We were hoping to go out to dinner for Noni's birthday, but we ran out of time after everyone got showered from snorkeling. Instead we hit the food truck park again for take out and headed back for one more night at the Shops at Wailea to see the Polynesian Show.
It was so neat!! It was like a Hawaiian dance recital. They had a live band and four different groups of dancers from ages 5 to 18.
I was truly amazed at the way these kids can move. They can dance incredibly fast and their upper half seems completely independent of their lower half.
We got several videos.
This was the little 5 and 6 year old and they were so cute.
Such talented kids! I think all of the girls were 13-16. The only older ones were boys.
It was really pretty sitting outside while the sun set behind them.
Towards the end they called up any kids who wanted to try it and Lou and Peaches went up there!
Good job girls!
Truly impressive!
Since we didn't have a birthday cake for Noni we went and got ice cream after the show!
It was a beautiful, warm night, and we savored every minute knowing it was our last.
We had been at the beach all morning with barely a breeze but when we got to the docks for our snorkeling excursion (just 20 minutes away) the wind nearly knocked us off our feet! I don't know if that spot was just a wind corridor or maybe God was protecting us? We were supposed to go out to the Molokini Crater, but because of the crazy wind they kept close to shore. Our boat was called the Mololo.
We sat in the bow so we could see everything on the way. The humpback whales start arriving in early December and there had been reports of whale spouts in the area that morning but we didn't see anything.
When we got to our stopping point we sorted out everyone's snorkel gear and got ready to dive in!
I was happy they provided a life guard for us.
:)
F and Peanut were the first ones in the water.
Then Bug and Boo. They all jumped off the side of the boat. The rest of us took the stairs.
It was truly amazing to see everything underneath the surface! It looks so normal from the top but underneath there were thousands of cool fish, anemones, urchins, and a forest of coral with what looked like little sand roads running through the trenches of it.
Lou was my "buddy" and she pointed out a crab I hadn't seen. We also got to see a sea turtle! The weirdest part to me was how you could hear the fish feeding. We saw some really interesting fish including one that looked kind of like a seahorse head on a long ribbon body. We saw most of the fish we had seen at the aquarium including one that had multiple colors and looked like a rainbow. It was so neat!
The littles got cold pretty quickly and didn't last too long before wanting to go up on the boat. T said the water distortion was making him queasy so he stayed with them and Noni and I went out one more time to see if we could find the sea turtles. We never did see them but we did find a school of big black fish. They looked like black dinner plates.
When we got back on the boat Lou had fallen asleep.
They fed us chips, soda, and a hot dog and then we got back underway. The way back was crazy windy but we made it!
Snorkeling adventure, check!
It's kind of hard to see in this picture, but my hair was insane. It was sticking out 5-6 inches in all directions. Haha.
I got this lovely picture from the drive back. :P
Who needs to look at beautiful fish when you can look up your sister's nose? :P
I can't believe our little Boo Bear is a grown up 14! She truly is a young woman now: beautiful, smart, independent, responsible. It's bittersweet to watch your little girl turn into a woman but we are so proud of her and who she is becoming.
Boo has had a lot of changes this year...the biggest being that she is now in a traditional school full time! She made the transition with incredible ease. She fits right in at school, is popular with both students and teachers, and is pulling straight A's despite her hectic sports schedule.
Since the first day of school started she has been enrolled in a sport, and at one point two! She played on the high school team for volleyball, mostly on JV but in a few Varsity games as well. Then she rolled right into middle school volleyball which overlapped with high school basketball for a few weeks. She did really well learning to play volleyball, but basketball is definitely her sport! She is right up there with the high school girls and has started in quite a few games. It will be fun to watch her skills grow over the next four years! High school basketball will be over in a few weeks and then she moves on to middle school basketball which she has already been practicing with for weeks. They practice during 7th period PE so with high school practice right after school she gets three hours of basketball a day!
In addition to all the sports practice she also has been keeping up with her piano lessons, AWANA, drama club, and discipleship program. It has been a BUSY couple of months but she is thriving. She does have her limit and some days she just needs to take her little introvert self up to her room and shut the door to recharge, but she is really good about knowing her limits and taking care of her needs.
