Pool Upgrade and The Beans

So we had some friends coming to stay with us, our beloved friends the Beans, so we decided to get an upgrade and add a pool to our house. Its awesome. There might not be laps swam in the pool, but many laps around the pool. Hours of fun for small people. I love this picture of Jayne with her Barbie. I caught her out there talking and singing with it. How fun it is to be Jayne. Such a good happy life. 

Our pool addition is just right for the Jake man. He's is the one doing laps around and around it. I love that little smiley face he has. He did dunks in the pool with Jayne as well.

The Beans are great! Rose and Tim had escaped for the week on the Big Island, and they were only going to be on Oahu for one day, Sunday. But at the last minute, they changed their flight to fly in on Saturday so that they could play with us all day. Rose goes by Grandma Rose by Jakey. We all adore her. We got to take her to some of our favorite places, like Lani Beach, where the turtle come on to the beach to sun bathe. 

Here are Tim and Rose. 

After Turtle Beach, we made our way to Halewia for lunch. We had heard there was this awesome new Thai place called Opal Thai, that we decided to try out. It was quite the experience. We came in and were sat by a 7 year old, the son of the owner, Opal. Then Opal, came to take our order. We said me needed a recommendation. From there he started to take our menus. We kind of just raised our eye brows and looked at each other, like, "okay." He then asked us what kind of meats, spices, and veggies we liked. Then he walked away. We all started laughing. Tim said, "Well this is going to be an experience." Then the food started coming. It was too good. I can't even tell you. I loved all of it. And I'm not exaggerating. So good. We all left with a smile on our face and full bellies. 

But if you are in Halewia, or anywhere within 20 miles of it, it only means one thing- Shave Ice! Matsumotos was hit again. We always leave there a bit stickier and sugered than before we came, but always glad we stopped. I think its the ice cream in the bottom that makes it. 

Memorial Day at Hukilau and Waimae Bay

At 7 a.m., our friend, Zeb Weeks texted to say that there was going to be a hukilau at Hukilau beach that morning. My reply back was- What the heck his a Hukilau? I thought it might me a dance. But I looked it up on wikipedia. Here is the definition below:

A hukilau is a way of fishing invented by the ancient Hawaiians. The word comes from huki, meaning pull, and lau, meaning leaves. A large number of people, usually family and friends, would work together in casting the net from shore and then pulling it back. The net was lined with ti leaves, which would help scare the fish into the center of the net.[1] Consistent with the Hawaiian subsistence economy, anybody who helped could share in the catch. Hukilau Beach, in Lā'ie, is named after the technique, which has been used there for centuries.




Ah Ha. A Hukilau. I get it. All the kids were awake except for Sleeping Beauty (Jayne), so we gave them some breakfast and hurried to Hukilau Beach. The group in charge, the community, were tying the ti leave rope together. Here is the boat used, full of the ti leaves and nets.

 Here we are not really knowing what is going on. 

They unravelled the ti rope.

Then they tied it to the nets. 

Here's Sam and Jake listening in on the instructions.

Not sure that either of these little people knew what was going on, but they were happy to be at the beach by 8 a.m. 

Here they are sending the boat out. It would go out leaving one side of the ti rope with us. Cast it nets and then make a giant loop out in the ocean and the bring the other rope on the other side. Then the nets would be pulled in by both sides as you can see below. Divers were sent out to make sure the nets didn't snag on the bottom of the ocean as they were pulled into shore. Micah and Eric couldn't resist and joined the snorkelers. The water was rough, so Micah said he mostly just tried to stay alive. Seen below is the line of people on the other side of the nets.  

Here is our group pulling in the nets.

Below is Sam, getting the fish out of the net. There weren't very many fish. They say that most of the fish are gone now. Sam's scout leader told them that as a 7 year old boy, he remember going to hukilau at Hukilau beach and clapping the water to keep all the fish in the nets. He said he was terrified as they pulled in fish bigger than him. A bit sad that we pulled out only a couple dozed fish. But really neat to be apart of this old tradition.

Here's Micah, Sam, and Eric showing off their fish. Pretty impressive.

After the beach we went by the Asian market for some morning musibi. I used wikipedia again so you can fully understand the awesome piece of culture we are sharing. 

Spam musubi is a popular snack and lunch food in Hawaii composed a slice of grilled Spam atop of a block of rice, wrapped together with nori in the tradition of Japanese omusubi.

Inexpensive and portable, spam musubi is commonly found near cash registers in convenience stores all over Hawaii.

 I am sure you laughing but Seth thinks its awesome. So we had our morning Spam roll, and we were set for the day. And right next to the Musibi is a giant tub of cheese balls. This picture is for Rose who was dying laughing at the tub of cheese balls in Jake's nursery on Sunday.

Then we went to this- sorry to make you all jealous. But Waimae Bay was gorgeous. We played in the water for a while and then were sitting out when Sam spotted some dolphins in the bay. There was a whole pod of them. They were too far out for us to swim and we were dying to have a paddle board or sea kayak to get out to them. But they put on a show for us anyway. They were jumping and flipping. It was so fun to see them just out there. 

That evening we went on a way to the park. A great ending to the day.

Here's how the little man rolls:

The picture with his head in hands makes me laugh because he is still rolling. Smooth little buddy. 

