Kindle Update

Just in case you were wondering, the honeymoon is not over with my Kindle, I am still totally in love with it. We've been together for a few months now, and my feelings for it have only grown. I think it might be the most significant relationship in my life. Kindle came with me to Arizona and Hawaii, and was the ultimate travel companion. (portability is very important to me) I've read a ton of books, and enjoyed every moment Kindle and I have spent together. I won't lie, giving up dead-tree books has been difficult. Every time I'm in the bookstore buying something for the kids I'm tempted to pick up a little something for myself, but I resist. I know that Kindle and all it's wonderful features and 300,000 book options is waiting for me. I've even made some friends because of Kindle, when someone sees us together they stop and talk and I've gotten some really good book recommendations that way. Basically, my infatuation with the Kindle hasn't ended, I think we're going to live happily ever after. The End.

A Final Goodbye

Dagny going to school and the start of Dane's football season has forced me to face an obvious truth; summer is over for me. Usually I don't officially say goodbye to summer until after Labor Day, but this year it seems fall, with all it's responsibilities, snuck up on me. It doesn't matter that the weather still says summer, my vacation is over. This summer was pretty fantastic, I miss it already.

Some favorite summer activities I will no longer be able to enjoy

• sleeping in
• staying up late
• wearing sun dresses
• long evening walks that end with frozen yogurt
• watching TV with the kids in the middle of the day
• laziness

Fall is serious business, but lucky for me, it also includes my favorite holiday (Halloween) and this year I have a visit (hopefully) from my sister to look forward to. That makes the sadness over the end of my fabulous summer just a little easier to deal with.

Whose Bed Is It Anyway?

Firsts

The last time Dagny left the house

for the first day of school she was 5

That makes today kind of a big deal. It was her first day of

high school, and her first time in public school since kindergarten.

Pretty epic, I know.

Divide and Conquer

I think a really cool super power would be the ability to be in two places at once. For example you could be hanging out with your kids while getting the grocery shopping done, you could fold the laundry and be reading a really good book, be at home and on vacation... and you would never have to miss something that you really wanted to do. Today Dane had his first scrimmage of the football season, and Steve's dad had his 70th birthday party. What to do? We decided the best thing was to divide and conquer, I took Dane to his game, Steve and Dagny went to the party. I missed the party, Steve missed the game, not a win-win situation. There are days when that super power would really come in handy.

Dagny and Grandpa at his birthday party, it was at a train museum

Pre-season scrimmage

(Dane is the center on the maroon team)

The End of The Road

Summer is over for this guy

today was his first day of school.

What Dane did on his summer vacation

• football camps
• swimming
• sleepovers
• hung out with friends
• trip to Arizona
• ate lots of junk food
• played lots of video games
• various amusement parks
• slept in everyday
• went to camp
• read a ton of books
• lost 3 teeth
• went to baseball games
• generally did whatever he wanted

Hopefully the memories of his fun summer will sustain him through the school year.

S'mores

When I think about holidays I think about Christmas, Halloween, New Years... I imagine most people are like me and the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about holidays isn't Squirrel Appreciation Day (January 21), National Superhero Day (March 22), or Rubber Eraser Day(April 15). I'm not saying those things don't deserve recognition, but did you know that to get a day formalized it has to go through congress? Imagine how much time was spent debating the merits of Play Doh Day (September 16). Yes, those are your tax dollars at work. I'm not complaining, occasionally they come up with a day that I can really get behind. One of those would be National S'mores Day on August 10th. Celebrate chocolate and marshmallows, you bet! I like s'mores because I think the way I make them is so clever. I'm certain I'm not the first person to think of this, but it's still pretty awesome. I'm not a fan of Hershey's chocolate, (if you're going to eat chocolate it should be the good stuff) so we make s'mores with Petite Ecolier cookies. The chocolate is already attached to the cookie, brilliant!

I've already missed some really good National Holidays this year like Public Sleeping Day (February 28) and Blame Someone Else Day (First Friday the 13th of the year) but I'm not going to miss Relaxation Day on August 15th.

