A Few Malihinis: Maycember

My parents dubbed May the month of Macember, since it is the easily the busiest month of the year after Christmas for kids' sports, awards ceremonies, shows, recitals, etc. Watching other families, I know it was more hectic for them than us but I spent what felt like most of my afternoon in a car every day, shuffling kids to activities. I loved most of it. Waiting in the COVID test line for 2.5 hours with all three kids to get Zachary checked out after he ran a slight fever and stayed home from school one day was not one of the shining moments but we made the most of it with special drinks, snacks, 5 pee breaks into bushes for Owen, long chats, and plenty of music.

We had plenty of rain and waves in May. Kate surfed almost every single day, starting to go to Waiohai with me and Emily. It was thrilling to see her cheered on by the Waiohai uncles, who even deferred their waves to her. After 6 sessions in a row, I knew I needed to take it easy on my aching back. I decided to go one more time with her and of course her leash broke at Waiohai. I picked her up and paddled her in and that was the nail in the coffin. I spent the rest of May and now into June with a pulled muscle in my back/rib that was fairly debilitating. Lesson learned. Youch!

Zachary finished his soccer season. Their team played in the playoffs but lost to the Bravehearts after beating them heartily the week before. He played mostly defense this season with a few games as forward. He's getting fancier footwork and scored a goal off a rainbow kick and a header this season.

Kate and I had one more breakfast date before school ended for Zachary.

Sherie sent me a picture of a Maltese dressed in a panda costume and I had to have it for Roxy.

Brady is getting better at trimming her up. He's got a backup job if things ever go south with Layton.

This pup has my heart.

She looks a little betrayed but she rocked the new do.

Milly and Kate surf and then play together for hours. Their favorite activities are making music videos recreating High School Musical. They choose parts and record song after song.

The boys bounced a lot in May. This game with the balls ended in tears for Owen 100% of the times played but he begged Zachary to play it with him every single day.

Owen was so proud of himself for building this tower "almost by myself" (with Kate's help for an hour). She is so good to him.

Owen joined CrossFit and was so excited to participate in the games and workouts for the elementary kids. He has been faithfully attending for almost six weeks. and is clearly the youngest there by at least a year or two. He is ready to be the kid getting cheered on rather than on the sidelines.

I took Theo and Emily took the girls to surf.

Owen had an incident with a pepper, going potty, and some painful burning. Noosa helped a lot. It was one of the funniest things I've every experienced as a parent after it was all over.

He had picked the pepper from our garden, cutting it up himself and pulling out all the seeds. Then he went to the bathroom.

All year, I have tried to find a meaningful service opportunity that Kate can participate in with me each week as part of her homeschool curriculum. Many of the experiences were with PTA and Relief Society. This one was for Teacher Appreciation Week. We made 53 snack packs for the teachers and delivered them.

A "between school and before soccer" swim.

Owen begged me to take him on a run five times in May.

Soccer Saturdays were nuts--games always requiring the kids to be there at 7am, followed by 8am game, 10am game, and often 3pm game. We were at the field the entire morning, sometimes bolting home for an hour out of the sun. Our friends were gone by the time we showed up at the beach but Brady was happy to take Kate out.

Zachary's U14 team:

Owen sits on my lap the entire church service.

We did two rounds of swim lessons with Owen, adding to the hectic May but greatly improving his floating and swim strokes.

His last day of lessons, I paid for Kate to have a pass so they could play together. She was dying to swim laps and got it out of her system.

Owen can swim back and forth on big lanes without any problem. His strokes are smooth and he is not breaking any speed records, but that will come.

I did not think Owen would jump off the higher diving board but after watching Kate, he marched right up and jumped with zero hesitation. Parents standing by were shocked.

Then he jumped 10 more times.

Owen and Ace love Brenneckes and played for hours. Kate joined them and was so good at entertaining herself in the waves.

At CrossFit, they handed out free gear: t-shirts and even some Vans to a few lucky winners. Owen went home with a size small t-shirt and wore it the rest of the day:

Kate's team regularly trains with a run on these makeshift trails, and Owen has been asking to hike during soccer practice so we took off and went for a solid 90 min.

Slushie with his t-dress:

I thought golf balls would hit our house but more often it is birds. This one was so shell-shocked it stayed and let Kate and Owen pet him for 20 min before flying off.

I started documenting Zachary's "made bed" and "cleaned up room" rather than nag him about it. His bed usually looks like a body is inside.

Kate is still going strong on spa experiences and before I knew it, I was masked and given an extra eye.

They've upped their game and while you relax, they serenade.

While Owen is starting to venture out into the waves more and more frequently, running is still his favorite beach sport.

Another COVID soccer game. This time against the best U12 girls in the league. Kate scored the winning goal in the last minute of the game. It was so awesome, even from the the back of my car.

