Go Angels!

They have their hats, shirts, and cups, ready to watch the first Angels game of the season. SS went for the strong stuff, a virgin screwdriver to kick off the season on the right note. Who says you need a child with a penis to bond over sports? P has been searching for the steakhouse where Mike Trout had his celebratory steak. My husband is a man on a mission and he wants one of those slabs of mammal flesh. I did not have the heart to point out to P that he did not sign a $145 million contract. Because around here P IS a star. 

August 2008, almost six years of keeping Baba company and still an Angels fan. P loves their matching socks, need to get them another matching pair.

Of course Rally Monkey was part of our night. He was kept out of the top picture because we were trying to go for that back when photo op. SS fell asleep one hour after her bedtime (it was a special occasion) with her Angels gear on, and is now in sleepland, snuggled with Rally Monkey.

P has been asking me to post these for a while now.

We had to wait until we were home to upload videos, and even then it took quite a while.  SS like her first slide ride off the boat so much that she went again.  The second time she was decked out in her snorkeling gear, when she suddenly decided to return to the water. I wanted to try the slide but chickened out as usual. I'm glad that SS has P to do this sort of thing.

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A very short video of our baby snorkeling.

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I think this is P's favorite, what a dilemma, focus on the whales or the dolphin by our boat. It was such an amazing experience.

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Not bad for a half day trip. We got to see so much.

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A girly birthday party.

By the post title is is obvious we are not talking about SS's birthday party. We are pretty sure that we will be having her birthday party one month after the fact. Today we attended SS's classmate L's birthday party. SS slayed me when I asked her what L likes. Our daughter rolled her eyes and said dismissively, "Barbies, princesses, anything pink. You know how girls are." Cracked me up, because no SS I do not know how girls are. Last time we checked you are a girl, and you are not into that stuff. SS really has a poor opinion of her gender. Thankfully P let the little girl in him out and got L two very cool gifts, pink, girly and had the adults go all ohhhh, wow. Meanwhile our daughter was wondering what the big deal was about such boring, girly gifts.

Playing Fruit Ninja with Baba. P's mission was to get as many tickets as possible for SS. His good intentions bit us in the rear end. SS had enough tickets to get a harmonica, the old fashion type, not electronic, and thus without an off button. And SS REALLY likes her new harmonica. Thanks a lot P.

There's our Arroz Blanco conveniently sitting next to the birthday girl. It always happens with our SS, weird.

Happy Birthday JJ.

We are so glad you are home.

Missing Maui, but enjoying its affect.

One person who truly understood how remarkable SS's attempt at boogie boarding was is her teacher. Mrs. S gets to see SS like we do, our child's insecurities, fears, hypersensitivity and other quirkiness.  We emailed her the picture on the header and video, and Mrs. S commented that the ocean can have an amazing affect on people. That, or we thought SS just got plain lucky and caught that wave, with the help of two adults. But it seems that P's birthday gift pretty much turned into a gift for us.  Mrs. S informed me yesterday that SS is talking in class, is more open. I asked her if the change was pre or post Maui.  She stated that SS was taking baby steps before the trip. But knowing SS, her teacher was proud no matter how small the improvement. Upon our return Mrs. S asked SS to share with the class her vacation adventure and SS delivered. Mrs. S said that since then she is more talkative, more open. What a concept, to cultivate a relationship with a shy student, then wait for an opening and help the child make a breakthrough. In contrast to last year's teacher who chose to ignore SS, and be unnecessarily harsh with a post institutionalized 5 year old, to force her "to get in the mix."  

I have to admit that I was not pleased with the timing of our trip, because I have not been at work for a year yet. Then there is always the expense and that always worries me; even though P worked insane hours to pay for the trip before we left home. And that worry has obviously never stopped me from going along. But we had a blast and a half, were able to share with Grandpa and more important, we did it as a family.  But all that pales in comparison to hearing that SS is finally coming out of her shell. If SS went through school not uttering a word while in class, as long as her grades are the best she can accomplish, we would not be upset. But SS lets so much happen to her without complaining, and that is our main worry. SS can be easily taken advantage of or be hurt, and she just won't draw attention to her plight. This gives us hope that Mrs. S's approach with SS will pay off and SS will feel comfortable letting an adult know when she is in distress.

SS has discovered a fondness for Hawaiian pizza, and P made sure we had one while in Maui. We had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen yesterday and SS indulged in another taste of Hawaii. The girl really enjoyed her time there. 

We were surprised at how much she ate.

While walking around the mall SS exclaimed "LOOK, Maui trees!" Sweetie, they are called palm trees and we do have them in California. We know better than to argue with SS, we remember how well the Maui vs. Puerto Rico sand argument debacle ended four years ago. She made up her mind that Maui sand and ocean water were better then, and no way will anyone change her mind. So we took her picture in front of the fake palm Maui tree.

Today is crazy hat day at school, and our wild and crazy girl selected this one. We hope it comes home with her this afternoon.

Of course she received gifts.

We did not go overboard, because the kid did spend a week in Maui. P has hell bent on making up for last year's disastrous birthday trip and he can rest assured that he did an awesome job. Especially after fracturing a rib and how he kept going.

