Monthly Archives: December 2010

Hogmanay bonfire

So great to have this tradition with my brother :) As you can see, we had a great time with our family and friends! Click picture for more.

So great to have this tradition with my brother 🙂 As you can see, we had a great time with our family and friends! Click picture for more.

The Hogmanay tradition is Scotch – it’s the week between Christmas and New Year’s marked by fire, fireworks, parties, shenanigans, family and friends. Having a bonfire at Bellows is a really great way to let the kids roam with all kinds of balls to play catch as the grownups catch up with each other while grilling up various meats (no veggies last night – oops!) and participating in silly games that came to mind (my mind, that is!). The guys competed for a “King of the Camp” lei I brought, cooked “Hawaiian haggis” over the fire (SPAM rocks – “Shockingly good” as Doug says!), and Portuguese sausage. It was so much fun I didn’t want to wash the smell of fire out of my hair!

Here’s my invite, just in case I need some ideas for next year ;0 :

Hey gang!
Coordinates for our bonfire adventure: (21.375426, -157.707925)

4 ft high fire allowed!

We have:

60 lbs of wood

two coconuts to crack open (insides undetermined so I have can of coconut milk as well)

lots of SPAM and Portuguese sausage

some munchies

two boxes of wine – white and red

water jug

machete (never host a party without one)

football, soccer balls

On site:

mini mart

gas station (?)

bathrooms

table

fire pit

Please bring:

your best beast on a stick (there will be a competition)

something to drink out of (boot? hat?)

musical instrument

rain shelter if you have one and no big deal to set up

misc teenage boys (very helpful for many purposes, and they tend to have a lot of fun chopping up wood)

secret service agent

FAQs:

Can we get on base if we are not military?

– Yes, please send driver’s lic #, make/model of car, full name and I will put you on list.

Do we have to stay overnight?

– No 🙂

Do we have to pee in the woods?
– No, although the bathroom is further away this year so there will be races to the bathroom because it sounds fun for another party game ;0

Can you actually do any damage with a marshmallow snowball?
– Yes, if several are wadded up hard enough and a man throws it at his wife. (I have personal experience.)

Are headlamps an accessory?

– Yes, certainly. I say one dresses up any outfit, but my sister-in-law might have an alternative viewpoint.

Can we bring friends?

– Yes, we can have up to 15 tents and 75 friends!

Snorkeling!

Finally - a sunny day! Great snorkeling at North Beach. Click for video...

Finally - a sunny day! Great snorkeling at North Beach. Click for video...

Happy hikers!

Some time on the trail with my first hiker buddy. We had a great time together despite the crazy weather! The rain mist kept us cool and our chatter kept our spirits bright. Click picture for more of the family - everyone did it!

Some time on the trail with my first hiker buddy. We had a great time together despite the crazy weather! The rain mist kept us cool and our chatter kept our spirits bright. Click picture for more of the family - everyone did it!

Church, hike, gourmet plate lunch, nap for little boys…

A great day with the whole Fontamillas gang (and a few Rohrers, Krugs and Thomas)...click for the whole story.

A great day with the whole Fontamillas gang (and a few Rohrers, Krugs and Thomas)...click for the whole story.

Merry Christmas!

Click on picture for a slide show of the fun this morning 🙂 Aloha!

Santa has been here! Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Santa has been here! Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Holiday greetings to all!

Merry Christmas from our living room to yours!

This slide show captures all the special moments from our year and is complemented by a great soundtrack which includes Sam playing ukulele and a Jingle Bells medley featuring Earl Skruggs and Duke Ellington. As I went through each photo (there were 3,626 pictures in 143 folders!) I was smiling and laughing, feeling very blessed. I am thankful for a great camera that takes a real beating while snapping away on adventures. I am thankful for two little boys who are my best buddies game for just about anything (although Sam is starting to get that pesky good judgment of his father). Thankful for a hubby who loves spending his down time with us instead of the golf course (although we do try to get him out there). Thankful for family near and far who stay in touch through technology of all sorts and make special efforts to get to holiday gatherings. And very thankful for friends who continue to love me despite all my wacky ideas, and especially those friends who are willing to be rousted for such endeavors… If you have 14 minutes with a cup of tea (or a wee dram) in hand, I think you will enjoy the show, too. Please know that lots of time was invested in curating and preparing this in the interest of sharing our lives with you because the return on that investment is great – staying connected to your lives despite the miles. It’s the only way I know how to teleport ourselves into your living room this holiday 🙂 And thank you for the cards with pictures and greetings! Aloha 🙂

