merry merry

west-side story

For Thanksgiving / my birthday, we found a week long stay at a hotel in Makaha available for a great price on Facebook - so, we booked it!  Our family has not spent too much time over there, but it seemed like an "easy" staycation.  So, we packed up all of our important gear (i.e. coffee maker, steamer, rice cooker, etc.) and moved into our week-long getaway.  

Being that it is the "west side"... we weren't sure what to expect with this place and we kept our expectations reasonably low.  Boy were we wrong - the hotel was perfect.  It was basically a one-bedroom apartment with a full (small) kitchen and a lanai that overlooked the ocean.  There was a (cold) pool and a (hot) hot tub right on the beach.  And, the snorkeling right out in front of the hotel was pretty incredible.

Our view from the lanai was so insane that we basically spent every meal out there.  And, once we were done eating, we frequency found ourselves just sitting and staring out at the ocean for minutes on end.

Gordy's cousins happened to be in town while we were holidaying, so we got to spend a few days doing cousin / family time - Gordy could not be more in love with his two older cousins :)

All in all, we were all a little sad to leave our west side hotel, but we do plan to visit it again in the future.  It was an incredibly relaxing stay and it exceeded all of our expectations.

Vaxed

Our last (and only) trip during the pandemic to Piedmont was super fun.  But, since Gordy was not eligible to get the vaccine at the time, we spent the better part of a day trying to get him covid tested within the test window and with results prior to our flight.  After that, we decided no more trips until he was vaxed.

When it was announced that the vaccine was available for kids 5-11, we were over the moon.  That being said, it is Gordy's body and we (mostly I) wanted to make sure that Gordy felt like he had a say in the matter.  So, we explained to him that if he got vaccinated, we would be able to travel again and that he could pick where we went.  His decision - get vaxed, go to the snow, and see Tutu, Pop Pop, and his cousins.  

Todd and I also got our booster at the same time as Gordy's first shot, so our entire family is full up of magnetized blood, CIA tracking devices, and most importantly - antibodies!

officially a swimmer

Due to COVID, kids are not allowed to swim in most public pools on Hawaii.  However, CORP has recently changed their policy to allow kids to lap swim if they can pass a swim test - swim freestyle 25 meters without stopping or holding onto the side / lane lines.  Gordy accepted the challenge and not only made it, but swam 5 additional laps!  Each lap took almost a minute and half, but he made it and he can now swim at CORP!

spooky surprise!

Partially due to COVID and mostly due to our desire to keep Gordy away from candy as long as possible, we've kept our Halloween celebrations pretty low key.  We usually carve a pumpkin, bake up the seeds, decorate the house, dress up in homemade costumes, and then take Gordy to 1-2 houses on our street for trick-or-treating.  Our friends are pretty good about giving him healthy snacks (i.e. mac nuts, raisins, etc.) and he's always been pretty happy with the whole thing.

This year, we still decorated the house, carved a pumpkin, and cooked up the seeds, but Gordy asked if he could trick-or-treat at more houses.  

I told him that we could ask around and see if anyone wanted to participate, but also told him not to get his hopes up since, sadly, our street never gets any trick-or-treaters.  So, last weekend, we made up notes with ribbon on them introducing Gordy and explaining that he was planning to be on the street between 6:30pm and 7pm.  We asked that if anyone wanted any scary creatures visiting their doors, they hang up the ribbon someplace visible.

Almost every day last week Gordy and I would take a stroll through the neighborhood to see if anyone had put their ribbons out.  And, each day we would walk back home with our tails between our legs feeling defeated at not finding any.  

On Halloween day, we finally struck luck!  Three houses had hung up their ribbons (1 after a gentle reminder from Gordy while he was out in his yard)!  So, we confirmed our evening plans with Gordy's best friend, Alia, and we started getting ready.  

Alia and Gordy got their costumes on (scary ghost and queen barb), had their faces painted and glitter added to their cheeks, got their buckets, scavenger hunt list and flashlights ready in hand, and then we all headed out to the street.

As we exited our driveway and turned left onto Kaiea Place, we found a glowing ghost with our ribbon tied onto it at a house that we hadn't counted before!  At the end of the driveway, we found a shark and a witch ready with a bowl of treats accompanied by a friendly cat and bird who replied "hello" to anyone who'd talk to it.  The night was off to a great and surprising start!

