this and that

No more apologies for lumped-up posts!!

So, lately, we've been pretty busy.
With 2 kids in soccer, a husband who travels 1/2 the week, an accident-prone 3 year-old, and a very active (not to mention teething!) 8 month-old, things have been pretty crazy as of late.
But, it's a good kind of crazy.

While Kela is at soccer practice, I hang out at the park with the other kids.
Kaden isn't quite walking yet...but since he can stand, I sometimes plop him down on the playground just to give my poor arms a break. Dirty playground notwithstanding.
Did I mention he's 20 lbs?
So, rather than freak out about a filthy and germ-ridden place the playground is, I opt to tell myself that there isn't anything on the ground that a bath afterwards won't wash away....
Yes, I'd prefer to keep the feeling in my arms, thank you very much.

And at Jojo's preschool this week, the kids helped the teacher make banana bread.
Here she is mashing up some bananas.

...and scooping in the flour...

...and the sugar...

...and then stirring it all up.
Now, I'd post a pic of the finished product, but since Mrs. Neill forgot the banking powder, the bread didn't rise. So...no pic of the dough brick.
Besides, it's the experience of making it that counts, right? Right?

After banana bread making, it was play time.
Kaden really wanted to play with these animals.
But...I doubt Mrs. Neill washes them.
So, he just looked at them.
While sucking on the rim of the tub.
Ewwww....

And then it was bean bag time.
Usually, Jolee doesn't smile at preschool.
I know what you're thinking...why take her, right?
Well, she has fun there.
She just doesn't like to smile while there. Or, more specifically, she doesn't like to smile around unfamiliar people. And if a stranger tries to talk to Jolee? Watch out. She has a glare that could freeze water.
Hahaha...One would wonder where she gets such "friendly" behavior from. Hmmm?

Anyway, this picture was kinda blurry...but it was a rare smile from my Jojo, so there it is.

AND...finally, last week Anna started her soccer season!
She is the Blue Unicorns!!
She asked me if unicorns are fast...and I told her yes. That they have a pointy tusk on their heads and run and fly fast. (okay, so I combined a unicorn and a pegasus...shhh, don't tell her)

Her first game?
They got slaughtered!
Hahah...but they had fun, and according to Anna, she scored a goal so I'm happy.
Did I mention that I am Anna's team parent as well?
Yep, no one seemed willing to step up to the plate, so despite being team parent to Kela's team, I decided to manage Anna's as well.
Way to go, ME! Right?

And then...after a short break, it was time for Kela's game.
Unlike Anna's team, Kela's team is quite strong.
Kela scored her very first goal last week and she was thrilled!
Yay, Pink Cheetas!

Here's Kaden and I cheering her on in the shade!

And Anna and Jojo as well.
Can you tell how much Jojo is enjoying the game?
Yeah, I think she'd go crazy (and in turn, drive us insane!) if we didn't have iPhones.

And finally, my sweet friend Vicki visited me during her stop through Oahu.
She is from Sendai, Japan...and has been keeping me up to date with all that was-and is- happening over there since the earthquake and tsunami in March of 2011.
I love her!! And am so glad she and her husband were safe!
And despite it being over 11 years since returning home from my mission there...I am SO thankful that I can still keep in contact and call her a friend. ♥

labor day picnic

It's become sort of a ritual.
Every Labor Day, our ward sets up a huge tent and holds a big BBQ / Picnic at the beach.
This year, it was at Magic Island-at Ala Moana beach park.
We LOVE Magic Island.
It's usually our go-to beach because of the calm, shallow water, showers, and parking.
We were there ALL DAY.
And by all day, I really mean ALL DAY LONG!
And we all brought back a pinkish sunburn to prove it!

The first thing we did upon arriving was hit the beach.
Duh!
What else is there to do, right?

Here's Anna paddling out on the boogie board.

Whoop!
Standing up!

...And then falling in.

Look at these two.
It's not enough that they are inseparable whenever we get together with the Kurihara's.
Now they gotta MATCH, too?!

After the morning swim, it was time for games.
We had quite a few games.
I took quite a few pictures, too.
But I won't post them here. No, I'll post them HERE.

While most of the kids were busy running around playing games and shoving their faces in whipping cream (see HERE for those pics), these two were playing it cool.
As in, staying cool in the shade.
Smart, them!

Me and Kaden.
His lunch was sweet potato, corn & apple.
(In case you were interested...)


After everyone had lunch, it was time to bust out the shave ice machine.
Yep, our ward goes ALL OUT!
Here's Jolee...waiting patiently.

Still waiting...

Ahhh, satisfaction!

Anna and her shave ice.

Who doesn't like shave ice on a hot day?!
Obviously none of these kids. :)


The kids (cousins) and Aunty Jean.
Our surrogate Aunty.

Awww...nothing says "I love you" like a bouquet of weeds, huh?

After lunch, it was back into the ocean!

