Adventures of Erin, Aren, Tanner & Leila too!

December Pics

2008-04-21T23:48:00.000-07:00

Since I have been taking obnoxious amounts of pictures, I thought I'd post some of the slightly better ones from each month as well. Most of these are just us at home doing our thing.

Also, As I'm sure you can all see, I got VERY behind on these posts this time. I plan to spend the next week here getting things back up to date. Stay tuned :)

Maunawili Christmas Party

2008-04-21T23:30:00.001-07:00

Last day of class for the kids before Christmas break, the kindergarten classes put on a little show with some songs and such followed by a potluck in the classrooms. Mr. Amine the principal dressed up as Santa. Really cute day.

Santa!

2008-04-21T23:22:00.000-07:00

We took the munchkins to Pearl Ridge again this year for the Santa there. No one is as good as Santa Dan in MN but this guy has a pretty good sense of humor. Leila however, was NOT amused.

Buma's Visit

2008-04-21T23:17:00.000-07:00

The first grandparent to make it to town after Leila’s birth was, of course, my mom. Pretty low key visit since we were dealing with a newborn. It was nice for her to see a bit more of our day-to-day stuff though. She got to walk Tanner to school and have breakfast with him at the Maunawili Cafeteria. We even managed to fit in a few short shopping excursions. The real focus of the trip, of course, was Leila and getting to know her first granddaughter first hand.

Thanksgiving – Belated

2008-04-21T20:37:00.001-07:00

This year’s Thanksgiving feast at Billy & Dawn’s was a bit belated but that was fine with us. We certainly wouldn’t have made it otherwise. As with last year, the imu style turkey was amazing. This year though, the crowd was a bit larger and Buma was in town to join us too!

The last two weeks

2007-12-04T13:35:00.001-08:00

In the days following Thanksgiving, things have been pretty low key. We've just been taking each day one day at a time and trying to be as flexible as possible. Yooper and I realized there was a fair amount of stuff we had forgotten from the first time around or had yet to deal with. Changing a little girls diapers was a bit odd at first. Brushing up on things like newborn swaddling, car seat installation, and burping all took a bit of a learning curve to recall. Also, Leila and I had a bit to figure out with the whole breatfeeding thing. Tanner was bottle fed so this is new territory for both of us. Again, I'll spare the details but let's just say that it took a few days to work out the bugs.

We're now at the point that a routine is finally starting to emerge and I'm physically mostly back to normal. I feel well enough to get back to all my normal activities of shopping and house stuff but Leila doesn't always allow it. We have to plan any activities around the feeding schedule which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. Sunday I had to make a run to the parking lot to nurse in the midst of a Lowes excursion. So much for timing on that one.

I think the biggest challenge so far, of course, is sleep. I have such a long list of stuff to do that I try to be as productive as possible with my time, often at the expense of taking naps and sleeping as late as I need to. I realized over the weekend that I have no idea how I am still functioning with the current sleep deficit I'm on. At merely 4-6 hours per night for the last two weeks, I should be unconsious but somehow, I have managed to not only keep going, but stay fairly energetic which is very different that how I usually react to lack of sleep. Ususally on the 3rd or 4th night of that kind of schedule, I will shut down completely. Must be some sort of postpartum energy store I have tapped into. I have made a promise to myself to try and get as much sleep as possible this week and finally catch up. We'll see how that goes.

At first Leila wasn't sleeping well in her crib. Mostly because she's pretty squirmy and really doesn't like her arms in the swaddle. This meant pretty cold nights for her. It's winter time here which means some nights get in the low to mid 60's. Without a furnace to take the chill off, that's a bit too cold for a newborn. Yooper and I decided to bring her in with us and everyone has slept much better since. If she gets a bit of a chill, one of us can cuddle closer and she usually settles right down. We're a bit worried about spoiling her and when is most appropriate to cut off the special treatment but I feel that the risk far outweighs letting the poor thing freeze in her crib. And yes, we're very careful :)

All in all though, Leila has been a perfect baby so far. I say so far because I'm terrified of jinxing myself and I read somewhere that colic usually starts up around two weeks. So far however, she only fusses when hungry or getting changed. She really doesn't like the cold wipes :) She seems to be growing a ton already too. Her last checkup was at eight days old and she was already back to birth weight. Not a chubby baby though, very long and lean. She still doesn't seem to be getting close to fitting into the 0-3 month stuff though. I only had one onesie that fit her when we got home because she was such a peanut. I actually had to brave the mall on the day after Thanksgiving to get a few outfits that would fit her. Some longsleeve stuff too for the cold nights. Unfortunately, they only had longsleeves in blue with a winter theme - see pics below. Snowmen and "Let it Snow" in Hawaii? Oh well.

I think one of the most surprising things about her so far is how much she looks like Tanner. There are a few pictures of the two of them that I swear you could shuffle and have a hard time guessing which pic is which kid. I find the whole thing fairly interesting because I've never seen a strong resemblance to either side of the family with Tanner. At first I thought that maybe the whole similarity was just a baby thing and I was confusing the newborn look with family resemblance but most people who see her in the presence of Tanner comment on it, and these are people who never knew Tanner as an infant. I guess that means she'll be a cutie too :)

I'll try to continue to keep up with this blog an at a minimum, get pictures up every so often. Have to say now though, with the impending holiday as well as upcoming visits for both sets of Grandparents, I'm not too optimistic about timely updates.

Thanks SO MUCH for all the great gifts and emails. I'll hopefully be getting back to you all very soon. Until then, here's a few pictures from the last few weeks...

Thanksgiving

2007-12-03T23:59:00.000-08:00

With so much to be thankful for this year, it was truly one of the best Thanksgivings ever. It was so nice to spend a day with just the four of us at home. Yooper made dinner which he kept telling me was messed up for this reason or that but I have to say that after 6+ months of continuous heartburn and reflux, it was probably the best tasting Thanksgiving dinner EVER. I could not believe how good food tasted without the after taste of Rolaids. I also have to admit, it was nice being spoiled a bit and have dinner cooked for me for once. Fairly low key day otherwise. Football, naps, and getting to know Leila. Perfect day.

Leila Kanoelehua Cleven

2007-12-03T21:57:00.000-08:00

By now, most of you know that on Tuesday, November 20th, we welcomed Leila into our family. I have gotten tons of email from all of you and am in the midst of getting back to you all but until then, some details...

Leila's middle name. A question asked by almost everybody so far. Kanoelehua (Ka-no-eh-le-who-ah) is a Hawaiian name that translates to "mist of Lehua". Lehua is the name of the flower of the Ohi'a tree and is native to the Hawaiian Islands. The Lehua is the official flower of the Big Island where they commonly grow on the slopes of the volcanoes there. See the picture below. We felt this was a very appropriate name for our little bundle in that we are fairly certain she took hold of life on our weekend trip to the big island for Tanner's birthday in March. It was a misty rainy weekend the entire time.

The Delivery. I'll spare you all the gory details and just stick to the basics, promise :) This time around we opted for inducment. My doctor gave me the option and since things seemed to be shaping up like last time (strong irregular contractions that had been escalating for about a week) I said YES, PLEASE! We signed up for Tuesday and after dropping Tanner off at school, checked in at the hospital and got the drip started. By lunchtime I opted for the epidural and let me just say - what on earth was I thinking not taking advantage of that the first time through. Early afternoon I actually caught a little nap. About 4ish, the nurse woke me up because Leila was having some issues with a decreasing heartbeat. Turned out I was 9cm and ready to go so the doc hurried over and at 4:47 she finally was born. So much easier that Tanner's birth. Actually, things went so smoothly that Dr Schutte said that we could home Wednesday evening.

Later that evening, David and Angelica stopped in with Tanner and he FINALLY got to meet his little sis. Talk about proud. He asked a million questions and really did not want to let her go but it was getting late. The next day was spent mostly just hanging out in the room waiting for our time to expire so we could get home. By 6pm we were headed for the door to finally bring our little girl home. All in all, a MUCH better experience than last time around.

Tanner's a Rock Star!

2007-12-03T21:41:00.000-08:00

For several months now Tanner has expressed an interest in guitar lessons. I finally went and did some research to see what was out there and found a guy in Kaneohe who teaches lessons at his own "School of Rock". Much like the movie, he has a bunch of kids starting at around Tanner's age up to adults that he teaches Guitar, Keyboard, Drums, and vocals to. It's hystercial to watch them play together and while most of the songs are just barely recognisable yet, the kids really have a blast. At the end of each session, Brian (the teacher) hosts a rock concert for the kids to show off their progress and ham it up a bit. Since Tanner started late in the last session, he only participated in vocals for one of the song's, Blue Sude Shoes, but he did really well and actually remembered most of the lyrics. Hopefully, for the next concert in February, he'll be on an instrument as well.

Hawaii vs. Fresno State

2007-12-03T21:32:00.000-08:00

With no professional sports teams in Hawaii, University of Hawaii sports is everything around here. Always helps to have a winning team too. Yooper decided at the beginning of the season that he had to bring Tanner to a game this year and bought tickets. The game he choose was going to be pretty late in pregnancy for me so he just got two tickets and made it a father-son evening. Tanner had a great time taking in the atmosphere and launching dozens of paper airplanes at the Fresno fans below from the upper deck. Not quite the same atmosphere as Family Night at Lambeau but certainly worth the trip to Aloha Stadium. Final score - Hawaii Warriors - 37, Fresno State - 30.

MONSOON!!!

2007-12-01T22:44:00.000-08:00

Wet weekend is one way to sum it up. It was quite nuts actually. We noticed on Friday night that there was a system moving in but really underestimated just how much rain would fall. In total, the storm dropped over a foot of rain at our house (Thanks to our super dorky but but totally fun weather station Yooper put up a few weeks ago). We even had real thunder and lighting most of the night both Saturday and Sunday nights. For those who aren't too familiar with Hawaiian weather, while it rains often and fairly plentifully on the the windward side, thunder and lighting NEVER happens. Until last night, I've heard one, very weak clap of thunder in the entire year here so far.

The best was waking up this morning and checking the news online. Here's my favorite story:

Loud thunder, heavy rain, blinding lightning reported

A rainstorm that spread over O'ahu began to intensify about 12:45 a.m.

Motorists on the H-1 Freeway said traffic was reduced to a crawl through Pearl City at about 12:20 a.m. as a result of extremely heavy downpours.

One motorist described the rain as "some of the heaviest I've ever been in."

Another newsroom caller reported "an incredible lightning show" taking place off O'ahu's Windward Coast at about 12:30 a.m.

Police received a call from someone in Central O'ahu about 11:45 p.m. complaining about loud booms, possibly from illegal aerial fireworks.

