Hannah's bananas

Actually they are Jason's bananas but that doesn't rhyme. Jason's Mom gave him 3 banana trees in October 2008 for his birthday present and we now have 3 bunches of apple bananas ready to harvest.

Collecting them is a labor intensive activity but they are good! We also originally had 2 papaya trees but one died. The fruit it did have was good and the best part is that Hannah planted the seed for that tree when she was 2 years old with her best buddy Lily!

I would recommend planting papaya seeds for anyone looking for a fun and easy activity with little ones. They love playing in the soil and papaya seeds sprout quickly. Just save some seeds from your next papaya, peel off the slimy seed casing and have the kids stick the seed in the soil in a plastic cup (so you can watch it sprout up and the roots grow down) until its big enough to go into the ground or a pot. Cheap, easy, delicious and educational.

That'll be 5 M&M's please

In the interest of full disclosure, these photos of Hannah cost me 5 Peanut M&Ms. She loves her new board but prefers it at flat Lanikai. Today however Barbers was perfect for her as the waves were tiny.

After some bribing she agreed to a photo session which luckily lead to Mom and Dad pushing her back and forth on the board. Ella also had some fun bouncing in the waves with Elmo of course.

And then Mom had her turn. After some fun in the sun we headed home for naps while Dad headed to Pyramids where hopefully he found some waves too.

Don't hate me because I'm...

thin blooded. Yes, this is for my poor old Canadian friends who will read this blog entry and scoff at me. I was once a sturdy warm blooded Atlantic Ocean swimmer who understood any water could be entered in a wetsuit and two swim caps but alas I've been in Hawaii now for a grand total of 7 years and I am now a complete wimp.

Today we had a day that demonstrates why we homeschool. At 7:45 Ella and I were snuggling in bed as she told me about a dream she had about two dogs "woofing" and how one was the Mama and one was the baby and they were running. In the distance we could hear a bugle call and she asked what it was. I explained it was the bell to let the kids across the road know it was time for school to start. The thought of having everyone dressed, fed and out the door lunches in hand by this time always makes me shudder.

So we hopped out of bed and headed downstairs where Jason and Hannah were having breakfast, loaded up the car and headed to Barbers Point for some Monday morning surfing. It was just my size so the kids and Dad picnicd on the beach and Mama went surfing. It was beautiful and I caught the first 3 I went for. After that the pearling began and I had some glorious wipe outs. I headed in to check on the gang and see if anyone was interested in coming out. They declined so I headed out again. After some more short rides and lots of paddling I decided to call it a day since we still had to drive Daddy to work.

This time the girls decided to come in and play. So there is Hannah in her lifejacket and Ella in her $1.99 Elmo floatie (not as trustworthy as a lifejacket apparently) Mom and Dad all bobbing in the shore break. Some of these waves are pretty impressive and if I'd been the lifeguard watching the non-swimmer 2 year old bobbing out there in a swim ring I'd probably have called CPS (Child Protective Services). This is Mama's 3rd trip into the water and unlike Dad she's not sporting neoprene so her teeth begin to chatter. Then her jaw begins to chatter. Then she is shivering so hard her husband teases her the Canadian authorities are going to show up and revoke her citizenship!

Finally I had to surrender as I couldn't even talk I was shivering so much. I felt like I was at NSLS training camp in New Glasgow except it wasn't June in Nova Scotia in a wetsuit starting hypothermia, it was January in Hawaii in board shorts and a rash guard, what can I say, I went soft! Ella and I headed to the beach to wrap up in towels while Dad and Hannah played with my surfboard.

Once we were home Ella crashed for a huge 2 1/2 hours nap and Hannah did her school work. Now most days its a struggle to get Hannah to focus on her work but today she voluntarily turned off the tv and even asked to do more work when we finished! She is also finally making some progress in decoding words!! She's known all the sounds for ages but refuses to look at the page but today she did it, even reading words I didn't help her with, I almost cried I was so proud (and told her so!).

