Everything In Between

Generic title for a generic post, but wait!  I excuse it by saying that our computer stopped working.  We bought a new computer.  That computer stopped working.  Brady fixed it and now I pretend it is not overwhelming to blog long periods of time--even when we have done almost nothing new and we are still living in a Groundhog Day reality.

Kate and every friend that comes over spends an hour in her room creating the perfect spa atmosphere.  How would she know what the perfect atmosphere is, or even better, how would I know?  I've never had a spa experience.  Her version includes so many sea shells, relaxing pop music played with stringed instruments, fresh flowers, a check-in station, a waiting room, a massage table for feet, head, and back, a giant fan palm she and her friend take turns alternating as they massage, hot rocks massage for the legs, lotion, salt soak, and pedicure, manicure, hair coloring with hair chalk, and most recently a face mask.  I am a good sport.  Other moms are good sports.  Even dads are good sports.   

The girls "accept tips" and at this point, I have a paid for a full spa experience at the Hyatt.

I had zero idea this mask was getting put on until it happened.  

We had our California neighbors over for dinner last weekend.  They are visiting from San Diego for a month.  We grilled chicken and had homemade rolls with peach jam.  She freaked out.  She had never known a person who made their own jam.  Then she asked where I bought the rolls.  Then she asked where I bought the cookie dough we made up for dessert.  I felt like such a loser.  I know it was all meant as compliment, but I felt like I must seem like a (repressed) woman displaced from the 50s.  If there is one thing I've learned in the last 8 months since Covid-19 hit, it's how to work with yeast and sugar.

Kate finished Harry Potter 4 so we made Butterbeer and watched the movie together.

The annual back-to-school dinner with David, this year sad because Zachary and David are attending different schools for the first time since Kinder.  When it was announced that Chiefess would once again be 100% virtual, we decided to apply for Island School.  He got it off the recommendation of a friend and we've been happy with the choice this year, although so incredibly uncomfortable with the reality that we have the resources to send our child to private school that others do not.  Public school is where my loyalty lies and it makes me squirm that we've made such an elitist decision.

Owen's back-to-school photo.  He was crushed that preschool was canceled, but his teacher did invite him to do preschool playdates with a small number of children twice a week.  

Kate started 4th grade at Koloa Elementary, a school I dearly love.  I pulled her out after 1 week and decided to homeschool.  It was an easy decision: I knew at that point what the first quarter and beyond looked like and it was not what I wanted for Kate.  I knew I would be involved in her daily education anyway.  Mahjinka loaned me her curriculum and educational philosophy book (The Well-Trained Mind), and we jumped right in.  Generally speaking, the teaching philosophy is much too conservative for me, but I do appreciate the focus on math, reading, and writing.  I do my own curriculum for Social Studies/Geography and Science, and we adopted Saxon Math, Writing and Rhetoric, First Language Lessons, and All About Spelling to cover our basics.  Typing and learning cursive have also been a daily focus.  For Science, we are all over the map, and I'm giving myself a pass for the lack of cohesiveness this year.  To have any Science right now is a plus, so it is okay that we have studied hurricanes, oceans, and the human body in the last two months.  History is important to me and we have focused on anti-racism literature as well as Hawaiian history, which she was slated to learn in public school.  We know her teacher well from church and he was generous and understanding with our decision, proving us resources in addition to encouragement.

With all the back and forth from school starting, soccer practice, dance and piano all starting back up (everything except public school--a COVID contradiction), our nightly beach outings have turned to every other night beach outings.  Tourism opened up on Kauai Oct 15, but until then, it was small populations' oasis.

How many kids on the wave?

Zac and Kate in the middle.  He teases her like crazy in the water.

We waited for months and months and suddenly baby Conrad was here.  Aunty Nicole offered to let Kate hold him "anytime," which meant we took quite a few trips to her house to snuggle him.

Conrad makes Owen look gigantic, but my kiddo still needs snuggles, too.

Owen thinks it is so fun to take pictures of me driving.

Surf sessions for me are fewer and further between now that I'm schooling Kate and doing preschool and have no Zachary at home to watch the kids, but Hilary and I did sneak in a session six whole weeks ago.  Groan.  An aunty took this photo and sent it to her.

We had the foosball table out for a long time, and then tucked it under a bed once we were sick of looking at it.

Kate loves to babysit Paige, and Owen loves to help by driving her around and playing with her.

On Zachary's first day of school, he got takeout Panda Express.  Kate needed a first day celebration, too, so we went to Keokis.  We were one tiny group and there was one other couple in the restaurant.  I do not know how they are staying open.

She's my daughter--begged to split the kale salad and fish tacos over getting sliders and fries.

Homeschool plus Owen's preschool starting up meant that Kate and I had a window of play time if we started school early.  Without interruptions, it takes 4.5 hours to do her schooling and I have to sit with her the entire time.  Of course there are interruptions...  We try to escape once a week to surf or play tennis.  We swim like mermaids, chase waves, and knock tennis balls over the fence.