It was quickly determined the noise was being generated by loud thunder claps. (HonoluluAdvertiser.com)

You know thunderstorms are rare when people actually think that thunder is fireworks. Other stories included boulders crashing into homes in rock fall zones, power outages (very rare here). Kona enjoyed it though. The downspouts make excellent water fountains.

Trick-or-treating

2007-12-01T22:27:00.000-08:00

The big evening started off in a downpour. Lots of rain, even by windward standards. We were a little worried about the main event getting washed out but decided to get some pizza for dinner and wait it out. After a 45 minute rain delay, things seemed to clear up so we made a run for it. We walked to Olomana, the neighborhood across the street, for our trick-or-treating date with Alanna and her family. Alanna is in Tanner's class, a total cutie and really seems to have him smitten :) We managed to cover quite a bit of ground and it was nice to hang out with Alanna's parents and their friends. Pretty night actually. First time ever Trick-or-treating in a tank top and warm weather. Got to love that. The rain held off until just after the last house on the route. Perfect timing. I managed to snap off this pic of Tanner and Alanna just as the sprinkles started back up then Tanner and I sped home as fast as my waddling legs could go. :)

In the meantime, out of respect for our cold climate roots, Yooper fired up the big copper fire bowl in the driveway at home, lit the pumpkins, prepared a cooler of beer and sat outside to hand out candy. The fire REALLY confused the locals. Most common comment was "what are you cooking?" He got a good laugh from the confusion. His favorite was a couple who came by with their son.

Kid - Why do you have a fire?
Yooper - Because where I grew up, you needed snow boots to trick-or-treat.
Mom - YES! Exactly! Me too!

Apparently they then stuck around for some small talk of colder times before pressing on. Funny stuff. Successful evening overall. TONS of candy and happy kids.

Crazy Hair Day

2007-12-01T22:23:00.000-08:00

Halloween at Maunawili Elementary was crazy hair day. I think they were trying to avoid an awkward day of unruly costumes. Probably wise thinking. Anyway, Tanner decided he wanted a mohawk but his hair was both too long and too fine to support the doo. This was the best I could do with what I had available. Pretty silly but he was okay with it and it actually lasted the day much to my amazement.

Carving Pumpkins

2007-12-01T22:17:00.001-08:00

As always, pumpkin carving was far more intense in our house than most. Yooper simply can't be satisfied with the standard smiley face or scary grimace in a pumpkin. It's got to be much more complicated than that. Considering it's about as artistic as he gets, I let him go nuts. This year wasn't quite the completely overboard all night affair given that we were carving on a Tuesday night. He was only up until midnight. :)

Eagle Ray

2007-12-01T22:13:00.000-08:00

I finally managed to get some decent shots of a Spotted Eagle Ray out at the island. Usually they spook very easily and by the time I manage to fish out my camera, they are long gone. This guy either didn't see me or is braver than most. They are about two feet from wing tip to wing tip and are incredibly graceful as with most rays. Isn't he cute?

Blue Angels

2007-12-01T22:10:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, the Blue Angles made an appearance here on Oahu. Super cool because they were at the Marine base here in Kaneohe which meant all practices and shows were right over our house. Tanner said that the whole school came pouring outside during their first fly over because of the noise. Anyone who has been to an air show of this sort knows exactly what I'm talking about. This was my first time so I was fairly surprised at the tricks, the noise, and the overall spectacle of it all.

Better yet for me was my new camera which was an early Christmas gift from my mom. Finally have a digital SLR to take some REALLY nice pictures with. For the show I was set it on "Sports Mode" with continuous shooting. Got some awesome shots :)

Another Newfie Picnic at Magnum's

2007-11-04T22:41:00.000-08:00

Pretty much the same routine as last time although our mutt was much better behaved this time. That definitely made it a good day. The afternoon was nice. A swim in the ocean for the dogs, a talk on animal first aid, and a pot luck with tons of good food. I felt a bit bad for leaving early but the Packer Game was a priority. Big surprise. I'll try and get some pics of the house next time.

Sunday afternoon at Lanikai Beach

2007-11-04T22:37:00.001-08:00

112 Reasons to go on Maternity leave ASAP...

2007-11-04T22:29:00.000-08:00

They decided the parking lot out at Coconut island needed a COMPLETE replacement which means no parking for anyone. So now, everyone is required to park at the Mall, take a shuttle to the gate on Lilipuna Rd., walk down 112 stairs, then out to the end of the pier for the boat ride to the lighthouse on Coconut Island. Next for me is the half mile hike from the lighthouse to the Point lab. I've decided that getting to work is no longer a commute, it's an expedition. That's the easy part though. Try that in reverse when you're going UP 112 stairs 8+ months pregnant.

Weekend in Kaua'i

2007-08-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

One of the wonderful things about living in Hawaii is the insane amount of state holidays. Good for Tanner and I but bad for Yooper since he never gets them off with us. Last Friday was one of those days but this time it also happened that Yooper had to go to Kauai for a project at the Marriott. This meant a free room at a four star resort so Tanner and I were not going to miss that.

We flew in Thursday night. Friday was mostly spent by the pool with absolutely nothing else to do which was wonderful by me. I know that Kauai is the "Garden Isle" and all but I'm not going to leave a pool like that if I don't have to. Sorry. We'll see the island in earnest after the Super Ferry starts service and we can bring our own vehicle, dog, bikes, kid stuff, and camping equipment with us AND Yooper can come with us.

Yooper was hopelessly stuck in the construction trailer for most of Friday but a broken drill meant he got Saturday off after all. Our flight did not leave until after dinner so another full day at the pool for us :)

Home Improvement

2007-08-22T13:43:00.000-07:00

Tanner's gonna kill me one day for this :)

Windy's Luau

2007-08-22T13:05:00.000-07:00

We were recently invited to our first local party. It was a luau for Ku'ulei's daughter Windy who just wrapped up her PhD in Hawaiian Archeology from University of Hawaii.

As I said in earlier posts, the locals here really take graduation seriously. There was live music, a Chinese dragon dance, a balloon lady and caricature artist, a slide show, and TONS of Hawaiian and other local food. The most impressive part was the cake Ku'ulei made to look like a archaeological dig complete with terraced rock walls. Very Hawaiian :)

I think Ku'ulei invited all of Coconut island so there were plenty of people to talk to and Yooper finally got a chance to meet everybody so that was nice. I think there were twice as many people as our wedding :)

Finally Catching Up!!!

2007-08-05T01:17:00.000-07:00

Yes I know, the blog has been neglected for ages. It’s hard to motivate to update when you know how much you have to cover. Just keep scrolling though. This should pretty much cover the entire three month gap in a nut shell. I'll try to keep up better but no promises. Better late than never though right? You’ll catch up eventually...

Ultrasound

2007-08-05T01:12:00.001-07:00

We got to have another ultrasound today. Super high res one with the 3D shots too. I love it when you get a peak inside :)

The big surprise was that instead of the standard one or two prints they send you home with, we got a whole roll of prints AND a CD of digital images to go home with. Here she is...

35W Collapse

2007-08-05T01:04:00.000-07:00

As the entire country knows by now, the 35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed into the Mississippi this week. This really hits home for Yooper and I on SO many levels. Knowing that I would have been at work all night with the rest of the GIS team at Minneapolis and quite possibly in the Emergency Operations Center alongside the government officials and other emergency coordinators, Yooper being a Civil Engineer and understanding too well the engineering and funding deficiencies faced by Minnesota's roads, and most of all, the friends we left there and fearing for all their safety. I watched CNN long into the night on Wednesday and was fairly thankful that Tanner was playing outside with the neighbors and Yooper was at a work function as the news unfolded considering the puddle of tears I became. Call it hormones or whatever (yes, I'm sure that factored in :) ) but the feeling of helplessness was so strong. It was such an eerie feeling watching the news conferences and seeing people you worked with and knew on CNN. Knowing that the MECC (Minneapolis Emergency Communications Center) had transformed into a war room of sorts and having been a small (okay, very small) part of the planning for such a disaster, it was just so surreal to take in from 4000 miles away.

Luckily, so far no one we know was on the bridge at the time however we heard from Josh yesterday that he drove under the bridge on West River Parkway less than 10 minutes before the collapse. It also sounds like most people who work or live in or around downtown know someone who had either just crossed the bridge or was about to cross the bridge. A close call felt by all and no doubt more than tragic for others.

While living there, the bridge was not one that I crossed often, maybe once or twice a month. Usually on the way north to go camping or perhaps to go shopping in Roseville for something I couldn't buy on the south end of town. I drove under this bridge on the parkway far more often. It was the scenic route home on the days I drove instead of taking the train. I always thought it was so neat driving down along the rivers edge with the bridges so far overhead. Bridges always are so much more beautiful from below. The arches and trusses and the weird echoes of the traffic above. There's a lot you don't see from above.

The parkway underneath the bridge is gorgeous through every season in Minneapolis. My favorite days (oddly enough now that I live in Hawaii) were one or two days a season that defined that season perfectly. Winter was the mornings that you'd get that thick heavy sloppy snow that sticks to everything and each tree limb, street sign, and blade of grass was perfectly outlined with a layer of pure white. Spring was the first truly warm day when the sidewalks and trails along the parkway would erupt with all the bikers, runners, hikers, rollerbladers, and moms with strollers who where so sick with cabin fever that had to soak up as much sunshine and warmth as possible. Summer was the days that the temperature and humidity were just perfect (hard to come by in the Midwest) on a Friday afternoon with the weekend ahead and again, the joyful mood that would radiate from everyone on the street. Fall was the day, of course, when the fall colors were so brilliant all you can think about was taking in as much as possible because you'd have to wait an entire year to catch another day so beautiful. I do miss all of that. Not to say that I regret the decision to move one bit. The wonderful thing about Hawaii is that days with that much beauty are far more common. The mountains and the ocean and all the wonderful creatures are incredible everyday but it is a different kind of beauty. There will always be a part of my heart that belongs to the seasons in the Midwest and perhaps someday (a long long time from now!!!!) we will return. For now we are taking in as much here as possible but will continue to think of our friends back in the twin cities. I think all of you know our hearts go out to you and we think of you constantly. Thanks to you guys who send out emails to let us know you were okay. Just one of those events that gets you all warm and sentimental inside and reminds you how thankful you are for what you have.

Okay, that's all the cheesiness you have to endure but I had to say it okay? :)

Love you guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Day of Kindergarten

2007-08-05T01:00:00.001-07:00

Today was Tanner's first day of kindergarten. After a week of stalling with parent orientation, placement testing and waiting for classroom assignments, today he FINALLY had his first day. He was very excited and seemed fairly confused as to what the major delay was with my leaving once we got there. I finally relented to the “okay got out already” vibe and left him on his own. Have to say it was far different than the first day of preschool. Not sure if it was due to him being a little older or just sensing the fact that all the kids were new to each other and on level ground but he was very brave, not at all clingy and just generally excited to get on with it already :)

Hike to Makapu'u Lighthouse

2007-08-05T00:36:00.001-07:00

The weekend after we returned from our big trip, the weather was a bit lousy so we opted against a trip to the beach and decided to finally do the lighthouse hike. I was pretty proud of myself all in all. The vertical ascent is about 500 feet and the trail is 3 miles round trip. Not bad for an out of shape pregnant lady still coughing up a lung from the cold all three of us got prior to the trip. And wouldn't you know it, as soon as we reached the top, the clouds parted and it was a gorgeous day. Thankfully the sun waited until then because the trip back down the hill was HOT!