We hit the next few houses that had put up their ribbons early and then we decided to check out the rest of street just in case... we found that nearly half of the street was out and ready for us!  We found a dancing flamingo and chicken with disco lights and thriller music, some friends throwing sweets down from their lanai, bowls of treats set outside gates where people weren't home but wanted to support, and of course Oscar kitty.  

Without even finishing the last few houses on our street, we all headed home completely pooped with buckets overflowing.  About 45 mins later, Todd got a call from a neighbor letting us know that we'd missed one house and they were still out there waiting for us!  So, we threw costumes back on and ran to apologize.  This house was the most impressive.  They had made a poster with a message for Gordy and they had made individual goodie bags for Gordy and his friends to fish from over the fence by pulling on some twine.  It was so adorable and so sweet.  They said that this was their first trick-or-treater at this house and they were so excited to get to participate.  

Once we finished up on our street, we made our way to some of our favorite people's house (Victor and Priscilla) where they gave Gordy some homemade brownie bites with frosting ghosts on them.

After our big night's celebration, Gordy was absolutely exhausted.  In between the trick-or treating, he and Alia were wrestling and playing like crazy COVID kids who haven't seen other humans in years.  When they finally stopped, they had sweated off all their face paint and their hair was all wet and stuck to their heads.

Looking back at the night, I'm so grateful to all of our friends and neighbors for what they did.  Everyone went above and beyond what any of us had hoped for and they really made our kids' day the incredible event that it was.  Thank you to everyone for all that you did.  We love you all and we can't thank you enough!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

dolphin friends

To celebrate Nana's birthday this year, we went on a snorkel trip on the west side. We woke up super early, I popped a Dramamine, we all bundled up to stay warm for the windy ride, and we boarded our zodiac with wetsuits, goggles, etc.  

Our first stop was in a small bay where there happened to be a pod of dolphins!  So, our captain let us all slowly and calmly get into the water to see if the dolphins would be interested in us and sure enough, they came right over.  In fact, they left and then came back to check us out 4 times!  We snorkeled around for a bit there and then went to another location where all three of us saw a small reef shark!

Our captain then decided to take us out a bit away from land since we had a boat and we had time and after about 15 minutes, and a short nap for Gordy, we found a new pod of dolphins.  We motored slowly around to see if the dolphins would find us interesting and boy did they!  They were swimming around us on all sides, playing in our boat's wake, and showing off with aerials.  After awhile, they decided that they were finished and they swam away.  We realized that we were in 3,000 ft deep water, so a bunch of us all got in just see what swimming in that deep of water looked / felt like.  It was incredible!  The water was so clear and blue that it looked like it was glowing.  It was also very humbling to be such a small human is such a big place.  

After a few minutes of enjoying the emptiness, we heard squeaking noises that could only have been dolphins.  We popped our heads up and the captain was pointing out a ways saying that the dolphins were on their back and were heading straight towards us.  The next few minutes were some of the coolest that Gordy, Nana, and I have ever experienced - the dolphins came and danced/played around us for minutes.  We all watched and listened to their incredible performance, and then... they said goodbye.  

This was by far the coolest ocean animal experience I've ever had and Gordy talked about it for days afterwards.

worth the risk

It's been 2+ years since we've seen Tutu and Pop Pop in-person.  We've made and then cancelled two different trips due to covid and about a month ago, we finally decided that now was as good a time as any to risk it.  So far (we are not yet out of the window for symptoms to arise), it was worth the risk!  

We spent four full days in and around Piedmont, CA with the Sells and Feldman families and, while we are happy to be home, we all had a wonderful time.

Gordy and Pop Pop shook the lemon tree (multiple times per day due to Gordy's prompting) and they made many batches of lemonade for everyone to enjoy.

Gordy got to go to Tutu's marking room (a second hand shop) where he picked out one fun thing to take home - a science kit.

Amanda and I took Gordy and Tyler to Fairyland where the two of them bonded quickly and then giggled themselves silly in the pizza place while we waited for lunch.

We went swimming with his cousins at the pool where Gordy was able to jump off the diving board for the first time in 2+ years.  According to Gordy, this was his favorite part of the trip :)

We (and the kids) enjoyed the hot tub.

We spent breakfasts at Tutu and Pop Pop's breakfast nook consuming yummy coffee and Tutu's famous apricot jam on any and every starchy vessel available.

