I started a blog about our baby girls with updates, pictures, prayer requests and praises. I figured with all the updates, it might dominate this blog or my photography blog.
I will update every Sunday and Wednesday, and if anything comes up between them. Please add to your google reader or follow along.
Thanks for all your love
www.heheardmycall.blogspot.com
Some of you may know what happened but sadly, I haven’t been able to get a hold of some of my dearest friends. I don’t have a phone. I tried to use it on Wednesday to get a hold of people but it wasn’t working with me. Then in all the chaos, it vanished and with it went all my contact information. If you’ve been trying to get a hold of me, I don’t have a phone so I have not received texts or voicemails and unless Scott has your phone number, I can’t get in touch with you. Please email me with your contact info!!!
This past Wednesday, Scott and I had plans to celebrate our third wedding anniversary. Instead, we found ourselves driving to the hospital in the wee hours of the morning. From the minute the nurse told us that we were having triplets, our biggest concern has been pre-term labor. Despite all precautions, the human body is not designed to accommodate more than 2 babies at a time. At 26 weeks, I was already past the size of a woman carrying one full-term baby. We entered the hospital with mild symptoms but were confident along with doctors that we would be sent home, we just wanted to be safe. Unfortunately, tests indicated that my water might have broken. They began me on heavy medication that stalls and delays labor and we began talking about me being hospitalized and on complete, absolute bedrest for as many weeks as we could delay their delivery.
Scott and I have countdown timer applications on our phones. I have a countdown to 28 weeks gestation where premature babies have a great rate of survival with few complications. Scott’s countdown is to 33 weeks, our goal for our triplet pregnancy where our babies would spend only a little amount of time in the NICU. We were hit pretty hard with the prospect that 33 weeks would now be a very big stretch and we had to switch our focus to 28 weeks which was still 13 days away. The nurse monitored me while I waited for the medication to slow and diminish the mild contractions I was having. Instead, despite upping the medication and trying an additional second drug, I rapidly switched into advanced labor to the shock of all, including the doctors. It was the most chaotic and scary moment I have ever experienced as alarms went off, people started yelling and I was being raced down the hall into the operating room. One of the last things I saw before the door swung close and I was put under was the scared face of Scott putting on scrubs in the hall. I would be told later that he wasn’t even allowed into the room. I was put completely under and I have no memory of what followed.
On Wednesday, July 28th 2010, a little after noon, our three daughters were delivered by emergency C-Section. They were born 3 and half months early at 26 weeks and 1 day gestation. Allison “Astro” Sunaoka weighing 1 lb 12 oz. Rory “Gizmo” Sunaoka weighing ~ 2 lb 4 oz. Casey “Slugger” Sunaoka weighing ~ 2 lb 4 oz. Allie and Casey were rushed to the NICU. Scott and I are heartbroken to share that a few hours after birth, our little Rory “Gizmo” had passed away.
About a month and a half ago, we learned through ultrasounds and echocardiograms that Rory had a serious heart defect that was terminal. The past 6 weeks have been an emotional journey as each week and each scan brought new questions with unhappy answers. We have been struggling with how to share this news publicly as we know so many have shared in this pregnancy and excitement. Our girls are beyond cherished and loved by all, and our family has expanded in the last 6 months to include so many thrilled “aunties” and “uncles.” There were so many questions that we had to deal with. Our future changed from week to week. We were even looking to possibly giving birth in San Diego and uprooting our lives for a year. We didn’t know if we wanted a baby shower, or even how to register for baby items. I would break down in tears when it came down to deciding quantity. At night, we mainly talked about how we might want to spend Rory’s time after birth with her. Above all, we did not want to give up hope of miraculous hearing and every week and every doctor visit, we just kept praying that this was the week that would bring us good news. Unfortunately, we just ran out of time far quicker than we could ever have imagined and nothing…nothing could have prepared us for saying hello and goodbye to our daughter in less than a day.
We had hoped to get as far as long as possible to give Rory the best chance at birth, and to give us the most time with her. Being born at 26 weeks erased a lot of our options and plans, and it is still hard for us to face. The hospital staff were aware of the situation and made her as comfortable as possible. Rory did get to spend a lot of quality time being held by daddy and close family and friends before she returned home to be with her other “Daddy.” Such a short time with us, but we cherished every moment and I’m thankful for every second I had to be her mom. It was a blessing and an honor.
