Maui No Ka Oi - (is the best!)

Every year in August, we migrate to Maui to celebrate Obon with my parents.  It was lovely, relaxing and so wonderful to see everyone again.  My sister Vicke with her family came, Connie came back from her 1st few days as a law student at UH law school and my dad's sister and her family flew in from Oahu to celebrate.  We missed Izzie and Ryan!

We got to meet for the very first time - Kenta Ito, my sister's son. He's the cutest, most cherubic little guy ever. He's so funny, everytime he thought he was in trouble he'd stick his finger up his nose!

My dad looked so handsome in his traditional clothes along with a few of the male muscians.

My dad, mom and sister Connie were amazing on their sanshins!  My mom and Connie looked so lovely in their kimonos.

The Shisaa Lion was impressive to watch, and the snapping of the jaws and choreography was a little frighening to to kids.  Just a little scary but it was still fun for them.

Before the Obon Festival we made the trek out to see the Maui Aquarium. It's beautiful!

The kids loved playing in the tree house my dad built and swinging on the tree swings. Elise is wearing a dress my mom got her from Savers - the best thrift shop on Maui. : )

We also spent the time eating far too much, reading a ton of books (my sister Vickie read all 4 Twilight books in 3 days!) playing with my parents' Wii, relaxing at the beach and roasting marshmallows over the firepit in the backyard.

Until we meet again!  Thanks Vickie and Jun for sharing pictures with us!  Also, thank you Mom and Dad for opening up your home to the invasion.  We had a wonderful time.



County Fair Fun

School Pictures and Recap

Elise is having a great experience in Kindergarten. Her lovely teacher was actually Aaron's high school classmate.  Elise is learning so much and even has a couple of kids from church in her class. Each morning she has to sign in, read and answer a question, turn in books, borrow two more, and turn in her homework notepads. 

She recently earned a math award at her 1st school assembly.  I couldn't go but Aaron was the proudest daddy and uncle since all our little cousins that go there also earned  awards.  I will post those pictures later.  I also love to hear her rattle off her daily activities and the subjects she learned about after school.

Two weeks before he was to start pre-school, Elijah decided to be potty-trained.  It was a miracle! With the move back to Hawaii and with both of us working, it was a challenge, but we're so happy it was a smooth transition this summer. 

I really love Elijah's teacher, and what he's learning.  I cried during my first parent-teacher conference with his kumu becuase I was so touched by her love of teaching and her students.  He also has to sign in each morning and answer a yes or no question.  More importantly he's learning about his kuleana, what he is responsible for and about accountibility.  He's also learning to malama, or care for or preserve.  The third concept is aloha, or love.  It's so wonderful to hear him use these words in random conversation.

A cute picture of Elijah and his sweet kumus (teachers):

Both schools are only 2 blocks away, which is a real blessing.