First Day of School...again

Since we follow the traditional school year calendar for the elementary grades, our first day was today. Ethan was especially pleased by this considering the high schools started yesterday on his birthday; who wants to start school on their birthday?

Not Ethan, that's who.

It was a short, easy day. I ran through our daily schedule (which is more like a guideline to be honest), we did some assessment testing, then we set up their desks. Finished way before noon, so we did some reading then turned on the 5th season of My Little Pony, which Netflix FINALLY has.

Yes, Jeff and Ethan are fans. Does that make them Bronies?

Oh, boy.

It really was a quick day, and I totally forgot to take pictures, but I don't think the kids would've let me snap some anyway. Oh, well. There's a whole school year ahead to document, I'm bound to get a few pictures here and there.

I hope.

Anyway, the "real" work starts tomorrow. Yay for homeschool!

First Day of School

So, it's happened: my oldest is officially in high school! A 10th grader, a Sophomore. Around here, 9th grade is still considered middle/junior high, but they're still allowed to play sports under the high school name. Anyway.

This is the only picture Ryan would let me take, where he's actually smiling. He was a little nervous (but wouldn't admit, of course), but I think he's excited for the new "adventure." That or the first day of school means it's one day closer to lacrosse Fall Ball.

Probably the latter.

But, here's to the beginning of a new adventure! Good luck, Ryan; hope it's the start of a fantastic sophomore year!

Happy Birthday, Ethan!

I honestly can't believe this dude turned 14 today; it's been quite the adventure watching him grow and learn. He's so different than his older brother, but that's not a bad thing. Ethan is definitely his own person, he knows what he likes and what he doesn't, and if he doesn't know, then you can be sure he finds out for himself! Love this guy so much! He was a little bummed that he didn't get to celebrate his birthday in Hawaii, but still excited to turn 14!

14 Reasons Why I Love Ethan:

1. His dry, sarcastic humor makes me laugh hard.

2. He likes to learn and asks lots of questions.

3. He's never let his Aspergers hold him back from anything, whether it's school or doing something that interests him.

4. He always greets me with a "Good morning!"

5. He always asks how my day was.

6. He's my very own personal reminder; I can always count on him to remind me of important events.

7. He genuinely cares for other people.

8. He's a perfect example of diligence and perseverance, whether it's building Legos, his schoolwork or chores, he does his best to complete things.

9. He loves animals.

10. He loves to read!

11. He loves telling and hearing jokes. And he remembers the ones that he really likes.

12. He remembers things that I've forgotten about and delights in helping me to remember it, especially if it's a fun family moment.

13. He's the first to do something when I ask.

14. He compliments me on my cooking, which is a big deal considering he's my pickiest eater!

Happy Birthday, bud! Hope it's a fantastic day for you!

Some candids from Hawaii

Since our time here in Hawaii is coming to a close, I thought I'd post some pictures from my iPhone. Mostly random stuff, but they still document our trip pretty accurately.

I've really missed hearing/seeing Pidgin English

Hulihee Palace right on Ali'i Drive. It used to be the summer home of Hawaiian royalty, but was later turned into a museum.

Found this funny sign as we walked Ali'i Drive. Talk about dedication, ha!

Best shave ice I've had in a long time! It's a bit of drive (all the way in Kawaihae), but so worth it!

Spent one of our days at the Hilton Waikoloa Resort. My brother's girlfriend works there and was able to get us day passes for the pools and water slides.

For my sister, who likes to take similar pictures and caption them "Men Who Stack Things". We saw this guy on our way to Honoka'a.

I think these are sold only in Hawaii...so I bought three or four bags, ha!

Playing tourist. We started off at Punaluu, the black sand beach. Saw some turtles, too!

Selfie in front of Rainbow Falls with my "indoor" child, who didn't put up of fight.

Another selfie in front of Rainbow Falls, this time with Big Poppa.

I had to take a picture of this video arcade game at Sandy's; I remember this being here when I was a child. The kids were confused as to what it was, which made me laugh.

Lunch time! Nothing like teri beef and mac salad from Sandy's!

Evidence of my mommy fail. The kids got burned on our first day to the beach!

Apparently, you can spontaneously lose your body at the beach...according to Jeff, that is.

Had to have this: it's a reusable Target bag here in Hawaii; it matches the shirts the workers wear! Bought one for my sister and mom as well.

What the front doorway of a home in Hawaii looks like. :-)

Thanks to the humidity, my feet were looking nice and smooth.

The view from my brother's house...this is what we got to wake up to every morning!

Sunset in Kailua-Kona, from Ali'i Drive.

Ethan is my pickiest eater, so we were a bit apprehensive when we went to a sushi place for dinner one night. But, he tried some and really liked it!

Went for some shave ice on our first day.