We are recovering and there’s a lot to deal with as we were not very prepared at this early a stage. We know you love our families and we ask that most communication be through email or texts or fb (so modern huh) and not through phone calls. We don’t have much time to spend on the phone although we want to keep everyone updated. Please don’t feel that you can’t ask us about Rory. We certainly want to celebrate her life. I’ll be posting soon about Rory for those who never got to meet or know her. I’m so proud of her and I want everyone to know how amazing she is.
We have two little babies in the NICU who also still need our attention and a lot of prayer. At this stage, their lungs, immune system, brain, and digestive system are still underdeveloped and they are kept isolated to mimic still being in the womb. Allie, our petite little 1 lb 12 oz firecracker, was moved off a breathing tube and to a less invasive breathing assistance called a C-PAP. Today, they will do an echo on her heart to see if she has any heart problems related to her identical sister’s heart problem. Casey, last to arrive at 2 lb 4 oz, is having more difficulty. She’s not been able to move off the breathing tube and is having a rougher time managing her oxygen levels. She had a lot of swelling but it has gone down a lot in the last day. We’ve been warned that with micro-preemies, there will be a lot of steps forward and just as many steps back. We’re praying for those steps forward. These girls may have been born in Honolulu, but I am pretty sure I see some Big Island in them=)
Prayer Requests:
-Slugger is able to move onto a C-PAP today
-No apnea spells for Astro
-Today’s fetal echocardiograms show perfect hearts for both girls
-Astro to be able to move to a PIC-line
*we still refer to them by Scott’s crazy nicknames, it’s a habit I can’t kick unfortunately
My sister has five girls and I adore my nieces. My 3 year old niece, Lauren, has two little twin sisters who since turning a year and half and learning to walk have been promoted to official twisters. Scott and I made a goal of trying to watch Lauren once a week to let her have some "Lauren" time and actually spend some time playing with toys without having four smaller hands snatch them away. When you babysit, you always feel that urge to have to entertain them. So my sister gave us some leftover Christmas crafts and this visit we attempted to bake and decorate our own home-made gingerbread cookies.
The party included:
Lauren's friend, HB, stopped by for some playground and coloring book fun but left before the culinary lesson began. Here's Master Baker Scott showing a preview of our final creations. I may have to explain Scott's cookie a little. That's actually supposed to be a gummy heart in the middle and the "A" is for me...his nickname for me. Well, by nickname, I mean, my real first name. And, no, I will never divulge it.
The kit came with a really cute little booklet of instructions. We were a little waylaid by the fact that you had to add a few ingredients to the kit of your own. Honey. I didn't own honey, I actually don't like honey. So, just be forewarned to check the back of these cute kits before attempting at home. We mixed the ingredients together and let it sit in the fridge for half an hour. I followed the directions but the dough was a little crumbly and weird looking at first. It began to take a more doughy texture after we had worked on it a bit. Here's Lauren who learned to to knead it herself.
Now, you may notice above a spray can of Pam nonstick cooking spray rolling around. I couldn't for the life of me find a rolling pin (hmmm, seems the roommate left it at someone's house)...so I had to improvise. Washed the outside of the Pam can and sprinkled it with flour. Hey, it worked pretty decently.
3 year olds are a great age. Lauren caught on and was able to roll up the dough, roll it out, and then cut out a shape with the cookie cutters all by herself. Her favorite was the heart shaped cookies. After we had assembled most of the cookies, I left her with a little bit of dough to play with like play-do (Hey, I just got the name....hah, it makes sense now) and went to put the cookies in the oven. But she kept running to the kitchen with more heart cookies that she was just milling out by the second.
After fifteen minutes in the oven, out came beautiful gingerbread cookies, all shapes and sizes.
We kind of forgot to explain to the 3 year old that these cookies were for the joy of decorating. Because after we down all the gels and sprinkles in front of her and then brought the cookies to the table, she reached out and started to grind on the freshly baked cookies. I think Scott and I startled her when we snatched them out of her hands and said "No." Ooops. We then showed her that you could decorate them first and then she went to town and had a blast. But after that, she refused to take a bite of any cookies, even after we had decorated them all. My sister arrived and we all tried to show Lauren that you could eat the cookies. I think I ate like three. But, nope...she wouldn't touch them. She just carried them around with pride.
The gingerbread cookie kit came with little eyes to put on your gingerbread men. I love that Lauren made an all-seeing Christmas tree. Magical.
Hey, I have some amazing pictures from a children session on the Big Island. Look forward to that post and pictures coming sometime next week.
