Final Hawaii Posting

We had a pretty relaxed day yesterday and today. Yesterday, we went bodysurfing on our beach (Kailua) and the waves were really big! I lost my favorite sunglasses, oh well. Then we went to see about a surfing lesson in the afternoon. But, they were all booked up. So, the girls and Bogdan went to the zoo. That was our best budget buy of the week. Since we have a pass with the TN Aquarium, we only paid $6 for 3 people to get in and it was also good for today.

Meanwhile, I went with Gabriel and Bica to Waikiki beach. It was SO rocky and not as good as Kailua, so we are glad we did the research and picked Kailua beach. We waited until the group was done at the zoo, then we all got to see the sunset on Waikiki Beach, which was nice.

Today, Gabriel and I went surfing. He was a pro and got up at least 7 times. The instructor said he was really good. As for me, I got up the first time, but then someone else slammed into me and hit my ankle. It still hurts quite a bit. I was not able to get up after that, because of the pain. Oh well, at least Gabriel had a good time and now he wants to plan a vacation where he can surf again.

Bica and the girls used the zoo pass and went to the zoo, while we were surfing. Then we all ate out. The highlight of the trip to the zoo was that Anna filmed the turtles mating.

We leave tomorrow, and not much planned except packing and cleaning up a bit at the rental house.

We will stop in AZ for a day and back to TN on Monday.

More Hawaii happenings

The boys went parasailing and jet skiing on Tuesday and loved it!! Gabriel says it was awesome, "Mom, we have to get a jet ski!!" Too bad we live in a land-locked state, I say.

The girls went to the Arboretum and got a bit lost in the park. But, we saw some beautiful trees and flowers. There are some varieties that are at that Arboretum that live no where else in the world, because they are already extinct and the Arboretum is trying to save them.

Yesterday, we went to Pearl Harbor, although a bit too late. We saw the USS Bowfin and the USS Missouri. Very impressive. The Arizona Memorial was closed bacause the ferry over there was closed due to high winds.

Last night we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. We had a short time to look at the villages. We saw a singing and dancing (well the end of it) at Fiji (?). We ate at the buffet and embarrassed Bogdan by singing Happy Birthday. Then the big event of the night is the show. Ha, Breath of Life. There was singing and dancing from every Polynesian island, and fire dancing and juggling. And superb drumming. At the end of the show, a man gave Marian a beautiful flower lei, with pink flowers!! It was very tiring and Marian fell asleep within minutes of driving away.

It has been very windy since we've been here. It looks to be a nice day today. We hope to bring the kids to have a surfing lesson.

Been playing lots of Monopoly and Honolulu-opoly since we've been here. We've found out that Marian likes to cheat and Bogdan likes to dominate the games.

Hawaii happenings

Arrived first day and drove around the island. Found our rental house and we all love it. The kids went to the beach right away. Body surfing and boogy boarding!! Saw the moon rise the first night and it was beautiful.

Bogdan woke up early and saw the sun rise on the beach, and took some great photos. The second day we had a nice big breakfast and then went to mass at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church. (we have seen more Catholic churches here than in all of TN!) Mass was nice and they greeted all visitors with a shell necklace and a public welcome. Lots of Hawaiian music during mass. Then we spent the day at the beach, which is in our backyard, a short walk down the grass alleyway. Sunny and a bit cloudy.

Yesterday we went to Pali Lookout, which is about the windiest place I've been to since Mt. Washington in NH. Great views and lots of wind. Then we went snorkeling at Hanamua Bay. Marian didn't like the snorkeling too much, but Gabriel and Anna and Bogdan and I all went out. We saw tons of fish and Gabriel invested in an underwater camera. Can't wait to see the pictures developed. We came home and had leftovers and then the kids played Monopoly with Bogdan. They've decided that they don't want to play with him again, he's too cut-throat.

The boys are off to parasail and jetski today. The girls are going to find something to do. Possibly the Arboretum?

The weather looks pretty windy for the rest of the week, mid-80's in temperature with some rain. But, the kids will swim in any weather. We also watched Avatar and How to Train your Dragon, which everyone liked.

Tomorrow we are going to Pearl Harbor in the morning and the Polynesian Cultural Center in the afternoon and night. There is a big show at night, as we're celebrating Bogdan's birthday.

Our favorite activities so far: body-surfing right off our beach, snorkeling at Hanauma Bay.

Arrived in AZ

We successfully arrived in AZ, with no kids lost, no baggage lost, but not much sleep. We're all excited.

Crazy days

We have had crazy, full days in the past week. We're getting ready for vacation, finishing first quarter for school, doing a Religious Ed retreat, Girl Scout meetings...so many things!

We leave tomorrow, and are sleeping overnight near the Nashville airport. Then on Friday morning we leave for Phoenix where we'll meet up with Bogdan's mom. Then we all leave on Saturday morning for Hawaii!! It will be lots of fun and we can't wait.

We're staying at a house on the beach and enjoying as much as we can in the week. Let's hope we are all talking to each other by the end of the week!

The coolest train set EVER

http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/exhibit/video/4-minutes-wunderland/

iRow

Gabriel's new t-shirt says iRow on the front with COXSWAIN on the back. He loves it, but still wants to both row and cox. He has one more race this season. Today's race was long, hot, but fun. They did not place in the top 3, but did better than last week. (No crabs)

Marian is tired from watching and playing outside in the sun and is fast asleep on my bed. Anna, who was at the Fall Festival all day and helping out and also babysitting is fast asleep on her bed. The rest of us will be as well.

We won a big screen TV at the church auction. We put it in the basement for sleepover/movie nights. Gabriel is psyched!!

The Good and Bad

Good: Going to the library and finding 3 books that you've wanted to read all year, they are finally in and NOT on any waiting lists!

Bad: Not having any time to read any of the books, but looking forward to them this weekend....

This week so far

Gabriel had his first regatta this past weekend. He had a busy but fun day. Once he got in the water, he was on there almost all day. He was cox for 3 teams, 2 four's and 1 eight. He did well for his first race, and the best he did was 2nd place with the 4 man varsity team. (He is cox for 2 varsity and 1 novice crew) We are off to Chattanooga this week for another regatta, he will cox for those same crews. He will start the day with a 10:40am race and his last race is at 4pm. He will be tired, but he loves it!

While Marian and I are at the Chattanooga races, Anna will help out at the church's Fall Festival. She is helping out at many booths and will also babysit for some kids. She's looking forward to it.

Bogdan has his oral surgery today, to remove 2 wisdom teeth. Hopefully, this will go well and relieve the pain he has been having. We have stocked up on ice cream.

Marian reports that during reading time at school, she got an "eye roll" from her teacher. I asked, "So what did you do to elicit an eye roll from your teacher?" "I don't know, I guess I finished first and was answering all the questions." It remains a mystery. But, she tells me I can't talk about it with her teacher.