It was a pretty sweet rewarding day, although I am still wearing a sweatshirt and jeans! I may never be warm again!

Rocking Out

This week science club met at Lanikai playground so I threw the double jogger in the back of the van in the hopes of getting a nap/jog in with the girls. Hannah just got new sneakers for running and scootering so I wasn't sure if she was going to run or ride. After the club and some discussion she decided she was worn out from all the playing and opted to ride. As a peacemaker I gave the girls my iphone to listen to some music as we headed around the loop and I tucked my ipod earphones in for some much needed musical motivation. About halfway around I noticed a lot of action from inside the stroller, hand and legs wiggling and much giggling. You have to remember Hannah's about 45 lbs, Ella 25 lbs and the stroller has got to be 10 lbs so when the 80 lbs starts swaying its not helpful to poor old Mom's form! So I pull out my earphones and hear, "All the single ladies, all the single ladies, all the single ladies! Now put your hands up!" And there are my girls hands up in the air singing away, dolly too! What a pair. They also like Gwen Stefani, Pink and Rhianna.

"Just take the photo mom and give us back our iphone!!"

Its funny the music kids tune into despite the vast variety we expose them to. One day last week Hannah was having a tantrum/drama day. At one point she turned to us and said she had a song in her head, she took my iphone and started playing "Do you have the time to listen to me whine about nothing and everything all at once? I am one of those melodramatic fools, neurotic to the bone no doubt about it". Now this girl has had more than her fair share of Laurie Berkner, Putumayo, Sharon, Lois & Bram, Tchaikovsky, Anne Murray, Mozart and Vivaldi but it is Green Day that she identifies with? Its going to be an interesting ride!

Polar Bear Dip 2010

Okay, so not your typical freezing Polar Bear Swim, more of a Monk Seal splash but it was a nice relaxing way to start the New Year.

Its been so nice to have the Grandfolks in town, Jason and I managed to go for a run together, boogie board at Bellows together and snuck off for two dates! Its also nice to have visitors because you stop doing all the day to day stuff you should and do the fun touristy stuff instead. We headed to the North Shore to see the waves and I got to surf. The next morning my ribs and my neck hurt and then I realized, "Oh, yeah, I haven't surfed for 7 months!"

Shortly after these pictures were taken the girls were starving so they headed to the Market with Dad for snacks while I swam the buoy line. Afterwards I was walking up to the Market to meet them and saw the motorcade of black SUV's, Obama was heading for Shave Ice! We didn't get close enough to see him but I'm glad he and his girls are enjoying the finer things Hawaii has to offer!

Surfin' Santa Strikes Again

I'm not sure how the old guy fits the boards in his sleigh but this is the second year (not in a row though) that Santa has left a surf board towering next to the Christmas tree. The first one was a 10 ft board for Daddy and his elves to share. This year Daddy asked for a small board so he could teach his girls to surf. Christmas Day here was rainy so Boxing Day we headed to Lanikai to practice paddling.

It was definitely time to get her a small board, she's been trying to get her arms around the big board but its hard to paddle when it has the same wingspan she does. She took off on her new board and her Dad had to run to keep up to her. She especially likes to use it as a jumping platform.

Meanwhile sister was working on her tan.

Holiday photos

I love this picture! They are so stinking cute. My amazingly talented girlfriend Lisa of Windwardskies Photography took it as a promotion photo for her new studio and I thought, "Awesome! Holiday card, check!"

The trouble is there is no beach or Hawaii and Jason says they're not smiling. Ugh. Last year we had a great photo shoot at the beach but my old camera didn't catch them smiling, or kissing or being themselves. Instead it caught their confusion and unease as a busload of Japanese tourist arrived at Lanikai and starting oohing and ahhing over them and taking much better photos of my baby blondes then I did!



So it looks like I'm going to have to decide on outfits and somehow hope the moon and planets
align between naps and rain showers so I can play with my fancy new camera and get a Hawaiian holiday photo. Wish me luck!