1 Month Old

Anyone tired of puppy pictures yet? These pups are so adorably funny, I could look at them all day. We visited them over the weekend and watched them play with toys and wrestle with each other, the amount of cute going on is nearly irresistible.

this one tried to come home with us

it was tough to get these two to put the puppies back

this is not easy to resist

she is the cutest one of all

37

Happy Birthday To Me

Turned 37 on the 7th. Love being in my 30's, not sure how I feel about being one step closer to 40. Today is actually my sister's birthday, Happy Birthday Sabrina! Love you.

Aloha 'Oe

The main focus and reason for our trip to Hawaii was so Dagny could attend the Ka 'Aha Hula 'O Haluaola Hula Conference. Being as she is only 14, I went along for the ride. Sometimes being a mom has its perks. We stayed in a house with several other members of the Halau in the ritziest part of Honolulu. The houses there all have access to private beaches, which I took full advantage of. That’s where I learned the true meaning of paradise. Every morning after Dagny left for the conference I would head down to the beach. I was there for hours every day and never saw another living soul. It was heavenly. I was on my own all day while Dagny was in classes; I spent my time at the beach, shopped a little, explored the island,(so thankful for the GPS on my iPhone, I felt like I could get anywhere) ate fabulous food and just relaxed. Relaxing doesn’t come naturally to me, but by about day 3 I was getting pretty good at it. When Dagny got home in the evening we would go out to dinner with Kumu and the rest of the ladies and then hang out and stay up way too late talking and laughing.

We arrived in Honolulu after what can only be described as a travel nightmare; delayed flight, then sitting in the plane for 2+ hours before take off because of some type of computer malfunction…it was not fun. Fortunately that was the worst thing that happened to us all week, after that it was all good. Knowing that once the conference got started Dagny wouldn’t have a lot of time for vacation-type activities, the next morning we woke up early and went out and got breakfast and ate at the beach and went swimming. It was the perfect way to start the week. After that it was all about rehearsals and getting ready to perform. That night they practiced at Kapi’olani Park, which is right at the base of Diamond Head. There are images from this trip that I will never forget, and watching the sun set behind Diamond Head as they danced is one of them. It was truly breathtaking.

That night we started making their kup’ee (adornment made out of ti leaves) and stayed up late laughing and working. The next day was the opening ceremony, and while everyone was there I put together lunch so everyone could eat together when they got back. (the irony, I spent more time in the kitchen on my vacation than I do at home) That night was another rehearsal, and then classes started the next morning. The conference consisted of an opening ceremony, classes, excursions, performance nights, and a closing ceremony. The highlight of the conference, and our entire trip, was Dagny getting to dance in Hawaii. It’s a privilege and an honor for a mainland Halau to perform there, and a dream come true for Dagny. Dagny has been dancing hula since she was 7 years old. If you know Dagny you know that she takes everything very seriously, so she’s been serious about hula for half of her life. All these years she’s talked about someday actually performing hula in Hawaii. I think the reality might have surpassed her dream. The performance couldn’t have gone any better, there was an energy and emotion in their dancing that was so powerful. The look on Dagny’s face when she came off stage is something I will remember for the rest of my life; it was the epitome of pure joy. Watching her dance that night is one of the highlights of being her mother, I’m so glad I was there to see it. I have always known that hula is more than dancing, but being in Hawaii connected me to it in a much deeper way. I got to attend the closing ceremony and I feel like between that, spending so much time with Kumu, and just being in Hawaii, I learned so many things. I will never look at hula the same way; it’s so much more now.

Performance Night

On our last day in Hawaii we went to Kailua and spent the morning on an absolutely beautiful beach. Despite Dagny getting stung by a jellyfish,(the lifeguard sprayed vinegar on her foot, she felt better in no time) it was a lovely way to wrap up our trip. After some macadamia nut pancakes(!) at our favorite breakfast place, (we always go here when we’re on Oahu) we spent the afternoon at the Bishop Museum, then watched the sun set at Ala Moana Beach before we went to the airport. There are a million more things that we saw and experienced, so many memories that we made. It was the trip of a lifetime. We could go back to Hawaii again and again and not experience it the way we did this time. I loved being in Hawaii, I loved being there with Dagny, and I had a pretty fabulous time when I was hanging out on my own. Now that I'm back in the real world I just have to figure out how to survive without my morning nap on the beach.

I'm Here!

playing tourist

one of my private beaches

every morning I took a nap on the beach, this is what I saw when I opened my eyes

you can see our house from here

it's windy at the Pali Lookout

the end