Move in Day Take 2!
Our stuff is here! Move in day went smoothly, and these guys were fast. Everything was in the house and out of boxes by 3 pm! I hope to post again soon with an updated "Where It Happens" post, so you can see our new digs.

Perhaps the highlight of the day for the girls was when one of the movers broke open a mattress box, and they pulled out the colored pencils to create a mural. Good times!

Teatime on the Lanai
This might become one of our favorite traditions here: making a big pitcher of fun iced tea and a "fancy" snack to enjoy on the covered back porch about once a week. Our tea concoctions so far include watermelon green tea, mint tea, and orange pomegranate tea. Usually we pair these with a fruit and something sweet. Yummm!

Makapu'u Lighthouse Trail

It's so bright! (Poor Monkey, we'll bring sunglasses next time).
That's Koko Crater behind them.

The house may not be fully sorted out yet, but on Saturday we decided we needed a mild adventure. We headed for the Lighthouse Trail, a paved 2-mile trail with a 500 foot increase in elevation. So, of course, Daddy and Lion decided to run it! They said it was a good run, but both admitted that after living in Tidewater for two years, they were no longer conditioned for hill running. Monkey, Bug, and I decided to take our time, enjoy the spectacular views, and read some of the informational signs along the way. Things we learned: The nearby mountain is Koko Crater, a long extinct volcano. We'll need to come back in the winter months, so we can see whales! You can also see the nearest island, Molokai, from here. The lighthouse was built after a horrible shipwreck in the late 1800s. 

There's the lighthouse! Unfortunately, it's not currently
accessible (I hear they're doing repairs to the trail).

We got Lion to stand still long enough to snap a photo!

They are loving island life!

Kailua Beach
This might be the girls' favorite beach yet! Our
neighborhood home school friends realized they had enough extra room in their SUVs to bring the girls and I and our beach gear along for a weekday beach day. We headed out early and had our feet in the sand by 8:30am. Parking was easy, and the beach was practically empty. The scenery was gorgeous, the sand was good for building, and the waves were gentle--just enough for an easy boogie board ride. The kids had a blast playing in the waist deep water, while us moms laid back to chitchat and keep an eye on the kids. We took a mid-morning break for snacks and reapplying sunscreen and ending up staying until noon. Everyone agreed--we are definitely doing this again!

Church Nights
The summer Wednesday night program is officially up and running at church, and the girls are big fans. Chatting with church folks over a delicious dinner was fun (Bug and Auntie L* discovered a mutual love of string instruments and are scheming to do a Christmas duet). Then the keiki (children) follow the pastoral staff to rotate through crafts, Bible story, and games, while the grown ups hang out in the chapel to "talk story" (chitchat) and eat more food. The girls had a chance to make even more new friends, who they're hoping will start coming to Sunday school.

Thursday night wasn't technically a church event, but about 15 of us from church met up at a local botanical garden to share picnic dinners (we got to try lychee, yum!), to talk while the kids ran around (they had a "snowball fight" with fluffy seed pods), and to listen to the Royal Hawaiian Band (new music to us mainlanders and pure nostalgia to the older folks in our crowd). Good times!

*Hawaiian cultural note: You know how in the South kids refer to adults as Miss or Mister then a first name? Here, it's Auntie or Uncle then a first name.

Bellows Beach Park
We got to visit another beach! We made our way to this one because Daddy's office hosted a picnic out there, so we got to enjoy burgers and shave ice and meet a few of Daddy's coworkers before hitting the beach. We brought our new boogie boards, and despite a few unsuccessful attempts (fortunately, no one got injured or psychology scarred from getting pounded by a waves), the girls had a great time. They all managed to get some good rides in, but Lion and Monkey decided they liked body surfing better.

Arriving at this beach was one of those "Wow, we actually live here" moments.

 Game Night

Perks of Hawaii life--it's always a good day for water play!
Our friends pulled out water guns and a new slip and slide
thing for a good afternoon's worth of fun!

Our church hosted a pizza and game night for the kids of the church and the associated school as its summer program kick off event. The girls had a blast making some instant friends while playing standard recreation time games. They all involved a couple dozen kids running around like crazy in mildly organized chaos. Meanwhile the grown ups sat around the sidelines chatting and eating more pizza. Good times!

Garden Concert
Some friends from church invited us to join them at a local (and apparently little publicized) weekly summer event--a free concert at a nearby botanical garden. It's a bring the kids, a blanket, and a picnic kind of event. We got there with just enough time to wander around the garden bit before settling in with our friends for food and music. Although to be honest, the grown ups spent most of the time chatting while the kids ran around. The
music was just an excuse for a great get-together!

 ALL the Friends!
We love our new neighborhood! The girls are SO excited to have kids to play with every day and half a dozen houses they can knock on to see if so-and-so can come out to play. Favorite activities include scootering around the block, climbing in our tree, drawing with sidewalk chalk, and box sledding on the hill out back.

All the parents are making friends too! We even discovered that one of our backyard neighbors is another homeschool family with 6 and 8 year old boys. We all really hit it off so I think we'll be seeing a lot of them! Then our next door neighbors bought a massive inflatable waterslide, which they set up this past weekend. There were instantly a dozen neighborhood kids outside, then the parents wandered out with blankets and camp chairs, and we had an impromptu block party! We're also only a couple blocks from the neighborhood pool, so we've been walking down there once a week to meet up with folks.

Yep, I think we found our happy place!

Summer Reading Program
We attended the summer reading program kick off this past weekend. It was a hugely popular event that involved a cute magician's show, snacks, and a free raffle (we won a book!). The girls are really excited about this program. Unlike our last library, this one really is all about reading. The girls keep up with what books they're  reading and how long they're reading, and they will get prizes when they reach different minute milestones.

Congratulations, Lion!
Look who's done with early math! (Kindergarten through second grade standards are all grouped together in Khan Academy.) Lion is thrilled to have met this major milestone, and Bug was assuring her that math gets even more interesting after this.