Speaking of drama club...last year she did an AMAZING job playing Heidi! It was so much fun to watch her! They just did auditions and casting and she originally wanted to just do a very small part, since she is so worn out from sports, but Ms D talked her into a bigger part. She will be playing Mrs. Grimble in the upcoming production and I'm hopeful that since basketball will soon be over she will be able to slow down and bit and not be overwhelmed with all the added drama practices. I'm already looking forward to seeing her in the new play!
I have been so proud of Boo at AWANA! She has really stepped up and is actually leading her own group of T&T girls! The director said she does really well with them so she has just let her take over and lead them on her own! It's kind of a full circle moment as her first exposure to AWANA was when she was a baby and I was helping with T&T girls and would carry her around all night in the hiking backpack. It is so neat to see her leading her own group of girls now!
She continues to be a hard worker and is quick to volunteer to help Daddy with weekend projects. She will stick with him for hours and is very adept with all of the tools. A couple of weekends ago he taught her how to stain the wood beams he was working on. She has built up quite an arsenal of skills as we've worked on and built this house.
Here is her birthday interview:
1. Favorite color: yellow
2. Favorite toy: puzzles
3. Favorite fruit: strawberries
4. Favorite TV show: Percy Jackson and the Olympians
5. Favorite lunch: homemade macaroni and cheese
6. Favorite outfit: just jeans and a sweatshirt
7. Favorite game: Catan
8. Favorite snack: Cheeseits
9. Favorite animal: Owls
10. Favorite song: Speak Life by Toby Mac
11. Favorite book: Percy Jackson and the Olympians
12. Your best friend: Rebecca
13. Favorite Cereal: Honey Nut Cheerios
14. Favorite thing to do outside: play basketball
15. Favorite drink: Henry Weinhard's rootbeer
16. Favorite holiday: Christmas
17. Favorite breakfast: Blueberry bread
18. What do you like to take to bed: Ruff Ruff, my little pink dog
19. What do you want to be when you grow up: I don't know I want to do something in business
20. What do you want for your birthday dinner? Texas Roadhouse
Dear Boo Bear,
Happy birthday beautiful girl! I really can't believe that you are already fourteen. You have grown into such an amazing young woman, and I am so incredibly proud you. Being your mom has been the most amazing blessing and while I am sad to see your childhood coming to an end I am also excited about all the possibilities for your future. I know that with your great attitude, hard work ethic, diligence, responsibility, and perseverance that you are going to do amazing things. Keep following after God and He will give you the desires of your heart.
I have loved watching you this grow this year. Whether on the stage, on the court, playing the piano in front of the church, or even just hanging out with your friends, you are just so fun to watch. You are talented in so many different areas. You are so smart, great at sports, music, theater, and so much more. You are such a fun person to be around and I love spending time with you.
Thank you for all that you do. You are such a blessing to our family. I can always count on you to get things done, and I am also thankful for your clean-gene that allows me to come home to a clean kitchen on those days when you are actually home for longer than ten minutes at a time. :P Daddy and I are so proud of the woman you are becoming. We love you more than we could ever say. Thanks for being you. I hope you have a happy birthday and an even happier year!
Our little Peaches is 8 today! That seems like such a grown up age to me. Our "little ones" are not so little anymore!
Peaches has had a wonderful year! It's been busy with soccer, piano, gymnastics, AWANA, and homeschool. She had a lot of fun with soccer and is looking forward to playing again this year. Winning the championship was a highlight! This fall she started gymnastics and is loving it! I can already see a lot of improvement in her skills. Her cartwheels are especially impressive and I can tell she is getting stronger. She can now easily get into a handstand and is working on a back bend.
She is a truly gifted pianist. She has a real ear for the piano and impresses us all the time with how quickly she picks up new pieces. She practices all the time. I never have to tell her to practice; she just naturally does it throughout the day. I love hearing her play in church.
Speaking of church she loves Sunday School and AWANA and is on track to finish her 3rd Sparky book which means she will get the Sparky plaque before moving on to T&T next year! She has lots of friends at church and is always very disappointed if she is sick and can't go.
Second grade is going pretty well. It is a different format than first grade for some reason so she needs a lot more guidance this year. I have to sit with her for the most part, but as long as I can keep her on track we are almost always done by lunchtime. She is very smart and gets quite offended if she receives anything other than 100% on a test or quiz. She loves her teacher Mrs. B and has lots of friends in class that she loves to talk to when they do breakout rooms.
