loving lanikai

Papa is a terrible traveller when it comes to time changes -- even when it's a mere 3 hour time difference. 

Katie is her father's daughter.

Hence, we watched the sunrise the first morning (above).

It's been less than two weeks but it already feels like our vacation was eons ago.

Pre-warning:  vacation pics will be coming in multiple posts.

This one is about the little town we stayed in.

Lanikai and the adjacent town Kaliua are a dream.  While a little windy, we loved that there were fewer people, perfectly fluffy sand and a tame ocean thanks to a reef that encircles the area. 

I was determined to find us a place that had a pool which I did -- which we used exactly once.

One block away, the Little Wickies preferred the beach.

As did Papa Wickie.

Right above the little neighborhood we stayed in was the beautiful Pill Box hike, recently made famous when President Obama hiked it during his Christmas vacation.

Just stunning panoramic views.

I can't imagine what a media zoo little Kaliua must have been when the President stayed there.  We kept seeing pictures of him around in town like at the shave ice place near us.

Finally, I looked up where he stayed and according a New York Times article it was super close to where we were so we checked it out.

Papa:  There is a guard box.
Me:  No one is there, drive through.
Papa:  I don't think it's a good idea.
Me:  They're not going to sniper us down, they'll just ask us to leave!  Pull over!  Katie get out of the car!
Katie:  Why?
Me:  Just hop out!  Stand right here and smile.
Katie:  Why?
Me:  Just smile!

The last morning, Katie and I went down for a morning swim before we had to head to the airport.  7:30 a.m., wading waist-deep in the water a sea turtle surfaced about 15 feet from us.  

It was a pretty cool ending to a fantastic (if short) trip.

More to come later about other adventures we had later...

aloha

Just got back from heaven. More to report about adventures in shave ice, hiking and stalking the President's haunts to come.

hardy har har

For the last couple of years, Katie has delighted in April Fool's Day pranks (see here and here). She was super excited to see what I had planned for the Little Wickies this year (apparently I have built up her expectations).

They woke to find string attached to their door which subsequently ran throughout the house.

The string had a series of notes on it. A sampling...

And, finally...

Where they found this sign.

I pinned their underwear together which got a good laugh.

I froze their milk (again) and also dyed their liquid soap green which they thought was funny.

And, for the grand finale, I asked the girls to crack some eggs for me, which had brownies baked inside of them (see how to here).

Shocking they liked that as well...

What pranks did you play? I'll need some ideas for next year!

a dose of diesel

Yesterday waiting in the doctor's office

Earlier this week Papa watched about 2 minutes of the movie XXX with the girls in the room before we left for dinner.

Me: Are you sure that is something they should be seeing?

Papa: It’s on basic cable, it should be okay.

Scene synopsis: It’s a car chase, which turns to a boat chase, all with lots of shooting and blowing up of things. Apparently, there is a bomb on a boat headed for the city, Vin Diesel takes control of the boat (whew!) and manages to make the boat dive down deep into the water so it explodes away from the city (and only to the detriment of the marine eco-system below).

As you can imagine my girls don’t experience a lot of this kind of programming and the questions (pun intended) came fast and furious…

Maddie (watching a rocket launcher blast from the top of the car): Is that a magic car?

Katie: Did they buy the car like that? Or, did they add those things to the car?

Papa: Those would be aftermarket purchases.

Katie: What’s an aftermarket purchase?

And then...

…Why did he jump on the boat…why was there a computer on the boat…how did he make the boat go underwater (a very valid question)…what was the boat’s job before…is that girl his friend, or are they boyfriend and girlfriend...how does he arrest someone...

the things they see

Three firemen walk by and say "hi" to the girls at the supermarket today.

My girls turn shy and Katie sort of waves at them.

KT: Why do we say 'hi' to firemen?

Me: Because they are good helpers and it's okay to say hello to them.

We pass by the firemen a couple more times in the market.

Later in the car...

KT: How come only women said 'hi' to the firemen in the market? I didn't see any men say 'hi' to them.

almost spring

While Southern California gardens never go completely dormant, it sure is pretty when the new little flowers join the ever-blooming lavender, lantana and such.

Last weekend felt nice and slow in comparison to the last few weeks.

Saturday morning we just hung out in the backyard.

I painted the girls nails.

As Katie sat waiting for her nails to dry, "I finally have nails since I can't bite them."

We checked on our starter garden on the side yard where we have all sorts of things starting to poke through the soil.

I let the girls pick the seeds this year.

If everything makes it to the garden past its tender youth (we have major rabbit, snail and other critter issues) it will be sure to look quite eclectic back there.

Happy almost spring!

a misnomer

We had a very busy weekend which included Katie's talent show performance (video and photos to come later) and my friend's party (perhaps a post later see some video here - yes that's me in the back corner).

Then, at our Monday appointment the doctor discovered Katie's arm had moved out of alignment. We ended up spending the entire day in the hospital. The procedure wasn't so bad, it was the whole process leading into and coming out of anesthesia which proved to be trying.

Let me be clear: The picture above is a COMPLETE MISREPRESENTATION of the entire day which was filled with tears and whining. She smiled because she had been given her some "happy" juice. She still freaked out when they started wheeling her away, and I ended up in scrubs accompanying her in.

