My Baby's First Day of School

My kids started school at Kahuku Elementary School, July 29th. They do it a little different for the Kindergarteners there. Micah started school on the 31st. Let me start off by saying that I can't believe this day has come, that my baby is in school! There were days when I thought I wouldn't make it, and there were days that it made me sad to think about it. Of course, being that it's Micah, it was an eventful morning. Driving over to the school, with backpack loaded, he was ready to tackle Kindergarten. As soon as he walked through the door, all of that courage left and he changed his mind. He didn't want to stay (I was afraid of that). He clung to me and wouldn't let go. The teacher suggested that I go with him to the office to pay for lunch and when upon returning he had to stay, "Okay Micah, that's the deal." she said. Micah looked at her with that look in his eye, "Whatever lady." We walked over to the office, paid for lunch and began walking back. Micah began to whimper, knowing what was happening. He then took off to go hide. He hid under one of the staircases. I found him, picked him up and carried him. He was crying softly, telling me that he was scared. I tried to tell him that there was nothing to be scared of and he would be fine. I got to the classroom and the teacher informed me that someone was coming to help her. In walked Mr. Kalama (one of my really good friends from college, and the school counselor). First day of school and already has to see the counselor (LOL). I had to laugh, because it was slightly embarrassing that it was me this time with the screaming kid, and my friend had to deal with it. I gave Mr. Kalama permission to hold Micah while I left. He was kicking and screaming and crying as I walked out the door. Was I upset? No, just frustrated. I knew he would be okay once I left. At 1pm, I went to pick Micah up (half-day for the 1st day for him). He was all smiles and said he had fun. The teacher said that he had been fine once I left. I asked Micah if he was going to go to school like a big-boy next time, he said, "Yeah. If that guy is there again. He was nice." I laughed. I explained that if he comes again, it's because he's in trouble. He said, "Oh." Should be a fun year.

Happy Birthday Micah!

Today was Micah's 5th birthday! One of the things he wanted for his birthday was a pinata. Well, the ones at Walmart bug me because they are cardboard (very difficult to hit open). I refuse to pay $20 for cardboard. So that morning he and I began to make our own. I thought he would enjoy the process of making one. He dipped a couple of strips of paper in the glue-paste and decided that it was too messy for him. Kids are funny. I finished the pinata. We made his cake then ran over and got the kids (half-day Wednesdays). Leigh helped frost his cake. Micah wanted the colors from Ben-10. It was a nice mutant-green with black, very boyish. Micah and I went shopping the day before and picked up his presents. He has learned to LOVE boogie-boarding, so we bought him his own board, and a toy electric guitar (is that redundant ---- toy, electric guitar?). Anyhow, he wanted to go to the beach to try out his board. When Randy got home from work, we packed up the musubi's and headed for Hukilau to check out the waves. It was windy! When there's wind, there's jelly-fish (blue-bubbles specifically). While the girls were on the shore making a sandcastle, the wave washed up a blue-bubble with an extra long stinger that got Leigh on her finger and foot. Poor girl. The boys were out in the ocean catching waves. We didn't last long because of the wind and cloud cover. Micah came up on shore, shivering and said, "It's my birthday, so I choose to go home now because I am cold." I laughed, it was cute. We grabbed our towels, headed home, and had cake. The frosting was actually really good on that cake, as gross as it looked.

Micah is my baby, and I can't believe that he's 5. It does make me sad to see my baby grow up (sniff, sniff). There are days that I wish I could freeze time and keep my kids the way they are. Micah is such a fun boy to have. He keeps us laughing with the funny things he says and the funny things that he does. We love you Micah! Happy Birthday!

New post

Ok, so this post for some reason took me FOOOOOREVER to put up. The computer was so slow to put up my pictures. So I decided to just make the mosaics again. Anyhow, enjoy, it's before this last post, so just scroll down. I still have a few more past posts to put up, not to mention some current events I haven't gotten to. Maybe when they are all in school, I will catch up. Maybe. 

Old Friends

This past week, my high school, Liahona, had an alumni celebration. While I missed almost everything that was going on, I was able to still to run into old friends and even  make one event. At the one event I went to, I met up with my best friend from high school, Vika Racule (her maiden name, she's married now). It was so fun to see her again and her sisters Margaret, Nancy, and Rajeli. Seeing her younger sisters (Rajeli and Nancy) made me feel a little old, Rajeli was a toddler when we left for college. We sat and talked about the good old days. We had fun in high school. She was the more outgoing one who was very social and an athlete as well. I was the boring nerd. We were in the same ward and both of us lived in the school housing on campus. I remember we were always trying to figure out what to wear to the next dance, cruising around town, talking about boys, boys, and more boys, eating keke and saimini for lunch (I'd probably still eat that today), going to YM/YW. Her mom was our English teacher, my dad was our bishop. It was fun! Now she has her own family (her husband and two boys) and lives in Fiji. 

I've been running into a lot of classmates here in Hawaii, hopefully we can get together and have our own class reunion (Class of '93).

Honolulu Zoo

This was our big outing for the summer. Man was it HOT that day. The zoo in the middle of July, what were we thinking. Despite the sweaty foreheads and hot faces, we had a blast hanging out, eating good food, and seeing the animals! 

