Wednesday, December 16, 2009
December 16, 2009
Maggie had a big business project at school where part of it was they had to apply and interview for actual jobs they were going to do in the faux town that was created. Here are her interview questions and answers. I thought they were cute.
1. In what school activities are you involved?
I'm in choir, patrol, and I was in track last year. Choir helps me work with others. Patrol helps me be safe and know and respect the rules.
2. What skills do you have that would make you a good employee?
I work good with others. I'm responsible and trustworthy.
3. Do you like working alone or with other people?
I can do both. I like to work with other people when I'm having fun.
4. How would your friends describe you?
Spunky and hard-working. I make new friends a lot.
5. Who is someone you admire? What is it about this person that you admire most?
I don't really admire anyone. I want to be my own person.
1. In what school activities are you involved?
I'm in choir, patrol, and I was in track last year. Choir helps me work with others. Patrol helps me be safe and know and respect the rules.
2. What skills do you have that would make you a good employee?
I work good with others. I'm responsible and trustworthy.
3. Do you like working alone or with other people?
I can do both. I like to work with other people when I'm having fun.
4. How would your friends describe you?
Spunky and hard-working. I make new friends a lot.
5. Who is someone you admire? What is it about this person that you admire most?
I don't really admire anyone. I want to be my own person.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Hawaii Final Day
Sorry it's taken a few days, but the last days were crazy!
Morning sunrise. Then, we got some clothes on and ran off to a couple of local spots to take our annual family pics. Had to fight the wind, but I think we got a couple of cool ones. Most important was capturing the essence of our year.
Morning sunrise. Then, we got some clothes on and ran off to a couple of local spots to take our annual family pics. Had to fight the wind, but I think we got a couple of cool ones. Most important was capturing the essence of our year.
After a quick trip to the beach, we spent the remainder of the day at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Of all the things we did this week, I have to say that this might have been the highlight for me (close with swimming with the turtle and boogie boarding). If you haven't heard of it, it's zoo-like, but instead of animal attractions, it has Polynesian island attractions. There are 7 island represented in small areas. In each area, there are traditional buildings built, activities, and mini-shows demonstrating the song and dance of the island. A great educational experience for the kids, yes, but it was truly amazing. I absolutely loved every minute of it. I love to experience different cultures of the world, and this was not lacking. It made me realize how little "culture" we have here! I suppose it's because we are such a young country. The day/night ended with a traditional Luau, complete with pig from the ground and a lei ceremony. The flowers were beautiful. I also loved seeing the little kids doing traditional hula dances. So cute! Then, there was a more professional show, with probably 100 participants. It was fabulous. It told the story of a boy growing up, but it was mainly to show the different island cultures in dance and song. The finale was a fire dance with a fire eater and tossing fire sticks and all that. It was way cool! It was worth every penny and spending the whole day there. Absolutely the highlight of the week for me.
Trip to Hawaii. $Lots. Day at the PCC. $Not cheap. Seeing your 12-year-old gawking at the hula dancers. Priceless.
No joke. This is really what he looked like. :)
More pictures added. Click Here.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Hawaii Day 5
Fun day today. First, we went to a local fave, The Pancake House in Koa, for the most spectacular breakfast I've had in ages. Papaya crepes, Portuguese sausage and marinated pork, homestyle potatoes, pancakes, french toast, eggs. It was "marvelous." In fact, held us over for food until like 3 PM! I think my favorite part was that we were the only white peeps in there. All locals. Very cool.
Then, we went to a local LDS ward. We lucked out. It was one of the best Sacrament meetings I've been to. One of their young men (although a little older from what I gathered) has been called to the Tacoma, WA mission and is leaving. It was his farewell. Several young people spoke and gave great talks, and there were a couple of musical numbers that were great. Two young men sang a duet in fantastic harmony, very Hawaiian sounding. Loved it. At the end of the service, an older gentleman stood up at the front and started singing "Aloha 'Oe" (Farewell to Thee). Everyone joined in at the end. During this, there grew a huge line up to the front of the chapel where the going out elder stood, and people came up, put a lei around his neck and hugged and kissed him good-bye. Found out later that the gentleman who stood up to sing was actual the father in the movie Johnny Lingo (old, famous Mormon show). The whole ceremony was quite something to see.
Next, we went to Pearl Harbor. That was something to see, too. Watched a show on the history of the USS Arizona, then we took a boat shuttle out to the site where the ship had sunk and there is now a memorial built on top of it. Quite humbling and reverent. Went back and Dave showed them the cool missles and old guns on display. It was cool.
