Go Moms!

So I should have done this post for Mother's Day but oh well. This is possibly my favorite Taylor Swift song. I cry when I hear it (not every time anymore but often enough, even this morning on my run). It makes me love my mom more and want to be a better mother for Anna. (Sorry about the words, I couldn't find a copy without them.)




Then there is this video from the church. Anna wanted to watch it one day because she liked the babies. Needless to say, I bawled through this one too.

Where are we again?

This has nothing to do with India, it's just a gorgeous spot along the road.

Jason and I have noticed that being here reminds us of India. It's like India but in the US, the perfect mix. Here are the similarities:
- Tropical climate: We are actually 4 degrees closer to the equator here than we were in Ahmedabad.
- Which leads to Tropical fruit: We have papaya trees in the backyard, pineapple grows in the front yard and the mangoes are sweet and juicy, yummy.
- Different language: Hawaiian is all around, particularly in place names but also just thrown into conversation.
- Hard to understand English: They have a slang here called pidgin. Fortunately, I don't hear it much personally.
- No sidewalks
- People have their own way of doing things: Between 'island time' and strange Indian bureaucracy we have to figure out how things work.

Then there are the differences because we are still in the United States:
- Street names and addresses: It was always tricky figuring out how to get places, now we can use mapquest.
- Paved roads: There may not be sidewalks but there isn't any dirt sitting around on the side of the road either.
- Traffic order: People stay in their lanes here and no one drives against traffic on a one way street.
- Animals: Cows are kept behind fences and on the table, dogs all belong to someone and monkeys are only in the zoo.
- Mail: It may take longer but we can still send a letter for one stamp.
- Box stores: We have a Wal Mart, a Borders (although it's closing), a Sears, Ross, Costco in Kona and Target is coming to our side of the island next year.
- And most importantly the Church: There is a stake in Hilo alone and a temple in Kona, a far cry from having church in our living room with just the two of us.

It should come as no surprise that we are in the mood for Indian food a lot more here than we were in California or Philadelphia.

Hawi

Pu'ukohola Heiau

We have been working on going on day trips on Saturdays to see this island of ours. Last weekend we went to the far north to a place called Hawi. As we were driving up and over the volcanoes (have I mentioned there are 5 on the island) we took a wrong turn and had to modify our plans a little bit.

In front of the temple was a flat space and this tower. I assume it was for speaking to people but it didn't really say. It's amazing that the ocean can be right there and things can still be so dry.

So first we went to Pu'ukohola Heiau. This is a big temple that King Kamehameha built. He was the first king to unite the Hawaiian Islands and is a BIG deal. The story goes that he wanted to unite the islands so he sent to a kahuna on Kaua'i to find out how to do it. The kahuna said that if he built this huge heiau (temple) to his war god then he would be able to do it. So he got "volunteers" to help him build it and be used for sacrifices along the way. He actually worked on it personally. Then when he was done, he invited his enemy there and sacrificed him. Not so much a peaceful people back then.

The previous temple that the larger one replaced.

It was pretty cool to go there. There was a little visitor's center then a path to walk along with a couple of stops along the way. Unfortunately, we couldn't actually go in it because it is still used by Hawaiians (I don't think they still do human sacrifices, they seem a lot more mellow these days).


Then we drove up the coast to Hawi and Kapa'au, two very small towns. The former had some really yummy ice cream and the later had an impressive statue of King Kamehameha that is just like the one in front of the judiciary building in Honolulu.

Overlooking the valley. The mist made it extra amazing.

From there we went on this amazing hike. It's called the Pololu Valley. The parking lot is on top of a cliff with a beautiful view of a black sand beach and more cliffs.

The view from the parking lot.

Then there is a 15-20 minute hike you can take down to the water. We figured if we drove all that way (an hour and 45 minutes) we might as well go down. The hike down was a little tricky because it was rocky and Anna had to be carried at times. She did pretty well though.

Us sitting on a bench swing after our hike.