Take note of the picture of the tree towards the end. The entire tree is actually a "pencil plant" which Lisa Sellers and Lisa Schmaltz used to have as house plants. We tried one too but without a super bright awesome south window, these plants are nearly impossible in the Midwest. When I saw the tree, which was actually a huge hedge of trees, I couldn't believe how huge and dense it was. Kinda funny how so much of the normal foliage here is the same stuff I used to kill as houseplants :)

Big News!!!!

2007-08-05T00:34:00.000-07:00

Okay, I think most of the world now knows the big secret by now but for those of you who we didn't get a chance to see in Michigan or are out of the gossip loop, Tanner is finally going to be a big brother. He's very excited for his little sister due Thanksgiving Day. Don't feel too left out if your one of those who hasn’t heard. Even the grandparents were in the dark until we got to Michigan and finally spilled the beans. It's amazing how easy it is to keep a secret when you're thousands of miles and an ocean away :)

Michigan Adventure

2007-08-05T00:22:00.000-07:00

What an adventure it was. A full day at a water park with Tanner, his cousin Brett, as well as Grandma & Grandpa, Aunt Timarie and Yooper & I. Kind of disappointing for me in that pregnant people can't go on so many of the cool slides but it also gave me a bit of an excuse to not go on many of the rides I really don't care much for :) Either way, the kids had a ball and were super bummed to leave but we were all working up quite an appetite and there was a 2 1/2 hours drive back ahead of us too.

Sorry for the lack of pictures but electronics and water park don't go together too well :)

Slip N Slide!

2007-08-04T21:15:00.000-07:00

Remember this???

Glassblowing at Louie's

2007-08-04T21:11:00.000-07:00

While in Davison, we made sure to make a stop by Louie's who was gracious enough to give Tanner an up close and personal glassblowing demonstration with his own T-Rex pendant to keep. Tanner was of course mesmerized to say the least and a dip in the pool was the icing on the cake. Thanks Louie!!!!

Matt & Susan's Wedding

2007-08-04T21:05:00.000-07:00

Book ending the backend of the trip to Michigan was Matt and Susan's wedding. This was our chance for visiting with the Wilson clan, catching up on their family gossip and of course seeing how the great-grand-munchkins have sprouted since we last saw them all. The night seemed to fly by, mostly due to Tanner's finally having hitting a bit of a wall with new faces and cordial visiting, but before we knew it, the party had emptied and I felt awful about not having had a chance to visit with more family. Amazing how time flies, better luck next time I guess.

Houghton

2007-08-04T20:36:00.001-07:00

There's not a ton one can say about Houghton that those who know it don't already know and those that don't never really will. As always it was an awesome visit with friends that I miss dearly and see far too few of.

The three days consisted of many great conversations, lots of laughter and tons of kids. I've always wondered what it was going to be like once the rest of our friends started having kids of their own and we could all go on a trip together. I got my answer on this trip and then some :)

The trip included Bader's fireworks at Agate beach, Chutes and Ladders, Hancock Beach, Copper Harbor fireworks, Lunch at the DT, a girls night at the Shelden Ave bars, Jeep rides on the logging trails, and tons and tons of laughing, talking, and even a little crying on my part (long story).

Car Race!

2007-08-04T15:28:00.001-07:00

Tanner had to have a car racing buddy with his new toys bought but Buma at the Hospital gift shop only Grandpa Eric was not satisifed with available track options. They decided to build their own...

Aunt Lisa's House on Sunday

2007-08-04T15:11:00.001-07:00

On Sunday after the party, Aunt Lisa had a bit of an impromptu barbeque due to the Monday departure of the Chicago clan, all of whom were staying at her house. It was nice to get in some additional chat time with a few of the people I missed the day before. Besides, who can refuse a day at Silver Lake on the floating Rolls Royce of a pontoon and the always stellar menu of the Seller’s household. Tanner was very stoked to get his first SeaDoo ride thanks to Bobby.

40-60-80 Party

2007-08-04T14:21:00.000-07:00

One of the main reasons we made the trip back to the mainland this summer was for the big birthday party in honor of my Aunt Lisa (40) my Mom (60) and my Grandma (80) all hitting milestone birthdays in 2007. It was a nice way to see all the Casalou's together in addition to the Chicago contingent as well as some family friends I haven't crossed paths with in years. The festivities were at Uncle Steve's freshly landscaped backyard thanks to some backbreaking labor from Aunt Susie. I loved the gardens although as I'm sure you can see from the pictures, the pool was the biggest hit with the munchkins.

Lanikai Beach

2007-08-04T14:18:00.001-07:00

Another day at the beach I guess however the weather was near perfect (not very common on the windward coast) and Dave took some great pics of the day definitely worth stealing. Yes, I did not take either of these as my current camera is no where near this cool…

Preschool Graduation

2007-08-04T02:40:00.001-07:00

Graduation is considered a HUGE deal here but even so, it was a bit of a surprise to us when the program turned out to be such a huge production followed by so much celebration. Really, it was adorable. Each student took their turn at center stage while the schools director introduced them and said what their favorite part of school is, what they want to be when they grow up and what elementary school they were going to for Kindergarten. Cute!

The real surprise was afterward. I had a little heads up from Ku’ulei to get a lei for each of his teachers and another from Bobby the boat driver to get a candy lei for Tanner but did not anticipate the amount of leis and gifts from the other students for Tanner. You would think that after Christmas, Easter, Valentines, etc., I would have learned my lesson…

Day at the North Shore

2007-08-04T02:23:00.000-07:00

We don’t have a ton of friends on this island yet so it’s nice to spend time with the ones we have. This was a Saturday afternoon a while back complete with beach time, BBQ, and spontaneous puppy adoption. No we didn’t get another dog but Dawn, Billy, and the girls did and isn’t he a cutie?

Really Pretty Moth

2007-08-04T02:14:00.000-07:00

Definitely ducked when this guy dive bombed my head on the way into the house but once it landed, I couldn’t help but get a pic. Scale is difficult from this picture but I’d say it was 4+ inches across minimum. Isn’t it stunning?

Camping at Kualoa

2007-05-08T19:04:00.000-07:00

Our first camping trip since getting here. Must say that it was loads different that our camping on the mainland. Aside from the fact that we're back in a tent for the first time since Tanner's birth, the campgrounds aren't exactly what we were used too. The main difference is there is no charge for a site, you just have to go to city hall and get a permit. On the Leeward side on the island this accessibility leads to gigantic homeless camps. On the windward side, it's only at certain campgrounds but you have to know which ones are safe. Lucky for us, Liz and company had scoped things out long before we got here but all the same, the people in the next site over where a bit sketched out for my taste.

All in all, we had a ton of fun. Nothing says Cinco de Mayo like smores and Corona. It was nice to hang out with a group and laugh at some silly antics. Hanging next to the beach and waves all night was nice too. Tanner declared at the end of it that he was "NOT happy with us! One night was not enough! Next time, we are going for seven nights!" Guess that means he had a good time :)

Poor Kona

2007-05-08T18:57:00.000-07:00

So Kona had a very special appointment with the vet two weeks ago that left him a bit less of a man than when he got there. Within a few days, his over attention to his wound earned him the lampshade. Directv anyone?

Nugget's Arrival

2007-05-03T19:05:00.000-07:00

Nugget made her journey out to the islands yesterday. Luckily for her, the trip went far smoother than Kona's journey out. I think she was less than thrilled to see Kona but reverted back to old habits almost immediately parking her butt right on Yooper's pillow - her former favorite sleeping spot. I think she does it to push his buttons. I can just see the little kitty smirk when he gets all huffy Yooper style about waking up to a fluffball in his face.

I was a little worried about how she'd adjust but now I'm convinced, she'll be just fine :)

Interesting place to catch some rays...

2007-05-03T19:01:00.000-07:00

I spied this little guy on Yooper's truck when I was doing some weeding...

Newfie picnic at Magnum's place.

2007-05-03T18:53:00.000-07:00

Last sunday we went to a picnic with the Newfie Club. The picnic had a very unique location, it was at the same estate used to film Magnum PI. Kind of sad though. The estate really shows some serious neglect. There were tarps on the house, broken and hanging copper gutters, peeling paint, etc. I didn't take any pictures of that stuff because I couldn't bear it. Yooper and I were actually pretty sad leaving the place because it was so apparent how amazing it was back in the day. The architecture and site itself were incredible.

Out front the beach was great as there was a large protected "turtle pond" that created an excellent breakwall. When we were there, the tide was right about knee level which was perfect for dogs and kids alike. Tanner certainly approved.

Fun day over all. Our dog was the best looking, in my opinion, and the worst behaved, in everyone's opinion. I think his neuter last Thursday should take care of most that though. Really cute seeing that many huge dogs together. Kona still has a bit of growing to do though.

Helping daddy

2007-05-03T18:46:00.000-07:00

Yooper has been staining and sanding and applying polyurethane for months now to all the new "naked" furniture we bought when we moved in. Good thing we grabbed that extra sander from Grandpa Don's place. Here's Tanner helping out with the action.

Kona at the beach

2007-05-03T18:38:00.000-07:00

Kona has turned into quite the swimmer. His absolutely lives for his weekends at the beach. As soon as he sees the swim suits go on he begins to follow us around the house right on our heals. Once the beach bag and keys are in hand, he's already pacing and barking at the front door. About a mile from the beach begins the whimper coming from the back seat. Better hope there's no red lights otherwise the pacing and whimpering becomes panicked. By the time we get there, it's a challenge to hold him back the whole way to the beach.

Swim Class

2007-05-03T18:24:00.000-07:00

Tanner is now in his second round of YMCA swim classes. He's definitely getting better. At this point he doesn't seem to be getting very far skill-wise but his confidence level has improved a ton. He's much more confident in the ocean too. He still doesn't like the large surf days but when things are calmer, he's not glued to daddy arm anymore so that's a big step.

Easter egg hunt!

2007-05-03T18:12:00.000-07:00

The neighborhood park by our house hosts an annual easter egg hunt for the munchkins. Tanner got some last minute coaching from dad and took off running so fast he fell right on his keester. He did manage to get quite a few eggs but was pretty disappointed when he saw the big haul the kids next door got. He said he'll do better next year though.

Marine Mammals!