Whew what day.

broken wing

Katie broke her arm last week.

The last couple of days have been a blur.

The good news: she didn't have to have surgery however, it's still too swollen for a cast. This makes me a little nervous with only one side of her arm protected with a splint.

Broken bones, I'm finding are all too common and I've received a lot of advice which I have welcomed. So, I ask:

-- What tips do you have for bathing? A friend recommended this, anyone else try this or something else like it?

-- Katie has trouble sleeping and is uncomfortable, beyond basic pillow propping, any ideas?

-- It's her right arm -- and, yes, she's right-handed -- any thoughts on activities you can do with one hand?

thanks in advance for sharing...

lemony dreams

When I found this dress for Mo last year, I totally had a vision of her wearing it in the orchards behind our house.

We've had some truly fabulous weather this week (sans winds too) so armed with some mini M&Ms (bribe) I drug a white chair and a stool out to the fields.

A truck drove by in the fields when we were out there -- stopped -- and backed up to see what we were doing. Guessing he doesn't see 3-yr-olds sitting on white chairs all that often out in the fields.

He was super nice and actually apologized for interrupting us, as if we weren't trespassing on the the land he has a job on!

We ended up being out there at noon -- I had wanted to do it in the morning -- so the sun was right on top of us, but I like the sun-filled pictures.

Oh, and I still love my 50mm lens.

mo the minnow

Mo is starting to swim like a big girl!

I hope your weekend goes swimmingly!

because

apparently all mermaids are well-endowed.

Came across this picture which I had stashed away last year. It made me chuckle then, and it still does...

weekend update

Mo modeling my weekend find

Last weekend =

birthday party with cousins and a fun caricature artist

garage sale shopping with Jeni

pick up soccer

singing White Lines with Laura

Hairspray with Katie

good times.

angry bird

angry Mo

conversations with a 6-yr old

Katie with her flea market find: a dolphin for her charm bracelet

Katie was sick this weekend, so instead of attending a birthday party, I made her go to the flea market with me.

I was shopping when I look up and next to me is a girl who is impossibly skinny and way too pretty and flawless for a flea market. I look back and there is a large man with sunglasses following 4 feet behind her. Turns out it was Taylor Swift.

Me: Katie, see that girl with the cream colored dress on?

KT: Yes.

Me: That's the girl who wrote and sings the song that mommy is learning how to play on the piano right now.

KT: Back to December?

Me: Yes.

KT: Why are you whispering?

Me: Well, she's famous and I want to give her some privacy.

KT: How famous is she?

This is where our conversation faltered. I mean, how do you rank famous-ness in the world of a 6-year old? Less famous than Elmo, more famous than Cailou?

Our conversation descended into what other songs she sang (I only knew one other); how many people in the world know who she is; in what countries people knew her in; etc., etc.

a few of my favorite things

It's easy to amass kitchen utensils in your drawer(s), some which never see the light of your actual kitchen.

What I love is when you find a kitchen utensil -- something not of the basic wooden spoon variety -- you start using it and think, how did I ever live without this?

My top 3 kitchen utensils from top to bottom: 1) Pastry scraper: except I don't use it for pastry, I use it to assist in picking up things I've chopped off my cutting board; 2) Garlic peeler: I have owned every type of garlic peeler and this is only one that really works; 3) Scooper: We do a lot of muffins and cookies in this house and this thing gets regular use.

My runner up for this list is my Silpat which I use at least once a week.

What are your top kitchen utensils? Always looking for something new to fall in love with.

tired

This pretty much sums up how me and the hubs have been feeling lately.

It's like jet lag but worse it's holiday-lag. It's all the activities -- swim, ballet, choir, scouts, etc. -- starting up again. That combined with my work more than doubling in the last couple of months (don't get me wrong I want work) and the hubs putting in fairly regular overtime, it's been exhausting.

Oh, and we just got the second car back along with a HUGE bill.

The light at the end of the tunnel: we have a vacation planned for Spring -- just around the corner and already all saved up for...

in sew much need of help

This was George, he is still a good little blanket. However, now he looks like this.

And, he is in dire need of some help.

He's developing tiny rips and holes so fast, I don't think he'll make it through another wash at this point.

What should I do?

One friend has recommended running a sewing machine back and forth over the parts that have opened up (we just opened Katie's Hello Kitty sewing machine this weekend, we'll have to get to that in another post).

Another friend recommended possibly patching the areas with material.

Seriously though, my dear friends who sew -- input PLEASE!

hot streak

We've successfully logged two beach days in 2012, so it's looking like a good year so far.

We had a little hot spell (didn't have as many as we usually do the last couple of months) and took advantage of it.

Last weekend we took our leftover Chinese food to the beach for lunch. Then today, we headed over after school let out.

The water is COLD right now. But that didn't stop the girls.

Note: no one else in the water

Katie would do this every time the water hit her.

One of my favorite things about the beach is that it always has new things to explore.

First thought we were stepping on stones till we took a closer look.

And, found they were tiny little shells with little living things (technical term) in them. You could actually see some poking out of the shells when the tide pulled back a bit.

Today we met up with some friends for lunch who didn't bring their bathing suits for fear of it being too cold.

You can see how that ended up.