Back to School (and stuff)

Well, when I started this post, we had in fact JUST gone back to school.  3 weeks later and I'm finally getting around to actually publishing it.  Don't ask me what I have been doing for 3 weeks - it's all a blur

We had a great summer but it was too short.  We enjoyed our home, the beaches and pools and yes, the indoor ice-rink!  It's the only time we get to wear long pants.

I had a birthday in there somewhere too, and Emily treated me to her most excellent Pot De Creme 

Olivia and I spent a morning at the DMV because who doesn't want to do that?  But we successfully renewed our licenses and she tortured me all the way home with driving selfies.

This was actually the first day of school (1/2 day) so a few of us hit the beach after a long 4 hours of teaching :)

Back to school is a drag, but it does mean one of our favorite shows returns.  Project Runway!!!  Emily is having her "make it work" moment

Oh yes, the first day of school before the beach shot.  Back to the uniform!!  At least they haven't taken away the fancy hair adornments

First day of work!!  Olivia didn't start for another week or so but she did get a local barista job this summer.  Everyone is in their polo's and out the door!

And of course, in addition to teaching, back to school means back to PTG and our personal goal of overachieving on every level.  These were left in teacher boxes for the first day.  Disclaimer: my sweet friend insisted that I not make myself cookies so she baked all 500!  

My classroom:

Here's to another year...wish us luck!

Weekend Fun

 The best part about extra days off is...extra days off!  We spent our first day of the long weekend doing some yard work.

This was an orchid left for us by the previous owners.  We are finally seeing our gift!

And our little guy was back!  Well, not so little.  Hard to tell in the photos this one from the smaller version but we spotted another Giant Madagascar Gecko.  He wasn't quite as big as the first one we saw, but still about 8" long and oh so pretty.

Then we hopped in the car and went here.  Bellows.  Quite possibly my favorite place to be.  

It was a perfect beach day.  Puffy clouds, slight breezes and warm water that didn't even make you cringe when it hit your belly for the first time.  A jump-right-in kinda day!

Emily even managed to catch a crab!  We named him Guy and tortured him for a bit before we let him go.  We joked that he went back to his friends and told them the story of being captured by a zebra :)

My Zebra

Tonight we are off to Waikiki to see the fireworks.  Enjoy your extra days and Happy 4th!

Look Out Below!

Well, school is out and after completing every Dr. visit possible, I decided to do some light gardening.  

David was against it, but when he left for work I decided to shimmy up our palm tree and hack off some coconuts for breakfast!

I know it doesn't really look like me, but it's the hat

You mainlanders pay for coconut water...we just pour it on the ground :)

Well, most of it...

In truth, that was one of the scariest things I've seen to date.  My heart was beating out of control the whole time that guy was in the tree.  Not for the fainthearted folks - I won't even tell you about the wind!

This is more my speed.  I've been working on this little herb garden for quite sometime.  Most of it is going rather well.  The pineapple is going in next!!  Much easier to cut down than a coconut!

For Father's Day we also had this baby cut down.  David can't stand it and all the "rubbish" it leaves in our back yard.  What better present then no more sweeping?

My hibiscus row doing rather well also.  Notice no flowers Dad!  We are patiently plucking them all off to allow the plants to grow.  One day this will be full of beautiful yellow hibiscus (and I think one red one that was mis-marked)  

So Much Appreciation!

First off, I promised you some hula photos from Olivia's show.

As predicted, I didn't really have an opportunity to get any from my nosebleed section of the theater

They allowed photos for this one group shot, but it's underwhelming!  

After the show, we had a quick chance to give her a lei and a hug before they had to go back in and clean up.  Again, underwhelming photography skills.  My bad.

I did steal some shots from the MidPac website.  This was one of her numbers - she is up on the platform in the back, on the edge of the red panel 

Appropriate that this costume is the one I found photos of.  The black marks on the skirts were painted on from dye made out of kukui nuts that we had to harvest, wash, bake, crack, and blend.  Twice.  It was a fiasco, but the oil was eventually mixed with burned lei ashes so they could create this effect.  Hmmmm, the word underwhelming is coming to mind again.  

She also made her own ti leaf lei shown in this photo.  We are living a very authentic life here in Hawaii folks.  After this post I'm going to re-thatch my roof with palm fronds.

The kids in the show that could play ukulele had the chance to perform Pineapple Princess - it was fun to see her play again.

Ok, now back to our regularly scheduled program.  Teacher Appreciation Week!

After last year, my girlfriend and I promised to take it down a notch.  Less is more, simple is better.  That was our mantra.  BUT, we suffer from overachieveritis and when you mix that with Teacher Appreciation Week, well, chaos ensues.

Cute right?  We know we are over the top, but we had fun and the staff really appreciated being pampered for the week.   Click on the link below to see the slideshow :)

TAW Slideshow

I know what you're thinking..."wait, aren't you a teacher this year...why are you doing this stuff?"  Well yes I am, but I'm also the VP of the PTG and that's just the way it rolls sometimes.   Don't worry though, I got appreciated right back this week:

Don't worry...next year we have vowed to take it down a notch, less is more, simple is better ;)