life is 'grand'

There's something very sweet and poignant about the unhurried pace around here when one or more of the 'grands' come to play.  It was almost naptime when Blake arrived, so after a snack, we 'strollered' him around the neighborhood and on the Creek Turnpike path and got in a good 5 miles of walking while he slept.

Then there was time for 'previewing' future sandbox adventures with Blake...

 

...exploring the art of cairn building on the patio table with Pop's guidance...

                         ......introducing a little color into his cairn........

 

being mesmerized by the moveable 'wind art' .......

checking out the wind chimes and making them 'sing'.......

and, of course, 'motoring' about in Pop's desk chair!    Such a sweet afternoon with precious Blake while daddy and mommy went out on a date.  A good day for everyone, don't you think?

 

The next morning Silas and Cora showed up bright and early to hang out with us while daddy and mommy participated in  the Warrior Dash in Inola.  We had just taken delivery on a composting bin and.....well, a cardboard box this size just offers so many possibilities;)

 

Silas drew the hinged door and windows of various shapes and sizes on each side (love the round porthole!) and then he and Cora watched intently while I began the transformation with a box knife.

Soon he was 'getting after it' with a variety of paints and lovin' it!

Cora was cautiously fascinated by what was going on, too.

      While taking a break from his labors, Silas blew bubbles with 'Pop'.

                       At one point, though, it seemed to be contest to
              see who could get more of the bubble solution on whom!

             While Cora napped, Silas and I worked on our checkers strategies.

Soon Cora was up and ready to join up back outside, waving at the passing cars......

....flashing that 'ready smile.'

We were so thankful for such a pretty day on which we could enjoy so many outdoor activities.....just had to hang out in the sandbox for awhile.....and even got to observe a spider's egg sac attached to one of the sandbox toys. Good day and tired, happy smiles all around.   The painting of the box house will continue this coming week because Kady will be over for a couple of days and Silas will join us for one of those.  Then next weekend Silas and Cora will come for whole weekend, so there's more fun just around the corner!

 

Oh, and the composting bin that once lived in Silas's box house?  Well, that was THIS weekend's project.  After learning much about this process and acquiring a small intermediate container for kitchen scraps, we're set up and ready to go.......'Compzilla' got its first few mouthfuls yesterday and we can look forward to creating our own 'planting medium' (soil) called 'black gold' by farmers and gardeners.  Seems like it will also be a 'fertile' environment for sharing some of these important concepts with our sweet 'little ones'.

 

 

So blessed are we just to have these moments of connection with family that cause us to slow down and marvel at the visit of a hummingbird, the egg sac of a spider, the song of a wind chime, the flow of sand through a funnel, the bubble-within-a-bubble as it floats upward and catches a current, the cool surprise of morning's dew on Cora's sweet bare feet.

 

~gratitude~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

noticing.......

I picked Kady up for our Second Saturday Philbrook outing (your dad/rob had a CR facilitator all day training and he was disappointed to be missing this event to which we both look forward) and we headed out on familiar highways and byways to what's become a 'comfortable adventure.'  Good conversation along the way as the windshield wipers rhythmically drummed their beat.....prompting us to even talk about how important this rain that we're getting is and the meaning of the word 'drought'.

We huddled together under the umbrella as we navigated the parking lot and staircase and she alternately avoided AND attacked puddles with her flip flops.  She noticed and commented on indentations in the stonework in the stairs that she'd never seen before......they were capturing 'pools' this time.

The focus for this month was Greece, an ancient civilization where women stored perfume in ornate pottery, and where coins were 'minted' with the images of important people, events, and crops.  We passed on the 'toga station' where she could have been dressed (for a photo op only) in the attire of the period (woulda been cute, dontcha think?) and went instead for something more to her liking: writing her name in Greek characters on a gold (paper) cuff bracelet.  She noticed how much like our alphabet these letters were.

 

Then we ventured to a new studio area (one that they don't usually use for Second Saturday-the pottery studio) to try our hands and 'minting' coins.  She deftly 'drew' (with a sharp stick) her creation into a piece of thick tin, flipped it over and affixed it to foam board.  She enjoyed this most of all, I think, as she even wanted to do a second one......for Silas.  She asked me his favorite colors:  blue and green, of course!  And then, "What does he like?"  I hesitated because the answer would be 'Ninjas' and concern was rising up in me that this would be a 'too tall' order for this 'budding artist.'  But my concerns were unfounded, to be sure, as she proceeded to draw and color a Ninja likeness on the foam-board frame of Silas's newly-minted coin that really impressed Silas and Ally when I gave it to him later in the day!  So Kady's noticing of even that kind of detail is paying off in a 'heart' kind of way.