2007-04-30T20:56:00.000-07:00

There is a large floating cage system just offshore of Coconut Island that is home to the Marine Mammal program. Because it is not connected to the island, it's not really a place that you can sneak by and peak at. The research done on these animals has something to do with sonar, that's about all I know.

Well, recently they had a an open house to introduce the new baby dolphin born earlier this year. Super cute little guy. Family's were invited so Tanner and I went and were joined by Liz's mom and dad, Stephanie and Jim since they happened to be in town.

The black thing with the white stuff on his back is a False Killer Whale and the white stuff is Desonex to guard against sunburn. Apparently this guy spends too much of his time close to the surface. More than he would in the wild anyway and the UV leads to skin cracking. He seemed jealous of all the attention the baby and the mom were getting.

Another B-day Party for Tanner

2007-04-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

This one was at the zoo for a boy in Tanner's class named Kalel. I was hoping the troop would make it to a few of the animals I missed with the school field trip but it was a pretty short loop past a few of the animals close to the party tent so no luck. One of these days...

Still a nice morning though. The weather was great and the kids were super cute.

Kona's Playdate

2007-04-30T20:24:00.000-07:00

We recently had a doggie playdate with a couple we met at the Newfie gathering in December. We met at Lanikai park so the Kona and Huxley could run a bit and the Noah and Tanner could play on the super nice playset they have there. Little Noah was so cute feeding the boys treats. Pretty fearless for 2 yrs old :)

The view from my desk

2007-03-21T19:18:00.000-07:00

So working at a place like Coconut Island means many strange things happen on a weekly if not daily basis. One of my favorites are the days that the Hono Kai makes the tour around the island and past the window next to my desk with a boat full of kids on a field trip. They're literally feet from me as they cruise by. I always stop to wave...

Jenn & Justin's Visit

2007-03-21T18:34:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we got our latest vacationing visitors. Just a brief visit though as Justin and Jenn were wrapping up a week long trip to Maui with Justin's family. They were still kind enough to make a one night stop over on Oahu with us on their way back.

One of the nice things about visitors is actually having the excuse to do touristy activities in the place you live. This visit included standard (but necessary) the circle island tour up the Windward side, across the North Shore and back down the middle. The stop at Sharks Cove was entertaining as it was low tide and there where a million crabs and snails to catch. Hermit crabs are too cute with their beady little blue eyes and assortment of shells. My favorite little guy was as Justin put it "living well beyond his means" because he was this little thing in a giant shell that he couldn't seem to get off the sand. Got a good chuckle from that poor guy. Must be a tough real estate market though because every shell we picked up had something in it. Tough neighborhood.

This trip to the North Shore we FINALLY got to stop at Matsumoto's for the famous shave ice. Okay, so you can get shave ice at several place across the island but this place is widely regarded as THE place to get it. Usually the line is out the door and around the corner but a combination of kinda rainy weather and right before closing meant that we finally got to go! Love that stuff. Kinda like a snow cone but MUCH better. Later that evening, we had dinner at Kona Brewing Co., Yooper's favorite but I don't think it's the food :)

Saturday we had a bit of time before their flight so after dropping their luggage off at the airport we went to Pearl Harbor. Despite the history and the grave like atmosphere of the place it was interesting. Actually learned a thing or two which really wasn't that hard given I have absolutely no retention for historical facts. My main impression of the place though was how sad it was that the Park Service has let the place get so run down. The seats in the theater had were badly worn. The film was very old dated and vintage, not in a good way. The site and general attractions were poorly laid out, etc. Such a huge attraction and such an important site in US history should have a little more elegance and attention to detail. I'm told the difficulty has to do with funding and the fact that the site is sinking into the harbor. I have to believe that an entrance fee, which there wasn't one, and a little site remediation would take care of most of that but what do I know?

One interesting note though. The USS Arizona is STILL after 45 years, leaking oil. You can actually look over the side at the memorial and see huge globules of black oil rising to the surface and disappearing into a rainbow haze on the water's surface. Kinda eerie.

Anyway, fun visit. It's great living somewhere that people actually spend vacation time at to come see you. So who's next?

Kona at the Beach

2007-03-21T18:21:00.000-07:00

I had a request for some pictures of Kona from my mom. These got buried in a hidden folder on my camera a while back but I finally unearthed them today. I don't have any of him swimming because I'm usually trying to avoid getting wet, especially with the camera in hand and he's usually neck deep and a ways out with Yooper anyway.

Just look at that sandy drooly mess. Isn't he cute?

Tanner & Liz's Party

2007-03-21T17:34:00.000-07:00

Instead of the standard full on kid bash this year, we somehow managed to talk Tanner into having a joint party with Liz. That worked out well for us because I wasn't really comfortable with inviting a bunch of kids from his class before he had the opportunity to go to a few other parties. I just haven't figured out the local protocol for that stuff yet.

Anyway, we had Dave & Liz, as well as several of our new friends in attendance. The funniest event of the evening had to be the cake. Apparently, everyone forgot that the party was a DUAL birthday party and failed to read "Happy Birthday Tanner & Liz" on the cake because pretty much everyone, at individual times, asked me if I was aware Tanner was only five at the sight of 34 candles on the cake. Yes I know! 5 for Tanner, 28 for LIZ, and one for good luck. I did get a good laugh out of the confused concern for my sanity though :)

Once we got that all sorted out and the candles lit, the next concern was where's Tanner? Turns out he had snuck to his bedroom to put on his Jedi costume in honor of the Star Wars cake. Really funny. So we sang Happy birthday and blew out the cake (thank god, it was getting super hot and smoky).

As I ran to the kitchen to grab the plates and forks I hear everyone over by the cake start laughing slowly at first and then a bit harder. Soon I realize that Tanner had pulled the Darth Vader head off the cake, licked all the frosting, then put it back on the cake, repeat. We're not just talking double dip but more like triple or quadruple. Luckily, the area was contained and our guest were much more amused than offended. Yuk.

Tanner's Birthday Trip to the Volcano

2007-03-07T17:24:00.000-08:00

Ever since we decided to move here, I promised Tanner that we'd take him to see a real volcano for his birthday. At first he didn't know if this was a good idea or not because the lava might get him but once we assured him that Kilauea is a gentle volcano and the scientists are very good at keeping track of exactly where the lave is flowing, he decided we could go after all.

Friday afternoon we flew into Hilo, got our rental car, some groceries, and headed off to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. We rented a cabin for the weekend in one of the campgrounds which was great because we haven't been camping for ages. It was rustic style with a bunk bed and a double bed and that was it. More of a shelter than a cabin. Tanner was excited because he finally got to sleep in the top bunk! It was nice to be camping but difficult in that many of the things we would have liked to have had with us had to be left behind because we flew there. We made due though after all, it was only two nights.

Saturday morning we got up early, ate some breakfast, and hit the park. Tanner was a little too underwhelmed for his dad's liking but I think that had more to do with the weather. It was quite dreary and drizzled on and off for the entire day. He did manage to perk up quite a bit for Thurston Lava Tube though. He was all smiles walking through the dripping cave. Not sure that he quite got the geology behind it but the fact he got to walk through a cave was VERY cool.

By evening, it was time to drive out to the end of Chain of Craters road and begin our hike out for the evening lava viewing. It's really the only time you can see the lava itself without going on a super long hike (2-3 miles, 5+ hours, one-way) across the lava flows, something we weren't too interested in trying with a five year old. The main viewing area still gets you out of your car and across a bit of lava though and after the sun goes down, it's quite easy to see the flows coming over the pali (cliff\hillside) and dripping into the ocean in the distance. That is if you're not in a torrential downpour.

Yep, unfortunately, our weather for the main event was abysmal. We had thought that once we descended a bit in elevation (the majority of the park is at the top of the mountain at approx 4000ft) and got down to sea level, the weather would clear a bit. Boy were we wrong. It got much, much worse. We had our rain gear though and were pretty layered up so we decided to go for it. In between squalls we did see lava and once we got all the way out to the viewing area we could see several flows entering the ocean. Unfortunately I have no pictures of that for fear of getting my camera drenched. After 30 minutes or so of hoping things would let up enough to stay a little longer and get a better view, we finally threw in the towel. Yooper was the most disappointed. He had been watching eruption reports for weeks and was really jazzed about the recent activity because it was so much closer than our trip last year. I had to remind him that we DO live here now and we can and will be back again.

Sunday was fairly disappointing too when we awoke to cloud free blue skies. Oh well, better luck next time. We loaded up our sopping wet cloths, took one last run through Thurston lava tube (Tanner's favorite part of the trip) and headed to the airport. Better luck next time I guess.

Nene's!

Overlooking the main cater in Kilauea Caldera

Local offerings to Pele, the Goddess of Fire

Here comes the rain again

The end of Chain of Craters Road covered in lava in2003. Wish we had seen that.

In the lobby of the Volcano House hotel.

In Thurston Lava tube!!!

Birthday party

2007-03-07T16:00:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the trip to the zoo the previous day, I was able to finally meet and chat with a few of the other moms in Tanner's class. This even led to a birthday part invite for the next day. I was a little bummed because I knew that meant I would miss the Newfoundland Club picnic at the park down the street but glad that Tanner would finally be able to participate at a classmates birthday party.

The event was held at Chuck E Cheese's which was CHAOS. For those of you who didn't know or may not remember, my first job ever was actually at Chuck E Cheese. Thankfully those days are long gone because I'm quite certain I'd be completely postal by now otherwise. Anyway, it was Tanner's first time there which really showed. He had no idea how to play skeeball - half the balls ended up in the lane to the right, and he lost air hockey in a big way. We'll have to work on that I guess...

Field Trip to Honolulu Zoo

2007-03-07T14:52:00.000-08:00

My first field trip as a chaperon. Too cute really. I got to wander the zoo all morning with the "sea of green" and wrangle preschoolers. I'll have to go back when there's only one munchkin to keep track of though because I know I missed most of it :)

Emergency Remodel Update

2007-02-18T23:29:00.000-08:00

Yep, the carpet was toast. There goes more money out the door. Oh well. Not to say that I was really fond of the carpet but I certainly was willing to live with it for a bit while we worked on other things.

So the weekend began with finishing emptying out the bedrooms and ripping out the carpet. It was really starting to stink by that point. The problem wasn't exactly the carpet, it was the padding underneath it. Yuk. It was that musty locker room smell. The good news it that once we got it all out of the house and gave the lovely 70's retro tile work that had been hidden beneath a good mopping, the smell was completely gone.

Today started with a fresh coat of paint in our room. This was especially exciting for me since I HATED the white walls in there. We decided that if everything was out and the floor was about to be redone, why wait? Two coats later it was on to installing the new floor. We decided to go with laminate. Boring I know, but after the expenses of the last week, we were really looking for something reasonably priced.

