The Summer of Adventure ~ Hawaii Style

Aloha, friends! Well, we made it! Our school year ended with all sorts of fun and activity, including non-stop fieldtrips, a talent show that Rachel participated in (she jumped rope up to 100!), Oliver's class marching in a parade, and me putting together the end-of-the-year slide show for the Kindergarten class. I was very proud of myself for getting the slideshow done on time, not having to stay up all night to finish it while crying about procrastinating and shoving cookies into my mouth to stay awake! Not this time! It did, however, take three days of my life - but it turned out so awesome, and the kids and their parents all loved it!

So, somehow we made it through all that, and a whole lot more, got ourselves packed, and onto a plane last Sunday. Planes, actually. We used a bunch of frequent flier miles to get here, and since my itinerary is a bit different than the rest of my family, I got to fly here by myself! Andy and the kids got to come straight to Maui from Portland, and though I left around the same time, I was on a different airline and had to go through San Francisco. My first flight left a half an hour late, which made me pretty nervous, but the nice ladies at the desk changed my seat to put me closer to the door, so I was almost first class once I got on the plane! I made it to SF just in time to get to my other plane and board. Then something happened that I've never heard of before. Our pilot was a bit of a speed demon - he took us up to the Jet Stream, and got us to Maui an hour early! What? Yes!

So, my family came back to the airport to pick me up (they had been fooling around at the beach already), and we headed to the condo that we always stay at in West Maui. As soon as we unloaded our bags, the kids wasted no time in changing into their swimsuits...then BAAAANNNGGG! Oliver was so excited to run to the pool that he ran straight into the closed sliding glass door! He bounced off of the glass so hard onto the tile floor, that he split the back of his head open. Happy Father's Day, Andy!! So, literally within minutes of getting into our place, we almost called 911! Instead, we ended up at a little Doctors On Call clinic at the Hyatt Regency down the road, and Ollie had to get a few stitches. Poor baby! The amazing thing was, just like when he had his hernia surgery, he was super brave, didn't cry when the doctor had to give him in injection (right into the cut - oh my!), and actually fell asleep a little as the doctor sewed him up. That last part worried me until I remembered the time change, and that to him, it was about 10:00 at night.

With orders to stay out of the pool and the ocean all week, we've been taking it easy and doing other stuff, and his head has healed nicely. He got the stitches out on Friday night, and is excited to do some cannon balls into the pool, and to try surfing with Daddy, and give his goggles a go. We're so lucky that we're here for a month, otherwise this would have been quite a bummer. Rachel has been super sweet and supportive, and she was so upset when he got hurt! She cried more than he did, but I understood completely. Seeing my children's blood on the outside of their bodies is one of my all-time least favorite things. It's nice to see how much they care about each other though.

More soon - I've GOT to get to the pool!

Love, Unexpected

I was surprised recently when, at one of my regular Starbucks visits, my friendly barista took the time to send me this little message! Sweet! I think she loved that I saved a tree and ordered my mocha in a mug. I loved that she took a little time to pass on such a positive thought. Today in Mondo Beyondo, we are challenged to do just this - leave a secret message for someone - anyone - to find, just hoping that through our hope notes, we can change the world, one kind message at a time.

So, thank you for reading this! I hope you have a beautiful, peaceful, and inspiring day! You deserve it!

The Cutest Mouse Ever!

This past weekend Rachel was radiant as a Princess Mouse in her ballet school's production of The Princess and the Pea! She had three performances in two days, and did just beautifully - never tiring or complaining, even though there was a lot of waiting around and it went late into the evening. We got tickets for the Saturday afternoon show, and I was struck by how much fun she seemed to be having on stage! She never told me she was nervous (and I don't think she actually was), she was just very prepared and grinning through their entire scene, which she told me later went by way too quickly. 

 

We weren't allowed to take any pictures during the performances, but I helped backstage and got a few snaps while they got ready.

You're a star, my sweet!

Mom's Day

Awwww, heck. What a great day! I'm just head over heals in love with my kiddos, and it feels so right to celebrate each other once in a while. Hope you had an awesome day too!

Jolly Good!