This is Holley, one of my brother and his girlfriend's dogs. She became my new selfie partner since Princess was back in Utah.

My big brother; love this guy! Not only for putting up with us for close to three weeks, but he's just an all around great guy! 

I'm having mixed emotions about leaving. It was really nice being back here in Hawaii and exposing the kids to their heritage, but home is also in Utah, and I'm looking forward to being there. Sad to leave my brother and his girlfriend because we love them tons, but I'm sure they'll be glad to get their space back, lol!

Waipio Valley

I was content with staying home and lazing around, but the Crack Monkeys were not. So around lunch time, we piled into the car and headed towards Honokaa for some creme-filled malasadas that I wasn't able to get last Friday. I mentioned that the place is called Tex Drive-In, and they make the best malasadas EVER!

What's a malasada, you're asking? It's a Portuguese dessert, sort of like a sugar doughnut. You can get them with or without filling, which makes it even more delicious. We opted for the Bavarian creme and I will readily admit that I was drooling when they were ready. But, I had to set an example for my kids and eat some "real food" first, ha!

Afterwards, we drove about fifteen minutes to the Waipio Valley lookout. It was abit crowded and threatening to rain, but the kids were intrigued by the view. I mean, we were standing at the top of a cliff, after all.

From the lookout, we could see the black sand beach. There's a road that leads down into the valley that you can either hike or drive down (4WD of course); I remember going down and spending a few days down in the valley for a church girls' camp.

 A better view of the bay, even with the fog rolling in.

It was a bit overcast, which meant the flash on  my camera went off, hence the weird faces. But, they really wanted a picture of them and the valley, so who am I to refuse them? ;-)

Of course, you can't forget the obligatory "funny face" pic, courtesy of the Fire Pig.

The fog slowly rolling in just entranced the Crack Monkeys, so I had to get a picture of it...the fog, not the Crack Monkeys, lol.

We did have a few complaints: there was only one toilet in each of the bathrooms (and wouldn't you know it, the kids had to go once we got there) which meant long lines, and a really funky smell was present while we tried to soak up the beauty, but the kids were still impressed. Ethan went around reading the informational displays/signs they had to Vanessa and Jeff, who listened attentively. Normally, them being so quiet isn't a good sign, but this time, it definitely was.

We decided to leave when the rain started pouring down, interrupting the peace. We had to make a run for the car, but getting drenched wasn't too bad, considering the rain was warm. The drive back to Waikoloa was quite picturesque with fog creeping across the road and into the trees, which the kids thought was really cool. Then again, everything we've experienced here in Hawaii is immediately deemed, "So cool!" so I don't know if it's just automatic to them now.

Oh, well. We're in Hawaii; that's all the explanation needed. ;-)

Lazy day at Baby Pond

I have no idea if the Crack Monkeys are sick of beaches yet, but it's kind of expected that a lot of beach going would take place on a vacation to Hawaii. It was a lot more muggy and hot with another hurricane headed our way, so we decided to hang out at Baby Pond today. It's more of a large tidal pool, so the water was calm enough for the kids after all the waves at Hapuna the other day.

There weren't too many other people when we arrived, which is always a plus.

The kids had no problem getting right into the swing of things. Lots of diving and exploring the rocks underwater.

This boy and his love for soccer...luckily he didn't hit his sister.

Trying their hands at sandcastle building.

They succeeded for about a minute or two, and then the tide came in. Not only did the castle get washed over, but we had to scramble to move our things out of the way.

Even with the tide rising, it was a nice and quiet, lazy afternoon. I think Ryan even got in a little nap; either he was totally relaxed or bored out of his mind, ha! And, no sunburns! Yes! We used up 2 whole bottles this time, but it's worth it not having to deal with sunburns.

The sun was starting to set when we finally convinced the kids it was time to head home. I think they're really getting into the idea of beaches; in Utah, we've only been to lakes with no waves and dirt/sand to play in. And, we're lucky if they play for an hour on the lake shore. So far, every beach we've been to here, we've had to drag them away.

I'll take that as a good sign, yeah?

Happy Birthday, Vanessa!

One of the things that most excited Vanessa for this trip to Hawaii was the fact that she would celebrate her birthday here. She thought she was the luckiest girl to be able to do that. So we tried to make it as special as we could for her.

First, we went to the beach of her choice, which was Hapuna Beach, my favorite beach.

Lots of fun childhood memories of this beach 

We made sure to slather everyone with sunscreen beforehand, then reapplied it after 45 minutes of being in the water. We set up camp and then let everyone loose.

Scott and Ryan aren't "water people" so I had to snap this picture of them
actually being in the water

They were constantly in and out of the water

"Aren't you proud of me, Mom? I'm outside!" :-)

Had to force these two under the umbrella because they burn so easily

I don't exactly know what he was doing here, but he was having fun!