So long story short, we're not quite done with our room, the extra bedroom has not even been started and the dining room is jam packed with all the stuff from the two bedrooms. Did I mention our mattress in on the living room floor? One thing I will say though is that watching the giant HDTV from bed is actually kinda cool :)

At long last

2007-02-16T18:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I know by now most of you are thinking, nice start but what gives? What happened to this blog anyway? It's been over a month since anything! SLACKER!!!!!

Very true but I have a long string of excuses that start with having been very lazy in the beginning to very busy in the middle to a complete lack of internet access most recently. I have actually been writing the occasional entry but usually get interrupted somewhere along the way and just save it off for later. The many posts that follow are what I had been trying in one form or another to get out to you guys all along.

All in all I apologize for having neglected those who care enough to continue to check this thing from time to time and I truly hope that today’s over-abundance of backlogged posts makes up for my slacker-ness at least in part. SORRY :(

The past 48

2007-02-16T18:20:00.000-08:00

Well, Mom always said when it rains it pours. Just when things were supposed to calm down following two and a half weeks of constant company and travel, our world gets crazy again. In the last two days, we have had two majorly expensive, completely irritating, and totally depressing things happen…

First our fridge completely died requiring a total replacement and loss of most of the contents. I was not completely taken out by this because the silver lining was that in the midst of finding a replacement I got to spend Valentines lunch with Yooper and had an hour or so of shopping by myself at Ala Moana, something I had been craving since our arrival here. Found a great deal but still over $1K poorer than when I woke up in the morning once you throw in the chest freezer that saved a few bags worth of groceries.

Then there was yesterday. Tanner and I came home to a river of water flowing down the driveway. I ran into the house to have my worst fears come true. Kona had chewed through the water supply line on the toilet in the bathroom where we lock him up during the day. Almost the entire back half of the house was under water, over an inch deep in some areas. I immediately hit the shutoff but the damage had been done. By the time we stopped the shopvac last night, we pulled out well over 100 gallons of water and the place is still pretty soupy in areas. There’s no telling how long the water was flowing but it had to be hours.

Our bedroom and the extra bedroom took the worst of it. Somehow Tanner’s room was completely unscathed. Yooper was pretty quick to cut some blocks to get our bedroom furniture up off the floor but we’re pretty sure the carpet in both rooms is a loss. We managed to empty most of each room into the dining room and set up our mattress in the living room. We’re actually pretty lucky that the house is built directly on slab and the single wall construction means there was no drywall to damage. Had this happened in Minneapolis, we’d probably had one heck of an insurance claim to file today.

I imagine tonight and the rest of the weekend is going to be damage control. I really hope this isn’t as expensive as I fear it could be. And No, I didn't take any pictures.

Trip to Maui

2007-02-16T17:44:00.000-08:00

Well, just before we actually came clean with our master plan of moving here, Aren's parents were already in the midst of planning a trip to Maui with Pearl, Janet & Joe, and Tim & Kathleen. They finally arrived in the islands late last week and we managed to meet up with them over the weekend for a quick visit.

Saturday began with an ocean side renewal of vows of Tim and Kathleen in celebration of their 10th anniversary. It was an absolutely beautiful day with very clear views of Molokai and Lanai. There were even several whales surfacing in the background. Picture perfect.

After the ceremony, we drove into Lahaina for some shopping and lunch. I know I had been there as a kid with Amma & Bopp but I have little memory of anything but the Old Banyan Tree. It's gigantic. The thing about banyan trees is that as they grow they send out long draping roots off of the branches. If these roots are so lucky to establish contact with the ground beneath, they soon bury deep, become rigid and essentially become a new, additional trunk for the tree. This goes on and on until you have a tree like the one in Lahaina that spans the entire block. It's not the kind of tree you want in your yard because the rooting can be quite destructive to foundations but I LOVE looking at them. Very "Scooby-Doo". Tanner calls the hanging roots Monkey Swingers because they remind him of one of the opening scenes in the Disney movie Dinosaur.

Saturday evening the whole group of us went to our (Aren, Tanner & I) first official Luau since moving here. Again, I went to one as a kid with Amma & Bopp in Maui. My memories of that even are again a little foggy. I remember the unwrapping of the pig in the imu pit. I did not like the smell but for some reason took and entire roll of pictures thoroughly documenting the whole process. I also remember Aunt Lisa bugging to make me eat the poi. Yuk. Let's just say it's an acquired taste and I knew enough to stay away from it this time around. The luau was fun though. Tanner REALLY liked it. Not sure if the scantily clad ladies with the coconut bras were part of that but he was dancing around the whole time all the same. I liked the fact that he finally got a chance to see some of the native culture here even if it was a tad cheesed up for the sake of the tourists.

Sunday brought a crack of dawn rainforest & waterfall hike. Have to admit that I was less than thrilled with the 6:30am wakeup call and lack of sufficient caffeination during the ride out but the hike itself was actually much more fun than I had anticipated. I will say that I am very impressed with the monkey like behavior and mountain goat skills of the group as a whole. There were several boulders, large roots, and a vertical cliff at the end that even I didn't try. Nice work Wilson\Moraska\Cleven’s :)

After the completion of the hike, we continued down the road to finish the entire loop around the West Maui Mountains. The road is very precarious in places with single lane passes and questionable bridges but a beautiful drive. After lunch and a bit of pool time for the munchkin, we hopped our plane back to Oahu. On the drive back from the airport, Aren and I were discussing how strange it still feels to be "coming home" to Oahu. I imagine that will take a while...

Tim & Kathleen

Hanging from the Monkey Swinger

Tucked in amongst the roots

Crawling across the long horizontal branches

My monkeys :)

Enjoying the Luau

Descending the trail towards the waterfalls

The whole group

Finished! He makes it!

Relaxing after the hike

Mom & Eric's Visit

2007-02-16T17:26:00.000-08:00

The second official visitors to our new home were my mom and Eric. I guess they weren't our guests in the traditional sense since they stayed at an oceanfront rental house about 30 minutes away from our place but they were here to see us so it still counts. They arrived Friday, the day after Tanner and I got back from the Molokai trip so no time to tidy the house or complete any of the pre-parental-visit chores I usually do.

Saturday after they had managed to recover a bit from the jet lag of their terrible trip the day before, Tanner and I met them at their place and proceeded northward along the windward side of the island for the standard tour. We stopped at Turtle Bay for snacks and drinks, we got out at Pipeline to try and see some surfing, we watched the giant waves pound into Sharks Cove higher and more powerful than I had witnessed previously, and we pulled off at the top of the hill on the east side of Waimea Bay to finally catch a couple of surfers actually ride a few. The conclusion of the expedition was a stop at our new house for a tour.

Even though their initial tour of the house was in less than perfect state, it was VERY clean & tidy on Sunday for our Super Bowl Party. The Super Bowl party was fun because it was great to see that our small circle of friends is beginning to grow a bit. It was also fun because Aren got to show off his new gigantic TV. It was nice that Mom and Eric also got the opportunity to meet everybody.

Tuesday began with a drive to Waikiki where Tanner, Mom, Eric, and I went on the Atlantis Sub ride. Very cool. We actually completely lucked out with amazing visibility. Saw tons of fish, turtles, and even a few sharks. Tanner was thrilled of course. He was also thrilled to be able to show off for grandma at gymnastics too. He can be such a show off. After gymnastics, the three of us (Tanner, Mom, and I) met Aren, Eric, and Liz for a really nice Birthday dinner for my 31^st. Very ironic in that I spent my 30^th with Liz in Honolulu not having a clue that I would be living here less than a year later. Who would have thought?

The rest of the week was low key. Dinners together with Tanner headed back with Bumma afterward. It was also nice that things were quiet at work so I could spend a little extra time with them. On Thursday night, we grilled some steaks at our place in celebration of Eric’s birthday this time and also as a farewell dinner since we were headed to Maui the next evening. The visit certainly seemed quick. I am glad though that Mom finally got the chance to see where we’re living and where her grandson spends his time.

Tanner and Bumma at Turtle Bay

His best flamingo impression

I have no idea but it makes me laugh :)

My Birthday Dinner

Feeding the fish from the dock at Coconut Island

Molokai

2007-02-16T16:54:00.000-08:00

Immediately following dropping Dan off at the airport, Yooper dropped Tanner and me off for our trip to Molokai. The two of us had the opportunity of accompanying the Coconut Island Coral Reef Team on a research trip to Molokai. Incredible really in that not only did I get to join in on the research tasks, but so did Tanner. It was too cute. His main job was to monitor the coral samples for temperature and aeration (bubbles) to make sure they were "happy" although he had several other tasks too. The two of us got to do everything from prepping and assembling equipment to tagging coral. I'll have to let the pictures tell most of the story on this one.

It's still pretty strange to me to think about the contrast of this job as compared to my last. I went from a normal (kind of I guess) office environment in a cubicle in a city to a research lab on an offshore island. Then throw in the field trips in puddle jumper airplanes with my kid in tow to remote outer islands. What a total contrast. Weird, but I REALLY like it all the same. :)

Tanner with a Brittle Star that came off of one of the coral heads.

The bin used to stain the coral. Each coral that was stained was also weighed, tagged, and returned to the field with a GPS reading. They will retrieve the same corals next year, weigh them again and saw them in half. The coral will have a pink "tree ring" that shows the growth from the last year.

Checking the temps on the bins. He also helped to fill bags with ice when they got too warm.

Paul and Tanner digging out a crab tunnel.

Tanner helping put together Ku'ulei's tent.

Assembling the aerators for the staining bins

Balancing Opihi shells on all 10 fingers at once! Look at that determination :)

Dan's Visit

2007-02-16T16:43:00.000-08:00

Our first official visitor!!! He said he'd be the first and I doubted him. I'm so sorry Daniel. I won't ever doubt you again :)

Very fun weekend though. We didn't actually do a ton of stuff other than chat lots and catch up on life but it was great that way. I miss those conversations with Dan. Philosophical to hilarious in the blink of an eye. Good stuff. I really miss living close to friends that you can have such great conversations with.

Here are a couple pictures of the excursions we took when we did manage to escape the house :)

At Shark's Cove on the North Shore

Whale watching at Sandy Beach

Sunset in Hawaii Kai

Legos before coffee. Silly Boys...

North Shore

2007-02-16T16:31:00.000-08:00

We did manage to make a brief trip up to the North Shore a few weeks back. We only had time for two quick stops before heading to Haleiwa Joe’s for dinner. The first stop was at Shark’s cove to watch the waves break across the huge rock formations in the bay. Crawled around a bit on the rocks, watched some crabs hold on for dear life, and took a few pictures. Next stop was at Waimea Bay to watch the waves. That place is incredible. Pretty moderate wave sizes, actually small for the time of year, and it’s still so impressive.

Here are some pictures from along the way.