Kady's favorite parts of the Philbrook experience continue to be 1)the fact that she knows her way around 2)the blue 'velvet' staircase (brings out the 'princess' in her, I think and 3)anything outside.  And so, it was such a blessing that the rain stopped in time for us put back on our jackets and venture out on the veranda and down the stairs to notice the amazing displays of pink and white tulips and happy-faced pansies of almost-every-color-imaginable.  The rain had made the stairs and criss-cross stone path (she thinks of it as a 'maze') so beautiful and shiny, we just couldn't resist a trek down to the floor of the gardens, the koi ponds, the metal bison sculpture, the gazebo.  Along the way, she began noticing some of the spots where we'd located small, hidden animal sculptures on past scavenger hunts.  Because the sculptures weren't there, we surmised that they must just put them out for the hunts and we had a couple of good chats about how they could get them into those awkward, hard-to-reach, hidden places.

And this girl must have a thing about petunias, about which I knew not!  She kept asking, "Where are the petunias?"  Well, there aren't any.....at least not yet.  We named all the other flowers, but came up empty on the one she wanted to see.  So I told her to ask Dad and Mom if it would be okay if we planted some around their front yard tree......and, so we'll see.  I'll be over there with gloves, trowels and a batch 'o petunias if we get the go-ahead on that project.

So....yeah....such a good time with Kady Grace today.....noticing the things she's learning to 'tune in' to.   We want our 'grands' to be noticers....... ultimately noticing the 'hearts' and needs and cries of people by really deeply hearing what they're saying.  Life can move us so fast and press us from every side to the point that we are driven by the URGENT, rather than the IMPORTANT.  But tuning in to the IMPORTANT takes training (in noticing) and intentionality.....  it takes 'slowing down'.......a tall order, indeed.

But that's why times like these are rich beyond description......and that I was there to walk that rain-washed 'sparkly' (her words) path with her makes me blessed beyond belief.

a sandbox, bubble blowin' kinda day....

today was Cora's introduction to the sandbox and y'know what they say about how a 'duck takes to water'......well.....

she loved it....and we suspect that part of the reason is that she has such a great role model in 'the ways of the sandbox' in Silas........He makes everything fun!

You'd have had to have been there to get the full effect but she got such delight out of submerging her hands into the sand!  It was so fun to watch!

She observed patiently while 'Pop' showed her how to pour (he remembers that pouring ability is positively correlated with the ability to read!)

And then she was ready to take over!

 

 

 

And, oh my, there was plenty of excitement when we began discovering the 'other' visitors to the sandbox habitat.  Silas says, "Here, put it on MY arm" after Cora politely declined.  And I say 'other' visitors, because we'd just shown them a nest of tiny bunnies under the henbit and ivy near the sandbox.

 

Then we moved on to bubble blowing and, once again, she's got a great mentor for this skill, in her big bro!

The first few bubble wands ended up directly IN her mouth, instead of 'in front of.'  Yuck!  But she didn't seem to mind.

Then she began to get the 'hang' of it and.......

                                  even started having some successes!

Silas continues to be proficient at bubbles with HUGE diameters, bubbles IN bubbles, bubbles ON bubbles.  Cora was full of 'oohs' and 'aaahhhhs' at his accomplishments!

Such a blessed way to spend this beautiful afternoon!

Some walk....some run......some fly......

but a lovely overcast/sometimes partly sunny day like today was a perfect day for us to enjoy a great long walk along the RiverParks Trail, along with others who run, some who bike, many who 'cruise' via stroller, and a few on 'blades'.  We're so blessed to live in a city with so many places to enjoy such great walks....and art.....this one celebrating flight.......along the way......

Tishomingo Canada Geese, commissioned by NatureWorks, Inc. and its patrons and sculpted by Geoffrey O. Smith, sits at 49th and Riverside.  Although these feathered friends are captured for all time bound in a southward direction, we've no doubt that if these warmer temperatures hang around, the living breathing models for this sculpture will be returning this way soon.