December was chock full of holiday fun but it also marked other momentous events. I met Chrystie when we were both in the Master's Program in Cell and Molecular Biology at University of Hawaii-Manoa. We both obtained our Master's Degree but she continued on in her graduate studies in the PhD Program while I joined the workforce. While watching her dissertation, this flood of pride welled up as I watched her explain her work with stunning clarity and unheard-of vocabulary. I was proud that I slightly understood the first third and then it went beyond my capabilities. It also reminded me how much I love my background in scientific research. I started to try to work out how I could get back into research...considering volunteering in the lab after work. Then I slapped myself awake. There I go thinking I have 36 hour long days to cram all this stuff in.
The morning of the UH graduation, I was a little rushed. We had to skip the flower shop so we drove into the parking garage lei-less. Scott slowed the car slightly so I could jump out and dash into the Stan Sheriff Center. I made it in time to watch Chrystie receive her diploma and join the faculty as a part of the doctorate community.
Here's Dr. Chrystie flashing a shaka.
Chrystie and Janice
Me, Dr. Janice, Dr. Haymer, and Dr. Chrystie
Hmmm, my name looks so unimpressive next to these academic wizards.
Chrystie and her sweet family
An intimate luncheon followed at a Chinese Restaurant in Hawaii Kai. It was 2 hours of music, touching speeches, tears, crying...and then more crying....and then, just a little more crying. Chrystie has an amazing support system, her family, her church, and us (her friends!!!). Her sister, Malia, had just gotten married a month before and she was constantly at her sister's side. She laughed and joked with everyone that she and Chrystie had traded off, Chrystie was her servant at her wedding and now she had to return the favor. I was really touched by how close these two sisters are and how supportive they are of each other. I saw Malia and her new husband standing up and eating their lunch to let others have seats. Then Malia danced hula for Chrystie and the endless tears were streaming down their cheeks. When the notes faded away, they ran to each other and embraced forever. My sweet husband leaned over and whispered in my ear "Maybe I should hug my brother more often." Huh, that would be a sight to see.
For these pictures and more, check out the photo album on facebook. If you're already on fb, add me as your friend!!!
I may be college educated but I, for the life of me, can never remember whether I should be wishing people "Happy New Year!" or "Happy New Years!" I promise to google it before the end of this post.
I am in love with 2010. I've read that 2009 was a tough year for most and I'm no exception. What a relief to have a fresh new page to write on!!! I'm a huge advocate for making resolutions, even those resolutions that dwindle to soft wishes most of the time. Making changes for the better and striving for self-improvement is an easy sell for me. I taught high school science straight out of college at Maryknoll Schools and their motto is "to whom much is given, much is expected." What a firm reminder that I am blessed and the best way to show my gratitude is to live my life giving everything I've got. So here are my resolutions...and if I fall of the wagon, I hope I remember that you get a fresh slate every morning on any given day. There's a Nicole Nordeman song "His mercies are new every morning." I cling to that as my saving grace.
And because I know that even the best intentions get nudged to the side by the busy-ness of life, someone help me remember to revisit these resolutions every four months. April 1st let's see how I'm doing.
Darn, google didn't help me. Scott and I would like to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!
December is my favorite month of the year, it's basically sandwiched with cheesy Hallmark movies and party feasts between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I just finished up editing a big session with my husband's working place. I took their staff Christmas picture and then a bunch for their website. Sorry, I never post the photos from the church, but I may provide links eventually.
I'm battling a little cold...cough cough sniffle sniffle. I'm such a wussy sick person. Scott gets sick and he just likes to be left alone. I get a tickle in my throat and I'm eating ice cream for breakfast and making sad eyes at Scott in hopes that he'll rub my feet. But there's a lot to do...Christmas cards to finish and get out...reports at work to get in...laundry to wash and fold. After watching a few episodes of Hoarders, there's also nothing better I like to do each day at home than throw three things away and scrub four things down with bleach. I am trying to plan ahead for the next three months. I have a few sessions lined up, and I'm also looking to take some much-anticipated vacation.
And because I love pictures: here's a few fun pictures taken on the sidewalks of Kailua.
[I think this one is a funky angle but I like!!!]
[Only I can get so excited by a picture that's mostly concrete]
[This one would make a gorgeous canvas wrap. She's beautiful]
I've made no secret of it, this year has been brutal for me. I didn't have an idealic childhood and I've had to battle a lot in my life, but this year puts the rest to shame. Maybe it really is harder than the 30 years before it, or maybe I'm fatigued and losing strength in the third round. I just feel attacked on every angle possible...a big one being family, losing best friends, some health issues, pressure at work growing alarmingly fast. I've had to retreat at times and focus on regaining hope, because that's the critical ingredient. And I set back out with one foot forward saying "I'm going to do it...I'm going to survive." And I won't lie, I've gotten knocked down again. I have been praying for the year to turn around. Now with under two months left, I've changed to praying that this year just ends.