These pics were taken about 1-2 seconds apart of the same wave. You could feel the impact through your feet that day. The two men in the picture are really close to the break point so the scaling is actually pretty good.

At dinner that night

Slacker

2007-02-03T12:59:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know I have neglected the blog in the past few weeks. We have been very busy with our first visitors, school, work, and a trip to Molokai for Tanner and I. I have actually written several entries but haven't downloaded and organized the pictures to go with them. Stay tuned though. I will be working on all of this in the upcoming week. PROMISE!!!

2007-01-07T23:04:00.000-08:00

Nothing exciting this weekend. Just some house projects, football, and beach time. Here's some pics from the beach today...

Mom, I have sand in my mouth!

Disney Called...

2007-01-02T23:17:00.000-08:00

...So Yooper had to go to Maui.

It turns out that they will be here next week sometime to re-shoot some scenes from the next Pirates movie. The area of Maui they will be heading to for the shoot is down a long narrow road that had some considerable damage during the earthquake in October. Yooper's company was called in for risk assessment as to if it was safe for equipment transport. I'm sure it's a much bigger liability however if a boulder was to land on Johnny's head :)

And he was home in time for dinner.

Hauoli Makahiki Hou...

2007-01-02T22:02:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

Well tonight's post is going to have to mostly be pictures cause I'm just not feeling all that chatty. Sorry.

First pic was actually taken on the 30th at sunset. I know there's a bunch of power lines and such in the pic too but I took it from the driveway. I was taking out the trash and saw this sight so I had to run back in for the camera. This is actually a pretty typical sunset with the clouds hugging the windward side of the mountain and the sun pouring through the low spots from the Honolulu side. Beautiful.

The rest of the pictures are from New Year's. A unique New Year's for sure. Mostly because we only knew three of the people previously - Liz, Dave, and Sean we had only actually met once prior. We had a small party at our place though which was great because I finally got to show the place to someone and because we actually met several new people.

Another thing to know about the people here, they LOVE New Years. It's actually one of the biggest holidays. The day after Christmas, every store in town starts selling huge amounts of fireworks. The locals spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on them. I'm told that in recent years, they've had to scale back on the "aerials" that used to be legal because of housing density and fires. I'm also told that Forth of July is tame in comparison.

You know those National Geographic shows where the entire village is ablaze in a celebration of fireworks for as far as the eye can see. Even the children are running around with explosives? Yep, that was pretty much what our neighborhood looked like...

Mele Kalikimaka

2006-12-25T22:23:00.000-08:00

That's Merry Christmas in Hawaiian...

Kona's here!!! Well, after over 24 hours in a crate followed by an overnight at the temp quarantine facility at the Honolulu airport, we were finally able to pick up our poor confused mutt at 8am Christmas Eve morning. Unfortunately, there are strict rules about not taking your dog out of the crate on airport grounds so we had to drive him all the way back to Kailua before he was finally set free.

He wondered around the house and yard quickly smelling everything and looking entirely confused. We just followed him reassuring him that all was okay and petting him when he stopped long enough for us to catch up. It was one of these quick stops that he actually stopped long enough to relieve himself, unfortunately, it was the Christmas tree he decided to lift his leg to. :) Luckily he missed the few gifts that had made it under the tree and we all got a good laugh at his expense. Who could possibly be mad at him after that ordeal and how entirely confusing this all must be for him. That pine tree was probably the only thing that smelled remotely familiar.

Within another 20 minutes or so, we decided that HE smelled really bad and the only way to cure that, was a trip to the beach. It's amazing how strong the instinct of swimming is with these dogs. He was great. It was an abbreviated trip though once we learned the hard way just how badly the long trip had upset his stomach. Yuk. We spent the rest of the day laying low at home and doing a few chores. Kona took a much deserved rest and enjoyed LOTS of pets from his family that missed him so dearly.

Christmas Morning...

7am wake up. Could have been worse I guess. Tanner tore into the living room examining the booty. Alarm Clock (as requested - weird kid), Legos, Transformers, and SEVERAL wrapped gifts from family and friends. An elated Tanner opened gift after gift until finally, the pile was empty and all that remained was the familiar Christmas carnage of boxes, wrapping paper, and presents strewn about the living room. Loved it. About the time Daddy was hard at work loading batteries and reading directions, I managed to sneak back for an extra hour or so of sleep. :)

Following coffee, brunch, and a quick cleanup, it was off to the beach again. In the two months since we have lived here and the dozens of times we have now been to Kailua beach, I have yet to see even half this many people. Apparently, Christmas Day is a favorite for heading to the beach. Of course this time we had Kona with us too.

By day two of the beach and feeling noticeably better all around, Kona really found his sea legs. He was playing in the waves and making TONS of friends but my favorite was his lifeguarding skills. If he spotted someone he felt concerned about, he would swim out to check, do a lap around them, and satisfied, swim back towards shore. This was of course with Yooper close behind and only if the person "needing" rescue didn't seem to mind.

One interesting observation, the Hawaiian locals LOVE big dogs and were very impressed with his size and swimming ability, the Japanese tourists however, not so amused. 9 out of 10 people who seemed a little timid to very afraid around him were indeed Japanese tourists. I even one man sneaking in close to take a quick picture before backing away quickly. That guy was pretty funny actually. Most people though were great around him. One great thing about a dog his size and cuteness is that you meet a million people being with him.

The rest of Christmas 2006 was low key. Just playing with the new toys and relaxing around the house. I got what I wanted for Christmas, a new house and a day with all three of my boys at the beach :)

Life Guard Duty

All moved in...

2006-12-23T14:11:00.000-08:00

Mostly anyway :)

There are still a few boxes around but I'm sure those that know me best know that I unpacked everything I could in as quickly as possible. The house was almost completely unpacked within two days. The only remaining boxes are those which have things that have yet to find a proper home. Many of my kitchen items, my Dad's cookbook collection, as well as things like knick-knacks and photos still are lying in various piles around. It's always the finishing touches that take the longest.

One of the first orders of business was to finally invest in some dining room furniture. We found a really nice naked furniture place in town that actually had some quality stuff for reasonable prices. We ordered a table, chairs, and a hutch that will hopefully be able to house the kitchen overflow. Hopefully :) Only now we have to wait for the order to come in. Jan 20th. Ouch! Until then, the dining room will continue to be a bit of a mess and the extra bedroom will continue to be a landfill. Oh well.

In other news, we've had a busy couple of weeks otherwise. We made it to the mall to see Santa. I was worried about a "new" Santa this year since we've been to the same guy for the last four Christmas' in Minneapolis but after some speedy re-con on Aren's part, we deemed this Santa to be close enough to hopefully avoid detection. All was fine and this guy was great.

The other Christmas event that was entirely too cute was Tanner's Preschool Christmas Program. I wish this blog could post video because that kid was unbelievable with his hamming it up for the camera. The entire program was only about 45 minutes but was great because everything was all the songs the kids sang were "Hawaiian Style". It seems that many of the Christmas carols we know and love from the mainland have been completely re-written here. Hilarious. Especially when it's a bunch of four-year-olds singing them.

The bad news is that as I write this, poor Kona is still on his way after a 12 hour flight delay in Los Angeles today. Poor thing was supposed to have a three hour connection which seemed cruel and unusual but 12? I was assured by Northwest that he was fed and watered and well cared for. Assuming the NWA website is correct this time, he'll be here at 1:30am but we can't pick him up until 8am tomorrow. We plan to be the first ones in line. If all goes well, I'll be posting pics tomorrow night of his first swim in the ocean...

Tanner With Santa

Tanner at the Rainbow Preschool Christmas Show

Big day?

2006-12-12T12:02:00.000-08:00

So the day we've been patiently waiting for is finally here. The house is finally ours. I got the call that everything recorded this morning officially at 8:01 am. That's the good news.

The bad news is that the seller went a tad postal last night regarding shampooing the carpets. Long story but to sum it up, his Realtor is deplorable and has done an exceedingly BAD job on his end. It would appear that every time the sellers agent, Jeffery, has screwed up or needed to communicate to the seller in general, that Jeffery has made it sound like we are the problem and are completely belligerent. Funny I think because poor Leanne, our Realtor, has had to do TONS more work than she should have to just to keep up with this mess. Anyway, the carpet shampooing seems to have been the "straw" for this guy. The hope is that the few days we have until we actually move into the house is enough time for him to relax and chill out. And yes, the locks are being changed today - at the expense of Jeffery.

We'll probably reschedule the celebration picnic for tomorrow :(

Our New Address

2006-12-08T19:21:00.000-08:00

I've had a few requests to post our address now that we have one and since it's Christmas card season and all...

Aren, Erin & Tanner
XXX
Kailua, HI 96734

I'll probably delete this post sometime after the holidays since it's probably a bad idea to have this posted online indefinitely so write it down while you have the chance :)

Homeowners, kind of...

2006-12-08T16:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was finally the long awaited closing, only we still don't have the keys yet. It all has to do with Hawaiian property sales procedures. Yesterday was the closing, today was when the down payment was due, and if all goes well, Tuesday will be when the transaction is officially recorded at which time we will be on the tail end of about 15 calls that take place (slight exaggeration but really, we will be the dead last of a long list of people to know) then finally, we can take the keys.

We've arranged for the movers to move everything from storage to the house on Friday morning. I just know it's going to kill me knowing that we have this awesome house just sitting there for three days before anything can go into it. I still haven't decided for sure yet but chances are there is no way I'm going to be able to think of going back to work after that. Knowing me, I will be tearing into boxes almost immediately and Yooper will have to drag me from the place kicking and screaming that night.

I'm just dying to be back in OUR house with OUR stuff. At first with all the excitement of the move, it was easy to overlook the fact that we were living out of suitcases. It felt like vacation. We were on the road, off to new places, no work. Now we're getting settled into a routine and I just want to go home. I want my bed, my kitchen toys, my couch... I just want my stuff back. Poor Tanner has probably forgotten what most of his stuff is at this point. It will be like Christmas morning came early when we finally unpack his boxes. We even had to go buy new books because we were so sick of the same ones night after night.

The place we've been staying at has been very adequate for the amount of time we've been staying there but the complaints and annoyances are mounting. The proximity of the house to the lush jungle hillside and the overgrown landscaping means the place has lot of bugs. The vegetation here in certain areas is nearly impossible to keep up with. The place is also severely lacking in kitchen supplies. Apparently a three cup pot is all anyone would ever want and who needs lids for anything? I bought a pasta pot within days of being here and now it also doubles as a mixing bowl. Errr...

One more week, just one more week...

2006-12-03T00:32:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. Actually funny because it's not that I've been ignoring the blog but rather nothing really happened. Slow week. It was great. This week was the first time we had no obligations or deadlines or projects or errands to do since we got here. There was the termite inspection on Wednesday (good news, no surprises) and that was pretty much it. Other than that, it was the familiar get up, go to work, come home, cook dinner, relax for a minute, and go to bed type of week. Sad to say but it's been MONTHS since we had that kind of week. It was really nice.

