Swim Meet and Grammy and Grandfather Come to Town

Grammy and Grandfather came to visit a few weeks ago, ending our long and glorious stretch of visitors that has lasted almost non stop since October. We love visitors, so it is somewhat sad to think we have no more coming until after summer vacation. 

Ricky and Linda were only here for about five days, so we made sure to pack it in. We spent much time at the beach, of course, and then we dragged them to a swim meet out in Lahaina. I just read somewhere that Lahaina means, "Land of the merciless sun" or something like that, and I believe it, but it is still such a great place. There are places on earth that are alive, breathing and teaming with history and from the after shadows of some many souls living in such a small area. For me, the greatest and richest place like this is Jerusalem. London is another... well, actually, most of Europe fits the bill. Boston... New York... New Orleans almost audibly breathes, its so alive with history--it's even sticky with history. And luckily so close, there is Lahaina. It's charming and hot and dense with humanity all at the same time. And yet it's just a small little town. I love it. I would also especially love it if I wasn't constantly sweating, but no great historically rich city has great weather. Seriously. Humans don't like to make history when the weather is perfect. 

Anyway, the kids did well in their meet. They aren't the top of their age groups, but they both improved their times and had a fun day, so that's a success in my book. 

Po is a little flushed in the heat, can you tell? She's probably especially flushed from all the running she does at swim meets, trying to escape me and giving me aneurysms with all of her near fall-ins. Seriously. How much longer until she can swim too?! 

Coach is giving Cam some pointers. 

Cam ready for backstroke. 

Ana's favorite stroke is the fly.

Afterwards, we walked up and down Front Street where I think Ricky and Linda explored every single shop. The kids were in heaven. They know where all the best samples are, but they had never gone down Front Street with someone who actually bought anything! They all ended up with a multitude of treasures thanks to Grammy and Grandfather's generosity. 

And their whole stay was incredibly generous. We've never eaten out at so many great restaurants in such a short amount of time. Many great talks too. We were all nourished both mind and body. We were sad to see them leave, but I'm 100% positive that they will be back soon. I'm actually surprised they don't just move here for the winters. Come on... you know you want to!

And finally, here is Ana capping off our Lahaina adventure with a leap from the Black Rock beach cliffs.

We love you G&G. Come back soon!

Hoshmonger Comes to Visit

Jonah has some funny nicknames for his siblings. He calls his older brother Hoshmonger Shrine. His other brothers are Tam, Nobie, and Piglet. His sisters are Sabrina, Shas, and Licker of Chesternuts. I'll have to have him explain some time. 

Anyway, Hoshmonger came to visit! Josh is a school teacher in Arizona, so he doesn't have a lot of free time to travel, so we were so happy that he decided to come see us for spring break! He doesn't have any kids of his own, but he makes up for it by being the best uncle he can be. The kids climbed all over him, pestered him, played with him and learned from him every single moment of the day, and they still couldn't get enough. He has amazing patience and really gets along well with kids... which are great traits for a teacher!

Our friends came over and Josh helped all the kids reach some amazing heights on the trampoline. 

The kids were also on spring break, so we spent much time at the beach, in Lahaina, diving, hiking and exploring the island. We all went ont he Bamboo Hike, but the little girls and I stayed back at the second waterfall so the older kids and Jonah and Josh could do the rest of the hike more quickly. While there, we carved some ginger root dolls and made them a river rock house.

After the hike, we enjoyed some of our new favorite treat, peanut butter and carrots. Mmmmm.

Unfortunately, my memory card in my camera got corrupted, so I lost the rest of the photos from Josh's stay, but I have to say that we were very sad to see him go. We tried and tried to get him to move here, but he's got a great thing going in AZ, so it was a lost cause. Hopefully we at least convinced him to visit more often!

When Josh left, we realized that in the last five months, we had had seven of Jonah's nine siblings come visit, plus his parents! It's great to live on Maui.

And just because I have no where else to post them, here is a photo from Cam's Cub Scout banquet. He was the clock in the skit. You have to love those cute Cub Scout skits. 

And here is Elsie's lovely little PlayDoh mermaid that she made me keep in a ziplock bag for a few weeks before I smashed the Doh back into the cans. Wow. She loves mermaids, doesn't she?!

The Brothers Come to Town

We were so excited and blessed to have three of Jonah's four brothers come to visit for a week in February. First, his youngest brother Eli and his wife Julie and brand new baby Zara (only 5-6 weeks) came for a few days before the crowd. They live in Washington D.C. Needless to say, we were beside ourselves with delight. 

We went on many walks and a few mild adventures...

And Jonah and Eli made some delicious fresh POG juice (pineapple-orange-guava).

Julie and Eli are the most natural new parents I've ever encountered. It helps that they have such a wonderful baby, but even perfect babies can frazzle new parents, and they didn't seem to have one single moment of unfrazzling. Wow! 

After a few days, Jonah's next younger brother Tal showed up with his wife. They live in Manhattan. They left their one year old daughter with Jonah's parents in Utah on their way here, so they were enjoying their first time away without baby. We met up with some mutual friends who were also on island, and we all went on a forest walk on Sunday afternoon. 

I'm pretending that Leo is a cute little baby like Zara, but he's the furthest (furriest) thing from. But, he thinks he's a baby, so there you are. 

