March 2024- Birthday at the Beach, Whales, and Boston

 Audrey had a dress as your favorite book character day at preschool. Our costume options are limited but Elsa is definitely a favorite, and we have some Frozen books, so it counts right?

I volunteered to do a Dr. Seuss read aloud for Ava's class. I read a book and I asked Brent to come along with me. He whipped out a powerpoint on the ways Dr Seuss was influenced by German Expressionism and also on how some of his books are banned now.

We had a birthday party for Ava right on her birthday since it fell on a Friday. Poor Ava was sick, coming down with a cold, and feeling achey. We decided to go ahead with the party and she perked up when her friends came over. Ava wanted a Disney 100 theme party. The kids had a coloring contest (coloring the Disney logo), then played Headbands (where they each guess their assigned Disney character), watched Wish, and decorated cupcakes. 

Opening her presents:

On Saturday we drove to Kaneohe for Ava's History Day district competition. Look at the beautiful road we drive on here:

There are several different areas of the competition, documentary, essay, live presentation, poster, etc. Ava and her friend Tori both made documentaries, and for their age group (5th grade) got to move forward to the state competition the next month. The theme of the History Day competition was "turning points" and Ava did Walt Disney as a turning point in animation. She did a lot of research, and I helped her write a script with her sources, and then Brent helped her edit the documentary with the pictures etc that she liked. Ava recorded the documentary in her own voice and it's cute to listen to. After her documentary was screened she stood up in front of the group and answered questions from the judges. She was very brave!

After the competition, Ava said, " I wish I could live that day over and over again!"

Brent stayed in Kaneohe and went to a movie with his movie group of friends (it was his first time to go to a theater here! They usually watch movies at each other's houses).

I went to my friend Katia's baby shower, while Ava babysat at home. My friend Katia is the one who was my ministering sister when we first moved here. She was so sweet and an answer to prayers when I was trying to find friends.

After the baby shower I went on a walk to the beach on my own. It was beautiful and lifted me!

On Sunday we went on a long walk around campus. While Brent was chatting with a student we ran into, Audrey and Coen entertained themselves by playing hide and go seek. 

Campus:

On a walk to the beach by our house, we found this little abandoned newborn chick by the highway. We found a mama chicken and her babies on the other side of the fence, closer to our church, so Brent used his flip clop to carry the chick to his mama. Here's a picture of the little chick and a video: 

After Brent carefully put the chick in the bushes by the mama, she just took off with her chicks and did not wait for this straggler! We couldn't believe it! Maybe it was not the mama, but the chick was the exact same size as the other babies....

My birthday fell on a Monday this year. Brent doesn't teach til 5:30pm on Mondays so we went on a date in the morning! Despite being busy with lots of work for both of us, I'm so glad we made the time to spoil me haha. We went to check out a couple different beaches. The first was super windy so we didn't stay too long.

The second beach is cocooned in a bay, and it's just so gorgeous. This beach is about 15 minutes from our house and can you believe I had never been to this exact one yet? It's called Kawela Bay and it's close to Turtle Bay. 

Brent took a few pictures of me - 37 years old!

After the beach we went to a little farm to table restaurant on the way back home called Kahuku Farms. I got a veggie panini (with vegetables from their garden). And I have not stopped thinking about that sandwich since.

That night we had pie from Ted's Bakery that we had picked up earlier.

On the evening of my birthday, Audrey all of a sudden started screaming with ear pain. It was a miserable night for her- she was in so much pain and couldn't really sleep. The next day her fever was up and she threw up because of that, so I got her into the doctor's office behind our house luckily. She had an outer ear infection, poor thing! We got antibiotics and she started feeling better the next day.

A cute little watermelon Audrey made at preschool. I love little kid handwriting! 

Coen had a basketball game and the people sure go all out in giving treats to the team! Each family signs up for their week to pass out treats, and people usually give like 4 or 5 different things in a lunch sack. This week was an extra amount!