Today was a different day though. Go, go, go until about an hour ago - it's 10:30 now. The day started by pouring the coffee to go and heading straight to the Farmer's Market in Honolulu. It was the most recommended one online however I think that was for tourists, not residents. True everything was made\grown\originated in Hawaii but most of the booths were things like honey, sea salt, coffee, and several niche type items that the tourists from nearby Waikiki seemed to flock to heavily. The farmer type booths with produce and growing things were few and far between. A little disappointed but I managed to get some great strawberries from Maui and some fresh basil so all was not lost I guess :)

Next we stopped for a quick lunch then off to Dave's Jui Jitsu tournament. I'm not going to go into the specifics of Jui Jitsu because even after an afternoon of watching, I'm still extremely clueless as to exactly what it's all about. What I can say is that it's like watching wrestling but the athletes are wearing traditional martial arts robe-like clothing. We stayed long enough to watch the end of the kids' tournament and the beginning of the adults. Tanner loved watching the kids. He's really been wanting to get involved in sports for a while but we've had to put it all off because of the move. I have now promised him that after Christmas he can do something. We'll probably start with swimming out of necessity. He's getting better but could really use some formal instruction. Anyway, we managed to see about an hour of the adults as well. There is a woman's division and yes, I'm pretty sure every single one of those girls would have taken me out in no time. Scary. We really wanted to stay long enough to watch Dave and actually stayed much longer than we had planned but his division was later and we had to leave for the next activity.

Brief stop at home to whip up a dish for the potluck and off we went to the annual meeting of the Newfoundland Club of Hawaii. It was over here on the windward side which was nice and the couple's house we were at had an ocean front view of Kaneohe Bay and Coconut Island. Super nice. The meeting itself was more of a small laid back dinner party and gave us lots of time to meet and chat with new people. Best of all, everyone has Newfies so the stories were hysterical. Good news is that Kona is not the only newfie that eats bizarre things. Bad news is that I now miss him worse than ever. Ursula, the host, has six adult Newfies, and five puppies. Three of which came out to play for a bit. Little Newfie fluffballs are too cute. Kona will be here soon though. I'm sure I'll be swearing at him in no time :)

So that was our boring week and our insane Saturday. Tomorrow should be much more tame. Hopefully, the sun will come out and we can hit the beach. After football that is...

Our First Hawaiian Thanksgiving

2006-11-24T22:36:00.000-08:00

Our first Hawaiian Thanksgiving was awesome. It was super relaxed, made several new friends, and the food was wonderful. The favorite item of the evening was the turkey cooked in a imu (pronounced emu, like the bird). Anyone who has been to a Hawaiian Luau has seen an imu pit. At a tourist luau however, they cook a whole pig. I remember the luau I went to with my grandma and grandpa as a kid and not being too excited about it. Much different when the main dinner item still has the head attached though...

Since we only saw the end of the process, I had to do a bit of research into exactly how an imu is constructed and for that matter, spelled. Here's what I found:

First you start with a huge bonfire in the pit. The pit also contains lava rocks. Next, most of the unburned wood is removed from the pit, leaving only the glowing red hot lava rocks. The lava rocks are then spread out evenly over the bottom of the pit. On top of the rocks you layer chopped up banana stump. Banana stump is mostly water and provided the steam to cook the food. The next layer is banana leaf, then ti leaf. Now comes the food. On top of the food is another layer of ti leaf, then more banana leaf. The next layer is wet burlap sacks, which is then covered by a thick plastic tarp. Finally, dirt is put over the plastic tarp around the edges to seal it in.

The cooked leaves and stump provides a very distinctive smoky flavor to the meat and the slow, steamy way in which the bird is cooked made the most tender turkey I have every had. Amazing.

So back the the day. After a relaxing and exciting morning (see previous entry about the earthquake), the three of us piled in the car to head up to the North Shore. We took the scenic route along the windward side. Really nice drive. The waves were pretty big on the shore so we decided to pull of so Tanner could watch the surfers. Very cool. Continuing on we navigated up the hill to Billy and Dawn's house. They are friends of Dave and Liz's and very graciously allowed us to crash their thanksgiving.

It was not the large family affair we've grown used to in Michigan but rather a small potluck gathering of friends that was very relaxed. First let me say that Billy and Dawn have a killer place. It's on an acre of land in a neighborhood where every lot is about that size. Very "country" by Hawaiian standards. The main house is an A-frame that they are currently renovating and expanding. Judging by the work so far, I'm very interested in the final product. There is also a guest house as well as a tree house any kid would die for complete with it's own deck and a pulley system. Very cool.

We arrived early afternoon and just hung out and relaxed with Liz & Dave, Billy & Dawn, and their two daughters Amber and Sierra both of whom Tanner was infatuated with by day's end. The stream of tears that lasted half the trip home was evidence enough. Slowly more of their friends filtered in and by early evening, we gathered around the imu pit to unveil the turkey. It wasn't long after that that we all grabbed plates and dug in. Following the feast we hurried down to the beach to catch the tail end of the sunset while the munchkins climbed on the rocks. Another hour or so later and we were on our way home. Good food, great new friends, and very thankful to be living in such a beautiful and WARM place!

The pictures...

Removing the tarp

Removing the burlap

"Mom, isn't there going to be dirt in the food?"

The banana leaves

There's a turkey in here somewhere...

"Mom, it smells really bad!"

Our buffet\dining table out on the Lanai (porch)

Tanner's SECOND full plate

Tanner with the girls on the rocks at sunset

Earthquake!!!

2006-11-23T13:21:00.000-08:00

It was very small but unmistakable. 5.0 on the Richter scale. Tanner and I were watching TV while Yooper went up to the store to grab some last minute Thanksgiving supplies when the house shook. It was very short. Maybe five or six seconds total. Felt like when a huge rush of wind knocks into your house at the beginning of a monster thunderstorm. The whole house takes a bit of a blow and you hear all the creaking and trembling of the walls and joints. Then nothing. Still. I was sitting next to Tanner on the couch and grabbed his arm. I think that startled him more than the shaking of the house. After it was over he had this puzzled look on his face. "That was an earthquake," I told him. He got a huge smile. "That was it? That was an earthquake?" "Yep." Thankfully the first one was a small one. Really erased much of the fear he had about it. Really cool though.

Yooper didn't get the chance to feel it as he was in the car when it happened. Needless to say, he's really mad at missing another one.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

2006-11-21T20:44:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to post a few pics from the weekend. There seems to be a killer cold making the rounds on the island and I'm the latest victim so not so chatty :( Yooper had it last week and I think Tanner got it to judging from the slightly drippy nose and irritability but nothing slows down that kid. Never skipped a beat.

He really loves preschool though. His new buddy is Jackson. Haven't met him yet because he's not yet there when Tanner arrives and gone when I pick him up. Hopefully, I'll cross paths with the kid one of these days.

I think my favorite part of preschool are the "incident reports". I think there's at least one a day for Tanner. I laughed after the first one thinking how poor Angel would have been sore with writer's cramp had she had to write out everyone of his bumps and bruises with this detail. Then we started getting more and now I'm laughing at the poor school staff having to keep up with my clutsy, accident prone child.

An example
What happened: Tanner fell while running on the playground causing a scrap on his left knee.
What was done by staff: We washed the knee and put on a band aid. He then returned to the playground.

I wonder if they'll keep it up. Anyway, the pictures...

Buried alive on the North Shore Saturday night

Sunday at Kailua Beach

Coconut Island

2006-11-17T21:24:00.000-08:00

So many of you know that my new job is with the University of Hawaii on Coconut Island. The island is just 29 acres and is located in Kaneohe Bay on the windward side of Oahu. For those of you who haven't heard, Coconut Island is the very island pictured in the opening credits of Gilligan's island. To funny.

The island actually has a very interesting history full of Hawaiian royalty, Movie stars, infant burial grounds, rich Japanese investors, ancient sacrifices, and land ownership controversy throughout the years which eventually lead to state control and finally, a permanent home for the Hawaiian Institute of Marine Biology. The entire story, incidentally, is being written into a book by Phil, the man we are renting our little house on the hill from.

Apparently, there used to be a bowling alley, a shooting range, and several small cottages all surrounding a man-made salt water lagoon with slides and diving boards. Today, the bowling alley, shooting range, and many other of the left overs from the times of the movie star vacations are gone and all that remains on the north side of the island is a stagnant pond and several buildings in disrepair. Now that the island is fully owned by the university however, many of the older buildings are finally being restored.

The majority of the island is dedicated to laboratorys, classrooms, and all things marine science. Everywhere you look are large tubs of creatures in sea water with pumps and pipes and tubes and wires. Some of them are the size of 10 or 20 gallon aquariums, some as large as round above ground pools. All are experiments in progress. Sedimentation, calcification, bleaching, etc. Those are just the ones I know about.

There are several buildings at the top of the hill in the middle of the island. These house classrooms, administrative offices, and a very new building containing several molecular and genetic labs as well as the island library.

My office however, is the "point lab". This is the second to last building at the end of the point on the southeast side of the island. It's about a 10 minute walk from the dock. The majority of the contents of the lab have been there for who knows how long. Remnants of past experiments, books, papers, beakers, pipettes, and loads of stuff that I have no idea about. For the most part, it's all kinds of neat stuff to have around however I'm guessing that as time goes on, the shear clutter of it all might make me a little crazy if I can't claim a corner of my own for me to tidy. It's the OCD in me I guess :)

So, for the obnoxious pictures...

The Point Lab

Our Lunch Room
My Desk

My View :)

All the STUFF!

2006-11-15T22:23:00.000-08:00

I finally downloaded some more pics from the camera from the past week or so.

Tanner and I woke up to this rainbow last Thursday morning. These pictures are taken from the deck out back of our rental house. You can kinda see Coconut island between the two rainbows in the first picture.

Here's a few pictures from early morning Yesterday morning. It was very still and quiet and the way the light hit the clouds was breathtaking. I have to say that the view from this house is definitely the best part of the place. I will certainly miss waking up looking at the ocean every morning.

Offer accepted!!!

2006-11-12T23:16:00.000-08:00

So I know I owe SEVERAL of you emails and follow-ups but I thought that one last entry into this blog explaining our last week followed by finally sending out the address to this thing might buy me a little time and fill everyone in at the same time :)

The REALLY good news - the offer we extended on a killer house in Kailua last night was accepted this evening!!! Here are the pictures from the MLS...