We went on a cool 4.5 mile hike/walk almost to the bay bridge.

All three of use enjoyed having a puppy around.

We took the kids on a real steam train in the mountains.

And, most importantly, we enjoyed some much needed family time with so many loved ones who we haven't been able to see for way too long.

We were all sad to leave, but we will not wait so long next time before a return visit.  Fingers crossed that Gordy is able to be vaccinated sooner rather than later, and three of us will feel much more comfortable about venturing out again.

Till next time Sells and Feldmans - thank you for making our trip as wonderful as it was!

it's a date

Gordy has been making friends at school and each day he comes home and tells us about the fun things he and his friends did together - play tag or hide-and-seek at recess, build towers with blocks during indoor play, etc.

One person we hear about on a fairly regular basis is Alia.  So, when she and her mom stopped us after school one day to ask about a future play date, Gordy and I took down their number and started planning a covid friendly adventure.  We settled on a hike out at Kaena point and Alia and her mom confirmed.  All day the next day, Gordy asked how much longer till we got to go.  He was ready 30 minutes early, and he could barely stand the wait during our drive out there.

Once we arrived and started our hike, the kids spent the next hour climbing dirt hills and boulders, running around in the tree fort, and chasing after each other down the paths.  After we finished, we all went to Army Beach and let the two of them run around in the sand/water.  

The whole thing very much felt like Alia's mom (Marielle) and I were chaperoning their first date - which seems a bit weird for 5-year olds.  Marielle said that prior to meeting us, Alia wanted her hair done in a fancy bun and she put on her lip gloss - so cute!  And, while I'm glad that Gordy and I both found some nice new friends, I'm hopeful that I have a few more years before I have worry about him dating...

the sickness took us all down

 The good news is that Gordy seems to have fully recovered from being sick (whatever that sickness was).  The bad news is that now Todd and I have it.

Gordy's third day of being sick was the roughest.  His fever was still up, his tummy was still very sensitive and he just seemed exhausted.  He was so nauseous that he ended up spending a half an hour prior to dinner sitting at/on the toilet in case he threw up.  He refused to go to his bed or even to lay on the floor near the toilet because he was so sure that he was going to throw up.  After about 30 minutes watching my poor little guy struggle, I saw his arm twitching and realized that he'd fallen asleep.

We left him on the pot for a bit to let him really fall asleep and then we gently transferred him to his bed with a bowl by side in case his tummy woke him up.

After a 13+ hour sleep, Gordy woke up feeling much better the next morning.  It seemed that his body had fought off the sick bug and was pretty much back to normal.

A few days later, I came down with what seemed to be the same bug, and sadly, it's lingering in me with congestion, fatigue, and an ear ache.  To make matters worse, Todd went downhill yesterday.  

We did not get Gordy tested for COVID this time around because the doctor said that his symptoms did not sound like COVID.  However, now that we all have it, and each of our symptoms are a little different, it seems like the right thing to do to go and get the test.  So, we are all going to Wahiawa for to get our brains swabbed tomorrow.  Fun times.

regular sick or covid?

With Gordy now in school, he's exposed to so many more things (good and bad) than he's ever been before.  Some of those things are sicknesses which is a little scary during covid since he's not eligible to be vaccinated yet.  Yesterday afternoon, he spiked a fever of 103, had a tender/painful belly, and his eyes burned.  Pre-covid, we'd have assumed it was just the flu and we'd have treated him with motrin/tylenol, fluids, rest, and cuddles.  But, with covid running around and so many unvaccinated idiots in our area, we can't help but worry that he may have it.  

So, we called the doctor to get their opinion.  The regular doctor was a bit worried about his tender belly, so she forwarded me onto the ER doctor for another opinion.  Sadly, it was just our luck that Todd's favorite (not!) local moron doctor happened to be the ER doctor dolling out advice.  He was pretty adamant that we bring Gordy to the ER which we took to mean that we should keep him home.  (I'm actually somewhat convinced that he wanted us to bring Gordy in so he could hang out with Todd.)  

Ultimately, we are happy with our decision to keep him home.  Not only do we not like going to hospitals, our HI hospitals are very full with covid patients and it seems like a good idea to avoid them, if possible.  Plus, his tender tummy seemed to go away with the motrin along with his temperature.