A picture I got from Coen's teacher- the kids were learning about the Chinese culture because their class is going to be China during their May Day presentation.

On our Saturday errand day, we stopped at Target and I ran in and bought myself a few new clothes for my birthday while Brent and the kids stayed in the car. He is so nice to tell me to take my time and tell me to have fun shopping. Despite feeling like I'm not a 20 year old anymore, I bought these linen pants that are on trend for Hawaii weather.

This is the H3 highway that we drive on to get to the other side of the island, where lots of our shopping is. It's hard to tell, but this road is built up high in the sky, like a bridge against the mountainside.

On our way back from errands we stopped at Waimea Bay to watch the surfers. Audrey played with sticks and looked like she could start a nice camp fire.

In the evening, I took Ava and Coen to a fireside with Sister Wright, First Counselor in the General Primary Presidency. It was really cool to be there! She asked all the kids to draw a picture of a way they can grow closer to Christ, and then since everyone wanted to share their picture, she had them line up and each got a turn to show their picture at the pulpit. 

Coen's was a picture of someone being baptized. Other kids had pictures of them helping a friend, or reading their scriptures etc. Then a girl held up her picture, and Sister Wright asked, what is this a picture of? The girl said, "This is my mom yelling at me." Everyone laughed so hard! Then Sister Wright asked, and what are you doing in the picture? And the girl said, "Forgiving my mom." It was so funny, and so real.

After, we got a picture with Sister Wright and thanked her for the wonderful fireside! I hope my kids will always remember it. 

Sunday was the Oscars! Brent invited his Pop Culture class to our house to watch it. He had food and games for them. Because of the early time zone we're in, the Oscars actually started while we were in church. So we watched the second half of the Oscars live, and then went back and watched the first half afterward.

Some of his students:

Something about Hawaii is that it can be sunny one moment, and then all of a sudden pour buckets, and then back to being sunny again. A few times the kids have gotten completely drenched while walking home from school. Here's Ava, looking like she went for a swim.

Audrey is my best helper right now. She is happy to help with all chores. Here she is cutting green beans:

Brent went to Boston for a work conference (Society of Cinema and Media Studies) from Tuesday through Sunday. I was worried about maintaining my patience and composure with the kids after working while they're at school, and then helping with homework, doing dinner and dishes, etc. So I arranged for a babysitter to come for a couple hours on Thursday afternoon to give myself a break! I took my Liahona magazine to the beach and read. It was so rejuvenating and the best gift to myself.

Brent had an amazing time on a "short" trip to Boston MA. By short that doesn't mean he wasn't gone forever, but there was so much travel time to get to the East coast from here. He had a really weird uber driver from Russia to the airport in Honolulu. When not at the conference, he did the Freedom Trail. 

This is the state buildling:

Here's the park where Goodwill Hunting was filmed:

The church famous for Paul Revere:

The Cranary Burial Ground, where Paul Revere and the sons of Liberty are buried:

Bunker Hill, site of the famous battle. 

 In Boston there are hundreds of Irish pubs. He was there St. Patrick's Day weekend where there were lines around the block for each of them with students and drunk people.

Including around Fenway Park. Policeman had to be on call for all of the drunk people. It was crazy.

The conference itself was at the Sheraton, but Brent stayed in a cheaper inn nearby Harvard. Jet lag was a doozy (6 hours ahead), but luckily he presented toward the end of the conference. Brent's presentation was titled "Remediating the Mouse: The Economics and Uncertainties of Disney+ and Remediated Digital Environments." The panel was mostly about streaming and legal and economic rights. It was uber successful! People really enjoyed it and it sparked lots of potential collaborations, including the University of Texas Press, who he's working on a book contract with.

Brent didn't get many pictures from the actual conference, but was excited to see Jacqueline Stewart who is the Chairwoman of the National Film Registry, which he spends a lot of time researching, including presenting at the last SCMS. She is also the President of the Academy Museum, so she's a big deal. She is a former academic.