It's three bedrooms, one and a half baths, 1600 square feet. There's currently no guest accommodations which we promised to all of you but there is an awesome spot for a little guest house right behind the carport in the back yard. We plan to have it built in time for next fall\winter. It won't be big or fancy but will provide Hawaiian vacations to all our friends and family for a long time AND you won't have to stay under my roof, you can have you own :)

Our Realtor's husband is a contractor and we were lucky enough to have him tag along to a bunch of the showings. It was really helpful to get his input and expertise on many of the aspects of Hawaiian construction we are still learning about. He also was able to advise us on which places had the best potential for our guest addition. Think he wants a bid? If his wife's work ethic is any indication of his, he may just have the job...

Long story short though, this purchase along with all the other millions of things you have to do when you move to a new town, not to mention 4000 miles away, has kept me extremely busy. Bank accounts, new cars, mortgage pre-approvals, TB tests, and driving Yooper to and from work across the mountain and in rush hour traffic to name a few. On top of that you have laundry, cooking, and shopping, none of which are particularly easy when you have an outside laundry, none of the cooking toys I need (I had to buy a pasta pot because the largest pot in our rental is only three cups!), and have no idea which stores to go to or where anything is in those stores once I find the right one. Add in a very tolerant yet completely-sick-of-all-this four year old and you have a busy week at best.

The good news is that he starts preschool tomorrow. He's VERY excited. In fact he may finally be asleep but I don't think so and it's 10:30 as I write this. The bad news is that my employment paperwork is STILL not complete so I can't officially start until Friday this week. Paul, my new boss, has asked me to come in anyway as neither him nor Ku'ulei will be in next week so he'd like me to get acclimated and meet people and bank whatever hours I work as comp time. Great thing really since I have a feeling the next few weeks of getting into this house will require lots of attention.

It's been a busy few weeks to say the least but I promise to catch up with all of you individually at some point...

Creatures Creatures Everywhere...

2006-11-08T22:52:00.000-08:00

Okay, so it should go without saying that Hawaii is full of all sorts of fun creatures but this place is blowing away all expectations. Let's start with Tricky. Tricky is a wild rooster that spend the afternoon in our yard a couple of days ago. He'd been clucking around the side and back of the house for about an hour when Tanner decided to name him Tricky. I'll be sure to get a picture if he makes it back.

Next we can discuss Lucy. Lucy was a new addition to the brood as of last night. Yooper was working on the computer at the bar when I heard a very panicked and slightly terrified "Oh my god!" I looked over to see the largest spider EVER on the wall in the kitchen. Being the bug slayer wife that I am, I tried to get him\her but it quickly scampered up and over the rail to the storage loft above the bathroom off of the kitchen. Long story short, after another failed capture attempt, even I was shaking a bit and Lucy (aka Lucifer) was long gone. The pic below should give you a good indication of what we're dealing with on this one...

For those of you familiar with the plasticized spider in the cube Tanner has from my dad, this thing eats it for breakfast. The size description on the website I grabbed this pic from said it best, roughly the size of a tuna can. Yep. That's the one. GIGANTIC! We've decided to make peace with Lucy as she eats roaches and other large yucky bugs and chances are we won't see her again soon. Also, our bed is on the exact opposite side of the house so that helps too :) No lost sleep yet but I must admit, I do glance to that corner of the kitchen often.

And now back to the fun creatures, I saw some great things on my stop by Coconut Island today. There were tons of fish and sea cucumbers to see from the walkways and docks as well as a super fast little crab that crossed my path close to my new office. I imagine thats just the tip of the iceberg at that place though so stay tuned on that.

Anyway, still getting used to the new creatures here as with the rest of the place. I'll feel better when it's my creatures in my own house but one thing at a time...

Pictures!!!

2006-11-06T23:56:00.000-08:00

Here's a few pictures from our trip to the beach on Saturday. This beach is Kailua beach and is on the windward side of the island. Great beach. Perfect sugar sand, lots of shade, not too crowded. If all goes well, we will be living within blocks of this beach. Fingers crossed!!!

The welcoming committee
These two guys are just part of the dozens of scaly little creatures we are sharing our house with here. The more the better as they eat the bugs. The geckos tend to hang out inside the house and the anoles are mostly outside. The best is the super cute little chirping noises the geckos make in the rafters. It still wakes me up though as it kinda sounds like someone tapping at a metal door or window frame.

Gecko Anole

We Made it!

2006-11-05T11:15:00.000-08:00

It official. We made it to Hawaii.

After a summer of planning, a week of interviewing, five last weeks of work, a LONG week of packing and 10 days with family in Michigan, we are finally here!!!!!

We got in Wednesday night pretty late. 10pm local which was 3am Detroit time. Tanner was a trouper for the plane ride but zonked out almost immediately when we got in the car. Our drive over to the windward side was a wet one. It had been raining quite a bit. We found our rental all the same and were greeted by Kathy and her father Phil in the drive. They showed us around and warned us about the rain. At this point, we're still kind of confused at why everyone seems so freaked out at the rain but whatever, it was time for bed.

It rained pretty hard all night and by morning, we were starting to understand what the big deal was. The morning news revealed that roads were washed out, landslides all around, including a large one at the mouth of the tunnel on the Pali (the highway Yooper will take to Honolulu for work) that closed the road completely. As we drove around that morning on our way to the first of two preschool interviews it was apparent that the shear amount of rain was incredible. There was tons of water flowing across the roads and every drainage ditch we past was a raging river. Pretty impressive really. The waterfalls coming off the mountains later in the day once the clouds cleared a bit were awesome.

My favorite part of the entire ordeal was how weirded out the locals were. If it came up the we just got here, they were all apologies and how these darn winter storms are so disruptive and awful. Yoop and I loved it. This is a "winter storm" we can get used to :)

Later in the day, we met Dave (Liz's boyfriend) and Brandon (our Realtor) to go through a few places. It was interesting. We saw many different varieties of Hawaiian real estate. Nothing that we'd make an offer on just yet but learned a lot. We're going open housing again this afternoon. Looking forward to that.

In other news, we made yesterday a beach day. Great idea. We went over to Kailua beach. Absolutely gorgeous. The waves were super small and Tanner had a great time playing in the ocean. I'd love to put in a few pics here cause I took a bunch but our USB cable seems to have been packed in the container with the rest of our house. The good news is that they DO have Best Buy here so I should be able to buy a replacement next week.

The other thing I wish I could post is some pics of is the insane amount of lizards we have at our place. The geckos and anoles are EVERYWHERE! We love them!!! Liz was over last night and confirmed the barking we have been hearing in the rafters is the geckos. There's one big one above the kitchen. The more the better as the ants and other creepy crawlys are everywhere. We also have tons of flowers out back as well as some great birds.

The last thing you all have to see pics of is our view. To die for. We can see Coconut island, the mountains (still not sure the proper name of the specific range we look at), the ocean, the marine base, a marina, Chinaman's Hat, etc. It just goes on and on really.

Well, I have to go feed my boys, Tanner is getting cranking :)

Pics coming soon, than I can finally sent the address out and share this thing....

A few pics from the trip...

2006-10-10T19:53:00.000-07:00

Tanner with his camera inside Diamondhead Crater

Tanner at Waikiki

Fast Forward

2006-10-10T18:54:00.000-07:00

My how time flies :) Let's see, where to start this time...

I guess we'll start off with the good news. We both scored awesome jobs and the move to Hawaii is on!!! November 1st is the big day. Can't wait!

Aren will be with URS in Honolulu. He'll have a LOT more variety with this job and the travel opportunities sound great. Guam, Korea, Japan. Can't beat that although I hope they don't take him too soon or keep him too long. I've gotten rather used to the 2-3 day Indy trips but I'm not sure I'd do so well with a 1-2 weeker.

I will be working with the University of Hawaii Marine Ecology folks at Coconut Island. Still sounds strange. I haven't spent much time in the ocean since I was about 12 or so. And I've never been diving which happens to be requirement of the job I will have to work on as soon as I get there. Weird. Sounds really cool though. I will be working on mapping the coral reefs in the northwestern islands and modeling in 3D. Sounds like I will have plenty of inter island travel which rocks. I think that will help immensely with getting to know the place and fending off the "rock fever" everyone likes to warn you about. Most of all I'm really looking forward to working with people that actually care about their job. Academia sounds really good right now.

It's really interesting watching peoples reactions when you tell them you're moving to Hawaii. You get everything from the people who get really excited and "Oh my God, that is SO cool!" to some people who just say "Oh, really." It's the difference between "I'm really happy for you!" and "Bitch." As people who live in Minnesota, they picture Mai Tais and hammocks hanging from palm trees. The evil part of me loves that they think that though :)

What you don't get from people in MN but we got constantly from the islanders when we were there in September was the very suspicious "Why?" They know the other side of living there. That with all the beaches, and natural beauty, and idyllic weather is still life. We will be much less financially comfortable than we are now, we will still have bills, and work, and school and after school and all the things that families deal with. We will however have plenty of beach time on the weekends too :)

Well I had more to say but this editor decided to loose a bunch of text. Errr... Instead of try to peice it all ack together, I will just leave it at good night for now and I will try my best to post again before Christmas :)

First Post

2006-08-20T19:10:00.000-07:00

Not really sure how one starts out a blog but I guess I'll take a stab at it.

Since blogs are becoming such a popular thing, I figured now would be a good time to get one of these things going. I remember how crucial the caring bridge page was when Tanner was in the hospital. It let us communicate to friends and family directly without the phone ringing off the hook. So now that we are on the brink of such a huge life changing move, I think this would be a good way to keep those that care, in the know.

As for now, we are still begging for interviews for our trip in two weeks. Actually, two weeks from right now as I write this, assuming Northwest doesn't go on strike or some other delay creeps in, we will be arriving in Honolulu for a jam packed week of interviews, neighborhood scouting, preschool tours, price comparing, and everything else that we can think of to prepare us for our move. Hopefully we'll have some time for the beach and the pool too. Tanner's pretty excited. I'm not sure how jazzed he'll be after about the third hour on the plane but hopefully some DVD's and activity books will by us at least a few hours of occupation.

I'm getting a little anxious about the whole thing considering everything that needs to be done before we can cruise. Our goal is to have the house on the market by then. Good luck with that. Still need to paint the bathroom, trim out some windows, paint the north wall in our bedroom, put up all the fixtures in the upstairs bathroom, clean the place, mow the yard, weed all sorts of massive growing things out of every nook and cranny, and various other odds and ends. Not to mention find a realtor, go to Milwaukee for the Cleven Fam reunion and spend a week with Aren's parents before we go. Did I mention Aren leaves for a four days in Indy in the morning? Like I said, good luck with that.

The good news is that despite a mid-afternoon breakdown due to being completely overwhelmed with it all, I think we got some things done this weekend. The basement looks presentable again and most of the trim made it on the windows. The reality is that it probably won't ALL get done. I'll have to live with that. But something tells me that once I get off that plane two weeks from now, all thoughts of the stress from MN will fade and a new mission will take over. I'm looking forward to that...