Then, Noah and Kristi showed up, straight from San Diego! They were just here in November, so they only stayed one night before all three brothers and wives went to their five day work conference over in Lahaina. We took the liberty of coming over on Friday night and camping out in their plush hotel rooms for one night. We put the kids in Tal's room and Jonah and I slept on the floor in Noah and Kristi's. We loved using the pool and acting like we were tourists for a day. 

Jonah's cousins Ben (San Jose) and Sam (North Carolina) also work for the same company, so we were so lucky to get to hang out with them and their wives too! We all went out to dinner on Friday night. It was quite a tall group of guys!

Then, late that night, Jonah got all the brothers and cousin Ben to do a night dive at 1am. It was quite funny because it took them about two hours to finally head out, even though they all already rented scuba gear and everything. But, they finally made it out and had a great time, besides the fact there there were only two flashlights for five of them.... 

Elsie's favorite part of the whole hotel-crash was when she got to go to the buffet. I think buffets are my kids' favorite things the in the whole world. (I must admit, I love them too... it's my Vegas upbringing I guess). Elsie found the vat of freshly made whipped cream and slathered it on everything, even her bacon. It was a morning she will never forget. 

We were also fortunate that Eli and Julie decided to bless baby Zara while there were here. Eli chose to perform the blessing up on this great road in Keokea. We call it the Oprah Road because it cuts through Oprah Winfrey's ranch and goes right past her homes. 

Can you tell how thick the grass is? Such a beautiful spot. 

And a beautiful baby, so lucky to have all these great uncles.

We were incredibly sad when everybody left. Truly. It was a perfectly wonderful week and a half. We wish we all lived closed... but I think they need to move here if we want to make that happen. 

Nine Years of Cambo and Luvy Comes to Town

Ana is getting a little shortchanged in the blog of late since her birthday is way back in August, so I just want to give a shout out and say that she is an incredible daughter and is getting to be a good surfer too! 

One of the things she does that helps me so much is she folds the laundry... and not only that... she folds it into the neatest piles you have ever seen. Hooray!

Another thing I really appreciate is how she takes care of Po with total patience, kindness and adoration. She always offers to help Po whenever she needs it and even lets Po sleep in her bed and helps her say her prayers at night. She is an angel. 

Cam got to be on the "Morning Broadcast" one morning because he had done an exceptional job on teaching kids in his class how to clarify words, so he was asked to present his method to the school. I peaked into Elsie's kindergarten class to watch him. He did a great job... but he didn't get Elsie's incredibly loud voice, so it was just a little bit hard to hear him, but he looked very knowledgeable. 

Right before Cam turned nine, my mom came to the island!! Then to top it off, our old friend Mark came to visit too! it was a little packed having them both here at the same time, but Jonah and I gave our room to my mom and the guest room to Mark, and we enjoyed our super comfortable hideabed in the living room. 

We dragged Mark and my mom to the school events... 

And enjoyed Luvy's help in reading to Po (she can't be satiated...)

But every time my mom comes to visit, I feel bad that we aren't more adventurous. It's just so relaxing having her here. She gets my house in tip top shape, instantly turns all the kids happy, and just gathers us all like a hen under her wings. So sorry Mom. I hope you had a fun time. We just love to hang out and gaze at your beauty and marvel at your efficiency. But man oh man do we love having her here. 

Cam's birthday was a little less exciting than in year's past, but I think he had a good time with a chocolate sheet cake with a Lego guy on top. He also got some nice presents. He chose to have a birthday party this year, but we haven't had a free weekend since he turned nine, so we have yet to have his party yet... but when we do, it'll be epic! (BTW, just so you know how bad I am, I make my kids plan their own parties. Cam just couldn't decide what he wanted to do in addition to every weekend being booked, so I've just waited until he took the initiative, which he finally has, and he's planning one for the week after next). 

I used to have a photo here of my mom eating a Dorito! She made me take it down and replace it with this one. But that's okay. She has a reputation to maintain. 

We were so sad when Luvy and Mark (or Chocolate Mark as my kids named him) had to leave. We did spend a monumental amount of time at the beach and we went on some great walks and Jonah and Mark did some crazy stuff... but, alas, no photos. 

But here is a photo of Elsie's homemade kite!

And here is a photo of Elsie with a monarch butterfly that she caught in the garden. 

(She released it later, don't worry.)

Mel and Adam Come to Visit

Just when you thought I would never blog again, my mom guilted me into going again. PLUS, my younger sister is way ahead of me on her blog, which never happens, so I've got a reputation to regain. 

So, I'm going to go back to December and work my way to the present. I should be able to get a post up a day, so feel free to check back often!

After our many visitors in November, we were luckily still in the mode to have some more guests. Jonah's adopted uncle, Adam, and his beautiful wife Melanie and two of their boys came to visit for about four days. Melanie and I had a blast scoping out the local thrift stores... even though she's a world class model and was even Miss Universe (or Miss International) back in her teens, she's got the thrift store sickness even worse than I do, so she shopped me under a table! 

Ana was too young to remember the last time they came to visit back when she and Abraham were two, but everyone quickly fell into an easy familiarity and played hard together the whole timet hey were here. Adam and Cam especially hit it off and it took us a few days to recover from their adventures. 

Here we are at Polo Beach, one of my favorite beaches:

Adam was working on a business school class while he was here, so this is how we saw him most of the time. 

Po and Melanie really got along, especially because Melanie had many cool games and movies on her iPhone!

This is the mark of true friendship!

Here are the boys and my kids under the freshly decorated Christmas "stick".

It was great fun having Mel and Adam come visit. We hope they come more often!