Our U10 girls CAN.

In between the soccer, there is surf.

Coming back to the field for a post-surf U10 game. These double header games spread out five hours were exhausting.

Daddy and Owen working together. There is no better entertainment than yard work in Owen's book.

Zachary and Caleb started a golf ball stand. If we had more golfers, it might be a better venture. It is okay for now.

Championship game for the U12 league against the Bravehearts and this time they lost by three. It was disappointing but still a strong finish to their season.

Mother's Day was full of thoughtful cards, hugs, Brady's grill skills, and video messages. This year, Roxy joined in the fun.

Kate's card #1:

Owen's pictures. I love his rainbow and me on a wave. Also, that my favorite thing to say is "We're having cookies!"

Our neighbors were here for two weeks and invited the kids to swim anytime they wanted. The kids loved the exclusive pool.

Owen, still plugging away at Mommy Preschool. His favorite reward after he gets 20 stickers? Bay Blades.

Kate has had a rough go with wetsuit jackets. She has lost three of of them in less than 8 months, even after spending big chunks of her own money on them. It was tragic when she realized she lost her birthday present in the public bathroom. It was 9:30pm and Brady took Kate over to see if it was still there. It was locked up like a jail cell with 1' of access at the top. Brady shimmied her in and she recovered it.

May brought a renewed interest in art.

Another pool party with Kate and O.

Another year passed with basically no performances, and Hilary decided to host a special dance presentation outdoors and socially distanced for the girls in Kate's class. Rehearsal time:

On the last soccer practice of Kate's season, Owen's wildest dreams came true and he was allowed to scrimmage with the girls for an hour. He hauled all over the field, sprinting until he came just to the ball and then backing off most of the time. A few times he charged and got the ball. It was so, so cute. Sadly, his cleats were way too small and blistered him up bad enough to make his ankles bleed. He kept playing.

Last chant of the season.

Ballet performance. Brady came back from Princeville early to make this happen.

No better backdrop for these ballerinas!

The best shot, with Hildog Farm sign in the background:

Great work, my elegant, strong girl.

Kate's friend Presley:

Owen is the world's best spectator. Climb a tree, hug a teddy, and munch on a lollipop.

Last game, and Kate scored two goals. Hooray, you fierce, aggressive little lady! So fun to see how far she has come as an athlete. Her team won and they finished as U10 Champions!

Pancake Sunday morning, flavored with a little Owen armpit:

Pool time #8:

Another Monday, another piano lesson straight from the beach and hanging at the dog park with our favorite dog, Yoda.

Emily and I took turns with the kids at PKs, a new surf break for them. The wave was long and gorgeous and the kids were so good, even in the shallow reef and bigger conditions. I love this picture between sets on the inside, with Kate and Zachary talking together.

Zac and his pup.

Carving down the face:

Kate and I ran carnival booths for the last two days of school. I love that she wanted to participate (in the hot sun for hours at a time with a mask), despite not going to the school.

So. Hot. Outside.

Vicki was one of the teachers that took pie to the face dozens of times.

Roxy graduated from Puppy Kindergarten with me. I do not think she gained much from the experience and I did not love the dominance training instructional methods, but she was thrilled with it after getting this doggy bone lei.

She was TERRIBLE at the last class and I felt like such an idiot when they gave me a certificate. It was definitely based on participation, not merit.

Older kids surfing Waiohai/PKs, youngers with me at Emily's pool. We used this pool for 4 years when we lived on Kelaukia St. and I remember 3-year-old Zachary jumping off these same edges hundreds of times.

Sometimes I am spontaneous and agree to a girls night bonfire to watch a gorgeous moonrise.

Carnival Day 2. I am glad we had the dunking booth because this game was pretty sad.

Aloha 'Oe to Megan and her family who moved to Dubai. We will miss you, again.

A shot of Zachary far out at PKs.

Owen on his last day of preschool. He has regressed and had to bring Berry Bear to class with him.

Leis and goodbye hugs to Ms. Roberta.

While he was at preschool, the kids joined me on a birthday surf at Waiohai. I've always said my dream is to have my kids with me while I surf and it was rad to experience that on my special day. It was made even better when I paddled out and a bunch of friends were there to surf with me and celebrate. Tears. Cheers.

Kate and Milly can't let a singing opportunity pass by and they gladly serenaded me.

Emily gifted me the perfect post-surf treat: beet juice from Kauai Juice Co.

Preschool graduation treats later that day with Aunty Nicole. These kids asked me to stop at 7-11 every single time I drove, and I stopped maybe twice all year.

School's Out for Summer party at Hilary's. We squeezed it in between a busy afternoon prepping for Cory and Kristen's arrival. I just can't pass up a waterslide opportunity for my kids.