Lets Go Surfin Now, Everybody's Learnin How

We finally found something the boys REALLY like and that they are good at. Too bad it's surfing, and that is a sport that will be hard to enjoy in the cold Oregon beaches we like to frequent. Anyway, they liked it so much, we are going back tomorrow. Gnarly.

In other news, we played Bananas, and Dad won the last game. Mom won most of the other games, using the dubious words "gorm" and "bier". Turns out bier is a word, but gorm is a different story. Mom was thinking of "corm"; gorm really isn't a word. Except now Dad has decided that it makes a great adjective, and he is using it frequently. Don't be too surprised if you hear him say, "What the gorm!" someday.

We are going to Mama's Fish House tonight, and we are sending the boys out with $ and a room card, and a map to RoundTable Pizza near the Sheraton. Last night we told them to take the shuttle to the banyon tree to meet me and mom, but Matthew didn't take his cell phone, and we forgot to give them the money we told them they'd have. We also didn't give them a room key. Opps. All's well that ends well, I guess. They made it to the tree, but not without much worry and perhaps the hint of a tear or two. Tonight, I've already given them money and a key. Here's hoping it goes better!

Maui Day 4

Sunburn! James, Matthew, and Bob all got a sunburn yesterday. So, today is T-shirt day, and spf 85 sunblock day.

Donna says that Emily is bored, and Nicki is having a good time; sounds like the girls have made themselves right at home, and are behaving just like they do for me! Thanks for having them stay with you, Donna.

Emily, I think you will have to b e the one to add humor to our blog through your comments. Love you!

Here is a video from the first day:




P.S. James and Matthew are tired of going to slow, noisy, grown-up restaurants, and they just want McDonalds.

Maui Day 3

We have just had breakfast, and the boys are playing their Nintendos. We are going to go snorkling in the pool soon, because the boys kind of freaked out in the ocean yesterday. Opps, Bob just kicked them out and told them to go to the pool. We are going to snorkle at Napili later this morning, once the boys realize that snorkling is easy. Yeesh.

Dad has planned out our meals for the day- lunch at Napili, dinner at Kimo's. No time to watch the 3 Lost discs we brought, but that is good- we can do that at home.

Yesterday we drove up to the top of Haleakala, and we were above the clouds, and could see the Big Island. I discovered that I am afraid of heights, because once we got above 9,000 feet I cringed every time we came to a corner, or anytime I looked down the side of the volcano. Surprisingly, I didn't mind walking around or climbing to the top of the hill near the visitor's center. Driving down wasn't too bad either, but wow, driving up those last 1,000 ft really was hard.

We also went to church yesterday in Kapalui, and we saw a gecko climbing the foyer wall. The church is pretty much the same anywhere you go, I guess . . . But the gecko was fun.

Greetings From Maui!

We arrived yesterday after a 5 1/2 hour flight that was very difficult for . . . Bob. The boys were great.

The first thing we did was drive to a canyon to go on a short hike through the jungle. There was pretty river that meandered through the canyon, and a beautiful view all the way to the ocean. We thought that the trail reminded us of Multonomah Falls-

I've been told we have to go- I'll add more later. We love you Emily and Nicki, and I think we will have to bring you two with us when you are teenagers!

Love, Mom

Magic Flute

I'm trying to get some friends to go see The Magic Flute with me. The Metropolitan Opera recorded it a couple of years ago, and it is showing at movie theaters around the country on August 5th. I thought some of you, dear readers, might enjoy it as well. Here's the info on it:

http://www.fandango.com/metsummerencore:themagicflute_125634/movieoverview

Let me know if you see it!

Summer 2009

With 4 kids and a dog home all summer, you are probably wondering if the house is still standing.  So far so good.  The kids have accepted the chore chart, and are somewhat accepting the TV policy, with sneakiness on the side, which I pretend I don't know about. We have forgotten swimming lessons for the last two days, but we celebrated Bob's birthday and I made a trellis over the front door durring those days. You win some, you lose some, I guess.  Here are pictures of the winners:

The Birthday Boy and his entourage.

Behold, the Trellis!

Some of you have been asking how we like having my dad live with us. Well, it's going pretty well, if we could only get him keep his rock music a little quieter.  And the phonecalls from his fiends like that Chuck Schwab are a bit much . . .  

Dad enjoying his pad.

Naw, we're having a fun time visiting with Grandpa.  We have introduced him to Lost, and so most weeknights are now Lost nights.  Hopefully we'll get through all the seasons before January!

Awesome as a Possum

Remember when Matthew turned 16 and he got a Fedora for his birthday, and he and his friends played Rock Band 2 before going to the Stake dance?

Remember when the Stovalls visited and we drove up to Mount St. Helens and the visitor's center closed 20 minutes after we arrived, but the views were amazing?

Remember Nicki's 6th birthday, where she
invited 5 girls and one boy and they loved playing Mother May I, and Nicki wanted chocolate cake with sugar cookies on top, and we actually sent out Thank You notes?

Remember the time when we went to the Oregon coast with Grandma and Grandpa Stovall, and we stayed at a beach house and explored tide pools, and met a

beagle named Bowzer, and found a great restaurant for the adults, and made caramel brownies, and we forgot to take pictures until it was time to go and the kids were grumpy, and then we drove north to Astoria to see where the Columbia meets the sea?

Remember the last week of school when Kristy and Mom helped out at Helen Baller Field Day?

Remember the last day of school when the neighbors came over for ice cream, and the first thing the kids did after getting their food was sit down to play video games?

Remember Emily's 10th birthday when we let her have a sleepover, and she and her friends had a pillow fight, and they sang "Eye of the Tiger" and "We got the beat" until they were memorized, and for some crazy reason the girls all added "naked pickle!" to the end of each line of the birthday song?

Remember the time Kristy and Donna took Emily, Nicki, Mia, Sam, and Nate to California, and the kids were great on the way there, but they were totally grumpy and over-tired on the way back, and we met a dog, and we picked wishies, and we played "Red Light Green Light" at a rest stop?

Remember when we were in California, and we went bowling with all our California Cousins, including Anna, Sarah, Peter, Jacob, Ryan, and Allison ?

That was awesome!