Bunny arrived by horseback.Riding the horse...skeptical at first...
Warming up to the idea... Loving it!

Strategy: Slow and steady wins the race.

The gap widening...(she kept stopping at the wildflowers and saying, "Oo0h!...flowers Daddy!")Rethinking her strategy.EGGS!!! (Gunstock uses real eggs for their Easter Egg hunts).

Egg coloring on Easter Eve. Intense concentration required.