Leading up to last week's "Wedding of the Century", I hadn't given much thought as to how I was going to actually be able to watch the ceremony. We cancelled our cable subscription right before we left for Nicaragua (take that, Comcast!), so maybe I hadn't come to the realization yet that I would either have to watch in the middle of the night, or wait for it to come out on Netflix. Thankfully, my unspoken prayers were answered when my buddy Bonney invited me to the viewing party she was going to. In a very giddy text message conversation, I told her, "I would love to watch! I thought I was the only one!" Ha! Little did I know that approximately 2 billion people would watch - but could they possibly be as stylish as I us? Oh, I think not!

Bonney arrives at the party with the breakfast of champions -
cupcakes and champagne. Oh, and wearing the veil from her actual wedding!

I had told Rachel early that morning that if she could get ready for school super fast, then maybe she could watch a little coverage while she ate breakfast. It was the speediest costume change ever! I told her that I didn't want to know any details because I wanted to see it for myself, but I couldn't help asking her, "Did you think her dress was pretty?" She told me, "It's the most beautiful dress in the world, and she's the most beautiful lady in the world." Awwww!

The rest of the day went by in this fantastic, giggly blur. I followed Bonney to her friends' house, hoping that I wasn't imposing, but also excited beyond belief that this was going to be a girl's event! Girls really know how to do these things correctly, I think! Just look at this spread that was waiting for us! We died and went straight to England!

Our beautiful hostess, Pam, had thought of every detail. Seriously, the menu was in a frame!

Bonney, Mo, Pam, Linda & I enjoying one for the team!

After a lot of genuine gasping, ooohing and ahhhhing over the sweet party set-up, plus some picture taking, and after more friends arrived, we finally got down to business and started watching the event. As typical girls will do, we picked apart every outfit (even the men). We loved Kate's mom's dress, were surprised that we liked Camilla's ensemble, and hated everything about what William's cousins, Beatrice and Eugenie, wore. Poor girls! Oh, but didn't David Beckham look like a million bucks??? We couldn't agree about his hair, so we had to do a fair bit of rewinding and freeze-framing to discuss it properly. What?

Then things really heated up when we saw the princes arrive in their lovely car! We took a moment to toast Diana, who we all wished could have been there with her sons, and who we decided was there, actually.

Wow, is Pippa stunning, or what? I didn't even know there was a Pippa until two days before the wedding, but I decided immediately that if Andy and I ever renew our vows, I'm wearing THAT dress!

We were all gaga for the happy couple, of course, but we couldn't stop loving that adorable rascal, Prince Harry! We're also going to start a petition or something to get him together with Pippa. Wouldn't that be grand?!

The best moment of the day! Yes, I know they've been together for eight years already, and it's probably not the first time they've ever kissed, but I'm a sucker for romance, especially on a grand scale. I loved getting this picture of Pam in there with them!

To send us off properly, Pam put together swag bags. Swag bags!! Unbelievable.

Thank you so much to Pam for putting this beautiful party together, and for not minding that I was a total stranger, and to Bonney for inviting me in the first place! It was one of the funnest things I've done all year! (Thanks also to CNN, for giving us the best seats in the house - we saw a lot more than even Kate's mum did!) Good times!

 

Life's a Beach!

I'm hoping you've stopped by to see some pictures of beautiful Nicaragua, because we ended up spending three full weeks there, and I brought home almost 2,000 pictures (plus one pretty headband - it's not actually a shopping mecca). 

When Andy first suggested that we head down to Nicaragua for a surf trip over Spring Break, I agreed to go while the kids were out of school, then bring them back like a responsible parent while he stayed down there to keep surfing his brains out. But once we were there, it quickly became obvious that we had to stay the full three weeks that he had planned for. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to extend our fantastic family vacation, and I have no regrets now!

He had booked us a wonderful house to stay in - right on the beach, with a swimming pool (awesome!), and get this...a cook! Our group was treated to three fresh, healthy meals everyday, cooked for us by a really nice local guy who surfed in between making breakfast and lunch.

Depending on the day, we had between 10 and 15 friends sharing the house, with plenty of room for all. We spent our days waking up early (the sun comes up around 5:30 am and goes down 12 hours later), having coffee, reading, surfing, playing on the beach, swimming, and then doing it all again after lunch. It was usually about 90 degrees, and the sun is pretty intense, but let me tell you, going straight from winter to summer is very easy to adjust to. The hard part, as usual, was coming back to Portland to see that winter had not left yet. Boooo, and brrrrrr! So, back to paradise....

Two thumbs up for Nicaragua! We loved it! Next time I'll share pictures of our day trips to San Juan del Sur and Granada. Until then, adios amigos...