The only kind of birthday party: an open air party at the beach.  Owen was so excited, even though we did exactly what we do every time we go to the beach, plus cupcakes.

He is only on the north shore two nights a week, but the nights he is home are so much smoother for everyone.  We are getting better at late dinners and cleanup but bedtime is still hurting, which leads to longer days with child #3.  

Owen regularly talks to his friends about surfing barrels.  We think this is what he means.  Ha!

Kate and I took a hike and found macadamia nuts.

Sometime in the last two months, Owen went from requesting water time at the shallow, less wavy part of the beach (taking me away from the other two kids and friends), and got comfortable with the "big wave" section of Sheratons.  He is in the water for most of our beach outings now, which means I am, too.  Happy to swim with my little man.

Joyful plunge!

We took a field trip to Aunty Carol's farm.  She showed us her waterfall, her jungle, and her flowers.  We picked fruit--lilikoi, lychee, bananas, guavas and strawberry guavas.

I loved that she hung with us for 3 hours in curlers.

We used these ginger flowers as shampoo that night as she directed.  They smell amazing.

Strawberry guavas in their to-go breakfast containers the next morning on the way to take the boys to school.

Another day, another playdate with Shay.  Love them together.

Little rock stars, surfers, dancers, singers, and dress up sisters.  They play dolls, house, school, and trampoline games, never tiring of each other's company.

Nic decided to get major surgery done on his knee.  They broke his leg and realigned his knee.  It was a big deal and we all worried about it, but sent him off with support.

He had the kids pick off a treat one at a time.

We have lost every one of our neighbors.  All of them have sold, with the exception of one that is very sick with cancer and seeking treatment in California.  After they moved, Brian and Betty from the yellow house across the street gave us their daughter's longboard.  Kate has been working her skills ever since.  

This kid gets one-on-one time again now that soccer is back on.

Brady decided a couple weeks ago to make sure the kids had a meaningful interaction with him each week--and this time it was limbo and "pick up the bag with your teeth."

Another day, another skateboard ride.

Falling asleep on the way to piano lessons.

One night, we celebrated Paige turning 2.  This girl has all of our hearts and gets so excited to see any on of us.  She had us help her change into princess gear.

A month ago, I was paddling in from a session at Waiohai and misjudged the tide.  As soon as I felt one scratch, I bailed off my board and held it up in the shallow water, but it was too late and my lovely board was banged up badly.  Sniff, sniff.

Brady has been surfing so much more on the weekends now.  After we got our dog, he 

Owen loves his Heidi.

Night surf.  Nigh cartwheels.

The third child goes to bed later then he should.  It makes some days really hard.

"Miss Berta" makes preschool so fun.  There are only a few kids and they play at her house.

Shay created an Owen clone.

One of Kate's science projects.  We read books on different topics and find ways to present.

More Roxy-girl!  She is already so much bigger than these pictures.  I can't believe we got her when she was 2 pounds.  She is about 5 pounds now.

My swing--ordered 6 months ago--required a dozen coordinating phone calls and waits on hold and frustration for both me and Brady but now it is here and that is all forgotten.

Owen asked for a "Jakey mohawk."

Last couple playdates with Shay before she headed to the mainland for over a month.

Fall break!  We did plenty of beach time during the week.  Zachary also had a day with the "bros"--hiking to Ho'opi'i Falls, jumping off rope swings and swinging from vines.

Night time, training time.  She knows sit, down, wait, roll over, and shake.  Everything except "poop outside every single time."

More fall break beach time.  We had one of the last swells of the season so it was perfect timing.

Tate reached down to pick up a stick in the water and it was this dead fish.  The fins cut his finger and he was gushing blood.  We gave the fish babies.

Zachary is enamored with her and she brings out the tender, affectionate part of him.

With anti-seafood Nic on the mainland, we took our date night to a seafood feast at Keokis.  Sushi, shrimp cocktail, crab legs, lobster, oysters, the works.

They gave us some many sides of starch.  That was confusing.  We left those alone and ate the fish.

A grumpy Owen needing some chill time with mama.

Is it candy or spinach that turned his teeth green?  I'm asking because I really don't remember.

So tiny.

Zachary put his first ding on his new board.  That was a sad day for him.  We got it repaired and it got another hole two weeks later.

I finish this post even as I wait on the election results after yesterday's voting.  I'm so scared and so hopeful and so anxious.  I'm angry with Trump and his speech last night declaring victory and seeking to disenfranchise voters yet again.  I am disappointed that so many people voted for him.  Oh, Michigan, we need you right now!

Is that everything?  It is certainly the "in between."  Scratches from dead fish, dog poop, naps, parakeets, swings, seafood, goldfish.  Yep, lots of in between.