Gordy's temperature spiked again last night at about 3am.  So after a throw-up, a dose of medicine, a cracker and some water, we got his temp back down and him back to sleep.  He's been pretty normal so far this morning - ate breakfast, peed, and was up and walking around a little.  It's almost "more medicine time" and we are noticing him slowing down a bit more.  His temp is back up to 101.5 and he's seeming a little lethargic.  So, we'll just keep giving him motrin, fluids, and cuddles.  

We also will likely go do a test at some point today to check for covid. I guess there's not a whole lot we would be doing differently if he did have covid, but we'd want to make sure that we really isolated him and ourselves from others and, we'd be on the looking for any long lasting symptoms.  If he does have covid, at least he'll have some immune protection for the future.

kindergarten update

After 2 full weeks of school, we have all finally settled into our routine.  

The first week ended up being quite rough.  Once the first day was over and he realized that he had to keep going back, he became very upset.  He spent the next four days crying from breakfast, through our bike ride and all the way into class.  A few of the days, he cried enough that he soaked his mask and the teacher had to give him a different one.  He'd beg and plead for us to take him home and not to make him go.  He'd grab ahold of me and try his best not to let go... it was rough.  

We spent that next weekend talking about how important school is - how if he wants to be a fireman, he has to finish school.  We ordered him an iron-on fireman badge that he gets to earn and put on his backpack when he makes it through a whole week of not crying.  And, his teacher told him that he would finally get to have a friend at his lunch table (like all the other kids) the next week.

So, on Monday of his second week, at breakfast, Gordy announced, "I'm going to be brave today, mom.".  And he was.  No tears at all!  We could tell that he was not super happy about the whole thing, but he tried to do his best and after a few days, he actually seemed to be enjoying it.  He has some friends who he plays tag with on the playground.  He loves his teacher, Ms. Matsuda.  He is not a big fan of coloring time, but he uses the backs of his coloring sheets to draw us pictures of our family holding hands.  And, he loves our bike rides to and from school.

Today, he had food poisoning, so he stayed home and he actually said he was sad about missing school because his teacher and all of his friends would be sad that he wasn't there!

I'm sure that there will be days in our future when he begs us to let him stay home from school, but for now, he's turned the corner and is liking his school time.

chef gogo

Gordy has always loved to cook with me.  Since he was just a little guy, he'd hang out at the counter while I was cooking and he'd put all of the veggies that I'd chop into measuring cups and then pour them all into the pot.  He'd smell (and sample) all the seasonings before dumping them in and then he'd stand on the counter by the stove and stir the yummy brew.

All of the above still occurs, except for the standing on the counter, so Nana found and ordered a cool monthly activity that comes in the mail called rad-dish.  Each month, a box comes that has a theme (i.e. tropics, Korean kitchen, etc.), three recipes, a cool cooking tool, some fun facts about the country / region, and an iron-on patch that you get to iron on the apron that you got in the first box once you complete all the monthly recipes.  Gordy LOVES it!!

So far, almost all of the recipes have been fun to make and delicious to eat.  And, there's even been a few that we will make again in the future (i.e. Korean cinnamon and sugar pancakes).  We are midway through our box #2 and Gordy can't wait to finish it so he can earn his second patch!

kindergarten, here we come!

 Gordy started kindergarten!  He's had two half-day orientation days so far and overall, he seems pretty happy with the whole thing.  Each morning, our alarm wakes us up (because we are all lazy bums), we eat a quick breakfast, we hop on our bikes and we ride the short mile to the school.  When we get to the school entrance, we all mask up, go park and lock up Gordy's bike, and walk him to his classroom where he gives us hugs, waves goodbye and heads into class A1 with Ms. Matsuda.

Next week, he starts into full days (7:55am to 1:50pm) for the entire week, so our fingers are crossed that he continues to like it well enough to not fight going.  

So far he's what we've been able to pull out of him about school:

- He loves recess because the kids get to play on the playground.  

- He does not like the school lunch and wants a "home lunch" packed from now on. (The school had a menu change and instead of a veggie plate, served beef patty with gravy... I'm not surprised he came home starving.)

- His teacher is nice.

- He has to raise his hand if he wants to talk.

- All of his neighborhood friends are in different classes, so he is going to make new friends.

- He gets a little sad sometime because he misses us.

