Honolulu City Lights

Last weekend (the 19th), Danielle, Jacqui, and Gabbi picked me up at the airport when I arrived home from Guam (more about that in another post later). Of course I was late getting in, but when I finally made it, we went downtown to see the Honolulu City Lights. Each year Honolulu Hale (pronounced ha-le) is decorated by the city and county departments. We looked at the decorations and took a mini train ride around the grounds that was a lot of fun!

The Hale

Gabbi, Jacqui and I on a cool winter evening in Honolulu...

Santa and Mrs. Clause hangin loose.
Jacqui and Gabbi hangin with Santa.

Our train ride.
Yes, the blocks do spell out mele kelikimaka. Hope you all had a wonderful solstice, christmas, hanukkah, kwanzaa or whichever holiday you celebrate!

Budding Artists

Gabbi and Jacqui have really blossomed into quite the artists! They took an art class at the Academy of Art in Honolulu this past fall that culminated in an art show and reception on December 20.

It was quite fun to see the girls artwork displayed. They really enjoyed the class and their teacher, Miss Pearl.

The pictures absolutely speak for themselves!









As a separate project, they drew incredible self portraits for me for Christmas. We opened presents early, so that we would not have to bring them to Hawai'i island with us. The portraits are hanging in our entryway, so come visit and see them for yourself!

Geckos

One of Jacqui and Gabbi's favorite pastimes is catching geckos and anoles. The are all over the place in our yard, garage, and occasionally inside.

They have gotten quite good at catching them!

Hang on, gecko!

Apparently this gecko tried to bite off more than it could chew...
Showing off their captives.

A new fashion statement.

Close up of the latest Hawaiian fashion jewelry.

Zoo lights

Last Saturday, we went to the Honolulu Zoo for their holiday festival. It is only open to members and their guests and as luck would have it, our good friends Khris and Bruce and their family have a membership. We met them along with their kids Zoe and Christof and our friends Gretchen, Andre, Talulah, Stella, and Hazel.

We explored the zoo a bit, then decorated christmas cookies, visited Santa, played some games, enjoyed the entertainment, and the lights.

Gabbi and Talulah letting Santa know how good they have been this year.

Zoe and Jacqui telling Santa what they would like under the tree.

Jacqui, Stella, Gabbi, Zoe, Talulah, and Christof enjoying a December evening with the lights.


Hamming it up with the flamingos.

My Goodbye to Ruthie

I just wanted to share a couple of words about my experience and my good-bye with Ruthie. First of all, I just love her! She is an amazing, insightful, uplifting, beautiful, loving woman. She is a breath of fresh air to be around and has a wonderful energy surrounding her. I am so delighted that my girls have her in their lives. When I was growing up, I worshiped my aunt (Zizi)...I always loved being around her whether it was doing her hair, hanging out listening to Hall and Oats, playing in her pool, or walking my little (not so little anymore) cousin Autumn. Aunts are very special in a little girls life and my girls hit the jackpot. Thank you so much Ruth for what you are to them!!! It is priceless!

Although it was not always easy to have an extra person in our house (mostly just logistical reasons), Ruth helped out in so many ways, that it was a lot smoother than it could have been. Thanks for chipping in with the cooking, preparing, cleaning, childcare, homeschooling, etc. that it takes to run a crazy house like ours. Thanks for your never-ending patience with the girls (especially one little girl that reminds me a lot of me when I was that young), I know that it couldn't always have been easy for you.

I also treasure the great talks that we were able to have. It was so nice to have the time to really get to know you and have more in depth conversations...whether we were in agreance or not, it truly is the way that people learn to connect on deeper levels.

I'm crying right now as I write this because I've always wanted a sister and I'm realizing right now, that now, I have one!!!

With much deserved ALOHA!!!...and a big SHAKA right back at ya!!!
Danielle

Ruthie

My sister Ruth came to visit at the beginning of September, then spent most of October hopping around the islands with her friend Rachel. She came back and spend most of November and the first week of December with us.

It was so nice to have that much time with her! She really blended in with our family and of course Gabbi and Jacqui loved having Auntie Arugula around!!

Hiking Diamond Head

Watching the sun rise over Haleakala

Getting ready to hike into Haleakala Crater for our backcountry camping trip.

Hanging out on the beach in Maui

Jacqui, Rachel, Gabbi and Ruth showing off their crazy hair-do's.

Crazy kooks on the Friendship Trail.

A really funny meal at Genki Sushi...we never knew sushi could be such fun.

We really miss you Ruth!!

Aerial Fabrics Class - Part II

The girls had their last fabrics class last weekend. We took some video this time.




Gabbi, Jacqui and I went to watch part of Danielle's class last Sunday. We were very impressed!

Thanksgiving -- Hawaiian Style

It sure did not feel like Thanksgiving today. Aside from really missing our families back in Massachusetts and Connecticut, I started the day with a 6-7 mile run along the beach in shorts and no shirt and Danielle did yoga on the beach in a tank top and yoga pants... It was a beautiful day and the beach was packed.

Later in the afternoon, we went to our friends Khris and Bruce's, hung out and had dinner with about 10 other couples/families.

The kids had a blast with their friends, as usual!

We started dinner by writing what we were thankful for, putting it in a basket, then reading what everyone had written.

Jacqui, Stella, and Zoe getting ready for dinner.

Ruth, Maria, Khris, Danielle, and Gretchen enjoying the company after dinner.

Jacqui and Stella hamming it up.
Who needs clothes? It's only November...

Friendship Trail

Last Friday (the 21st), when I got home from work we hiked the Friendship Trail, which goes through a small botanical garden and along a ridge looking over Kane'ohe Bay.

We had hiked this trail one other time and were looking forward to snacking on guava and strawberry guava along the hike as well.

It was a great way to start, what turned out to be, a pretty rainy weekend.


Gabbi and Jacqui climbing the roots of a banyan tree.

Up near the top of the ridge.

The first of many handfuls of guava along the trail.

Goofiness along the trail (go figure)
The flower of the liliko'i vine are beautiful! and the fruit (passionfruit to the rest of the world) is delicious as well. We'll have to come back in early December to enjoy the liliko'i along the hike!

Homeschool Camping

Earlier in November, we went camping with the Hawai'i Homeschool Association. We camped with them in April. This was at the same campground (Kualoa) on the windward side of O'ahu, about a half hour north of where we live.

This time there were 4 other families(quite a bit fewer than last time). We enjoyed exploring the beach, taking a canoe ride, and walked to "secret beach." We had to leave for a few hours on Saturday to take the girls to their aerial silks class.

After some rain Friday night, we stayed dry and had a blast!



My, what short legs you have...


Playing in the sand at Secret Beach!