Went to Kailua Park and beautiful sandy beach. Little bit overcast and windy, but the water was warm and great for riding the mini-waves. Very shallow quite far out. Great for the boogie board although none of us were very good at it. Still, I could have stayed out there all day if I weren't such a wimpy girl these days. It's hard work! Once I got out of the water, it was windy and cold, so time to go. Hit the showers, then dinner at a local Hawaiian plate cafe before heading home.
Lovely day. Last big day tomorrow. Polynesian Cultural Center is the big thing on the agenda. Looking forward to it.
More photos added. Click here.
Then, we went to a local LDS ward. We lucked out. It was one of the best Sacrament meetings I've been to. One of their young men (although a little older from what I gathered) has been called to the Tacoma, WA mission and is leaving. It was his farewell. Several young people spoke and gave great talks, and there were a couple of musical numbers that were great. Two young men sang a duet in fantastic harmony, very Hawaiian sounding. Loved it. At the end of the service, an older gentleman stood up at the front and started singing "Aloha 'Oe" (Farewell to Thee). Everyone joined in at the end. During this, there grew a huge line up to the front of the chapel where the going out elder stood, and people came up, put a lei around his neck and hugged and kissed him good-bye. Found out later that the gentleman who stood up to sing was actual the father in the movie Johnny Lingo (old, famous Mormon show). The whole ceremony was quite something to see.
Next, we went to Pearl Harbor. That was something to see, too. Watched a show on the history of the USS Arizona, then we took a boat shuttle out to the site where the ship had sunk and there is now a memorial built on top of it. Quite humbling and reverent. Went back and Dave showed them the cool missles and old guns on display. It was cool.
Went to Kailua Park and beautiful sandy beach. Little bit overcast and windy, but the water was warm and great for riding the mini-waves. Very shallow quite far out. Great for the boogie board although none of us were very good at it. Still, I could have stayed out there all day if I weren't such a wimpy girl these days. It's hard work! Once I got out of the water, it was windy and cold, so time to go. Hit the showers, then dinner at a local Hawaiian plate cafe before heading home.
Lovely day. Last big day tomorrow. Polynesian Cultural Center is the big thing on the agenda. Looking forward to it.
More photos added. Click here.
Hawaii Day 4
Time is passing too quickly. It's actually the morning of the 5th day, so we only have two more nights.
Weather has been a little disappointing. Dave loves it, but I wanted cloudless sun. I knew not to expect it this time of year, but still, a girl can hope, right? Day 4 was overcast a good part of the day. We did, however, get to the snorkel place during mid-day sun hours. That was fantastic. I guess it was murky and rough waters more than usual, but I would never have known. I thought it was incredible. At first, Maggie wasn't happy. Having problems with her snorkel gear. I have learned, though, not to push or react to her. I just casually said it was fine; I'd be happy to sit out with her. Told her it was totally up to her what she wanted to do. Didn't fuel the fire. After a few minutes, she settled down and asked to go try it again. Now, if I had *suggested* she go try it again, no way would she have agreed. It had to be her idea. (She's going to read this. Maggie, I LOVE who you are and that you are such a strong person with strong ideas. Don't get me wrong!). Anyway, when we went back in, we switched snorkel gear, and she did much better with my mask. In fact, we saw a huge sea turtle hat we ended up following around for at least 20 minutes. It was so cool.
After a while, they announced on the loud speakers that the tide was high and visibility was very low. A whole lot of people were giving up. And, since we had spend a few hours in the water already, we were ready to go, too. We got showered off and changed and then found a yummy Mexican food place.
Got back to the house, settled down for a little while, went out and got shave ice again (yum!), and then we went to see "A Christmas Carol" at the little local theater. OK. So, it was absolutely MARVELOUS, but not a show for little kids or for people who scare easily (despite being a Disney film). It was quite intense! But, if you can handle a little ghost scare, Robert Zemeckis did an incredible script write, making it more literature than movie. Something to study in an English class. I want to go see it again in 3-D (this was was 2-D). Now, Maggie was not such a fan. Well, she liked the movie in the end, but was quite freaked out! There were some good scares!
Then it was bedtime again. Another wonderful day in paradise.
Weather has been a little disappointing. Dave loves it, but I wanted cloudless sun. I knew not to expect it this time of year, but still, a girl can hope, right? Day 4 was overcast a good part of the day. We did, however, get to the snorkel place during mid-day sun hours. That was fantastic. I guess it was murky and rough waters more than usual, but I would never have known. I thought it was incredible. At first, Maggie wasn't happy. Having problems with her snorkel gear. I have learned, though, not to push or react to her. I just casually said it was fine; I'd be happy to sit out with her. Told her it was totally up to her what she wanted to do. Didn't fuel the fire. After a few minutes, she settled down and asked to go try it again. Now, if I had *suggested* she go try it again, no way would she have agreed. It had to be her idea. (She's going to read this. Maggie, I LOVE who you are and that you are such a strong person with strong ideas. Don't get me wrong!). Anyway, when we went back in, we switched snorkel gear, and she did much better with my mask. In fact, we saw a huge sea turtle hat we ended up following around for at least 20 minutes. It was so cool.