We live in Laie, which is almost 100% members of the Church- nearly every single house. You can tell with signs like this:

I helped with a St. Patrick's Day party in Coen's class. I did the treat, which was Lucky Charms with milk that I had dyed green. Many kids were nervous about the green milk haha. 

The other mom did the craft, which was a leprechaun catching kit. It turned out so cute!

I had to leave the class party a little early and head to a doctor's appointment in downtown Honolulu. I was pretty nervous to drive on my own but it all worked out and when it was done, I went to Chick Fil A and bought some food for dinner that night! 

Ava invited her friend Bridget over to watch the Taylor Swift concert that came out on Disney+. We had a Chick Fil-A dinner, and then the girls created a poster for the concert. 

Since I took Ava to see the concert in the movie theater in October, she has become a Swiftie and listens to Taylor Swift nonstop on Alexa, singing loudly in the shower :)

Coen had his last basketball game and they won! His team only lost one week out of like 8, mostly thanks to the kid in the middle holding the ball, who was like a one man show :)

After the basketball game, the kids were fighting like crazy. They really had been pretty good while Brent was gone, but Saturdays are hard in general, especially for a child who shall not be named. And this Saturday was shaping up to be extra bad for tantrums.  So, I decided to take the kids to the beach, and that really helped for everyone to get some fresh air. Whenever it's just me and the kids at the beach, it's mainly a sand day because I don't like them to get in the water past their knees. I'm not a strong swimmer, so I don't feel comfortable to let them jump the waves without an extra adult as backup!

Ava and Audrey made a "bakery" and made sand cookies for so long.

Coen built Grinch's Who-ville in the sand.

On Sunday morning we went to feed the horses our extra carrots we had on hand. 

Sunday evening Brent arrived back from Boston- hallelujah! I drove to pick him up, and then raced back home to make it back to the RS birthday broadcast and social at the church. 

The following week was Spring break. When we were talking about Spring Break, Audrey asked, "So I can't go to my school because it broke?" 

Brent had missed the beach in the week that he was gone, so he took the kids to the beach while I worked. 

Audrey's milk spilled and created a perfect Mickey Mouse, which Brent had to take a picture of!

On Tuesday evening we took the kids to the library for a movie night- the new Trolls. They had a cute craft to make trolls and we had fun! Since we can't really go to the movie theater as a family (it's 45 minutes away and costs more than $80 for the 5 of us to see a movie), this was as close to going out to see a movie as it gets. 

That night I was up most of the night with Audrey, who had a stomach bug. It was awful. We just seem to get so sick here! I've heard it's due to all of the tourists who bring in all the bugs from their various areas, and this little community is a hot-spot for sickness. We are hoping that next year we will have some better immunity to all the stuff! 

Luckily, Audrey was only sick for about 6 hours and then seemed completely better. I had an appointment for initiatories at the temple that morning and I was thinking I needed to cancel because I had been up all night, had work to do, and was now frazzled etc. But Brent encouraged me to just try going. I walked in to the temple and told the man I had an appointment at 10:30. He scanned my recommend and said, "oh yes, Sister Cowley. I saw your name." It felt like he was saying, "We have been expecting you," and I thought how glad I was that I had made the effort to go. 

The kids had some free reign of the house while both parents were working during Spring Break. It started to look like this:

Audrey painted these Easter eggs - she's so good at staying in the lines!

On Friday night Brent and I went on a date to see BYUH's musical. Our friends the Petersens watched our kids which was super nice! The musical was kind of strange, but the kids did an amazing job with their singing and dancing. 

On Saturday Ava and I finally got haircuts! They were long overdue! It took a while to ask around and fine someone who cuts hair in this area, but we found a cute girl who cuts hair in a little shed thing in their backyard, that her husband built for her and turned into a little hair salon. By little, I mean enough room for the salon chair, one other chair, and a couple shelves :) After our fresh cuts, Ava and I went on a date to the PCC just for fun. We watched a few of our favorite shows, and I even did a hula lesson.

