Close Encounters of the Turtle Kind

This morning we went to the beach and saw a turtle! While Anna and I were playing in the waves, I felt something hit my leg. I thought it was Anna but when I looked down it looked like a snake next to a rock. Now, snakes aren't on the island but I thought that's what was bumping into me and got a little bit freaked out. Apparently I screamed too because a woman near me said she heard me under the water. Fortunately, it wasn't a snake next to a rock, it was a sea turtle. We were in a little cove and the waves were decent so he kept swimming around where we were. At one point he swam close to Jason and Anna and poked his head up to look at them. It made for an exciting day at the beach.

Keiki Steps

This past week we started Anna at a preschool called Keiki Steps (pronounced kay-key). I heard about it from my friend Becky whose neighbor goes there. It's technically a program for native Hawaiians (which we are not by any stretch of the imagination) but it's more like they give priority to natives and since there was room, they let us in.

Before we could apply, we had to get TB tests. The state does the tests for free every Tuesday so we just went down and stood in line. Anna did really well about getting it done. She watched the nurse do it and didn't start to cry until they put the stuff in. It was cute because then, when we said it was my turn, she said she didn't want it to be my turn.

As part of the registration process, there was a developmental questionnaire. It was for a 33 month old (which she will be at the beginning of November) and she does everything in it. Then there was a vocabulary test where there were four pictures and they had her point to one. She did really well until she got tired and announced she was done. We tried to let her play for a while and get back to it but at that point you could tell her heart wasn't in it. For several in a row she just pointed to the top left picture. In spite of that, the lady giving the test said she was doing really well. I love it when I can quantify how smart she is.

Now onto the program. They meet four days a week at an elementary school from 8:30 to 11:30 and a parent stays with them (which is why I needed a TB test too). They start with a circle time where we talk about the date, days of the week, a color, a shape, sing songs and learn a little Hawaiian. Then there are stations followed by snack time and outside time. I think the outside time is Anna's favorite. They have a water table, sometimes a bubble table and a birdseed table (like sand but with birdseed instead of sand) along with balls and other outside toys.

Last week we only went for two days to ease us both into it. Anna had a lot of fun and it was kind of nice being there with her. The downside is that then I give up my whole morning too. I'm not sure how much we are going to end up going on a regular basis but it's great for Anna to play with the other kids. I knew she needed something on the Monday after General Conference. She needed to get out and play because she hadn't had nursery that week. It's also nice to meet the other moms in the area that have kids Anna's age. Maybe we'll both get new friends out of this.

Update: I wrote this a while ago. We have been almost every day this week and we love it. Anna is very sad every time we have to leave. My friend Becky is there with her kids. We also got the score from her vocabulary test and she scored with the vocabulary of a 3 year 5 month old. All that reading seems to be doing her good.

Road Trip in Puna

Last Saturday we decided it was time to start exploring the island again. This time we decided to stay a little bit closer to home so we explored the lovely area of Puna. Puna is a funny place. It's mostly jungley and attracts some of the more free spirited types. It's not uncommon to see a drive way into the jungle and have it end at a VW van. It's along the southern tip of the island and this is where the volcano is currently oozing" liquid hot magma" (Austin Powers) into the ocean and extending the coastline.

To get to the coast we drove along some of the prettiest tree lined roads. They weren't wide and at times there were trees kind of in the middle but it was lovely and we lucked out because we only had to pass someone once and it was a place where there was space.

We stopped and had lunch along this beach and got to sit on a side ways tree trunk. Behind Jason there was a big tide pool place. We checked it out after eating but there wasn't much in the way of sea life. The waves were fun to watch though. There were a bunch of people there swimming at a boat launch. Apparently no one payed any attention to the "No Swimming" sign. It just about killed Anna that we weren't there to swim.

Then we went further down the coast and found this spot. The road to the park was not good but passable as long as we went slow. It was so cool to walk out to this point. We didn't stay there too long though because lava rock is not the most stable of places. Sure it seems stable, it's rock after all, but it's really porous and there can be air pockets that collapse if you stand on them. Needless to say, we didn't have any problems but we didn't want to tempt fate by lingering.

This park also had a lot of pine trees. For some reason, pine trees throw me off here. They just don't seem to fit with all of the palms. There were so many of them that there was hardly any grass, it was all just pine needles. We did find this little spot that was both grassy and sunny (I think there might be a connection there) and Anna ran around. We were the only people there and it was just so peaceful.

Around this time of the drive, Anna fell asleep in the car so we drove without stopping. There wasn't much to see anyway. At the end of the road we got to the active lava field. We weren't really dressed for exploring (we would need read shoes for that and Anna was still asleep) but it was fun to see the steam coming out of the ground (from a distance, this is quite zoomed in). We would like to go back and see it sometime. Hopefully we get to it before it stops. We had a fun drive and got to see more of this beautiful island.

New Friends, New Beaches

A little while ago, a new family moved into our ward from Utah. They have three kids and we seem to have become insta friends. Becky, the mom, is the type of person who is way friendly and brings out the talker in me. Their three kids are 2, 4, and 6. The six year old is a girl which is fun for Anna even if she has to go to school. Becky is a hue beach person; the beach is her happy place and she likes to go several times a week. This is another plus for Anna because then we go with them. Since they go to the beach all the time, they have explored more of the local beaches and have shared them with us.

