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.

The Dole Plantation

The Dole Plantation.

Next time you enjoy a pineapple, appreciate these facts:

I always thought pineapples grew on trees, like coconuts. As a kid I remember wondering why I could never see the pineapples on the "pineapple trees" outside the Mesa temple...I just figured they were too high to be seen. Needless to say I was surprised to find this:

My new favorite tree is the Rainbow eucalyptus. The bark sheds annually to reveal the underlying green bark, which then matures to blue, purple, orange, and lastly maroon tones.
Boe's cousin and fam on the Pineapple Express.

I enjoy looking at fish in tanks, but these carp were fat, dirty, and hyperactive. That's probably why the girls were mesmerized.

Defense

This is the reason my child is not yet potty trained. I defended my thesis today (sounds like I was on trial...that's kind of what it felt like). After a 20-minute powerpoint, my comittee deliberated for a few minutes and returned to let me know I had passed. I guess that means not-guilty...I am so happy...the end is near...

This weekend

One of my favorite things about clinicals is suturing. Some unexplainable feelings of joy (and empathy, of course) surface when a patient walks in with a laceration. I never considered myself a crafty person, but this sort of sewing excites me. A good husband would let me practice on him, but alas, he was nowhere to be found when I broke out my surturing tools this weekend. Kenzie's blanket substituted nicely and didn't complain once (note for future patients: the edges of this "laceration" were cut unevenly, which is why, they don't match up...not because I fell off track during suturing).

High surf warning this weekend. Someday when I learn how to surf that may mean something to me. As of right now, you could not pay me enough to get in waters that look like this: white=tempestuous=dangerous (beautiful though).

Beach-bummin' it at Temple Beach. Sometimes we forget we are not Polynesian and fail to lather frequently with sunscreen. First stop after the beach this weekend...to the store for some soothing aloe to numb the pain.

Cute Kenzie

My daughter. I've been fostering some hostile feelings towards her and her two-year-oldness lately so I am posting some pictures of her cuteness hoping it to be therapeutic. Picking some wildflowers.

Our plumeria tree. On the other side of the fence is our mailbox, so naturally we return from getting the mail everyday with flowers in our hair.

This is an ensamble she came up with. At least all of the pieces are somewhat color-coordinated.

I survived Hawaii tsunami 2010.

0600-Sleeping through the sirens.This is what those who fail to hearken look like.0700-Awake...no, that's not the tsunami. It's her hair.

Just after the sirens sounded at 6am, I walked down to the Point to see how the water looked. Things looked calm. All of the weekend fishermen (all of the cars parked on the Point) were gone about 30 minutes later. There was also a plane flying around announcing what was happening and advising citizens get to higher ground.

09:15-Though no official evacuation statement had been made, our bishop and stake president sent out a mass email early this morning for all members to evacuate to Temple Hill. As I was walking back from the Point, our elderly Patriarch neighbor was out knocking on doors to warn our other neighbors...he's awesome. We also received a phone call from our home teacher to warn us to get to Temple Hill. The Church is TRUE. Here are some of the cars parked outside the temple from the mass exodus to higher ground.09:30 (11:35 tsunami estimated time of arrival). People just waiting around to see what happened next. It was kind of like Fourth of July...hiking to the highest spot in town, people singing, lounging on the lawn, listening to music, chewing on freeze-dried goods from their 72-hour kits (I guess that part's not too much like the Fourth). Like fireworks shows, we waited in anticipation...knowing generally when things were to begin, but not exactly when or how grand.A view of the ocean from Temple Hill.

The rest is boring, fortunately. We returned home, and made some tsumani BLT's. I can only imagine what tomorrow's Church lessons will be about.

LA'IE FALLS

We woke up Saturday and decided the beach needed a break, so we headed 5 minutes (literally) inland for some hiking. The preface to the hike (see sign below) was a little daunting as were the pictures posted along the trail of a hiker gone missing (see what Boe is looking at). We had already packed our homemade burritos and celery sticks and Kenz was sure we were going to see some princesses in the forest, so we pressed forward. This area was 30 min into the hike. The dead, white needles that hung on the trees and lay on the ground blurred the surroundings, creating the illusion that your eyes were out of focus. In addition to the surreal lighting, I felt like I was on a fake movie set.
This is looking back somewhere between the Scrambling Hills and Pine Forest portion of the hike. If you zoom in, just right of the mid line is Laie Point.

Approaching the Pine Forest.

The Cook Pines. Indigenous to New Caledonia and the Isle of Pines in the South Pacific.

The mountain on either side of the path is so steep the trees have a hard time resisting gravity. That's why this picture looks crooked.

I was afraid K's little brain was getting all jumbled as we treaded over the increasingly treacherous terrain, so we ditched the wagon-cart and Boe carried her the rest of the way. Kenz and I digging into the food rations.

Finally...the Falls. After two hours of hiking, I was expecting something a little more spectacular, more along the lines of Niagara.

The anticlimactic hike back home.

The Bird Man

Went to the International Marketplace in Waikiki this weekend. If you make eye contact with any of the vendors they begin pitching sales in all sorts of languages, so be wary. Located within the ever so overwhelming marketplace is The Bird Man, who places one or more of his tropical birds on suspecting or unsuspecting persons for a small price. Kenzie was half terrified (keeping her eyes clenched shut), half so excited she could hardly stand it (smiling and giggling uncontrollably) with the bird on her shoulder. Of course as soon as the bird was off of her shoulder she wanted it back on.

Do you remember how good Mac N Cheese is? K would eat it for every meal if she could. Pickles are a close second.