Don't they look like they could be twins?

This part was cool!

This is one of my favorite pictures. These are all the Sasaki grandkids (to date. hehe).

A Trip to the Polynesian Cultural Center

Alright, prepare for picture overload. Grandma --- this one's for you (LOL). We didn't have much to do on a Monday, so we decided to check out the Polynesian Cultural Center. While at the PCC, Tyler totally embraced his Polynesian roots. The other kids loved it as well, but didn't get into character as much as Tyler did. There was so much to do there, we didn't get to see and do it all. We'll definitely go back again.

TL: the kids posing in front of a waterfall (can't really see it). TR: Leigh trying out the poi balls in Maori Village (New Zealand). BL : Kara with poi balls. BR: Tyler and Leigh playing some Maori games.

TL: The kids and I showing off are tattoos (such a great example I am). TR: Leigh in the championship game in Maori village. BL: Kara posing near the Fijian Village. BR: Watching the canoe show, the Hawaiian canoe in front of us.

TL: The kids fishing in the Tahitian village. TR: Showing off their fish the wove from coconut leaves. BL: Tyler walking around barefoot. He took of his slippers as soon as we got there and refused to put them back on. 

BR: Kara found a coconut.

TL: My little pyromaniacs trying to start a fire in the Samoan Village. TR: Kara and I posing. Not sure why my hand is like that (I do love my child, really, I do). BL: The kids being funny. BR: Playing a spear game in the Tongan Village.

Tongans are known for their drumming. The kids had fun trying them out. 

My island boy. Like I said before, Tyler was in love with all things Polynesian there and really got in touch with his roots. He even asked me to buy a tupenu for him to wear to church. I was so flattered, I guess, that he asked me that. We will definitely be heading back soon. 

P.S. My good friend Vika said that she would would bring Tyler a tupenu back from Fiji on her trip up next month.

Tide Pool Adventures

I decided to take the kids down to Haleiwa to go look at the tide pools over there. We arrived there and the kids quickly got to work looking for whatever they could find. We saw some crabs, lots of snails, and other creatures. The kids were seeing this tide pool trip as an opportunity to maybe acquire a pet ----a fish, a crab, or even some seaweed. 

At one point, Tyler walked out to a tide pool that was far out and the tide was rising. As Tyler trekked his way out there wearing slippas (flip-flops), he was unfamiliar with the buoyancy issues that would occur. Long story short, one of his slippas floated off into the deep waters of the Pacific Ocean. To make matters a little worse, I had to walk out to him and help him back to shore. I thought the whole scene was quite funny. Tyler did feel bad that he lost his slipper. What are you gonna do?

Kara was determined to catch a fish and by golly she did! She laid her cup down in a tide pool and when the fish swam in, she picked it up (poor thing didn't see it coming). Micah was content taking sea snails home.

 We started heading back to our car. On the way back, a tourist pointed out the sea turtles in water.  There was one about 4 feet from us. It was really big too. Every so often he would poke his head out of the water. Further down the shore, there were 3 more turtles. 

  We loaded ourselves in the van and drove over to get some shave-ice. On the way home, we had to turn around and run to grandma's house to pick something up. The souvenirs (1 fish and 5 snails) the kids were taking home were acting up. I had Leigh screaming because the snails in the container were crawling up the side, and Kara's fish jumped out of the little bowl she had it in (she caught it and put it back inside). 

The kids had fun seeing cousins and aunties while we were there. We loaded back into the van at the end of the day and headed home. Good times, good times.

Happy 4th of July ---- Hawaiian Style

Happy 4th of July!!! We started off the day not sure of what we wanted to do. We sat down as a family and threw out the options. We ultimately decided on the beach (surprise, surprise). We ended up at Hukilau. We got there and conditions were "glassy". Those of you non-surfers out there, that is a good thing when there are waves. Randy was wishing he had remembered to bring his fins. We had fun swimming, but then the waves were getting bigger. One by one, we ended up on the beach after being trampled on by big waves. We all sat and watched Randy catch the BIG ones with his board. It was fun to watch. 

We went home, got something to eat and watched an oldie-but-goodie movie "Cool Runnings". Leigh seemed to appreciate it, but the rest of the kids weren't too interested. By evening, we headed out to Turtle Bay Resort for some good food and fireworks. While waiting for the fireworks, it did start to rain. Despite the wet grass, we stuck it out until 8:30 pm for the show. It was all of 10 mins which I personally thought was a great length of time for a display. As soon as it was done we headed home. The kids were surprised to see people in our neighborhood outside their homes doing their own pyrotechnics. Randy and I laughed and said, "This is nothing. Just wait until New Year's Eve!" 

P.S. As I watched the fireworks show, I was reminded of being at the Surprise Stadium, sitting on the grass with the air being warm, eating popsicles watching the fireworks there. As soon as I was done watching them here I received a text from my good friend Jenny Taylor telling me that the fireworks were cancelled there because of a monsoon. Sorry you guys missed out. Hope you all had a good Independence Day despite your bad weather.

P.P.S. There's also another post up in June called "Perks".