Memorial Day 2012

With not being in the mood to go very far, we opted to spend Memorial Day by touring the Polynesian Cultural Center and remembering our ancestors.

Leigh with her ever-present smile.


It was a hot day. Of course we didn't get to PCC till lunch and everyone was hungry. After eating, we were ready to begin.

 Randy had actually not been to PCC since we've been back to Hawaii.


He's such a good big brother.


We always start with the canoe show.


It's fun to watch. It reminds me of my days of when I worked at PCC and shook my (not so small)booty.


We hit up the motherland village first and watched the show at the Tongan village. If you notice, my family is trying to learn the ma'ulu'ulu. 


This guy was fun. It's fun to listen to what they say in Tongan. If the tourists only knew.

Friends in the Tongan village helped my kids with their weaving. It's actually a fish that Jace is holding.


This is a new feature at the PCC. The kids loved it! 

This is one of the favorite spots. It's at the Tahitian village. The kids love to try and catch a fish from the lagoon.

We got lucky this time ---- looks like it's fish for dinner tonight.

The rest of day was spent roaming the villages and doing the activities they have. If you ever get to visit Hawaii, this needs to be #1 on your list of places to see.

Aunty Jan's Fabulous 40th Birthday!!

Today we celebrated Aunty Jan's Fabulous 40th birthday! It was at a Karaoke location, and we were joined by food, friends and family.

Aunty Julie rocked the mic during the night, along with many others, including myself.

Aunty Jan doing her thing. 

Taizo watching all the brave singers.

Of course the food was fabulous!!

Yes. She did make her own cake. There is no end to this woman's talent.

Aunty Jan does a fabulous job at everything she does, and I'm not just saying that because she's my sister-in-law. She really is that good. She's a wonderful mother and wife, and her creative skills in sewing, cooking, crafts, you name it, is awesome!

She had a great time.

She definitely rocked the zebra shoes.

It was a fun afternoon. Thank you Aunty Jan and a big

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

School Play

Kara had a school play today. I made it just in time to see her do her part. She was cute. She was a school teacher from the 1800's. At the end of their play, the kids performed a dance that they did at May Day.

Mother's Day 2012

Another great Mother's Day here at the Sasaki house.

 The morning brought flowers and breakfast in bed.  After getting ready for church, I was given my traditional lei to wear to church. I love lei's. It's probably my favorite thing to get at Mother's Day. Every mother should get a lei on Mother's Day. We gave a lei the night before to Randy's mom so that she had one to wear to church.

 After church, I was cooked up a great meal by wonderful daughter #1. Steak, green salad, rice, and other stuff. It was wonderful. I ate waaaaay too much.

I hope you all had a great Mother's Day!

P.S. I'm wearing my ginger lei in this picture.

2nd Annual Mother's Day Night Out

This year, we played it small, meaning instead of a weekend getaway, we opted for GNO. It wasn't as long, but it was just as fun. The only sad part to our outing was that not everyone could make. Jill and Terri were absent. I met up with the girls at Ala Moana Mall, and we did some shopping. Afterwards, we headed to Shokudo for some fun and fine dining. It was delicious food. We all overstuffed ourselves, but you know, Mother's Day only comes once a year.

Kahuku High School's Culture Night

Tonight was Culture Night for Kahuku High School. Leigh had been practicing for a couple of months with the Tongan group for this performance. Some days they were out practicing in the rain. They were troopers these kids. I went to quite a few practices to watch, which was actually so fun for me. It brought back so many memories from when I was her age, doing the exact same thing.

 These are some of the kids all dressed up ready to perform. FYI, the cute girl on the left of Leigh is Telesia Afeaki's daughter (my 2nd cousin that I grew up with). It's cute to see her and Leigh together and be great friends!

 The adults helping them out were my high school classmates. I think that made the experience more fun. It's kind of cool to see all that tradition being passed down and being taken over by the next generation.

Leigh had so much fun performing. It was so great to watch her. I couldn't have been prouder!

At the end of the evening, all the kids from the different culture performances broke out in flash mob performance. It was cute. Leigh got all into it even with all her Tongan garb.

Leigh and her proud mama.