This is a place called Champagne Pond. To get there you have to go off-roading so I know we wouldn't have found it on our own. Jason is getting ready to go snorkeling. These friends are also big snorkelers and have been working on getting us unto it more. After this trip, Jason was hooked.

The kids who don't go to school hanging out. The boy standing is Anna's age to the month. All three of them get along well.

Sadly, we all got sunburned on this trip. I'm beginning to think the spray sunscreen isn't working so well for us (maybe because it was windy?). Poor Jason only put some on his neck and shoulders then proceeded to spend the whole time snorkeling with his back up. He had one burned back and I had a lot of fun peeling it.

Here is along the "road" on the way home. I love the black rock against the blue water and the green in the background. I had Jason get out and take the picture. As he was out there, it occurred to me that I would feel really bad if the ground gave out under him and he fell into the sea (you can't actually trust lava rock to be solid). After that day, we found out from our neighbor that the water quality is really bad and it's not actually a good place to swim. Oops, guess we won't be going back there.

Fortunately, then Becky too us to this next place. It's more like a pool and since there is a lifeguard, we know it's safe to swim there. There's a little wall with steps down to the water which is where the kids played because it wasn't too deep on the stairs.

It's a spring fed pool that is volcanically warmed. The water temperature is generally in the low 90s although occasionally there's a cold spot. Instead of being yucky, the cold water is refreshing when the warm water gets to be too much in the hot day.

The trees go almost right up to the water and it was awesome seeing the bright blue water through the trees.

And here is Anna enjoying her snack while drying off. I had gotten some rub on sunscreen this time and we came out un-burned, the trip was a success. We'll have to bring Jason to this one.

Go Crafty Me!

I wanted to get Anna some of those lacing toys but wanted to choose the pictures so I decided to make some. While I like to do crafts, I generally only work from existing patterns. This time, I figured I could figure it out and I thought I would share how I did it.

First, go online and get pictures. The ones that worked best had no background (so more like clipart) and that don't have too many little parts sticking out. For Anna I chose some princesses, Dora, and a couple of animals.

Next comes the photoshop part. Divide a piece of paper into four parts. Add a picture onto each of two of the quarters and scale to fill the space. Copy each one and move it onto the other side. Flip the image so you can have a picture on both sides of the toy. Make a pdf file and print.

Then cut out the pictures. I did it right along the lines but that is just me.

Glue one of the pictures onto card stock.

Cut around the picture with an inch or more around it. Punch holes at the farthest points of the picture and use those holes to center the second picture on the backside of the card stock.

Clear contact paper on each side helps it last. You can also laminate it but this way doesn't require a laminator. Then punch holes all along the outside with the holes about every quarter to a half inch depending on the contours of the picture. Remember to re-punch the holes you had punched earlier. Tie some yarn onto one of the holes, add some tape to the end so it doesn't fray and you're good to go.

Funny, I was so sure

Twice recently I have found out that something I was so sure of turns out to be wrong. The first was the spelling of the word vacuum. I don't know how but I somehow thought it was spelled vacume. A part of me didn't believe Jason even after he showed the lack of red squiggle on Word. The funny thing is that I have been spelling it the wrong way on my to-do lists for so long that it looks more right to me than the right way. Oh well, I've finally accepted it and am working on remembering the right spelling.

This second one is almost more unbelievable to me. As a bit of background, I'm a movie person. I quote them in my daily conversations, I know the names of actors and characters and who played what, I know what I have seen and what I haven't and generally the basic plot line of both categories, and I know what things are rated. This last one is important to me because I don't watch movies rated R.

I was in Target the other day and saw the movie Letters to Juliet on the shelf. I could have sworn it was rated R and thought how strange that it was because romantic comedies generally aren't and after watching the trailer there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it. So I picked up the movie and looked at the case and saw that it was, in fact, rated PG! I was shocked! When did that happen? I don't think I have ever been so far off. I assume it always has been PG, they don't usually edit it down when they release it on video. But if so, how did I get it in my mind that it was R? I even had to check imdb.com and Netflix to verify before totally believing it. So now, of course, I have to watch it (even if the preview looks totally predictable and gives everything away) because now I can.

Rainbow Falls

A little while ago we went to a place called Rainbow Falls. It's maybe a mile from our house. We are having a bit of a drought these days so the falls are low. Hopefully we can get some more rain and we can see what it looks like when it's good and full.

To one side of the falls there is a little path you can walk up to get to the top. Once there, we found a huge banyan tree. These are big trees here that start out as a little tree (I assume) but then the branches send out what are essentially roots and they build the trunk out bigger and bigger. I know this isn't the best picture but it gives you a good idea of the scale of this tree.

While we were being all impressed with the size of it, we noticed this big branch that led to...

this whole other tree. I don't know if one sent out and formed the other one or if there were two that somehow merged. It seems like either option is possible. On the far side of this tree was a man just standing there and staring out at the water. He was pretty creepy and I was glad I was there with Jason.
Walking through the trees and jungle we got to the top of the falls. The part that goes over the cliff is to the right of this picture. Again you can tell that the water level is low (we have only had 39 inches so far this year). Lava rock is just cool no matter how many times I look at it.
Then we saw this cool cliff with exposed roots. It was a really cool, really close place to visit.