Catch-up, not ketchup.

Ta-da!  Back on the Island after beautiful travels to the Mainland, Canada, and Kaua'i: my souvenir?  It came in the form of a cold & cough, not my first choice, but somewhat expected.  :-)

Just a few highlights from Seattle:

The Space Needle - what I like to refer to as 'the heart of Seattle'.

The girls got to ride a camel at the Point Defiance Zoo.  How cool!

I LOVE the *vibe* of this city.

Honey and I on Mariners date night.

Love and Baseball.

My sweetie girl turned 7 while we were there!

Some of her gifts in the morning.  Then we did the Chuck E Cheese thing and ended the night with a luau celebration at Uncle Josh' new place.  A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

Oh, and got upgraded to first class on the ride home for volunteering for a later flight!  :)

 Kaua'i:  Calista attended Ho'olauna Kaua'i with Kamehameha Schools, as a part of their summer explorations series.  The theme this year was [self-sustainability] & [doing/giving without expecting anything in return].  They visited a salt lo'i (a salt farm) cultivated and cared for by the Kanahele 'ohana (Helene Chu), learned to harvest and pound kalo into poi, hiked Waimea forest and picked maile to make lei, snorkeled, surfed, and learned the hula they performed at Ho'ike.  We went over to attend the Ho'ike, a celebration and showcase of what they learned.  What a wonderful experience for our keiki!

Sending our big girl off, just hours after getting back from WA.

'Nuff said.

Shrimp Station in Waimea.  Absolutely wish we had this on BI!

Kilaue'a Lighthouse.

Missing our Cali Girl.

Calista sharing some of her genealogy in 'olelo Hawai'i.

 In other exciting news, the girls have been accepted to Kanu o ka ‘Āina charter school here in Waimea [ http://www.kalo.org/ ] for the upcoming school year.  They are really, really looking forward to this new learning experience & being closer to home.  :)

We are adjusting to a quiet house - for those who don't know, Kale moved to WA & Dad will be there through November.  Although we are far away from most of our family, we count the blessings of living in Hawai'i with an attitude of gratitude.

Think of you often, hope all is well!  

Love,

Mrs. C