June 2016
Second grade is over!
—The second grade picnic, and a limo ride to Chuck E. Cheese: The second to last day of school was the day of their class “picnic,” which this year was held at Parma Park. I took Lukas with me and walked with the class to the park; it was hot, but the kids had a bomb-ass time (Lukas had Lawson to play with), so all was well. Then, when we got back, it was time for Annika to go with her pal Niamh in a limo to Chuck E. Cheese’s for lunch — a treat Niamh had won in a raffle back on Dandy Day in October, which included inviting four friends along (her friend Alana was one of the others). We got pictures of their departure in the white stretch limo — it was hilarious, and she loved it!
—On the last day — which as always is a minimum day — we hung around for a bit saying our good-byes, and then went to get ice cream in Willow Glen (per our first-and-last-day tradition). Lukas is so much less sensitive to dairy now (I want to say his allergy is officially outgrown, but of course I’m scared to actually do that) that I was going to let him order real ice cream (but he wanted a Dole Whip, so that’s fine). Anyway, we were sitting outside to eat, and a girl — about 12 years old — nearby was talking with her mom about her karate class. Lukas jumps out of his seat, strikes a pose in front of her, and declares: "I'm a real ninja!” (to the general hilarity of all). It was a good last day! And only three days till …
—The second grade picnic, and a limo ride to Chuck E. Cheese: The second to last day of school was the day of their class “picnic,” which this year was held at Parma Park. I took Lukas with me and walked with the class to the park; it was hot, but the kids had a bomb-ass time (Lukas had Lawson to play with), so all was well. Then, when we got back, it was time for Annika to go with her pal Niamh in a limo to Chuck E. Cheese’s for lunch — a treat Niamh had won in a raffle back on Dandy Day in October, which included inviting four friends along (her friend Alana was one of the others). We got pictures of their departure in the white stretch limo — it was hilarious, and she loved it!
—On the last day — which as always is a minimum day — we hung around for a bit saying our good-byes, and then went to get ice cream in Willow Glen (per our first-and-last-day tradition). Lukas is so much less sensitive to dairy now (I want to say his allergy is officially outgrown, but of course I’m scared to actually do that) that I was going to let him order real ice cream (but he wanted a Dole Whip, so that’s fine). Anyway, we were sitting outside to eat, and a girl — about 12 years old — nearby was talking with her mom about her karate class. Lukas jumps out of his seat, strikes a pose in front of her, and declares: "I'm a real ninja!” (to the general hilarity of all). It was a good last day! And only three days till …
Hawaii 2016!
With the dance recital week not a factor this year, we planned our trip for as soon as we could — school let out on Thursday, we took off for Hawaii for two weeks on Sunday. This was the year Lukas was finally a real swimmer (and we were confident enough in his abilities that we could let him do it, heh). The fact that he didn’t have to cling to one of us, or be watched like a hawk anymore, opened up a lot of things for us. And it was glorious! Most days, we spent at the beach club, chilling in our cabana, going out to swim, building some crazy sandcastles, etc. Annika and R. went snorkeling every day (and she did a lot of free-diving in the channels); Lukas even got a set of fins and goggles, but he’s not quite ready to go out there yet. I rented a two-person kayak one day, and Annika and I went pretty far out, just paddling around and looking at stuff. But several days, we went up to Hapuna Beach, which is north of where we stay, and is one of the best beaches in the world. It’s unprotected (no reef), so there are waves — the kids both did some boogie-boarding and bodysurfing, with mixed/very sandy results), but most of the time, we would just jump around on the soft, soft sand and go out to jump and float in the chest-high waves. The water was so warm and wasn’t at all rough, despite the scouring wind up on the beach; the only real downfall of Hapuna is the complete lack of shade (except if you get there early enough to get a spot under the kiawe trees … which is a whole other kind of problem). On those days, we either brought lunch or got food in Kawaihae, the little town just north of Hapuna, when we quit beachin’ for the day (absolutely delicious fish tacos, burgers, etc.) and pick up some fish to grill for dinner, too, at a place that sells the day’s fresh catch. We cooked at home a lot, but went out a lot too; Lukas would order “chicken fenders, french fries, lemonade, and ketchup” from any place we went, while Annika managed to get some variety in her orders. We decided to take a chance on the luau again (having skipped it last year), and it was a MUCH better experience this time: Nobody was scared, everybody could eat what was on the buffet, the kids behaved themselves, we actually got to enjoy the show. Victory! Once again, we visited some units in the condo complex that were for sale, and almost talked ourselves into buying one … that story is not over yet. Eventually, of course, the trip was over and we headed home … only to end up spending NINE HOURS in the Honolulu airport (some mechanical problem with our plane). They moved us around a bunch, gave us vouchers for dinner, and eventually we got settled in the Magnum, P.I.-era wing of the airport, from whence we finally departed. We walked through our front door at about 5:30 on Sunday morning (Father's Day, lol), and didn’t get ourselves righted for a week, time-wise — but the kids did OK (thank all the large and small gods for Apple mobile technology!!!), and it was worth everything it took out of us. Aloha till next year!
