HOME...

it may be smaller (much) than the MH, not without problems,

so different from SC, but it's home.

So thankful that I get to see this view everyday.  Green hills, warm

water and tradewinds.

Glad to be home.

Birthday Celebrations

This year all three grands had smaller birthday celebrations.  It was nice because I think each

of them got to feel really special on their Special Day.

Lauren decided to have a slumber party with 4 of the neighborhood

girls.  They had pizza, candy, played games and watched movies until the

wee hours of the night.

 Jack and two of his friends went to the Lego store in Downtown

Disney after having lunch at Goofy's Kitchen. 

The perfect "boy" party!

 For Grey's special day he got to ride the train to San Diego with daddy where mommy

and Emme met them and they all went to the San Diego Zoo. 

 Three special days for three special grands!

Cannonball

It took a while, had to try a lot, but he finally

 mastered it...The Cannonball

He'd watched the older kids doing it and thought he'd give it a try.

Miss Emme with the smiling eyes

Miss Emerson has the prettiest hazel eyes.  When I look at them

they always seem to be smiling.

Miss Emme is pretty easy, she just goes with the flow, and she

loves the water!!!

Another year older!

Lauren, 9. Last year in single digits.

Sweet, smart, sassy

Justice lover

Jack, 6. Six seems older than five!

Silly boy

Star Wars lover!

Grey,4. Growing up too fast.

Swimmer, athlete

already a little brown berry!

Three birthdays in one week (not counting Geoff's on the 19th)! Time flies.

We love these guys so much!

They're all growing up so fast!

Father's Day

We had planned to go down to San O for Father's Day in the afternoon.  Since it never cleared up

at the beach we decided at the last minute to change the venue to Traci's.

The kids at a great time.

It was a time for dads and poppa to play.

We had poppa's favorite...hot dogs.

 even Miss Emme got in on the fun!

Fun+Family=Special times.

A Grand Pool Party

One day Bri brought both the kids down to the MH to play with the older kids at the pool.

They had so much fun in the 88 degree, salt water!

Grey has become quite the swimmer this summer already. So that makes it more fun.

Grey and Jack just relaxing, waiting for their lunch to settle.

 Miss Emme just hanging out.

 The girls

 The silly boys

 Everybody having a good time.



Last Day of School

The last day of school finally came...it was a time to tell teachers

good-bye,

 take a final swing on the favorite swing

and clean the desk with shaving cream!

Good-bye school, Hello Summer!

Jacks's Graduation

The day finally came...Jack is no longer a kindergartner!

There are two kinder classes at his school and all of them

looked so proud as they took the stage for a few songs and

to receive their diplomas!

Good job Jack, I know you're looking forward to First Grade!

miniture golf

on the kids first official day of summer break I took them miniture golfing.  neither one of them had ever been before and I hadn't gone in years.  we really had a great time.  Lauren was the big winner with 2 holes-in-one!

We celebrated by going to In-N-Out for hamburgers and shakes!

Great start to summer

Only In Hawaii...Lei Stands

If you've ever left HNL, you see this sign...

The stands have been in this spot for over 50 years.  It's a tradition

here to give a lei when departing or arriving in Hawaii. So lei

stands popped up at the airport.

Their prices are really good, $5.oo for plumeria or den. orchid lei.

The leis aren't as fancy as the ones you find at the lei shops in Chinatown,

but there are still little ladies sitting there stringing lei.

I found this old photo of what the lei stands looked like in 1956, really not too

different, except for the thatched roofs.

Another one of those "Only In Hawaii" things...

King Kamehameha Day

Today is King Kamehameha Day.
I still have fond memories of my experience last year.

Candy Leis

The neighborhood girls helped me make 40 candy leis to take to the mainland

for the grands classes. 

Thanks girls for all of your help!

No, its not fog, its rain!

At Sharks Cove, looking towards Kaena Pt.

The ground was dry and no sign of rain from Foodland,

but as I drove home...it was pouring, and steam

coming up from the road.

YUCK!

Is all I can say

Crazy Weather = beautiful skies

We've had some wild and crazy weather the last week.  Wild trade winds, thunder, rain, hail

and awesome lightening.  Never have seen anything quite like it.  Saturday was a good example.

Thunder in the morning, muggy, no real rain most of the day, then this...

(Carole Phillips photo)

It was so pretty, all pink and blue.  But looking the other way, east, the sky was so dark

and as the sun went down the sky started to light up.  HUGE bolts touching the ground. 

Amazing to see the sky light up like that.

(Marisa Viera photo)

We took a drive down to the harbor and watched it for a long while.  I tried to get

a picture with both of my cameras, but it was just too hard.  This is looking east towards

Wahiawa.

We heard on the news last night that there were something like 1300 lightening strikes

recorded.  Amazing to say the least. As amazing as it was, I'm done with

it for awhile, thank you.

Malaekahana Bike Path

A few months ago a bike path was dedicated.  This path runs along Kam Hiway between

Malaekahana and Laie.  It's almost two miles long, pretty flat and wide.

What makes it so unique is that the most of the work on the path

was done by volunteers.

At the opening of the path, there was the traditional Hawaiian blessing.

It doesn't seem to matter what time of day or night (we've seen runners/walkers with reflective gear at night) we go past, there is always someone on the path.

Someone had a dream and people coming together made it happen.