Just a few blocks north near 41st and Riverside you'll find a tribute to a young, competitive runner whose life was tragically cut short.  His parents gave this memorial to the city, in his honor, and had it placed in an area frequented by their son and his running mates.  It was sculpted by Buck Herron and it sits atop a sandstone boulder brought over from Turkey Mountain. 

 

Kinda makes you wanna hug your kids, huh?  So, what are you waiting for?

Aloha to the Big Island...soon we're homeward bound!

We spent a fun, last full day here exploring an amazing 62 acre resort in the Waikoloa area under sunny blue skies.  Enjoyed 'getting our cardio workout' on miles of beautifully landscaped walking paths and even took advantage of a short ride on the resort's monorail.......

and had a great meal there, as well.

Check-out is 10 am tomorrow so that meant packing our bags was the order of the day today.  One thing that we feel especially blessed to be able to bring back with us is the cd that was playing when we walked into this condo.  We've gotten awfully attached to it over these past two weeks, so we went down to ask if copies of it were available for purchase.  She smiled and said, "It's yours to take home with you as a memory of what a great time you had here." Nice, huh?

There's no 'mediocre' place for a sunset (or sunrise) anywhere on this earth....we're confident of that!   Sunsets only come in one flavor: spectacular!   But one of our favorites is this.....the grounds of the Living Stones Church where we spent the last two Sunday mornings.  We returned there this evening for our last Kona sunset.

We've learned lots of things about the Hawaiian culture (and ourselves) while we've been here.  If you travel right, that's what ought to happen.  One of the things we've learned about the culture is the high value they place on 'ohana (family) and, as much as we've enjoyed this time and this place, we sure miss our 'ohana.......if it weren't for Keith and Laura, Tim and Ally, Brian and Lara and our precious 'grands' being 4, 000 miles away, we could get used to life in a place like this. 

I wonder if we could ever get them here........hmm?

St. Paddy's Day on Ali'l Drive

We began this lovely day by walking, as we did last Sunday, to Living Stones Church for the 9 am service. We took our rain ponchos for the 2 mile round trip walk on Ali'i Drive and wondered what 'contingency plans' a church, which has most of its seating and a significant amount of audio-visual equipment outside, has on a day when there's a 40% chance of rain in the morning.  Those plans, which didin't have to be put into action, included heavy plastic tarps draped over every piece of sound equipment, every screen, every speaker.  Happy to say, our ponchos, have stayed packed away for the whole day!  Wonderful, blessed service!  If you are coming to visit the Kona area, or have friends who are, we can highly recommend the warm fellowship of this non-denominational gathering on the beach!

We then walked the 3.6 miles round trip from Royal Sea Cliff into town on Ali'l Drive, and, at one point, Ali'i Drive was closed to traffic for a 'MayFest' type of gathering.  It was so fun to browse the wares, listen to great music (even some BLUEGRASS! be still my heart!) and just people watch......

 

Mid-afternoon we went to Splashers (the open-air place we had breakfast on our first morning here) and enjoyed a great meal......another local fish we'd never had.....ono.......plus, I think there's some local ordinance about HAVING to order a mai tai when you're here and since I'd never had one and since we're just a couple of days away from being 'homeward bound' and since I really needed one of those cute little unbrellas........

 

Tomorrow we're headed up to the Waikoloa Beach area for some scenic walking and exploring, trying to soak it all up before we start packin' our bags for our Tuesday departure.

You'd better watch out!

We're accustomed to road signs that advise us to watch for deer (especially while traversing Hwy 62 to see our Tahlequah 'Tigers') and of course, on various road trips in Colorado and New Mexico, the 'Watch for elk' signs and 'Watch for falling rocks' signs abound.  But we've seen some new ones out here on The Big Island to add to our list of things for which to look out......



This reads 'Watch for falling coconuts'..luckily

we didn't find out the HARD way.....haha!

 

We've also seen (but haven't been warned to watch for) wild goats, turkeys, peacocks, rats, squirrels(could have been a mongoose, still holding out for a definitive sighting of one of those) and the occasional gecko.

 

We've now been on two waiting lists for our Mauna Kea Summit Adventures Observatory / Stargazing (they continue to have to cancel because of blizzard conditions and high winds) and they've just now called to cancel again.  So our base layers and Smart Wools are going into the suitcase to stay and well, there'll just  have to be another trip out here to make that dream come true, don't you think?  There's a festival going on down on Ali'i Drive....so we're headed out for a good walk, a yummers bite to eat and to 'drink' in some more of this sweet place.