Then at the bottom we ended up in a grove of trees that had some tire and bench swings then was the beach. We didn't have swimming stuff and the current wasn't such that we could have really gone swimming but that didn't keep us from getting our feet in the water. Or more than just our feet in Anna's case.

Running out

Running back

After playing for a bit it was time to get back up. This was hard and took quite a bit longer to do. Amazingly, Anna decided that she wanted to walk and ended up doing so for the last third of the hike, all up. She was such a rock star. By the end, she was so tired she was almost crawling. We kept suggesting we could carry her but she wanted to do it herself.

Fun Outside

In an effort to not have to go to the beach every day, we got Anna some fun stuff for playing outside.


Dora is her current favorite thing. While this bike is a bit big for her to pedal, that doesn't stop her from wanting to ride it. The buttons have different songs and sounds of Dora saying things like 'turning left' or 'turning right'. At first we thought it might be a bit on the annoying side but then we noticed the off switch. Fortunately for our neighbors, she doesn't play any one button nonstop.


Then there is this pool. Now she can wear her swimsuit at home for a reason. I spend my time in the chair in the corner and we both have fun. She's also wearing her floaties in this picture. When we go out to the beach she always seems to want to be out as deep as Jason and me but doesn't want us to hold onto her. Hopefully now she can do just that.

I know it's dark but I just love her face in this picture. She is getting ready to be able to ride her bike for the first time and is way excited.

Funny story on a quasi-related note, one day when we were coming home from the beach, she told me, "Someday, I'm going to go to the beach by myself and walk out by myself." I'm thinking she's not thrilled with our constant hold on her in the waves.

Regression

Moving always takes a bit of adjustment. I'm thinking Anna is having a hard time with it. She seems to be doing ok but she has regressed with her potty training. It's been three weeks since we came here and another two and a half since Kristen's family went on vacation. So for over a month we've been having issues. I like to think it's getting better but then we have more problems. Basically, if I can get her to sit on the potty she will go but she won't initiate anymore and sometimes when I try to get her to sit on the potty, she doesn't want to. Occasionally, she has accidents but I try to prevent that. We've been using a sticker chart to help her want to go potty but it seems to be losing it's effectiveness. I'm thinking of using candy again to inspire her to let me know when she needs to go rather than me having to prompt. We'll see how this goes.

She has also started to talk more about Brennan and her other cousins. In her prayers she asks that her cousins can come visit. She really doesn't get the idea of them being really far away. I think it's interesting that she didn't bring them up when we first came. We're working on making a book of pictures of everyone so that she can look at them when she wants. Today she helped me choose which pictures she wanted. I'm hoping that helps too.

Another thought I've had is that while we took away all of her friends (essentially) we haven't replaced them with anyone else. Sure, she has gained grandparents, whom she loves greatly, but they aren't the same. I've started looking into moms groups in the area but haven't been able to find anything. There are a few kids in her nursery class at church (which she enjoys, last Sunday she just ran right in) but I don't know yet which of the women go with which kids so it makes it hard to set anything up.

I did take her to the park the other day. She had fun playing there and there were other kids for her to play with, although they were generally older than her. She didn't have a problem with that (sometimes I think she doesn't know she is only two) but I think they did. At one point she came over to me on the bench and said the girls wouldn't play with her. I told her that they just didn't know her and she should ask them her name and tell them hers. I couldn't really tell if it worked but she was happy to go.

I'm hoping that as she has more friends and pictures to look at of her old ones, she will be happier and the potty training will work itself out.

Hawaiian Cultural Festival

A little bit ago we went up to the volcano to check out a Hawaiian Cultural Festival. It was a lot of fun. They had music and hula, crafts to buy and crafts to do and games. We weren't able to do much of the crafts because they were mostly sit and focus types of things and Anna would have none of it. We found some kids booths where Anna could paint and play with music instruments.

Anna with the one craft I was able to do. The feathers are tied onto the stick with string.

Anna working on the paper. She was supposed to put the paint onto a stick and press it on the paper like a stamp but decided the sponge got more paint on the paper.

One of the booths with painted gourds for sale.