With the dance recital week not a factor this year, we planned our trip for as soon as we could — school let out on Thursday, we took off for Hawaii for two weeks on Sunday. This was the year Lukas was finally a real swimmer (and we were confident enough in his abilities that we could let him do it, heh). The fact that he didn’t have to cling to one of us, or be watched like a hawk anymore, opened up a lot of things for us. And it was glorious! Most days, we spent at the beach club, chilling in our cabana, going out to swim, building some crazy sandcastles, etc. Annika and R. went snorkeling every day (and she did a lot of free-diving in the channels); Lukas even got a set of fins and goggles, but he’s not quite ready to go out there yet. I rented a two-person kayak one day, and Annika and I went pretty far out, just paddling around and looking at stuff. But several days, we went up to Hapuna Beach, which is north of where we stay, and is one of the best beaches in the world. It’s unprotected (no reef), so there are waves — the kids both did some boogie-boarding and bodysurfing, with mixed/very sandy results), but most of the time, we would just jump around on the soft, soft sand and go out to jump and float in the chest-high waves. The water was so warm and wasn’t at all rough, despite the scouring wind up on the beach; the only real downfall of Hapuna is the complete lack of shade (except if you get there early enough to get a spot under the kiawe trees … which is a whole other kind of problem). On those days, we either brought lunch or got food in Kawaihae, the little town just north of Hapuna, when we quit beachin’ for the day (absolutely delicious fish tacos, burgers, etc.) and pick up some fish to grill for dinner, too, at a place that sells the day’s fresh catch. We cooked at home a lot, but went out a lot too; Lukas would order “chicken fenders, french fries, lemonade, and ketchup” from any place we went, while Annika managed to get some variety in her orders. We decided to take a chance on the luau again (having skipped it last year), and it was a MUCH better experience this time: Nobody was scared, everybody could eat what was on the buffet, the kids behaved themselves, we actually got to enjoy the show. Victory! Once again, we visited some units in the condo complex that were for sale, and almost talked ourselves into buying one … that story is not over yet. Eventually, of course, the trip was over and we headed home … only to end up spending NINE HOURS in the Honolulu airport (some mechanical problem with our plane). They moved us around a bunch, gave us vouchers for dinner, and eventually we got settled in the Magnum, P.I.-era wing of the airport, from whence we finally departed. We walked through our front door at about 5:30 on Sunday morning (Father's Day, lol), and didn’t get ourselves righted for a week, time-wise — but the kids did OK (thank all the large and small gods for Apple mobile technology!!!), and it was worth everything it took out of us. Aloha till next year!
Quotable
“Betsy — the one with a face helmet, that wears green and black.” —Lukas describing the Star Wars character Boba Fett
—“cheft hat” —Lukas’s take on “chef’s hat”
—“legendary nut” — Lukas describing a kukui nut that still had green on it
“Betsy — the one with a face helmet, that wears green and black.” —Lukas describing the Star Wars character Boba Fett
—“cheft hat” —Lukas’s take on “chef’s hat”
—“legendary nut” — Lukas describing a kukui nut that still had green on it
posted by One of the Grownups @ 2:12 PM
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