Pictures like this make us sad, because SS looks deceptively grown up. OK, enough of the mushy stuff and let's see what's in that big, blue bag.

This one SS had already seen since Grandpa mailed her Angry Bird Air Swimmer before we went to Maui.  We now need to get a helium tank to get the bird to float around our house.

Marvel art kit, for those boring car rides. Darn, SS could have used it on the road to Hana.

P has always maintained that SS would be a better reader if we offer her books that really interest her, not the stuff her teacher sends home.  We got her a few super hero books.

Marvel activity and sticker book.

SS seems pleased with her Superman book.

What else do we have in here?

This was such a good deal, eight Marvel books for SS's reading enjoyment.

Without a doubt the best gift was the iDrum from Grandpa. SS has been asking for drums before she could string a sentence together. Drums are loud, take space, and the electronic type are wickedly expensive. Grandpa found the perfect way to indulge SS, and help us keep our sanity, because all SS needs is to use her headphones, and she can make as much noise as she wants.

Our sassy seven year old.

Our baby is seven, how in the world did that happen? SS's party with her school friends is going to have to wait until the end of the month. I'm going to need P there and it won't do if he is in pain. My pain? Like a friend said recently, no surprise there, you just keep on moving. We don't feel too bad since SS spent a week in Maui being all about her. And we surprisingly stuck to our plan for her gifts. SS has so many toys that we feel guilty adding more, so we went with books. She might get a Lego Movie set,we will see. Happy Birthday to the most awesome seven year old ever!

The road to Hana.

Last Thursday we decided to drive the road to Hana. We thought SS was too young last time to withstand the drive. Notice that we decided, no input from SS or JJ.  Because looking back, we have no idea what made us think it was something they would remotely care about. Now we think that they will forever think of it as the road to hell.  We pity if their significant others ever suggest taking the scenic drive, because their PTSD is going to go off full blast. Man that is one long a$$ drive, but we did it so long ago...

JJ did it without Dramamine, so that was unpleasant, and SS kept wondering when we would get there. Wherever the hell there was, but as usual was her amazing traveling self. The frequent stops were very helpful.  We were saddened that we pretty much missed everything we saw, experienced and enjoyed our first drive. Especially the Blue Pool, many other waterfalls, and the black and red sand beaches. We attempted the hike down to the red sand beach, but SS panicked half way down and it was ugly. We should have never attempted that hike with her, let alone wearing sandals. With hindsight P is amazed that I managed that far with a busted foot (he fractured his rib the next day). When we hiked down to that beautiful beach a decade ago we were both obviously younger, but also fit, and wearing sneakers. Total perfect storm and one SS will surely talk to her therapist about in the future.  We have never been a foliage people, but unable to swim and hike, we were able to enjoy their beauty.  Even SS was impressed by the size of the leaves, and abundance of green.

Looks like Jurassic Park, but actually Kaumahina State Wayside.

And you thought you had a bad day; not as bad as the driver of this car.

Our little bear in front of the Three Bears waterfalls.

At one of the so called Sacred Pools. When we arrived SS incredulously said "You want me to swim in brown water"?  Come on SS, have you learned nothing from our fly by the seat of our pants parenting?

Oops, guess we should have read the sign on the way there, not upon our return.

Fractured rib and a fractured ankle.

But first about the picture, taken barely half a minute after taking the one where SS is sitting on a suitcase. From bright eyed and bushy tailed, to showing what happens after getting up before six, not sleeping a wink on the flight, and getting home at midnight. Poor spoiled baby.

P was in agony, did not get sleep, and that was our cue to go to urgent care. The man is in pain because he fractured a rib. Boogie boarding with SS on his back seemed like a good idea at the time. P needs to stay home another three days, no way he can work in his condition.

The broken ankle is mine, but it's an older injury. Best guess is from August when I was diagnosed with a sprain. Either the X-Ray was not read properly, or due to the swelling it was not picked up. I feel better because I've been upset about the sprain not fully healing. My high tolerance for pain gets me in trouble like this. Now we know why it still hurts, and I need to see my orthopedic surgeon. Fun times people, fun times.

Safe and sound.

I am so glad we are not working tomorrow. Also glad neither one of us was foolish enough to think we would wake up to take SS to school.

We just landed.

Kudos to our well seasoned traveler. SS just makes this easy.

Check out our cool ride!

We are going home on the world's largest flying fish, the Salmon Thirty Salmon II.

Bye Maui

Yep our Blue Hawaiis look green. Perhaps to match Molokini.

See? I am old enough to have a lava flow.

Glad to be taking SS home in one piece.

One would think that if SS was going to join our injury club it would have happened by now. Thanks to an incredibly quick police officer we are waiting for our traditional departure drinks, and not on our way to the hospital.

SS has been taking escalators for five years now without incident. But today she almost did a face plant and just as she was about to hit the edge of the step this guy came out of nowhere and kept my baby safe. He was there before I could even react. We did not catch his name but are thankful nonetheless.

Bye bye Dodge Caravan.

You are certainly fuel efficient but what a piece of crap.

Had to stop for shave ice.