The weaving palm fronds booth. Jason wanted to do this one but the sign-up sheet was full for the whole day by the time we checked.


Anna playing with the musical instruments. These are both used along with a hula and she had a lot of fun. There was a baby there with us and they had fun together.

Here is a little video of the dancers. We didn't record the whole thing, just a little bit to give you an idea of what it was like. I came in in the middle so I'm not sure what it is specifically but it was fun to watch for a while.

Ben's Wedding

I finally got the video uploaded! Now I can talk about the wedding that happened some time ago.


A couple of weeks ago, my little brother got married. He is the youngest one in our family and the last one to get married. All of my brothers and sisters were there (not all of their kids though) and it was great.

So happy!

They got married in Kristen's backyard since Barbara hasn't been a member of the church for a year yet. It was pretty crazy getting the house ready but once we did, it was beautiful. We were able to borrow the decorations from a friend of a friend and two other friends did the food and the pictures. It was a small, simple affair with just family.

Here is the group I grew up with. We joked that Ben should sit on my mom's lap.

After the ceremony, we all had dinner. Then, after dinner we took the pictures. I love the idea of eating before the pictures. That way, no one minds how long the pictures take because they have already eaten. We had to kind of hurry with the pictures though because the sun was setting. The light was beautiful though so it was worth it.

The complete group. There is definitely a complete feeling now that we have our last sister.

On the spur of the moment, we grabbed shaving cream and toilet paper and decorated their car. Then Alec got some bird seed so we could throw it at them as they left. It was so much fun. Anna really got into the birdseed. On the way back to the house, she was throwing it over her head while walking. It was really funny. Here they are making their getaway.

Pineapples

Before we came here, we were having a conversation with someone about pineapples. I don't remember who we were talking with but none of us knew what the plant looked like. Well now that I'm in Hawaii, I know and can tell you. Jason's parents have some in their front yard and they look like this:


Crazy little plant isn't it? I think I've mentioned how well things grow here. To plant these, they took the top off of a pineapple they bought at the store, put it in some water until it started sprouting then put it in the ground. I don't know how long they take to grow but I'll let you know when this one is ready to eat.

Waponi Wu (Little Island with a big volcano)

(Joe Versus the Volcano) In this case, it's the little volcano on the Big Island. The other day we went up to Kilauea which is, elevation wise, the shortest one on the island: only 4000 ft. It's one that is erupting and where you go if you want to see lava flow. Sadly, there is no actively flowing lava now. It's about 30 miles from here so it's easy to get to and nice to walk around. It's chilly up there so it's a good place to go to get away from the heat.

This is the main crater. When Jason's parents moved here, there was no smoke and you could hike and drive all the way around it. You could even go down to the edge of the crater. I guess it's not so safe now. Now, there is always this stuff coming out of it. I don't remember what the gas is but it's toxic and they had to close off half the path and road. When there is a lot of it in the air, they call it vog. Fortunately, it generally blows away from us and either towards the ocean or Kona. Poor Kona.

We walked along a road that has been closed off and is now just a walking path. The jungle is working on reclaiming the land and there are sink holes along the way.

Anna is saying "Cheeeeeeese!"

After that walk, we went to a different part and walked along a different path. Behind Anna is a rock outcropping. This is a place where there was a little short eruption in the 1950s that spewed rock and ash and lava and made a cone separate from the main cone and crater. The ground is all lava rock and you can go down there and walk along it. That used to be a lake of lava (I don't know if that was in the 50s too or longer ago) and you have to be sure to stay on the path. There can be pockets of gas (we saw some coming out, it's behind Jason) or just empty spots that can't hold your weight and you would fall. I don't think you would fall into lava but let me tell you, you don't want to fall onto lava rock either.

A Warm Ocean

Jason helping Anna walk on the uneven rocks.

As I mentioned, Anna is loving the ocean here. On Friday, we went to some tide pools. They were a bit different because it was all made up of lava rocks and some of them were really deep.

Up to my waist in the tide pools.