She and Lou are still thick as thieves. They are together every possible minute. Occasionally they start to fight and I try to separate them, but they sneak back together within a matter of minutes. I love how much they love each other and I hope they remain this close forever!
Peaches has SO much energy! She goes goes goes all day long, and is still bouncing off the walls at night. As a toddler I always described her as 100%. Either 100% happy...laughing, bouncing around, and excited, or 100% sad and melting into a puddle. Thankfully she has mellowed a bit but she definitely still has more intense feelings than most. She feels things very deeply and is very in tune with her emotions.
One thing I love about Peaches is that she is so compassionate and empathic. She is very attuned to the way people feel and is always so great to include them or do things to make them feel more comfortable. She is so thoughtful and sweet and goes out of her way to help others. We are so proud of her.
Here is her birthday interview:
1. Favorite color: very light pink
2. Favorite toy: my walkie talkies
3. Favorite fruit: lemons
4. Favorite TV show: Floor is Lava
5. Favorite lunch: peanut butter and honey sandwiches and chicken nuggets
6. Favorite outfit: a regular t-shirt and some pants and my sweatshirt
7. Favorite game: Crash Bandicoot 4
8. Favorite snack: cereal
9. Favorite animal: monkeys
10. Favorite song: Near the Cross
11. Favorite book: my scrapbooks
12. Your best friend: I have a lot. Lou, Alissa, Audrey, Riley
13. Favorite Cereal: Cap'n Crunch and Honey Nut Cheerios
14. Favorite thing to do outside: swing on the tire swing
15. Favorite drink: Lemonade
16. Favorite holiday: Easter and Christmas
17. Favorite breakfast: eggs and toast and donuts and pancake cereal and blueberry scones and chocolate muffins
18. What do you like to take to bed: my Do-dos I have two and then the baby
19. What do you want to be when you grow up: an ice cream seller and an artist
20. What do you want for your birthday dinner? hot dogs
Dear Peaches,
Happy birthday sweet girl! You are such a joy. You love life and often remind me to find joy in the little things. You love to laugh and have fun and tell jokes. I love watching you and Lou together. You flit throughout the house together laughing, giggling, and making everything more fun.
It has been a wonderful year of watching you try new things! Soccer and gymnastics are very different but you tackled both with your usual sunny outlook and eternal optimism. I love your sweet spirit and how you care for others. It brings me joy to watch you. You care more about people's hearts than winning or getting your fair share. You see people's needs and are quick to include others and make them feel welcome.
We are so proud of you. You are growing into such a beautiful girl inside and out. One of the highlights of the year was watching you get baptized and profess your faith. That was such a blessing. Your knowledge of scripture and love for God continues to grow and is a beautiful thing to watch.
Thank you for being you sweet girl. Thank you for the love and joy you bring to our family. Thank you for helping me see the good in things and making me stop and laugh throughout the day. Thank you for all you do. I love you more than I could ever say and I pray that this will be your best year yet!
Our last full day in Hawaii was Noni's 60th birthday! We had some cards and a few presents for her when we all got up.
The girls were excited to give her the cards they made. :)
Happy birthday to you...
We gave her a necklace with the birthstones of all the grandkids.
Then we got suited up and sun-screened and headed down for one last morning at the beach. I don't think I've mentioned that you can only use reef-safe sunscreen in Hawaii, no sprays. I totally understand why and was happy to comply but man that mineral sunscreen is not easy to apply! It took 20-30 minutes to get sunscreen on everyone and this day we had to do it twice. Haha.
Boo grabbed some more plumeria on the way to the beach and put some in Noni's hair.
The girls wanted to make a birthday sign with balloons in the sand.
The waves were bigger this day and we kept getting our creations washed away and scooting further up the beach.
Peanut discovered you could make really cool drip-sand castles out of the soupy-wet sand and all the teenagers joined her.
We made a barrier and twice the waves got over it but we finally finished our happy birthday sign!
The girls kept trying to body surf the waves.
I'm not sure what was in the water this day but Lou ran out at one point crying and saying something bit her in the booty and sure enough she had a red welt on her leg just under her bum cheek. Then the other kids started coming out and everyone had little red welts in various places. I still don't know what it was but it seemed pretty localized because we went just twenty or thirty feet to the left and nothing else happened. The next day when we were driving away from the beach on the way to the airport we were saying, "Goodbye beach, goodbye waves!" and Lou yelled out, "And goodbye whatever bit me in the booty!" Haha!