That last one broke my heart a little bit, but I'm so glad that he's doing his best to be brave.  There were a few kids screaming and crying when they got dropped off last week and I can't imagine having to go through that.  Thankfully, he only seems to get sad during downtimes at school, so hopefully that will get better as he gets more comfortable.

It's weird to watch Gordy go into school and to picture what his classroom must be like compared to our kindergarten classrooms.  I remember sitting (close) to my friends and playing together, holding hands with my best friends and sliding down the slide together, sharing crayons, and playing with toys... things are very different now.  The kids sit 3' apart, they are not allowed to sit next to each other during lunch and basically eat alone.  They must wait 5 seconds after someone goes down the slide before sliding themselves.  And, since they wear masks the entire time, they can't see each others faces/smiles.  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that they are wearing masks to keep themselves and everyone else as safe as possible, but the whole thing makes me a little sad for the kids.  Their kindergarten environment seems less friendly than what I remember mine being.  

Thankfully, Gordy doesn't know anything different, so he doesn't seem to mind.  And, as long as he's happy, we are all happy.  I'm so proud of my little guy for being so brave and I'm excited for all that he's going to learn this next year!

damn jellies

Todd and I are convinced that Gordy is a jellyfish magnet.  He's only 5 and he's had 5 pretty bad stings already.

Yesterday we ventured to the windward side of the island for a going away party for our friends.  Gordy was in the water for a grand total of 5 minutes with all the kids before he listed his arms out of the water with a look of concern on his face calling to me.  When I got close enough, I saw the blue strings that were wrapped around his arms.  So, I carefully unraveled the tentacles from his arms trying not to let them sting him any worse than they already had and we hustled up the beach to a friend who had a spray bottle of vinegar on hand.  We doused him with it and then he decided he was ready to go back to playing on the sand - such a trooper!

All was fine until the night came.  His arms swelled up and red bumps appeared in long lines where the tentacles had been stuck.  We spent the night taking warm baths, rubbing on anti-itch cream, and laying with heating pads.  All of which, only marginally helped.

As of this morning, he's had his third dose of benedryl and he's painfully itchy.  Thank goodness he had his spring suit on, or he may have had more of a fully body issue like last time.

Damn jellies!

little harvester

I am so lucky to have a kid who likes gardening as much as I do.  We'll be hanging out and he'll say, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?... GARDENING!!"

We got some seeds recently, so he helped me plant beans, tomatoes, peas, squash, corn, peppers, radishes, carrots, and watermelon.  Gordy helped me plant all the seeds, keep them watered, and then he helped me transplant them once they grew big enough.  Some of our plants grew quite quickly, so we have green beans and radishes that we can pick a few times a week!  Gordy absolutely loves to harvest the vegetables and when we cook and eat them, he seems so proud of himself.  

He also loves pulling weeds, trimming the plants, mowing the lawn, feeding our composting worms, and spreading compost and fertilizer on the garden.  I'm a lucky mom.

all gi'ed up

Todd and Gordy were out running some errands on Tuesday and while in Haleiwa they stumbled upon a jui jitsu studio which has classes for kids.  They happened to have a 5-6 year old class that afternoon, so Todd took Gordy so that he could watch / join if he wanted to.  Without hesitation, Gordy jumped right in.  The coach was awesome and after 45 minutes of "wrestling", Gordy walked out of there saying, "That was Amazing!".  He absolutely loved his class and was ready to go back on Thursday.  After two sessions, he's hooked, so Todd ordered him a gi (jui jitsu uniform) online and we'll be going back to the studio next week for some fun, and hopefully safe wresting.

5 years old

Gordy made 5!! And again, we celebrated slightly COVID style - without a big party.  We started our day off with a croissant and chai tea latte for breakfast.  Then Gordy went to Nana's pool to swim with his friend Owen.  After lunch, we played on a slip-n-slide from our Kailua friends, went to the playground, and then had homemade pizza and firetruck cake dessert.

Gordy has grown so much in the last year.  His vocabulary has expanded quite a bit (both good and bad) and he uses such funny/big words to describe things sometimes.  He does "tricks" while riding his scooter and bike.  He swims like a fish - going down under water to grab things off the bottom of the ocean.  He loves to garden with me and will frequently ask, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?  Let's do some gardening!".  He's getting better about staying dry at night - only 2-3 accidents each month.  Mostly, he is just such a loving, caring, thoughtful, sweet little kid.  We love you more with each day Gogo!