I didn't see many sea life in them but there were people snorkeling so there must have been some. The water was totally clear so that I could see the bottom no matter how deep it was. Which was good because the bottom was very uneven and I had to be able to see where I was going. Even still, I fell a couple of times and my legs are all scraped up and bruised. Lava rock: 2 Ellen: 0

Jason's parents opting out of going into the water.

Picture from the car of the dry side. It kind of looks like California.

The next day we went over to the other side of the island to go to the beach. It was kind of funny to drive up and over because we went through the dry side. It's pretty strange to go from lush jungle with palm trees to desert complete with cactus.

When the sun came out, the water was the most beautiful turquoise.

Then we went to the beach. There were several people but not crowded so that was nice. Poor Anna tripped and fell on the sidewalk on the way to the water and scraped up her knee. We were a bit worried about the salt water bothering her open wound but after a little while she was ok with it.

Happy in the water.

She loved the waves. We took her out past where they were breaking and just enjoyed the swells and that was fun.


She didn't like getting splashed (who does?) but other than that it was great. She was even willing to have me hold her out so she could pretend to swim. I was impressed with how well she can move her arms and kick.

Helping Grandpa

Anna spent some time on the beach making a sand castle with Grandpa complete with a tunnel. They even found some flowers to beautify it. The waves got it by the time we left and crashed the tunnel but the other two sides were still there.

Anna building up the tower.

A couple of fun days with only a little bit of sunburn on my back to remind us to put on sunscreen (Anna is unscathed, maybe she has her daddy's skin).

Hawaii

The largest volcano, Mauna Loa. It's active and slow flowing.

Remember when I said we were going to Hawaii but never said when? Well when is now and while it was going to be for a measly three weeks, the Lord decided we needed to move here instead. So, we have moved completely out of Kristen's house and moved into Jason's parents' house. We just couldn't take those extremes in weather in California and had to go more mild.

Our new home.

We flew in on Wednesday. It was a 5 1/2 hour flight and Anna did awesome. We had to wake her up at about 4:30 for our 7:30 flight but even so she did mostly great through the airport. She didn't like having to put her backpack on the belt to go through security but was better once it came back out. I realized that with all of my preparing her for the move, I forgot to prepare her for the airplane. Oops. I kind of explained what was happening before it did so she was a bit more prepared. When we were getting ready to take off, she said her baby was scared so I had her hold him and 'he' felt better. She didn't have any problems with her ears and fell asleep once we were in the air. During her hour and a half nap I realized I didn't take anything for me to do. I figured she would take up all my time. After she woke up, we watched Dora, colored, played with toys and explored the plane.

Our backyard with banana trees along the back and a bunch of palm trees. Palm trees don't have the dried, yucky parts that they have in California.

We are on the Big Island in Hilo which is on the wet side of the island. It is very lush and has rained a couple of times each day since we came. It's beautiful and warm and humid. The island is all lava rock under us so there are black rock walls for fences or on the front of houses and black on the side of roads.

We even have random black rock outcroppings in the yard. I wondered if that made it hard to grow things but apparently all you have to do is put a cutting in the ground and before too long you have a tree.


Along Hilo's coast, they have all park because in the 60s there was a third or fourth tsunami within 20 years. After that one, they decided to keep the coastline clear of buildings. One part of it is a really cute Japanese style garden that we walked around and visited a cute little island off our coast called Coconut Island.

Anna by one of the figures. For some reason, she started waving her arm and going up and down as if she was a ballet dancer at a barre. I have no idea where it came from but it was funny.

This sign on Coconut Island cracked me up.

Jason and Anna in the water off Coconut Island.

They have a little bit of beach and some sheltered pool areas that Anna loved playing in. The first time we went, she wasn't wearing her swimsuit so Jason said she couldn't get in the water because she would get her shorts wet. So she walked to me and asked if she could take her shorts off. We went back later with her swimsuit on, she didn't want to leave. Although we are not on the beachy side of the island (our coastline is mostly rocky and Kona, the other side, is the sandy side) I have a feeling I'm going to be down there a bunch in the near future.