He's pretty fast on it, but usually rolls over his fingers daily.

Kahana- Surf Club and Slurpees.

We had kind of a funny day. We had no food in the house. So I told the kids they could come to the grocery store and choose a treat for the American Idol Finale that night. That whipped them into shape and they finished their school in record speed. 

My advice is to never take four children with you to the grocery store. I am sure I spent an extra $40 or more because they were with me. But we survived the store, or more like it, the store survived Jake. So as we are leaving the grocery store, Jake was in time out, sitting in the cart, he grabbed a box of cereal and chucked in onto the middle of the parking lot. Ellie hadn't seen him do it and asked,"who did that?" I said in very sarcastic tone,"I have no idea, Jake would never do something like that, he's an angel." Jake responded to me by standing on the seat of the cart and saying,"I no angel, I ninja." We couldn't help ourselves. We all died laughing. Yes, Jake is much closer to being a ninja than an angel. 

Here he is below in his Batman unders and his new matching fire-stick.

The kids had brought along their free slurpee coupons from their PCC passports, and so we decided to cash them in. But when we got to the store it was--- FREE SLURPEE DAY! Wahoo. We all got free slurpees and texted our friends on the island to do the same. Just then I got a text for us to join surf club at Kahana that after noon. We hadn't joined the surf club before because they were finishing their season, but now since their season is over, we can join to just surf with other kids. These kids really amaze me. They are little and catching waves. The coach is our surf teachers, Kahia's dad, Isaiah Walker. We are grateful to be included. 

 So we invited the Hughes to join us, since Jones wants to be a surfer. We love those Hughes'. The kids just took off to play. This is Ava and Jayne below. 

Here he is. The ninja boy.

This is Isa and Ellie. 

This is Kahana Bay. You can see probably 15-20 kids our on surf boards and three adults just out there standing, helping out. So awesome. Surf Club-who wouldn't want to join this club?

Playing.  

And more playing.

After playing hard, we hopped in the car, and we all got another slurpee on the way home.

That night we joined the Hughes at there house to watch the finale of American Idol. Thanks Hughes for sharing you TV.

Here is a cover photo for Jake's first surf movie. 

What's Going On

We are just enjoying a bit of Hawaii time. Taking things slow. The picture below is usually what is happening from my point of view. That is my chubby leg and those are my two ankle-biters. These two are so attached to me. Which has its good and bad. I love these two to pieces. But sometimes I need to walk, and when they have a hold of your ankles, it makes it a bit challenging. Not impossible, just challenging. Jake will not let anyone help him. He won't let anyone get him out of his crib, or carry him, or feed him. I have to be absent to have other's help him. Seth is great at distracting him when I need to escape, like run to the grocery store. Jayne would also have me attached to her, but she is super happy to have Dad as well. I know it doesn't last forever, so I will hold on tight, and I am sure I will miss it when they aren't holding leg anymore.

My next story is a good indicator of my state. Ellie had a loose tooth that she worked on all day. Wiggling and wiggling. She even used a brush pick to get some leverage to pull it. She got it out. Made a little paper envelope and put it under her pillow. I knew the Tooth Fairy would need to appear that night. Although I was super tired, I couldn't quite fall asleep, so after Seth fell asleep I came out the couch and worked the blog and then watch something on Netflixs. I had asked Seth if he had any dollar bills to help out the Tooth Fairy and he had said that he had some in his wallet by the side of his bed. So at about 1 a.m. I finally decided to go to bed and fortunately remember what I needed to do. I quietly went into my bedroom and creeped around the side of the bed and found the dollar bills. I "left" two dollar bills out for the Tooth Fairy and fell into bed. The next morning, in bounces Ellie, "Mom, mom, the Tooth Fairy brought me $13 dollars." Oh. Opps. Sam,"Unfair." (For sure). It was then I explained to Sam that the "Tooth Fairy" must have been REALLY tired last night, and didn't see the extra $11. Just a mistake. Sam's reply,"I hope the Tooth Fairy is tired when I loose my next tooth." He and I both laugh and Ellie keeps bouncing around. I guess I have been a bit tired. 

After Saturday chores, we hit the beach. Back to Castles, to boogie board and a bit of surfing too. 

Jake is so happy right here. He loves the waves, the sand, and time with the family. Little boys were born to play on beaches. He feels right at home here.

Ellie taking a breather. 

I love these next set of pictures as Ellie brings the surf board up the beach. It is an 8 ft long board, so it is quiet a bit bigger than her. 

I broke my rule of no buying any kids clothes while we were here. We were at the second hand store, Savers, and we needs a couple things, and we got sucked in. Jayne found this little back dress, so Hawaiian right? Black sequined. I told her, no. She begged and begged. And since it was cheap and I had a 30% of coupon, I bought it for her thinking I could save it until this winter. Nope, she's worn it almost every day since. So she was out dancing in this beautiful light and I had to take a couple pictures.

She pulled her hair out of her little braid and bun and then asked me to take more pictures. She's such a fashionista. She looks so big. Not sure I am ready for this one to grow up. I posted on Face Book,"Dear Jayne's Husband. Please have a lot of money. She is high maintenance." She already had some parents reply, willing to take that gamble for there sons. Heaven help us when she is old enough for boys.