Maui No Ka 'Oi

Well I'm here in Maui now. I'm enjoying the Maui life and being back home. It's nice to have the kids spend time with Ama and Grandpa Yuen and also my grandparents and my grand uncle Aichi. It's been lots of fun but of course we miss Kainoa. It's not the same being here without him. I really missed him on Father's Day but it's also been good for us. We appreciate him so much more.
Since we've been here, I, of course, have eaten guri guri, Homemade Bakery manju, and Saigon Cafe food and bought some Maui Built stuff. The kids have really been enjoying themselves. Kalei loves Ama and Grandpa's pool, especially the jacuzzi. He goes round and round in circles because of the jets. It's so funny to watch. He also taught himself to float on his back and hold his nose while he blows bubbles. Ku'uliko is a little more scared now. She used to be like him but now she knows what fear is so she's a little apprehensive when it comes to swimming by himself. I also took Kamalu into the jacuzzi yesterday. I made sure to lower the temperature for him. He was fascinated with the bubbles.
Tonight Kalei accomplished something huge. I took his clothes off to get ready for his bath. After I took of his diaper, I held him over the toilet and told him to use the potty....And he did! It was trying hard not to shake him as I laughed. He was so proud of himself. His face just lit up as he did his business. Then I gave him a high five when he was in the bathtub. Hopefully we can keep it up.
Well that's about it for now. Hopefully I can get more pictures up.

Locked out!

Our big boy (he turned 2 yesterday) Kalei was being extra mischievous today. I stepped out of the house with Kamalu to get some DVDs from my cousin Pi'i. We were talking for about 5 minutes and when I went to turn the door knob to go back into the house, the door didn't open. I was like, "Oh no!" Kalei decided to lock the door while I was outside. He was crying and I think it was because he knew he did something wrong. So kolohe. So I'm all frantic and Pi'i hadn't left but saw me stuck outside. We were trying to figure out how to break into the house and I was trying to coach Ku'uliko into unlocking the door. She was getting frustrated and kept saying, "I can't do it," and she started crying too. So I ran next door to get some help from the Eskarans. Good thing Aunty Terry and Adam were there. Adam tried to break into the house through a window but as he was about to get in, I checked the door again because I saw that Kalei was there. Sure enough as I turned the knob, the door opened. I was so relieved. Am I a bad mother or what? I asked Liko if she had unlocked the door and she said she didn't and that Kalei did. Wow. Kids do the darnest things, especially my kids. I've recovered from my heart attack and panic attack. Nah but I'm grateful that I wasn't alone when this happened. Thanks Pi'i and Eskaran 'Ohana.

If you're asking where Kainoa was during this whole event, he's back in Utah. He went back last week Tuesday night. He had to get back to do an externship at BYU and find a job. Saying that it's been difficult is an understatement but we're surviving. The kids miss him a lot, especially Ku'uliko. I miss him tons too. It's hard being with the kids and not him. I wondered if I made the wrong decision in staying in Hawaii but he reassures me that this will only help us appreciate each other even more. I do appreciate him more and more each day. I just miss having someone there next to me when I go to asleep and wake up in the morning. I miss how he is with our kids. Tomorrow makes one week that we've been apart. 6 more to go. I'll keep telling myself that I'll be okay.

Twilight, more swimming, and Kalei's early birthday celebration

So here's some fun pictures and videos. Ku'uliko has been exposed to Twilight a lot since we've been here. Kainoa's mom and sisters are big fans. They have posters of Edward up and pillows and all kinds of stuff. I also have the movie and the soundtrack and I really like listening to Bella's Lullaby. I usually listen to it in the car. She's heard it while she's been here and her Tutu (Kainoa's mom) was watching the movie the other day. She just started singing it out of the blue and told Kainoa that it was "Tutu's Twilight song." It's so hilarious.

These pictures are of the kids swimming at their Papa's pool in Kailua. Ku'uliko and Kalei had so much fun as you can see. The two of them were swimming all over the place. Kalei is a little braver than Ku'uliko. We spent some time with Nuna and it was a really nice day.

Yesterday we celebrated Kalei's birthday a week early. Kainoa is actually leaving tomorrow to go back to Utah while we spend more time here and then on Maui and the Big Island. It was really nice to have a lot of the family there. Thank you to those of you that came. Kalei had so much fun. He loved wearing his Thomas condutor hat. He loved his cake. My mom made it. It was 9 little individual train cars. Kalei ended up putting all the train cars together. He tried pushing them to make them go like a real train. I missed recording that but I did get him making his "choo choo" sounds. The food was really good, the company was great and Kalei was in a good mood. It turned out well. Thank you everybody!