First day of break…

It's still raining out! So we had fun at a playground with some school friends, then hunkered down. Sam polished off his vacation homework in one sitting, and did some more math with me. Now we are playing board games and getting into mischief while sorting letters and numbers. Ben is packaging himself in this box saying "Ok go to bed! No thumping tonight!"

It's still raining out! So we had fun at a playground with some school friends, then hunkered down. Sam polished off his vacation homework in one sitting, and did some more math with me. Now we are playing board games and getting into mischief while sorting letters and numbers. Ben is packaging himself in this box saying "Ok go to bed! No thumping tonight!"

3″ an hour of rain!

It’s been raining 3″ an hour and everything is literally swamped. But that makes for interesting puddling opportunities! We took the trucks, our boys, helmets, Lego bin tops and garbage-bag knickers (and rain jackets) over to base to “clean” the trucks by…well…you can guess…then off to the playground for sledding! Enjoy!

My buddy Tamara - game for just about anything!

My buddy Tamara - game for just about anything!

Where is it safest to walk if hiking along a cliff with falling rock hazard?

To avoid a conk to the head, Uncle Tom says to hug the cliff edge if the face is nearly vertical. If the cliff face is sloping, rock will most likely bounce and roll, ultimately landing toward the edge of the road nearest the cliff face, then bounce into the middle of the road.

To avoid a conk to the head, Uncle Tom says to hug the cliff edge if the face is nearly vertical. If the cliff face is sloping, rock will most likely bounce and roll, ultimately landing toward the edge of the road nearest the cliff face, then bounce into the middle of the road. The above drawing is Dave's opinion - "It's a crapshoot," he says. Google wasn't helpful. When I was hiking earlier this year, we actually saw a rock fall from a vertical cliff face - it landed about 10 ft into the middle of the road. This seems to validate Uncle Tom's guidance. Isn't there a mathematical model to quantify risk? Anyone?

Holiday hikers

Old Pali Road trail crew...what a great time! Click on picture for the rest of the story!

Old Pali Road trail crew...what a great time! Click on picture for the rest of the story!

We had a great time on the trail today with friends from school. Sam invited Keani and her family and luckily Tamera and her boys decided to come as well! So there were 5 kids age 2 1/2 to 7. Despite some early misgivings about actually going all the way up (any time in the woods is a good time, so we weren’t being goal-oriented about it), the kids all made it to the top of the Lookout! We had a great time and found lots of fun diversions along the way, as if hiking 5 miles roundtrip over 900 ft elevation weren’t adventure enough. I am wondering if the vigilance that I maintain for those 4.5 hours is about like being a cardiac surgeon – do they feel the same sense of profound relief and compelling desire for “fortress of solitude” time that I do after a hike like this? It is a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. I am so glad they all had a great time! You know what is really nuts about me? Should I even share this? I found it relaxing to remind myself about how the Krebs cycle works in my new Biology book that I bought from the thrift store. Sam and I are really excited to dig into the 1200 page book…ok. Maybe I shouldn’t have shared that…

A “Ha-wise-man” :)

Found on the beach while jogging with Ben. A "Ha-wise-man"! And J is for Jesus :) (In case you're wondering, I didn't cut any of the plastic or alter it in any way. Just cool finds.)

A "Ha-wise-man"! And J is for Jesus 🙂 (In case you're wondering, I didn't cut any of the plastic or alter it in any way. Just cool finds out on the beach while jogging with Ben.)

