Swinging the days away

The boys finally decided it was time to climb that amazing tree in our front yard.  It was a perfect Sunday afternoon activity, that turned into quite an involved 3 day project!
 

 They shimmied out on the branch and got the rope attached and then swung down, which didn't go so well....but they lived.  Then they attached a stick and tried that out..

The dogs love the swings, because it means we will spend more time outside with them, as you can see though, it doesn't UP their activity level.  They don't want to play with us, they just want us close.

 So they got this swing ready, first it was just a stick and then the next day George attached this towel so Matty could ride and Evan learned how to do a trick and started practicing for his future in the Cirque Du Soliel...

 

A few days later Kyle came home with 100 feet of much better rope and they shimmied back up the tree to make another swing and recreate the first swing.  We are REALLY SWINGIN NOW!

New Zealand

I haven't been to the PCC in a while (meaning like 8 days ;)) but the last couple of times, I had such great experiences with the  Moari people in Aetearroa, or New Zealand as you haoles would call it....that I wanted to dedicate a whole blog to them.

 The kids love playing the stick game, and are getting pretty good at it.  The best part, besided the forced cooperation and patience with their siblings, is that beautiful music that accompanies the game.

 We all love to try out the poi balls.  The Maori girls are amazing at it.  The kids try really hard, and timidly flinch every time it goes wrong......pretty much the whole time!
We are going to make some of our own to practice with when McArthurs come though.

 
 We happen to be there on a very special day when a group of Maori people were visiting from New Zealand.  They always do a welcome ceremony to start their presentation, but this time it was done with these actual Maori people and it was very special, very emotional and very spiritual. This man to the right was acting as the chief and did not have to be prompted on what to do or say.  The little grandma in the front with the cane, also had a part and she got very emotional as she remembered her departed family members.

I love their music, their beautiful accapella is so powerful and stirring.  You want to be afraid but it pulls you in and you want to be a part of it.

The day the Maori's came, at the end of the presentation their leader stood up and spoke again and they all began to sing in Maori, but the tune was familiar and so beautiful. It was "How Great Thou Art" and it was really incredible.  I talked to one of the workers about that experience the next time we were there and he said it was a very special day, and we were lucky to be there. I agreed.

 Matty's got that Haka face down pat!

It seems like a violent and negatively charged group of people, but it isn't, once you understand what they are saying and doing.  The PCC is very entertaining and all the villages are great, but every time I visit Aotearoa I feel the spirit and am lifted.

Turtle Bay- the Fellers's and the Wells's!

So the Fellers had a trip to Turtle Bay planned and it coincided with when we were going to be here.  Their trip was on and off and on again and it turned out that they got to stay with us two nights of their trip! Yay! More fun!  Tyson (or TY$ as he convinced Matty to call him) and his family stayed at Turtle Bay the whole time, but we were able to go to PCC with them and have dinner all together each night, and swim all together each day- at the beach and at the Turtle Bay pools, which were the highlight for all the kids!
We took them to Waimea, and did all the things we always do there, and also took the paddle board... as soon as we got there Alan spotted some dolphins just on the outskirts of the bay- probably 1/4 mile out.  You could barely tell what they were, but then I saw two of them jump in the air.  I sent George out on the paddle board with the camera and he got this pic..there are about 12 of them and they were just hanging out, not in a hurry to go anywhere.  It was so cool.  George saw one come straight up out of the water and do a 360 spin, just for fun!  Every time I think it is going to be the same old beach and something surprises me and amazes me.

Here are some more highlights from out time with Fellers:

Waimea Valley Farmer's Market- the kids loved feeding the Peacocks....

in Hawaiian they are called Pikake...hee hee!

Kyle and George loved all the free samples of exotic foods- and relaxing in the gardens, doesn't George look relaxed?

and Evan found another coconut tree to conquer.....or attempt to conquer, he got closer this time!

The pools at Turtle Bay were lots of fun and it was a great break from the sand and salt.  Lanie loved being the top of the totem pole....you could play "one of these things is not like the other" with these three kids!

 Matty couldn't get enough of that slide. It was just her speed.....really slow!  

She did it over and over and over and over again.

We spent a little time at Turtle Bay (the actual Bay, not just the hotel) too and it had some fun snorkeling, but they decided if they didn't have to deal with the sand and the salt then why should they? and they headed back to the pools.

Cooper got to hold a gecko and he was very brave.  All the kids had a great time together and it helped us not be so homesick to have some neighbors come and visit.

Memorial Day

We found out that this is a pretty awesome place to be on Memorial Day.  Considering the military presence and history on this island, they do it up big for our country out here in the middle of the ocean.
First we went to Hukilau Cafe for breakfast.....wait that wasn't the patriotic part of the day, but we did it none the less and we had gigantic coconut and macadamia nut pancakes at the place where parts of "50 First Dates" was filmed.

     We're definitely going to come back here again and try out lunch!  We went down to town and then up the volcano...

 The volcano crater, of course, has a Hawaiian name but the cemetery in that crater is called Punchbowl National Cemetery, and is home to over 35,000 markers for soldiers that lost their lives is World War II and other wars as well.  The Boy Scouts of America put a little flag on every grave for Memorial Day.

 This is a picture of Waikiki from the entrance to Punchbowl.  You can see Diamondhead in the background.  The south side of the island is so different than the north shore.

 These murals were made from little tiny colored rocks, and were maps of all of the allied forces victorious battles.

This just shows the detail of the rock, and was my favorite compass of all of them.

 The kids didn't really get the significance of the day and the place and the sacrifice, but it was a very emotional visit for me and I was very grateful we made the trip. I hope they remember.

We had read about a floating lantern ceremony at Ala Moana Beach Park that they do every year to commemorate their loved ones that they have lost.  Anyone can buy a lantern and let it go at the beach.  Well, thanks to a few too many Disney movies I was envisioning lanterns floating away in the sky about the ocean, and sold it to the kids that way.  When we got there, all the lanterns had long since been sold out and they were on little boats that floated ON the ocean.  It was also attended by over 50,000 people, so it was not the night I envisioned, but it was cool, what we could see of it!

 Cool bridge behind us, you have to cross it to get over the canal, and to the beach.

 There was also a religious ceremony presented by the Buddhists which was quite beautiful.

It was a heck of a lot of people, and when it ended it was a heck of a lot of people to get back over those cool little bridges and out of the mall parking lot....

We had packed camp chairs in the back of the suburban, and snacks, and George's ukelele that grandma bought him for his birthday so... Grandy and the kids got comfy, and camped out on the top level of the parking lot while Kyle and I went back into the mall and shopped a little.  They had a great campout (minus the fire) and eventually we got back home.

We were all exhausted, but glad to have had another day of adventures.