Trying her luck at some boogie boarding

The other end of the beach

We stayed for almost 6 hours, happily getting waterlogged and covered in sand, then packed up and went home. We had to rest up before starting her birthday dinner (spaghetti), and Auntie Shawn made her 2 different, but equally fantastic birthday cakes! I forgot to take a picture of the other cake, which were a series of cupcakes baked into ice cream cones, then frosted to look like ice cream, but the kids ate them so fast that I wouldn't have gotten a chance anyway.

One of the cakes Auntie Shawn made for her

She was definitely one spoiled princess today, and we still have to take her out for some birthday shopping tomorrow!

I just love this girl of mine, and here's some reasons why.

11 Things I Love About Vanessa:

1. She gets excited over almost everything.

2. She still asks for hugs.

3. When she hugs me, she'll squeeze me tight and yell, "I'm squeezing your guts!"

4. She uses her imagination and comes up with the most imaginative plays for her dolls and figurines.

5. She always asks me how I am.

6. Every morning she greets me with a big smile and a cheerful, "Good morning!"

7. She has the most gorgeous hair color that people are always complimenting.

8. She loves to read her scriptures.

9. She loves being homeschooled and soaks up our lessons.

10. She draws pictures with notes for me and leaves them around the house for me to find.

11. She always wants to make us smile.

Happy Birthday, Vanessa! We love you so much!

Playing tourist

When I was little, we had a tradition that whenever we had family visiting, we'd take them sightseeing around the island. I can remember lots of times where my siblings and I would pile up in the family car and join the sometimes long caravan of cars as we showed off our beautiful tropical island. There were stops on the way, of course, little restaurants and stores to eat at and stock up on junk food, as well as the sights to see.

This tradition continued when I went away for my first year of college at BYU-Hawaii. During our Thanksgiving break, many of my friends were unable to fly back to the mainland, so I invited them to Kona; one of the things we did was our "around the island" tradition. My friends enjoyed it, and I was glad to continue the tradition.

This trip back home was no exception. My brother and his girlfriend were kind enough to take the day off from work yesterday and guide us around. See, the problem with growing up in Hawaii, for me, anyway, was that I never bothered to learn exactly where everything was. Obviously, I knew it existed and was somewhere around here and there, but ask me how to get there? Uh, nope. Sorry.

So we ended up following my brother around, and except for two incidents of motion sickness that delayed us a bit (Jeff & Ethan, not me this time!), it was a day well-spent.

Our first stop was Punaluu, or Black Sand Beach. This beach is made up entirely of black sand, due to lava flowing down to the ocean. This is also a popular spot for turtles to lay eggs. When we went, there were two of them resting on the sand, which excited the kids. However, the turtles are protected and touching is a no-no, so the kids settled for taking about a million pictures.

The view from the parking lot

TURTLES!!

Trying not to get soaked while exploring the beach but failing

Our next stop was the Volcanoes National Park. The kids really got a kick out of this place, even though it was crowded and started to rain. There were so many interactive displays to learn from, which meant the kids were talking non-stop in the car about what they learned.

When you first arrive at the Visitor Center

Looking over the large model of the Big Island and locating
all of the volcanoes

warming up at the steam vents

More steam vents

"What?!" LOL

Ethan: "Should I be worried?"

"OMG! A volcano!"

Ethan: "Are you sure we have nothing to worry about?"

Gotcha! He didn't think I'd get a picture of him, ha!

Taking a picture of Kilauea Iki

I really loved how green it was

Another sneak attack by Mom; these boys never
want to smile for the camera anymore!

After the volcanoes, we headed to Hilo for some dinner. There was a Zippy's there at the mall, which excited me (my kids thought I was crazy), because in all the time I grew up in Hawaii, the only Zippy's restaurants you could find were on Oahu. And, the food is good, so I was excited. And, it didn't disappoint. But, I was too busy enjoying my food to take a picture, but no one wants to see pictures of food, right?

One of our last sights to visit was Rainbow Falls. The water wasn't clear, due to the storms and rain from the previous weeks, so it wasn't exactly pretty. But, it was still fun to show the kids.

Checking out the top of the waterfall

More lovely waterfall water :-)

Enjoying the outside while actually being outside, ha!

Exploring some of the banyan trees near
the top of the waterfall

Gotcha again, Ryan! ;-)

It was getting dark by the time we left the falls, but we still stopped at Tex's Drive-In, home to the famous malasadas....which they were out of by the time we arrived. Dang it! And, I was so looking forward to a good malasada! Oh, well, it's not like we won't be here for awhile and can't come back. Hee-hee.

We were all exhausted by the time we got back to the house, but it was a day well spent. Right before we went to bed, the kids were all thanking me for such an exciting day, and I couldn't help but smile before falling asleep. You're definitely welcome, my Crack Monkeys!