Relaxing Hawaiian Retreat

So my mom has been here a month. She has been living the life of luxury here in Hawaii.

(these are pictures from her camera... boo.. hoo... my camera is still MIA.)
It is interesting to raid someone else's camera... see what kinds of pictures they take... what is important to them.


I knew she had some things on her "Must Do List" while here in Hawaii.


#1 picture of a sea turtle


#2. picture of a rainbow- we've had plenty of rainy days to fulfill this request.







#3 See the boys doing what they love.....





I don't think she was prepared to see the boys play hockey 6 days a week though.





#4 Bonding moments and making memories with grand kids

Here she is warming up with son #4..






Unplanned but pleasant Surprises to her trip....

#1 Falling in Love with Princess.
She really is the sweetest dog , we've never owned.

(She a local stray that has kinda adopted us and a few other families in the community. She's like the Tramp in the movie Lady and the Tramp- she eats at multiple homes.)

#2 Helping with home improvements! She didn't know she would be stripping my floors and painting walls! I try to down play that part about staying with us.

We have a To Do list posted in the guest bedroom.

We let our house guests pick jobs to do while they are here.

I find it makes them feel less home sick and more apart of our family life. (bah!)

 

It was funny- my mother actually volunteered to take my curtains down and wash them.

But I've been wanting to paint for a while and figured..if the curtains were down....

then it would be a perfect day to paint.

 

So by 9:30 am I had gone to our local ACE and bought the paint- had all the kids helping out and a few neighborhood kids. We only painted the eating area.. but I love the splash of color. It's bold and bright.

 

(Martha was my role model for that one- she painted

the inside of her whole house last spring break- and ALL the neighborhood kids were in there painting! My 5 year old was outside painting closet doors... and a little bit of their wall. It was CRAZY- but turned out well.)

Looking forward to all our summer guests....

Family Fun Box

I live thousands of miles away from my family. It is challenging to keep in-touch. We do our best... with phone calls, emails, face book, etc.. but still it is hard to really get to know cousins.

My sister had a wonderful idea this past Christmas- instead of exchanging presents, we would create a "family box". She proposed that each family gather items that they enjoy. Things that are "typical" us, our favorite game, our favorite snack, a movie we enjoy, etc...

Then we would mail our family box to a sibling. ( She made a rotation. ) So each family will have a turn with each others family boxes.

Here we are opening my older brother's family box. (Thanks Koryn! I know you actually did all the work!)

 

There was candy, a movie, pictures taken by their 5 year old- very funny And a fun game to play as a family.

 

 

It was so much fun! It was nice being introduced to a new family game, eat a treat and look at pictures of our cousins. We just popped open the box and no preparation was needed- a mini family reunion!

(The snacks for all the families are included in the box- so I don't have to run out and replace supplies. For example- the candy was in a baggy with our family name on it)

The first box we received was my sister's box. Their favorite family game is called, "Ghost Hunters" and it is hide and seek with flashlights.. my kids LOVED this twist. She included Swedish fish ( a staple in her house), and a movie their family enjoys, along with a "journal" type book that explained items in her box- with pictures.

SUCH A GREAT IDEA!

A friend of mine sent me a "flat Stanley" and I took it to the Polynesian Cultural Center to get it's picture with a hunk.

It was so funny- I thought I was going to have to explain the whole concept to these Polynesian college students.. why I didn't really want to PAY to get in.. I just wanted to slip in past the gates and get a picture with the guys ... I held up my flat Stanley to start my story and they said "FLAT STANLEY- yeah! Come here-- he's been here before!)

PPS- still trying to find my camera!! these photo's are from my mom's camera....

boo hoo...

I might have really lost it! (not just misplaced it around my house or car....)