April 2025

Manana Ridge Trail: Hiking with friends on a Sunday afternoon

Kelsey, Tiffany, Rebekah, Wendy

Jennifer came to visit and we took her to the Mauka Warrior Luau in Ewa Beach.

Giving Jennifer a tour around the island with the kids in tow. I had to make sure we didn't too much walking- as we had to save our legs for the 1/2 marathon on Sunday.

RACE DAY #beforeScott

Always trying to get the best post race selfie- this was like take #3

Taking Jennifer on an epic hike on the windward side- Pu'u Ma' 'eli' eli Trail

Stopping at the NEX to send a picture to Corbin and then dropping off my bestie at the airport.

Great shot of Bryan and me surfing- curtesy Brian Duncan.

Jane's 4th grade class field trip.

         Jane's BIG 4th grade project on the Ahupua'a. 

More sewing projects I have been working on.

Easter 2025

*Note to self- no candy in the eggs placed on the outside of the house

The girls also attended an Easter celebration for Bryan's work. Collecting Mario and friends characters was the highlight. 

Some friends recorded me at the Ukulele Festival in my muumuu.  

It was so fun to have friends attend our performance. 

Afterwards, we attended the SPAM Festival in Waikiki. The food was awesome, but the crowds were not as awesome. I guess there was also a Boys to Men concert that night. 

On Sunday, the girls completed their first bike race in Haleiwa. I rode along with Jane, while Kate felt confident in taking off on her own. I am so proud of them for doing hard things that we sign them up for (and they don't get much notice). 

Jane getting an x-ray after falling on her elbow and complaining for several days. No break. She got to wear a sling, and that seemed to make her happy.

Kate going roller skating with friends from church.

July 2024

Dressed up for the 4th of July!

We watched the fireworks on Pearl Harbor from Crestview Park. They lasted maybe 3 minutes. A little sad compared to NYE.

Celebrating Jane's birthday early- Kristi had to go to the mainland for Army Reserve Training.

We invited friends over to surprise Jane for her birthday. She figured it out because of all the shoes in the garage!

Kate made the cutest scavenger hunt with all of Jane's presents. She got a purple Stanley cup, the cutest Sanrio dress, and a claw machine.

We went to Coral Crater Adventure Park to celebrate the new 9 year old!

Ukulele Festival 2024

Kate and Jane

Ukulele Festival

Rebekah

Bryan is training the girls young.

 

May 2024

 Jane's class went on fieldtrip to Hawaii's Plantation Village in Waipahu. 

Kate had a group project on the ecosystem. She was the group leader and very invested in the overall project. She has learned a lot this year about following directions and the difficulties of working with others not so invested in school.

The fun thing about living in Hawaii is the visitors it brings. Kristi and I were able to go out to eat with our cousin Dan and his wife, Jamie. 

Ukulele: I started taking ukulele lessons with the girls. It has been really fun learning some of the popular Hawaiian songs and trying something new. I do get help from my girls, as they have been playing 5 months longer than me and are really good at picking notes.

We had a ukulele concert at the mall over on the windward side of the island. It was fun to have my girls and husband cheer me on while playing "Surf" and "Friends".

Kristi's graduation: Such a fun week full of events with family. My parents and Linsey flew in to celebrate Koko's accomplishment as a DNP graduate from University of Hawaii. 

Commencement Ceremony: Her biggest request was to have a stack of leis (competing against her peers)!

Celebrating the accomplishment at Nancy's Kitchen: A Family Bar.

Kate and Jane enjoyed the extra time with their grandparents. 

Graduation Ceremony: The girls are hoping they will be able to spend a little more time with Koko now that she doesn't have to study! 

Honolulu Museum of Art: Checking off some of the touristy things with my parents and Kristi while the kids are off at school.

Bellows: Again, a must. Unfortunately, it rained for like a week. And this was pretty heavy rainfall. So much that there was a Brown Water advisory, and we weren't able to get in the ocean. We had even booked the cabins for the weekend! Such a bummer... 

Piano Recital: The girls have continued with piano through the entire school year. It was nice that grandma and grandpa were able to attend. 

Kate was so excited for her school field trip to the Ice Palace. 

Because of all the rain, the girls had to perform their Spring Showcase in the cafeteria. This was a bummer because the classes had to be split in half as there wasn't enough room for 5 classes to perform their routine. This also meant the other grades couldn't see each other's performances. The school did an amazing job with being flexible and finding a way because "the show must go on"... 

I am in charge of a hiking group with my church. I try to schedule a hike every 4-6 weeks. The first time I had one person show. The second time two people showed. It has been a struggle because not everyone can go during the day or on the weekend or in the evening. It is also a challenge because some people have stronger hiking skills than others. Hoping the next hike has better compliance among the group! 

Kahana Bay: The best part of this beach, catching chicks and playing in the nearby stream.

Look at my avocado tree!

Last day at Kanoelani Elementary School: May 30, 2024

On to Fourth Grade!

On to Sixth Grade!

November 2023

November must have flown by! I hardly have any pictures. 

The girls have been taking Ukulele lessons since the beginning of September. They had an Ukulele Festival at the mall where they both played a couple songs. It was really fun to see everyone attend this event and how many children and adults are taking lessons.

After the performance, we hiked the Lanikai pillbox. This is a really nice hike too. It is very short, but does gain elevation fairly fast. We all love exploring the bunkers and the designs spray painted inside. At this particular location, you have beautiful views of the Moku Nui Islands. 

I'm pretty sure this weekend we went to Wet N Wild with Koko, but we don't have any pictures. I only say this because the next set of pictures I have are us hiking Waimano Falls Trail. We try to have a beach day/pool day one day of the weekend and then a hiking/adventure day the other day of the weekend. This particular hike was a little difficult only because it was muddy. The waterfall wasn't very spectacular because it has been so dry, so the three pools were stagnate water and no one wanted to touch. Initially, the hiking path was nice. But it was quick to get slippery and dirty.

I wanted a pictures of our legs to remind us of how dirty we got!

Jane is participating in a gardening club after school once a week. I think they are digging for or collecting worms in their teacher castings.

Kate's class has some type of arts and crafts about once a week, which is one of her favorite things to do. 

Some people from church invited us to do a Turkey Trot 5K. It was actually more like a 50 yard dash! The girls all got an award in their age group. I did as well. It was a great way to spend the morning before all the cooking commenced.  

We had one of Bryan's co-workers family over for Thanksgiving, along with Kristi and her friend Jesse. Everyone brought something and it turned out really nice and easy. The weather was perfect as well. It has finally cooled off some where we aren't running our air conditioning during the night.

Kristi and I decided to do family pictures at Bellows Beach Park at sunrise. They turned out awesome!

We brought Howie and he was so difficult to get any good pictures with!

This one is for our mom!

Someone asked if they could take a picture of the five of us. Ha! I'm not sure what they thought the family dynamic was here. 

For Activity Days, we showed the class how to cut snowflakes out of paper. Kate demonstrated for the class how to cut the snowflakes just right because hers turned out so well! It definitely made her feel special and needed.