Was that an explosion?

Last night I was jolted out of my bed at 3 by what I thought at first was a loud explosion but then heard rumbling and realized it was thunder. A second later Kawika came in and said mom it sounded like a loin roared in my bedroom. Kalei who was already sleeping in my bed(little stinker) got scared and was covering her ears and tried to hide under the covers. The storm stayed right over us for at least 15 minutes, there was not even a second between the lighting and thunder! It was so loud our windows were raddling and the neighbors car alarm went off. Kalani and Kaili slept right through it(I still can't figure out how). I asked Kaili this morning if she heard the storm last night and she said "No I was wide asleep!" Now that's I trick I have yet to see. Even though it was a rude awakening I still love it when it storms here. The rain is one thing I really miss.

You're the mom because. . .

Kalei had a doll in her arms and was bouncing it up and down like she was trying to put it to sleep.
Me: "Kalei you're such a good mom."
Kalei: "No, I'm not the mom! You're the mom!"
Me: "You're right I am the mom."
Kalei: "Yeah, because you give us time outs."
Gee thanks-It really did give me a good laugh! I guess I have a lot to work on! ;)

Scripture Reading and other mishaps. . .

This is how our scripture reading ended up the other night. I thought it was pretty funny. Hopefully it's the effort that counts.

Kalei came in the other day a little frustrated. I guess this is what happens when a 3 year old tries to brush her hair on her own. She'll keep trying-I'll just have to remember to not let her try with a comb again.
It took a little while to get her out of this mess.

First day of School

It's almost been 2 weeks since the kids went back to school and maybe posting these pictures are almost pointless but I'm still catching up-oh well.

This probably wasn't the best spot for a picture since they are all squinting.

Kawika started 6th grade this year!! Where has the time gone!?
Kalani is in 3rd grade this year.
Kaili started Kindergarten this year!
Kalei ready to take the kids to the bus.
I must say I glad that our family is back to some sort of schedule. The kids seem to be enjoying school and I'm having fun with Kalei.

Yay for grass!

Our landscaper was so nice and worked really hard to have our yard done by the time I got home from Hawaii! Our front yard used to be rocks and we took them out and replaced it with grass! I love looking out my window at the grass!! They also put in sprinklers and a drip system in the flower bed! Hooray-now I don't have to feel so guilty for forgetting to water my poor flowers!

Sorry this isn't a very exciting post for most of you(probably none of you) but I was so happy to have my front yard re-done!

Camping at Lyman Lake

Kawika and I flew in at midnight from Hawaii. We were so excited to be back with Dave and Kalei. Kalani and Kaili were still Dave's brother up north. So the next day we packed up to go pick up our kids at Jason and Anna's and go camping at Lyman Lake. Dave and Kawika packed for camping while Kalei and I went over to our friends the Prices to help them finish packing up. Over the last few months we have had a few of our friends move and its been really sad. Change is hard and I miss having them close(my kids miss them too). There are too many things that I miss to say but I am glad that our friendships will never change.

We left for Taylor and stayed overnight at Jason and Anna's home. It was so nice of them to take care of our kids! They had so much fun! We were so happy to be back together again as a family! We drove to Lyman Lake and camped for the next few days. Jason and Anna joined us for a couple of days playing in the lake. We had a great time!

The things I loved:

-being with my family again

-nice clean bathrooms-with flushing toilets

-showers-with hot water

-a new cot to sleep on-no more deflated air mattresses

-looking at the stars

-sitting by the fire and eating marshmallows

Things I didn't like:

-BUGS, BUGS and more BUGS-now I know this goes along with camping but come on! They were out of control-like 40 ant hills, centipedes, ginormous beetles, flies galore and too many more to name.

-the muddy lake-it didn't help that I had just come from Hawaii-I don't mind being at the lake I just don't want to swim in it.

The kids enjoyed the ice cream from the little store at the lake

The kids playing with cousins in the lake

Dave and Jason enjoying windsurfing

Kalani even tried it!

So did Kawika!

We had a great time camping this summer!!

Fun in the sun!

Saturday we went down to Hukilau beach to participate in a Hukilau. A Hukilau is where the community gathers together and a large fishing net is taken out around the bay and everyone would help to pull in the net and then they would divide whatever they caught. I have fond memories of doing this when I was a kid. I was excited for Kawika to have an opportunity to do this.

Sunday we went to the temple to enjoy the peaceful grounds.

Monday was our last full day in Hawaii and Kawika really wanted to go snorkeling. We spent the day on the North Shore again. We went to Sharks Cove-I'm not sure why it has the name it, I've never heard of any sharks in that area or shark attacks. It is a great place to snorkel because there is a rock that creates a protective barrier from the open ocean. There is lots of tide pools to explore and lots of fish to see under the water. We even got to see and eel. I just kept hoping nothing would bite me.

