When the sky weeps

I visited our little local library today. I was browsing the Hawaiianna section, thinking about my father...

I feel his spirit all around me on this island. It's not just the memories we shared here. I truly feel his presence. I hear his laughter in the rustle of the palms. I see his playful energy in the rising waves at the shore. I smell his sense of adventure on the salty sea air. Memories rush to me, a thousand moments in time strung together like the flowers of a lei. The necklace comes full circle as I think of my girls stretching for new experiences and relive for an instant my own childhood days. Watching the sun set each evening I feel a sense of calm acceptance because I am reminded that tomorrow brings a new sun rise.

It suddenly strikes me that I would not be standing here at this very moment in this library on the island of Kauai had my father not passed away. The irony hits me as my hand is drawn to a volume of Hawaiian proverbs. I open to a random page and read: Uwe ka lani, ola ka honua... When the sky weeps, the earth lives.

I believe the universe speaks when our hearts are open to hear.

Kate's Corner: Join us on the ocean floor, Mermaid Kate just turned 4!

Morning song circle at Koloa Early School.

On her birthday, Kate got her turn to be the "happy snack leader" and bring "share and tell" for the first time. When it came time to sing "Mixin up a batch of birthday cake", Kate got a little shy. Thank goodness she had Grandma with her... Grandma flew in for Kate's birthday week and joined her for song circle.






That evening after school, we gave Kate her very own set of flippers. She completely blew me away by putting them on and immediately swimming the entire length of the pool by herself. By the next day, Kate was diving for toys at the bottom of the pool with Ellie!





Coincidentally (or not), Kate had decided upon a mermaid theme for her 4th birthday party. She invited 4 little girls from school and their families to her "sea castle". What a great time! For lunch the girls had "Octopus on a bun" (turkey dogs cut to show 8 legs) and "Shells with seaweed and sand" (Pasta shells with pesto and parmesan).








After lunch they had cake which Kate decorated herself.





Then they found a secret pirate message and deciphered clues to the hidden treasure ("to find the treasure you must be brave and willing to enter the pirate cave"). The treasure hunt was the highlight for me... the girls all screamed when they opened the box and found the "jewels".


The grand finale was an impromptu hula show. What a great day!

Kelly's Belly

Is this girl pregnant?...

Ummmm... I'd say so..... Here's Kelly and "the boys" at 6 1/2 months.

Witnessing Darwin's Theory of Evolution in practice?

Ever since chickens were introduced to Kauai by early Hawaiians, and hurricanes blew them out of captivity, the island has been populated by a wild population referred to locally as "Moa". They're everywhere... strolling through the open air restaurants, golf courses and down the beach. But have you ever seen a chicken like this???? We haven't. So we decided to investigate. We consulted with our audobon friends, birders, the local library and chicken farmers on island... the concensus seems to be that our friend Chickita here was born with a genetic defect. This prompted a discussion about genetic selection. We wonder if Chickita's long beak will make it easier for her to find food in the lava cracks. If so, surmises daddy Dave, she will survive and produce offspring with similar beaks. Yesterday I saw a baby chick with a similar beak. How interesting to think that there could be an entirely new bread of chickens here on the island by the time Ellie and Kate visit with their kids! Time will tell...

Random photos and explorations

Our own private hula show by the pool.
Oh wait! There's a frog in the pool!



Swimming at "Queen's Bath" near Princeville (natural pools in the lava rock filled with ocean water... fantastic snorkeling!) Kate's first time snorkeling!

Rainbow clouds at Hanalei

Baby bananas in Hanapepe (art community and home of Lilo and Stitch). The "hand" or bunch of bananas starts out as the big pink flower. The bananas grow on the stalk. By the end, the bananas are so heavy, the flower hangs straight down.

Hike through the sugar cane fields to Kipu Falls. I remember going here as a child, but the trail ended at the swimming lagoon below the falls. This trail led us to the top of the falls, so the girls left disappointed. (The only way in was to jump the 20 foot cliff, and I wasn't comfortable with the kids doing that... at least not yet...) Later in the day we ended up at Kalapaki Beach where Dave rented a surf board. After he was done surfing, he brought the board to the salt pond lagoon where the girls were watching the local boys and trying to surf on the body board. Both of the girls got several turns to ride Dave's surf board (in a safe 3 - 4 feet of water). In their minds, the parents made a good recovery and the day was saved.

Adventures with food / the "I Dare You" game

Ok... first rule of blogging... WRITE DOWN YOUR USERNAME AND PASSWORD! I guess I thought I would remember... silly me! I thought I was going to have to start all over... finally guessed correctly and am back up and running.

Hawaii is such an amazing mix of cultures (native Hawaiian, Chinese, Portugese, Philipino, Japanese, Caribean, etc.) Because of this, we've found that every trip to the grocery store is an adventure. So we started a new family game called "I dare you". About once a week each of us takes a turn picking out something new or strange at the grocery store for everyone to try. The only rule is that you have to be willing to take the first taste.

We've come home with sushi, poke (raw fresh shrimp or fish "cooked" by marinating), passion fruit everything, mango this and that, and new completely unfamiliar fruits and vegetables grown locally... I am amazed and totally impressed by what my girls have been willing to eat under the auspices of our "game" (even Kate who had narrowed her vegetable selection down to raw carrots, cucumbers and steamed brocolli).

Last week the girls and I came home from the farmer's market with "dragon eyes" (longon fruit). They are round and about the size of a small plum with a thin hard brown skin (like a potato, but thicker). Once you peel the skin, the fruit looks like a kiwi green mellon ball with a large black seed in the middle... thus the name. The fruit tastes a lot like honeydew mellon. We also came home with Dragon Fruit which looks kind of like a pink artichoke. You cut it like an orange in wedges and scoop the fruit out with a spoon. The fruit is soft and creamy and tastes like kiwi. I'm told it comes in a purple variety as well.

We found plenty of star fruit, but either it wasn't a good variety or it wasn't ripe. To me it tasted like yellow peppers, so we chopped them up and used them in a stir fry (very good!)

Our best/strangest find was a large soursop, which is very hard to describe. It is big and lumpy and green. It weighed about 10 pounds and the skin had pokie spikes all over it. It looked like something that would come off a cactus. I have to admit... I wasn't too psyched about trying that one, but it was awesome! We explored it with all of our senses before we tasted. The fruit was milky white and smelled like pineapple and bananas. The texture we decided, was a lot like cooked dungenes crab. Weird huh! But the taste... sweet and tart at the same time. Delicious! I found a recipe for "Jamaican soursop punch" as well as a recipe for soursop ice cream. The punch wasn't a big hit with the kids. It tasted exactly like a pina colada mix, so I encouraged Dave to break out the blender (seeing as how we made it and it was fresh and all...)

Anyway... The kids get so excited when we find something new and "weird" now... Never would have predicted that! Tonight they had regular old pizza (but niether noticed or commented on the mushrooms, which is a first!)

Much love and aloha to all of you! Thank you for your emails! We miss you all!

Susanne, Dave, Ellie and Kate