Ei8gt is gr8

Ava turned 8 last week. The countdown to the baptism has begun!

Nalu

Before we found out our impending bundle of joy was a boy, I remarked to Mark, "You wouldn't do anything differently if we had boys."  He takes our girls golfing, teaches them tennis, and most importantly...

How to Die Slowly...

A brief backstory:  Our family along with 3 of our dear friends, journeyed to the Gila Valley to tour the gorgeous new temple there.  As we were pulling out of the driveway, Layla began to vomit.  However, we had a hotel reservation and a weekend planned, so we went for it.  It was a great experience, probably the only time I will ever be in a temple with a barf bucket.  She recovered the next day and life went on.


Okay, about this.

Hana is located on the east side of Maui, about 70 miles from here.  However, it takes more than 3 hours to get there because of the extremely curvy roads.  Mark and I had not been since summer 2000 (it has taken me 10 years to want to drive there again) and we thought it was a good year to take the kids.  The drive is scenic and gorgeous and tedious.  You are rewarded for your diligence and safe driving with a fun hike through a bamboo forest ending at a gorgeous waterfall!


Here we are at the surfboard fence up Kaupakalua Road.  Notice how happy and vibrant we are!



One of the less curvy curves.


Here's where my story turns ugly.  Layla started having diarrhea.  The shoot-up-the-back kind.  We changed her each time but I was really fretting because she was so uncomfortable.  The plan was for Mark to drop me off at a quaint hotel while he took the girls on the hike, however, I could see that Lay was in no condition to hike.  We had a picnic at Hana Bay then I had voice my opinion on the matter.  We needed to forgo the hike and return home immediately.  The girls were greatly disappointed and tried to dissuade me in every way, but I remembered the Gila Valley trip and tried to hold firm.

I had relented and we stopped at Hasegawa's General store to replenish our diaper and wipe supply.  I was still uneasy, but I wanted Mark and the big girls to have this experience.  Layla and I would just have to wait it out in the hotel.  However, my precious baby validated my initial choice by vomiting.  That sealed the deal and amidst tears and pleading, we pointed Betty back east and headed home.  The girls were amazing about it, and Mark managed to salvage the day by taking them to a roadside waterfall.  They got the waterfall experience without the 1.5 mile hike which I repeatedly pointed out.



Layla would not be stopped and by the time we got to Kahului,  I was sitting the back, shirtless in my bra, because Layla had soiled every thing in the car.  She did finally go to sleep though.


So, it's official.  I am done with Hana.  Twice in a lifetime is enough for me.

Ahoy There, Matey!

We enrolled Ava is a week-long sailing camp at the Lahaina Yacht Club.  They learned sailing lingo, etiquette, and most importantly, how to right a capsized boat.



Ava rigs the sails!



Ava and her cousin, Amelia, at the right side of the pack.  (A nice way to say last place...)



Ava getting back in her boat after tipping it while rounding the buoy.


Before the week began, my sailing knowledge consisted of knowing what "tacking" meant.  Pretty much I am still there, but I will sail with Ava any day.

Be Your Own Migrant Worker

Living in white suburbia doesn't afford many opportunities to teach my girls about living off the land.  We were granted access to a pineapple field north of here and set to work harvesting our own crop of pineapple.




The pineapple grow low, along the ground and one twist releases the heavenly fruit into our hands.  Picking is addictive and somehow we ended up with a whole trunk full of em.



What we don't devour, we have sliced up and are dehydrating.

Breaking the Cycle

The baby looked perfect. Arms, legs, heart, internal organs...everything you want to see. Except for this strange third leg in between the other two. Now I have never seen that on an ultrasound before. Weird, huh?

Neglect

Neglect---the worst form of abuse.

Apparently, what this blog is suffering from.

Here's my excuse...


(Baby coming Nov 16.  Will let you know sex next week.)

Ace!

Being married to a tennis guy, I am excited about the prospect of my husband coaching our daughters. Mark has really been working with Ava and Mia since the summer and they have progressed. Ava has really caught on and I can actually rally with her now.

Mark felt that Ava needed to be playing with kids her own age, since she seems to thrive on "healthy" competition (clearly her mother's daughter.) Mark organized a little tennis clinic, held one day per week at the local high school. It has had its growing pains, and we're discovering the real differences between boys and girls.

After 5 weeks, the kids (okay, the boys and Ava) are getting into a routine and not annoying Mark as much. Mark needed to burn some of the boys' energy so he lined them up along the long wall so they could practice hitting a ball repeatedly against the wall.

With 6 kids swinging rackets at wild balls, this was bound to happen....




Meet Bryson, the son of my dear friends and neighbors. Yes, Ava wielded the racket that struck the tooth (permanent, I might add) of Bryson.

His parents were very gracious about the entire incident, always stating, "It was an accident." I, however, was mortified. He was able to get a composite tooth the next day and we have had a successful tennis lesson since.

PS. If you care to join us for tennis, please call me, we never meant to exclude anyone, we just happened to put together of group of kids whose parents had expressed interest!

VD--Gotta love it

I get Valentine inspirations from the weirdest things. Like when I overheard a lady at Wal-Mart calling her kid a "smarty-pants." Hmmm, I could eat Smarties right now. I tossed the store-bought "Wizards of Waverly Place" valentines onto the canned beans shelf and did a scorching U-turn to get to the candy aisle.
With Smarties in hand, I head home to figure out how to mass produce pants. Any help Levi-Strauss?
I cut a pair of pants from construction paper, scanned it, then made a template in Photoshop.

Mia adding the John Hancock for her 30 classmates, plus neighbors, friends, Primary teachers and relatives.

3rd Anniversary...

...of my 29th birthday!

Dos

Happy Birthday Baby!!!

It's in the blood!

Our time in Maui this summer afforded Mark the opportunity to really work with Ava on her game. Imagine our surprise when we found that consistently playing with her, rather than the occasional time at the court, leads to much improvement! I really used to worry when about 15 seconds after the ball sailed past Ava, she would swing.


Mark saw the dream of a child protege disappearing too!I rallied with her the other day and I am sad to say she will be surpassing me very soon. We were excited to introduce her to this stud over Thanksgiving at Wailea.

Lindsay Davenport, former world's number one!

Hitting my stride

I got a dSLR camera a year ago and have found a new hobby! It has taken a lot of practice and a lot of time in Photoshop, but I am loving the results. Unfortunately, I have also been interested in an upgraded camera and more lenses, but for now, here's a visual snack of my girls!

Whale of a Tale

Pictures from our November 28th whale watch on Maui. Yes, we went back for Thanksgiving. Yes, we loved it. Yes, we spent almost 25% of 2009 there. No, we're not moving there.