Kate switched dance studios last year and now dances with KUGA (Kauai Underground Artists). She's danced ballet and jazz all year and claims jazz is her favorite. She auditioned for the show and received a part dancing with the "big girls" in a Moana number. It was a rocky start--she was run over a few times by the older girls and Wednesday rehearsals scared her. She decided to stick with it and use her courage to keep going every week. Soon, Wednesdays were her favorite day of the week as she looked forward to dancing with this group.
Watching her on stage was tender and emotional for me. She had so much precision, grace and power. She was full of light and enthusiasm. Beautiful.
We opted against taking Owen, so Brady and Zac saw the first show and I saw the second. The event was fantastic and proved to us that switching studios was the right call. Kauai struggles with options for kids and this organization has it figured out.
On the way home...
Earlier in the day, we cheered on Zachary at his soccer game and then spent most of the scorchingly hot day at the track meet. He missed his relay and the 100 meters because of his game (and Kate's recital), but he was able to participate in the 50 meters and the 200 meters. He won his heat in the 50 meters, then had to wait hours for his 200 meter. Describing his 200 meter finish for the win, he said, "I dug deep. I thought about how long I've waited to race this and how my first race was just a warm-up to this one." He finished 4th overall on the island based on times (they did not have the kids race each other in a final). Next year, he's eligible to race the 400 meters and I think he'll be impressive. He came home from the meet on fire. Our favorite comment was, "Do you think someone will give me a medal or should I buy myself one?"
I loved this moment from after Zachary's game. Owen ran across the field to give Zac hugs and Zac carried him back with a huge, flattered grin.
Next up, the continual process of moving and closing on our house. We sold our bedroom furniture and our kitchen table--our new place is mostly furnished and way too small to store these items. I might be secretly excited to get a do-over on furniture. I much prefer a more coastal, transitional style to this traditional look.
The last Sunday before our move, I made the kids take pictures on the steps. One more time. This one is the most descriptive of my kids.
Owen is still a mess when we are trying to leave for church. Every week.
I also had to get "last time we play in our backyard shots." We planned to buy a new trampoline but after taking this one apart and throwing it away (so rusty!), we decided to wait until our next place is finished.
Last time we play soccer in the yard.
Last time Owen sweeps our yard with a palm frond.
Last time Owen is the accidental goalie.
Last time I chase him off the stairs.
Last time I do Kate's hair in our big bathroom.
Owen is at the best stage right now. He loves on everyone. He snuggles into our arms every chance he gets. He is generally happy (sometimes needy), and loves to explore. Yeah, he makes me crazy emptying every cupboard in the house several times a day, but I can't resist his pats on my back as he hugs me tight.
The other day, Brady was on the car's bluetooth. Owen exclaimed, "HI, DADDY!"
We love his long, curly locks and we all keep mentioning how much he is Kate's twin at this age. To prove it, we had fun putting his hair in whale spouts.
He wore the Poppy headband for hours.
He loves to put on my clothes and shoes-they are the most accessible and he regularly rolls around in them after he's successfully emptied the drawer.
Zachary is so patient with him. Over and over, Owen climbed on top of him and gave him hugs.
Kate is patient, too, waiting out the end of soccer practice for Zachary and rolling down the hills with her baby bro.
Some more lasts...one more time playing at the green belt on a Sunday afternoon. (One more time enjoying sunshine during the evening. We forgot how much it rains in Lawai!)
In unrelated news, I can finally touch my booty with my foot on my recently repaired knee. It's taken a lot of physical therapy time each day to reach this point. Unfortunately, my inner knee is still aching like crazy and I've decided to take it completely easy for another 3 weeks to see if it will calm down before I try to increase activity levels.
I love sneaking shots at church.
We moved! It was so much work! We even hired movers and cleaners. It was still so hard. The new house has been less than stellar. The kids were excited about this giant bathtub until we learned that the hot water is not working to it. Our dryer causes our power to shut off and our lights to flicker non-stop, and takes over 2 hours a load. It's also really loud. We don't have a dishwasher and didn't realize that until the boxes were unpacked. The apartment below us is supposed to occupied "approximately 2 weeks a year" and it is currently housing a family of 4 one week after we moved in. Our plumbing is nuts. If you turn on the cold water for any tap in the house, the shower goes frigid cold for several minutes. Don't even think about flushing when someone is using the shower. We had a leak in the kids' bathroom. The kitchen chairs lose pieces of wood every time we sit on them. We were terrified about mold for several days (our concerns are now alleviated). We learned early on why the geckos are so huge here--they have many, many bugs to feast on. Bugs which somehow make it into our house every single night. It makes us crazy that we are paying more to live here than we did for our mortgage. Argh.
We do have a wine cooler unit! And an ocean view! It's a quiet neighborhood! We aren't living on the beach!
One of the funniest moments in our marriage was when I walked in on Brady taking a bath in our old house because we did not have glass installed yet on our shower. Something about seeing a grown man in a tub still puts my tummy in stitches. It's been a joke with our friends ever since and we had to get some family shots in the broken tub.
Last time Owen tries to climb the baby gate.
EASTER! Oh yeah, I almost forgot about Easter! Friday (mid-move), I took the kids up to Koke'e for an Easter egg hunt with friends in the pouring rain.
It was Owen's first hunt and he did not care at all about the eggs when there were rusty, medal chains to swing from.
Unpacking the kitchen just before Easter. Owen=TROUBLE. This kid can open up granola or cereal and stuff it in his mouth faster than it takes to count to 5.
Owen cut his first tooth the same day Kate lost her first tooth. Long-awaited for both of them! Kate complained that her tooth hurt all day because it was "wiggling all over" and cutting into her gums. I asked her if she wanted me to pull it and after two easy tugs, it popped out. First extraction for Mama Bear! Kate was so excited to surprise Brady with the gap in her mouth when he got home that night.
This is what our house looked like on Easter. It was a disaster. We tried to ignore the boxes and piles and chaos completely and focused only on the Easter festivities and helping our kids understand why it's one of our favorite holidays. As nice as it was, I'm not going to lie and say I was pleasant all morning and happy to be digging around the piles for a brush and heels.
Owen did figure out the eggs and cared more about them when he realized there was candy inside.
Owen did not like his first experience with Peeps. He and Brady have that in common.
The Easter Bunny brought the kids LCD sketch pads for church.
Something important to us with this move was to make it as easy on the kids as possible--continuing in their daily routines, getting them to bed at decent times, having family dinners, and of course maintaining traditions. That of course meant we had an Easter Egg Derby. Zac won round 1, Kate won round 2, and Zachary took it all with his golden egg.
This past weekend, we planned to carve out time at the beach, but it dumped rain. We were overdue on quality time with the kids and we took them bowling and to sushi. I've never seen Zachary so enthusiastic about trying new foods. He loved ordering small roll after small roll and watching it race down the train tracks to our table.
This kid has the best gift-opening faces and also the best bowling stances.
Another sneaky church shot.
Our house finally closed yesterday. What a relief to have it all behind us. Now we are up late looking at appliances and getting ready to submit for permit. We think this will be a great thing for our family but it has certainly been as much of a challenge as we anticipated when we deliberated over it. Time to build!
