Classic Maui

I'm sure more of you (than just Jespy) were confused by our attire in the last post.  One doesn't think of Maui and think rain coats and pants.  I admit I wasn't expecting that myself, but we had to do the volcano thing early in the trip so our bodies were still mostly on CO time.  2am REAL Maui time?  Fuggetaboutit.

Now let's move on to some more "what we were all expecting" pics, mkay?  Starting with the above pic of our view on the beach yesterday.  Gorge.

Obviously we were all expecting my blinding white skin to cause some retinal damage.

Here's the obligatory "playing in the Pacific" pictures I'm sure you had on your check list.

Pictures of us at a nice waterfront restaurant were sure to be expected.

Snorkel, anyone?

(Side note: I'm not a huge fan of snorkeling.  There is something unnatural about breathing while underwater.  It makes me start panicking.  Not to mention the creepy sea life that appears out of no where and could do who-knows-what to me.  Ick.)

And, (lucky!) look who got to have their 39th birthday on the loverly island!  Aren't I a nice wife to give him this trip as his gift?  Cuz srsly, that's all he got.   The economy you know...

Aloha & Mahalo.

Who Wakes Up at 2am on Vaycay?

We do.

And (after I just took a 3 hour nap) it was totally worth it.  Here we are at sunrise at 10,000 feet atop Haleakala volcano (inactive, of course, like my sister).

We then put on our slickers & helmets and biked down the road to the base of Haleakala.  Exhilarating.

Aren't we so romantic?

Maui=highly recommended.

Duh.

I'm The Blue Dot

This Could Have Been You...

...if your cake had been better.

The 4 Year Old's New Normal

Were you worried that Beebs was going to be bored now that the brothers are back in school?

Let me put you at ease.

Her schedule has more mandatory meetings on it than mine does.  I'm teaching her early that "being busy" equals "has value in this world."  Jaykay.  Although you might think so looking at what she's got going on these days.  She doesn't know the order of the days of the week but she knows which day is what.  For her it goes:

Church Day

School Day

Dance & School Day

Gymnastics & School Day

School Day

No School but the Brothers Are At School Day

Nobody goes to School Day!/JBird Football Day/TBone Soccer Game Day

That's how we talk about the days of the week and that's how you need to refer to those days in her presence, btw.  Or she'll get confused.

School Days:

First day of PreK was on Tuesday of this week.  It will be Monday-Thursday 12:30-3pm.

Quickly getting to work on mastering shapes.  It was sort of an in-your-faces to the other kids.

I won't be here smiling & posing every school day.  Just the first.

Her BFF will be though.

Dance & School Days:

Beebs has now moved up to Ballet/TapII which basically means she could go on SYTYCD if she were old enough.  Perfect form is all I see here.  This will be Tuesdays at 10am.

This pic makes me giggle.

RFTP shot here.

Ah...look who is here again!  The BFF!  

Gymnastics & School Days:

I can't get enough of her leotards.  She shall wear them Wednesdays at 10am.

The BFF is in this class too but I don't have any shots of them together.  I will remedy that soon enough.

Now seeing this 4yo's schedule all laid out like this I'm realizing it's ridiculous.  I think I need to work on changing a couple of those days to "Nap Day" and "Sit Around & Watch Tom and Jerry Day."

"I Like You"

This is a common phrase said around our home.

I like you.

For whatever reason, it means more to us than the more customary I love yous.

Yes, we say "I love you" often enough, but it's the "I like yous" that really dominate.  Everyone loves each other.  We are family.  Of course we love each other.  I've given birth to some of us & married the other.  Others of us are siblings.

Love is a given.

But like?  Do we have to like each other simply because we are in the same family?  Is like a given because we were married in the temple?  I've seen plenty of people who don't particularly like their kids (or one of their kids perhaps).  I've seen plenty of couples who, while they love each other in every sense of the word, don't particularly like each other.

Like is on a whole different level.

I'd even venture to say I love every single person in my ward... in a "wardly love" kind of way.  But like?  Now you're pushing it.  Like implies you enjoy spending time with them.  Like means you find them interesting.  Like consists of enjoying their personality and wanting to talk to them regularly.

So, when I see TBone being kind to Beebs simply because he wants to, I'll look at him and say, "TBone, you're a good kid.  I like you."   And when I'm lecturing Gty on this & that and complaining about stupid little things he'll smile at me a little, rub my arm and say, "I like you."  I usually roll my eyes & tell him to "stop patronizing me and just listen!" but secretly I like being liked.   Who wouldn't?

Star Witness

Occasionally,  when I'm out in a public place, I get this feeling I should start taking extra notes as to my surroundings in case something suddenly "goes down" and I am needed to testify in a court case later.   I start making mental notes of makes and models of the cars in the area.  Perhaps I even try to memorize at least one license plate or a "partial plate," as I've heard it referenced on cop shows.  I size up passersby according to height, weight, and other distinguishing features.  I also take note of the time of day (as to-the-minute as possible).

I then picture myself on the witness stand several months down the line testifying in great detail of the things I saw at that moment of [insert heinous crime here].  "Yes, and in the northwest parking lot of the Littleton Target, there was a pearl toned Suzuki XL7.  It was all alone except for the 5'10" man walking toward it with ash blond hair and a slight limp.  It was approximately 2:57pm on Thursday, August 26th 2010."

My amazing attention to detail, of course, places the accused at the scene of the crime at the exact moment he needed to be placed there in order to secure a conviction (Prosecutor: Do you know who it was you saw in that parking lot that day?  Me: Yes....yes, I do.  It was him ::pointing at ash blond man in defendant's chair::).  As a matter of fact, without me, he would have walked out of that courtroom a free man.   [applause]

I wish I were kidding about all of this, but, sadly, I am not.