Umm I think Kawika's mask was just a little too tight.
That night we ate at Laie Chop Suey-mmm good!! Nobody makes chinese food like they do! Thanks Lia and Namu for dinner!All in all we had an amazing trip! It was so fun to see familiar faces and old friends! I must say though we had a wonderful time we HATED being away from the rest of our family! In my head I thought 2 weeks-no big deal! Umm. . .think again! I loved being home but some very important pieces were missing-needless to say we loved reuniting with our family once again! Thank you mom, dad, Lia and her family for being so kind and accommodating us in every way! We love and miss you all!

Ho'omaika'ika'i Explorations

We dropped Kawika off on Sunday afternoon at Kamehameha school for his week long camp. It was hard to drop him off-but I did manage not to cry although I was pretty close to it. It was weird being without any kids for a whole week. I had brought a few books and planned to go to the beach and get a tan. Well that didn't exactly happen-the one day I decided to go it rained on me-that would be my luck! I did have a great week despite not lounging on the beach everyday. I went shopping with my mom and sister, we had a blast! I had a great time relaxing and hanging out with my parents, and my sister and her family. I was even able to do a session at the temple. It was a wonderful experience to be there with my parents! I worried about Kawika all week hoping he was okay and having fun. Friday finally came and we went to pick him up. The kids perform songs and dances that they learn during the week. It was such a neat experience! When we finally sat down and got situated I looked around to see if I could find Kawika, and there in the mass of children I saw him madly waving his arm! He looked just as excited to see us as we were to see him! I could hold back my tears any longer(call me silly or just a mom). I was so happy to see him and I didn't realize until then how much I had missed him! He had this cute grin on all night!We were able to see our friends that we had not seen since we left Hawaii 9 years ago. Ethan and Kawika were best buddies when we lived in Hawaii! It was so nice to see them!
I mentioned earlier that I had fun chatting with some gals on the plane. There were 2 sisters, Tia and I can't remember her sister's name(sorry!) and they were meeting up with the rest of their siblings and 6 cousins who were going to be attending the same camp as Kawika. During our whole trip we keep running into their family-it was funny! What made it more funny was that our parents flew into Hawaii on the same plane too. Their family helps to put on the Arizona Aloha Festival every year. I have a feeling we'll be seeing more them as time goes on! They were all so nice and during the camp Kawika hung out with them a few times and they all seemed to get along so great! Here he is with his Arizona buddies!Thanks family for coming with me, it made it that much more special!

Haleiwa, ono shave ice, and more fun!

Friday we went to Haleiwa(on the North Shore) for a fabulous day of going to the beach,

eating yummy burgers at Kua'aina Burger,
and eating ono shave ice at Matsumoto's-sorry but snow cones here on the mainland just don't compare! You can get ice cream in the bottom-oh my it's heaven! We had so much fun with Pomai and Nalia! Thanks for coming with us girls!
Saturday we went to the Swap Meet and spent lots of money. My mom was so nice to come along and be hot and tired with us. Lilia and her family met us there later and we did a little more shopping and then went to Zippys for an early dinner. They had an lego exhibit there at the mall that we took the kids around to see. It was really amazing. My boys love legos and can spend hours on end building and imagining. Kanamu was so nice and watched the kids for a long time while my mom, sister and I did a little shopping!

Polynesian Cultural Center

The next few days were spent sight seeing and having fun before Kawika left for the camp(Exploration) on Sunday. Thursday we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center(PCC). Thanks again Nue for the tickets!!

We had a lot of fun watching the shows in the villages. The Samoan village is always fun! Here is Cap(yes that is his name) making fire with sticks.
This is what Kawika looked like all day, we had a great time!
Here is another Samoan climbing a coconut tree.
We had fun on a canoe ride. This brought back a lot of memories because Dave used to be a canoe guide during our dating days. I'll have to dig up a picture of him.

Kawika liked throwing spears in the Tongan village!
We had fun going to all of the villages, watching shows and making things. I couldn't get him to try poi in the Hawaiian village though, we'll have to try next time.
One of Kawika's favorite parts of the night show(the big show in the evening) was the fire knife dancers. He was fascinated by it! I must admit it is one of my favorite things to watch too.

Hawaii here we come!!

We got home on a Monday night and then early Wednesday morning Kawika and I were on a plane to Hawaii(that's right I had one day to get us unpacked and packed again)!!!! Hooray for beautiful beaches, the warm sun(not to warm), family, friends, breath taking scenery, the cool breeze and yummy food(can't forget that-hawaiians really love their food)! We were really sad our whole family could not make the trip. Dave stayed behind with the other kids. My friends were nice enough to let my kids come over and play while Dave was at work. A few days after I left Dave took Kalani and Kaili up to his brothers house in Taylor where they stayed for the next 2 weeks. Kalei got to come back home and stay with Dave(which she absolutely loves-who wouldn't want to have their parents undivided attention for 2 weeks). Thanks to my hubby, Jason and Anna, and all my friends who were so kind to take care of my kids while I was gone! You are all so amazing!