Ben and I enjoyed making some ornaments this morning with my dear friend Angie and her little girl Rachel. In other random notes (this site is really my digital journal so I can search out funny or interesting things about the boys when my memory fails – hopefully some of it is interesting to family reading along as well!)…the other day Sam was asking how high the clouds are here in Hawaii. I responded that some are low, about 2,000 ft, and some are high, about 30,000 ft. I then asked how many miles up that would be if each mile is about 5,000 ft? I had barely finished the question when he responded with confidence “Six!” Wow – great math exercise! On the way home from the playground he was explaining in great detail to Gramma and me about photons being packets of energy released by the sun during nuclear fusion. He used the word “emerge” regarding photons “emerging from the solar surface.” Gramma and I were impressed. But I wondered if he really knew what “emerge” meant so I asked and he said “to arise”…wow! Not exactly what I had in mind but I can definitely see the connection. All the while Ben is sitting in his car seat singing (loudly) and periodically going “Oh! Oh yeaaah…yeaaaahh. Photons. Yeah!” We hid the “J” ornament above in the tree for Ben so he can learn that letter by finding it…Sam rehides it each night. He’s got “T” down (T was the first plastic trash I found and he held onto that little black plastic T for a long time). Now he also has S and often A (even a small “a” found in “Santa” the other night – I don’t remember teaching him that at all). S is for Sam, of course 🙂

Christmas Elves

The elves like to feed on "candy-cane-dees" (as Ben calls them) while crafting!

The elves like to feed on "candy-cane-dees" (as Ben calls them) while crafting!

The elves made these ornaments yesterday. We used an epoxy we learned about at the hardware store last night. The helpful guy we spoke to actually makes jewelry!

The elves made these ornaments yesterday. We used an epoxy we learned about at the hardware store last night. The helpful guy we spoke to actually makes jewelry!

And one for "PEACE" for ladies at a shelter.

And one for "PEACE" for ladies at a shelter.

Hawaii Youth Symphony field trip

Attending the Hawaii Youth Symphony concert with a military homeschool group. A really fantastic experience! I am so thankful we managed to fill a cancellation at the last minute.

Attending the Hawaii Youth Symphony concert with a military homeschool group. A really fantastic experience! I am so thankful we managed to fill a cancellation at the last minute.

Here we are with our little musical instruments book so we could refer to the orchestra map while waiting for the music to start. The orchestra is comprised entirely of kids ages 8-17. The youth symphony we saw perform was all high schoolers. They really hammed it up while the audience was taking their seats – they were doing the wave by section – it was so fun to see these kids have a great time together, then undertake a serious endeavor like playing orchestral pieces. Dave’s buddy from high school, Joe, is now a high school music teacher. I thought of him while I was watching the kids. What a great job to have!

Happy Birthday, Dave!

Yesterday was Dave's birthday, so we went out for breakfast to kick off the birthday week :) Instead of a card, we have a week of festivities and being extra thoughtful to the birthday person. Takes more effort but is well worth it :) Here we are at Boots and Kimos' new location. We've NEVER been in here because it is ALWAYS swamped with a line around the block. On Dave's birthday morning the line was short so I raced in to see what the wait would be. The guy seated us immediately! I was floored! It was like the waters parted specifically for Dave because when we came out the door after eating, the line was back around the block! whoa...

Yesterday was Dave's birthday, so we went out for breakfast to kick off the birthday week 🙂 Instead of a card, we have a week of festivities and being extra thoughtful to the birthday person. Takes more effort but is well worth it 🙂 Here we are at Boots and Kimos' new location. We've NEVER been in here because it is ALWAYS swamped with a line around the block. On Dave's birthday morning the line was short so I raced in to see what the wait would be. The guy seated us immediately! I was floored! It was like the waters parted specifically for Dave because when we came out the door after eating, the line was back around the block! whoa...

Bucket heads!

Ben and I bumped into our appraiser and her son on the beach today! The boys had a lot of fun messing around with buckets on their head - putting them on like hats, chasing, taking them off and tossing them to the ground, then giggling. I couldn't get them both in a decent shot on my new little phone (slooooow shutter) but did get this cute one of Ben :)

Ben and I bumped into our appraiser and her son on the beach today! The boys had a lot of fun messing around with buckets on their heads - putting them on like hats, chasing, taking them off and tossing them to the ground, then giggling. I couldn't get them both in a decent shot on my new little phone (slooooow shutter) but did get this cute one of Ben 🙂