Let me tell you...it was pure torture trying to get a decent picture of all the kids in the water.
Believe me when I say...this was one of the best ones.

And since Paul brought out his paddle boards, most of the adults took turns paddling out.
Here are Mitch and Jonas (okay, not an adult, but teenager! Yikes, when did he get so big?!) after their turn out over the surf.
Notice Mitch is dry...while Jonas came back sporting a nice scrape on his feet and back from the coral reef. Ouch!

Me and my baby.
No, we didn't put Kaden into the water this time.

Squirmy baby + sand = too much work for me!

And notice it's sunset?!
Did I mention we were there ALL DAY?!
But, fun was definitely had by all...and that's what holidays are all about, right?!
Right.

Okay, one last time. To look at all the other pictures I took on Monday the 5th of September, click HERE!

chaganju!

Last week was the Annual Okinawa Festival at Kapiolani Park.
And me, being Okinawan and all...well, we couldn't NOT go!


(FYI...Chaganju means "Hello, or How Are You")

So, here's the spread of food booths.
As always...the place was packed!

I had the Okinawa Soba.
Obviously.
It was pretty good!

The girls.
Kela had Okinawa Soba while Anna had some yakisoba (with the Okinawa soba noodles, of course).
Jojo enjoyed her Andadog (like a corn dog...but with the Andagi batter outside).
I actually had a bite...and thought it was yummy!
Overall..the consensus was two thumbs up for dinner!

Thuuug!

Kaden and me...enjoying an Andagi.
Ok, so "I" was enjoying an Andagi...

...While Kaden was enjoying his spinach, peas, and pears puree.
Mmmm!

After dinner, Mitch and I took Kaden for a walk around the park.

How's that sunset view, huh?

Here's Airi and her baby Caleb.

After dinner...came dancing!
Bon dancing, to be exact.

Here are the dancers...
I must say, I do believe Atau got into it the most!

My chura boy.
8 months old!

our week in a post

Normally, I'm not too fond of lumping a bunch of random pictures and events into one post...but with everything happening so fast these days, I caved.
A lumped post is better than NO post, right?
Ergo, prepare yourself for a long one.

This past week, I discovered a GEM right here on the island.
Sure, it's on Schofield Barracks (an ARMY base)...but since they are gracious enough to allow us peons, er, I mean, civilians on without a sponsor or military ID, I decided to check it out.
What did I check out, you ask?

THIS!

Ok, so you Mainland people are probably asking what the heck is so great about a splash park.
Well, it's the ONLY one on Oahu (that I know of...).

Jolee LOVED it!

Don't ask me what she's doing here...
Although if you've ever been to a splash park, I ask you-Have you ever seen a child NOT do this?
I didn't think so.
Oh, and right next to the splash area is this great big playground.
With tons of tunnels to play around in...


And hippos to crawl through...

And not to mention pirate ships to peek out of.
Jolee had a blast.


Also this past week, Jolee did some painting at her preschool class.

While Kaden crawled around...

Jolee showing off her painting skills.
...or, maybe just her paint brush...


Every week, Kela has soccer practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
When Mitch is home, it falls on him to take Kela so I could stay at home and rest or prepare dinner in peace and quiet.
When he's flying, however, I end up having to take the whole troupe and hang out at the park for an hour.
Needless to say, I looked forward to those days when Mitch was home.

AND then Mitch, bless his heart, saw that there wasn't an assistant coach for the team...so decided to volunteer to help out at the practices as a semi-assistant coach.

So, on his days off of work, he spends his Tuesday and Thursday evenings helping out Kela's team, rather than watching the younger ones...and since the girls seem to want to get out of the house these days (I know, bless their little overactive souls!) I end up tagging along to the park to tend to the younger ones while Kela kicks the ball around with her teammates.


And that's how my Tuesday/Thursday evening breaks flew out the window.
So, when do I fix dinner on Tuesdays and Thursdays, you ask?
Sometimes before, sometimes after...and sometimes I simply let Pizza Hut or Zippy's do the cooking for me.

Here's Anna trying to pass the time away by doing some drawing on the basketball court.


And then a little cat-n-mouse game with Jolee's trike.

My daughter the artist.
You will ALWAYS (and I mean, ALWAYS) see a rainbow in one of Anna's drawings.

Have I mentioned that Kaden crawls everywhere?
He does.
But mostly under tables and/or chairs...
And toward the stairs.
Thankfully, he hasn't yet learned the art of climbing UP those stairs yet...

AND then...since Jolee enjoyed the splash park SO very much, I decided to take the rest of the gang as well.
This was on the girls' half-day at school.
I picked them up after school and headed straight up.
Still takes me a good 1/2 hour or so to get there...which is FAR for an island bumpkin like me...but I must say it was worth it!
HOT.
But worth it.

On this day, I brought with me their cousin, Luke.
And some SPAM musubis.
And we met up with my sister Elika and her kids.
I do believe they all had a blast!
In the water...

...and at the park...

The END.