After a while, they announced on the loud speakers that the tide was high and visibility was very low. A whole lot of people were giving up. And, since we had spend a few hours in the water already, we were ready to go, too. We got showered off and changed and then found a yummy Mexican food place.
Got back to the house, settled down for a little while, went out and got shave ice again (yum!), and then we went to see "A Christmas Carol" at the little local theater. OK. So, it was absolutely MARVELOUS, but not a show for little kids or for people who scare easily (despite being a Disney film). It was quite intense! But, if you can handle a little ghost scare, Robert Zemeckis did an incredible script write, making it more literature than movie. Something to study in an English class. I want to go see it again in 3-D (this was was 2-D). Now, Maggie was not such a fan. Well, she liked the movie in the end, but was quite freaked out! There were some good scares!
Then it was bedtime again. Another wonderful day in paradise.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Hawaii Day 3
First, last night was a tremendous storm including lightening. Very fun! Maggie had a dream about a poisonous rooster attacking us. Ah, the adventure of Hawaii!
In the morning, it was still overcast. We debated what to do since we had planned to spend the day at the beach in Waikiki. We wanted to risk it, since we've found out that the weather forecast here, when it says rain, means it might possibly sprinkle a moment or two. Nothing like what we're used to. So, although it was overcast and yucky when we left for Honolulu, we took the risk. By the time we got there, about 45 minutes later, it was sunny and beautiful. Perfect beach weather. Not too hot, not cloudy, not rainy. And, we got to the beach early enough that there weren't many people there. We spent the morning on the sand. About noon, when more people were crowding the space, we got out of there, sand in our shorts and all. Very pleasant. Did a little shopping, then got back in the car.
Drove home to change clothes and de-sand-tize our bodies. Headed to the infamous Shave Ice place (Motsumoto's) where they put ice cream on the bottom, then the shave ice (note no "d" at the end of "shave"; that's what it's called here) on top. It was marvelous (Dave's good food word). Really, it was awesome.
Next was the shrimp truck, Giovanni's. Took a buttload of shrimp back to the house to devour. Yum. Fresh shrimp. Caught today. Can't get any better than that.
End of the day was Dave and I heading to the temple to do a session while the kids stayed home to watch a movie. Problem #1. Temple ends up being closed for renovations until July. Bummer. Problem #2. Stupid little DVD in the little house leaves much to be desired, so kids didn't get to watch their movie. Oh well! No big deal around here. We're in freaking Hawaii! All's good.
We will be ending the day with some fresh made chocolate cream pie we got at a local bakery. Nigh-night!
More Photos Added. Click Here
In the morning, it was still overcast. We debated what to do since we had planned to spend the day at the beach in Waikiki. We wanted to risk it, since we've found out that the weather forecast here, when it says rain, means it might possibly sprinkle a moment or two. Nothing like what we're used to. So, although it was overcast and yucky when we left for Honolulu, we took the risk. By the time we got there, about 45 minutes later, it was sunny and beautiful. Perfect beach weather. Not too hot, not cloudy, not rainy. And, we got to the beach early enough that there weren't many people there. We spent the morning on the sand. About noon, when more people were crowding the space, we got out of there, sand in our shorts and all. Very pleasant. Did a little shopping, then got back in the car.
Drove home to change clothes and de-sand-tize our bodies. Headed to the infamous Shave Ice place (Motsumoto's) where they put ice cream on the bottom, then the shave ice (note no "d" at the end of "shave"; that's what it's called here) on top. It was marvelous (Dave's good food word). Really, it was awesome.
Next was the shrimp truck, Giovanni's. Took a buttload of shrimp back to the house to devour. Yum. Fresh shrimp. Caught today. Can't get any better than that.
End of the day was Dave and I heading to the temple to do a session while the kids stayed home to watch a movie. Problem #1. Temple ends up being closed for renovations until July. Bummer. Problem #2. Stupid little DVD in the little house leaves much to be desired, so kids didn't get to watch their movie. Oh well! No big deal around here. We're in freaking Hawaii! All's good.
We will be ending the day with some fresh made chocolate cream pie we got at a local bakery. Nigh-night!
More Photos Added. Click Here
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