There is a Hawaiian Cultural camp you can only attend the summer after your 5th grade year-so this was Kawika's summer to go. He has not been back since we left when he was 2 1/2. When we got on the plane he was very excited! He looked at me with surprise and excitement in his eyes and said "Mom the wing moved!" Then it dawned on me that he has not been in a plane since he was 4-he really had no memory of it. So sad-but it was cute to see how excited he was to be able to see the clouds and how everything looked like ants from way up there. I got to chat with some really fun gals who happened to be taking their boys to the same camp as Kawika. I think Kawika was getting pretty anxious to get off the plane when he kept asking when we were going to see land. The only thing I was dreading about going back home was the humidity. You feel hot and sticky all the time. You feel like you need a shower right after you get out of one. To my amazement as we got off the plane the weather was absolutely PERFECT! Not hot or muggy-just right! It only lasted for a couple of days but it was worth it!

My cousin and her family were kind enough to pick us up from the airport. Thanks Nue and Marcus! They even had yummy treats for us to eat! Nue told us that they had a keiki(kid) surf club that met that day at the beach and invited us to come. So we went and joined them and hung out with old friends. Kawika had fun paddling around on the surfboard until he cut his toe pretty bad on the reef. Bekah(high school friend) sacrificed her shirt and ripped it up to make a bandage for his toe. I felt so bad, his first in Hawaii and I take him to a rocky spot and he gets all cut up. Sorry buddy! That gash proved to be a pain in more than one way for the rest of the trip.

Trip home

So this is what we looked like and felt like after our fun filled time in Utah!

Okay, so last summer our good friends told us about the Cache Valley Cheese Factory in Beaver. So on our way up there last summer we stopped and got "squeaky cheese"(cheese curds) and some of their oh so yummy ice cream. So when we planned on coming to Utah again this summer the kids were so excited to stop in Beaver again. Well our drive up wasn't as smooth and so we missed it. So on our way back home we promised the kids that we would stop. It's a couple of hours south of Provo and so here are my kids with eating their ice cream they had been waiting all trip for at 8:30 in the morning. What a good mom I am! Ice cream for breakfast anyone! The kids were in heaven!
Kalani showing off the yummy cheese. When the cheese is fresh it actually squeaks when you chew it. Kind of funny! The kids think it's the best!
This is a random picture of Kalei. It's her favorite funny face to make and it always makes us all laugh. As she does it she says"Do you love me?" Goofy girl!

4th of July

Instead of camping out to get a good spot for the Provo parade we decided to go and watch the hot air balloons.

It was a pretty cool thing. We got breakfast at McDonald's and sat on a blanket in the field and watched them fill up the balloons and then one by one take off. I guess they actually have competitions-who knew. They had to try and drop things on targets and pop balloons. They would get points for the things they did.

Later that day the husbands took care of the kids and my mom and all of the sisters went down to the Provo craft fair. We had a great time and spent a lot of money. Such cute stuff and yummy food! We just had to try the deep fried oreos! Evil written all over it-that's one way to gain 10 lbs. in only 3 bites! Thank you hubbys for letting us go play! That night we went and watched the fireworks from Stadium of fire in a church parking lot. I just love fireworks. We probably would have gone home and done some our own fireworks but it took us an hour to drive what would usually take us no more than 5 minutes-craziness!!

The next day we went and played at the water park down the street from Kahi's house while the men went shooting! We had so much fun on the water slides and cooling off in the pool!

The next day was Sunday-thank goodness we were pretty worn out by then. We enjoyed a nice day at church and some ono(delicious in Hawaiian) Hawaiian food! We spent the rest of the day packing up and getting ready to leave early the next morning. We were sad to leave but we had a wonderful time! Thanks Kahi and Mike for opening up your home and everyone else we loved spending time with you!

Mini Olympics

Each family planned an activity on one of the days. Dave and I were in charge of the next days activities. We decided to have a Mini Olympics, family baseball game, and a water balloon fight. Here is Dave getting everyone warmed up with stretches.

Our little Olympic parade. The aunties sang the theme song.
The kids decided to dog pile Kawika. He's somewhere under there, you can see him if you look really hard. Ezzie is sitting on his head! The kids had a lot of fun playing and running around. We had a relay race, discus throw, long jump, and shot put with water balloons. The adults even joined in! We had a great time! Once again I relied on Pua to take pictures so we'll have to do another post later.
When we had down time cousins had a great time playing together and adults had fun hanging out. The older kids had a lot of fun with the legos. There an endless amount of pictures with the kids posing in front of their creations they made.