We saw a show in Fiji that we haven't seen before. Our neighbor (who lives in the other unit of our house) was the host of it, so it was really fun to see him leading the show and singing. We usually see him in a different show in Fiji where he's in the back singing. For this show, everyone got to participate and use a derua, which is a bamboo percussion instrument. Ava was really getting into stomping hers hard:

Walk at the beach. It is so beautiful every time, that I always have to take a picture.

On the 26th everyone had no school for Prince Kuhio day, who was a Hawaiian prince. We went to Ka'ena point, which is the western tip of Oahu. Our friends said this is their favorite hike, so we had been wanting to go for a while! I was also really hoping to see whales here. 

The hike is flat, and follows the coast line. We got there pretty early, like at 9, but with no shade, you really have to be prepared with water and hats! 

You can do the full hike to the point and back, which is about 6 miles total, but me and the kids were not in shape to do that much. We walked only about 3/4 of a mile in and then stopped to take a snack break.

While we were taking pictures, we saw whale spouts! They just kept coming and coming. There must have been a whole pod swimming around. Then I spotted something jumping through the waves- we are pretty sure it was dolphins! 

As Brent and I stood there enjoying the whales, the kids enjoyed this large pile of rocks haha. I'm not sure what it is with kids and rocks, but they always entertain them.

Coen found this and wanted to take it home for his pet. I don't know enough about the ocean and ships, but I think it's a mooring ball?

We went to Costco after our hike and I took a few pictures of prices in case anyone remembers the Foodland prices I posted before, and wants to compare. Hint: It is WAY cheaper to shop at Costco. The prices are pretty comparable to the mainland. Here we have $5.99 for croissants. 

$2.99/lb for chicken breasts

$5.99 for 2 dozen eggs

$5.69 for a gallon of milk.

$6.49 for a large package of tomatoes.

$3.99 for spring greens.

After Costco, the kids had their first swim lessons! A friend of a friend teaches private swim lessons in a really nice pool on the North Shore. I really want Audrey and Coen to learn, so we splurged and got them 8 lessons each. 

The teacher is really great, and the kids learned quickly, with it being one-on-one time.

Here's Coen learning how to dive on his first day. I'm still so amazed at how far Coen has come with his fear of water. He used to cry during baths (like from 2-5 years old) and was terrified of water touching any part of his face.

Audrey, our future nurse, loves to "check people's ears." I'm not sure if her fascination came because she has had a couple bad ear infections and was so scared of the doctor looking in her ears, or what. This is a completely random video, but Ava happened to be filming one morning while Audrey was "checking Brent's ears" and Audrey told me to "get off my person." 

Audrey got to have an Easter egg hunt at her school!

Our ward started doing Activity Days (yay!) and each kid needs to plan one activity. Coen was up first and wanted to do a basketball activity. 

Brent's Grandma Cowley passed away while he was in Boston. He thought about flying to Utah for the funeral, but he had just gotten back from Boston and given his classes some days off for that, so sadly he stayed in Hawaii. Luckily we were able to watch the funeral on zoom.

We went to check out Castles Beach, which is really only 6 minutes up the road from us. Lots of people come here to surf or boogie board because they have good waves. Brent loved the waves, but Coen and I were cold in the wind!

On Saturday morning our ward did an Easter egg hunt at the beach. Brent went over and helped hide the eggs at 7am, and then the hunt started at 8am.

The Bishop's wife had bought hundreds and hundreds of eggs! At least she had the YM/YW fill them, but that was a lot for one person to do! Here in this picture you can see the triplet boys who live two houses down from us.

That afternoon we headed into town to pick up Karen from the airport. We stopped at Dole for dinner- they have good food! Easter and our time with Karen will be next post!