Molokai - Day Two

Col: A rainy start to the day meant heading to town early for the farmer's market (the take: 3 papayas - I think - green onions, unripe tomatoes, "apple bananas", a truly unidentifiable green thing that is supposed to break apart and be sweet, 2 loaves of bread from the famous 10:30 PM bread run bakery - since we will never be up that late, and two free stuffed animals that Ellie selected from a basketful a kind lady had put out on the street.)



Still rainy on this end of the island when we got back so we read a bit and - alas - put on a movie.



The kids were tired and Jay took Ellie into the kids' room to nap at about noon. It's now nearly 3, and I have finally won the battle of wills with Maggie (see the photo of her sleeping feet in the bedroom). I wonder how long her nap will last being that it was three hours in the making? Regardless, getting naptime to work properly (or even improperly) is key to this vacation working well. It's the only way we'll be able to get the girls on island time, and I personally do not want to spend the next 8 days getting up at 4:45 AM.


One more thing on that - we got the kids to sleep all right last night, but I am a parent in a state of constant unease. While our proximity to the crashing surf is lulling Jay to sleep like a baby, to me it is nothing other than a potential siren song calling our babies outside to the sea. We have no way to lock the front door so the kids can't escape. Mags does not like the sound of the surf, and Ellie doesn't like the water, but both are fascinated by the new surroundings (a road is about 10 feet outside the front door in the opposite direction). Last night, I finally piled suitcases across the hallway in the hopes that if anyone wanted out, we'd hear them trying to break through. So, basically, I haven't gotten any good sleep since I must maintain my role as sentry. Jay says I'm like a CIA agent who can hear the sound of a pin dropping from 30 feet away.

Ellie and Cinderella

When I was uploading photos into the "Molokai - Day One" post, I took another look at this video and decided it was worth the pain in the ass of putting the video on YouTube and embedding it. This child cracks me up every single day, and I need to share. I love how she oh-so-carefully puts her hands in the correct position when she grabs Cinderella.

The "Glasses" Half-Empty

On our last day of vacation, Ellie put her little glasses down on the sidewalk, and following along behind her, I stepped on them and broke them. We had been planning to exchange the glasses for a different pair - even though we loved them, they slid down her nose constantly. So, we went today to choose a pair with adjustable "nose pads" or whatever they're called. Tonight we went back to pick them up. After having them painstakingly fitted by the friendly LensCrafters guy, she proceeded to break them in the car on the way home. Not to be over-dramatic or anything, but that kind of crap sends me over the edge into Mean Mommy territory. She was skating on thin ice until at bedtime, she spit her toothpaste into the sink for the first time for me (oh, the milestones we celebrate here...) and then sang "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" with her angelic little voice while looking me right in the eye. Then, she polished off bedtime with her new secret weapon - She told me she loves me. Yeah, we'll get the glasses fixed.

Molokai, Day One

Prologue:

First off, a big thank you to Ellie's Temporary Airplane Grandma from Boise. She, and her husband in the window seat, successfully entertained/were entertained by Ellie. We had purchased a row of three seats and one across the aisle. I figured Jay and I would split time in the spare seat to spell ourselves as we co-parented for 6 hours at 35,000 feet. But, given the fluid nature of family airplane seats on a trans-Pacific flight, Ellie ended up being the one best suited to the single seat. She quickly engaged the woman next to her, covered the kind soul with stickers and ate all of the Temporary Grandma's trail mix. The cool part of it was that the woman actually enjoyed it.

Okay... Now, here's the uncut, unedited journal from the trip -

Day One:

Note from Jay: removing geckos from wet bathtubs is challenging. Best to use two combs facing one another (think Venus flytrap). Just be careful not to skewer the little guys.

Note from Col: My heart has officially stopped and my limbs have turned to jelly for the first time as Ellie used the cheap plastic chairs on the deck to climb up onto the railing and come THISCLOSE to launching herself 10 feet down into the back yard. We have calculated that she is within one month of Maggie's age when she threw herself down the long, dark staircase head-first in San Diego. JACK-JACK-ATTACK!!! (Do we sound like bad parents?)

Note from Col: Got Mags a 2.5 foot Cinderella doll for a steal when the Disney Store went out of business and managed to hide her in my closet until Maggie's birthday. Her dance card is going to be full for this whole trip, I can tell, with her suitors lining up for a spin with her. Right now, Mags is out lighting the fire for dinner with Jay, and Ellie is taking advantage of some alone time with our favorite princess. If only one could make oneself un-dizzy by spinning in the opposite direction.

Happy Halloween - Trying to Get Back to Normal

After a ten-day vacation, it's kind of hard to settle back in - especially when you've worked hard to slow down and do the whole "aloha spirit" thing... and when you have a ton of pictures you're sorting through... and when Daylight Saving Time is about to end and the rains are starting - and you're just waiting for darkness to descend upon the prairie for the next half year.

Jay and I kept a good journal while we were gone, and my plan is to share it with corresponding photos. That's my plan - I'll keep you posted.

Where's Ellie Been?

Here she is! Maggie took this one at some point - It's the least of what happens when I leave them alone in the office near the computers and with access to cordless telephones.

A lovely shot of her running away down the driveway in her nightgown with not a single look back. And when I say running, I'm not speaking figuratively.

Here she is after the AWOL police chased her down and stuck her in the naughty corner.

Here's one on KinderCare picture day looking like a 5th grader.

...and showing off her kicky pink boots.

...and proving that there's more than one princess in this here house.

We're having some trouble keeping her glasses from slipping down her nose, which means she spends alot of time looking over the tops of them - Oddly (for a child of ours), I think she's too young to appreciate the sense of utter disdain she could convey with that kind of look. As perfect as the glasses are and as much as she completely unabashedly adores them, we may have to switch to a pair with adjustable nose pads so we can squeeze them on her little proboscis.

Little Sister

I totally get that if a) Ellie could read and b) she actually looked at this website and c) she had a general knowledge of the Brady Bunch that lately she would be crying out "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia! Why is it always Marcia?!" Yes, the little one has been scarce lately. My bad. I'm going to try to fix that tonight.