This past weekend, I fell back into the valleys and I thought "this is it, I can't get up again. Just leave me alone" But, the next morning brought renewed strength and glimmers of hope peeking through my fog of depression. Totally not of my own doing. Those embers of strength grew stronger and the glimmers glowed longer and brighter until I found myself back on my feet again. Ready to face life and still in the race. And God put something upon my heart. This year has been a battlefield. I no longer speak to my mother (which is not new) but now I have not spoken to my father in months. I've been on the phone hearing about my brother's (on the big island) attempt to hurt himself and threatening to commit suicide and sat in the hospital after another family member tried to end their life. And still not even the hardest situation we've had to face this year. I feel people turn to me for answers and I want to offer comfort but they may not get my answer. I have God. That's all I can really offer..
I have been complaining about just feeling battered and abused from every angle. But this past week, I had a image in my head. I'm riding out a storm but I'm not commanding a big boat with billowing sails. I'm in the water clinging to a rope and the reason I'm still moving is that God is pulling me. He's pulling me as fast and as quick as He can to get me out of this storm. I'm getting tossed about by the waves and the rain is cold darts on my skin, but He's pulling me through.
I had someone try to teach me to wakeboard once. I couldn't stand up until my 12th try which was super frustrating for me. The guy teaching me kept yelling me "don't try to stand up, that's why you're falling." I thought it was pure foolery, don't you have to stand to wakeboard? He'd pull the boat forward again and the rope would jerk me and I would face plant...again. Same thing, he'd yell "don't try to stand up." Frustration. I was so confused because I was insistent that I was not trying to stand up. Each time I concentrated and was confident that I wasn't trying to stand up, but each time I fell. I was running out of time, so the last time, I actually fought the urge to stand up by relaxing everything, almost to the point where I felt like I was sinking beneath the water. The boat jerked and I was up and wakeboarding...for 23.4 seconds. I'm revisiting that lesson on the ocean. God's teaching me to wakeboard and I have to fight the urge to stand up by myself. It's when I sit back and let God take over that I find myself standing up above the waves.
I'm not preaching a happy ending. I haven't gotten there yet. I know most stories offer "this is the troubles and storms I faced and look at how perfect everything is now." This is "Hey there, friend, having a rough year. I'm there with you. But we'll get through it." Like that wakeboarding lesson, I'll faceplant often. I might forget everything I've learned. But I know that God will keep pulling that rope as long as we are holding on to it.
Sneak Peek of a Halloween Morning Family Session
Where: Kakaako Park
When: Saturday, October 31st
I was really excited about this trip. I'm not a big traveler, I'm such a home body. I am, however, married to the traveling man...he loves it. We had a discussion and came up with compromises before we got married. But this trip. This trip, even I was excited to go. One of my friend from college days (go BC) is from New York and proposed to his girlfriend of nine years. He set his wedding date for my birthday!!! At first I thought it was sweet, then I realized he was trying to steal my thunder. Nah, it was wonderful. Work was getting crazy so Scott and I were excited to fly 5,000 miles to the northeast. We spent a few days in New York for the wedding and then spent a few days in Boston.
We stayed a few days at my friend's place in Queens. I'd been to NYC a few times while in college and Scott just went for the first time last year. So there wasn't much I hadn't seen. When asked what I wanted to do, the only thing I said was "I want to find Cake Boss!!!" Cake Boss is a TLC show centered around a real bakery "Carlos' Bakery" and it's owner, Buddy. The bakery is run by an Italian family and the show is hilarious. They thought I was kidding but I insisted on googling the location of the bakery (Hoboken, New Jersey) and directions on how to take the train there.
So, our friends drove us from Queens into Manhattan.
Which meant we had to drive over the 59th street Bridge which instantly caused Scott to break out into a song "Feeling Groovy." Too bad, no one in the car had any clue what he was singing.
They dropped us off near Central Park, which I will have to say was my first time there. It's pretty huge...and I'm a country girl so I loved it. There were saxophone players and ballon animal artists every twenty feet.
The architecture and neighborhoods are so different in the mainland. I loved it. Scott is such a patient and understanding husband...as I made him pose over and over again so I could get my photography kicks out.
We really had no clue where we were walking but we did find ourselves at the Museum of Natural History. Also someplace I've never been. It was pretty cool. I have to admit that I kind of went out of curiousity to see how similar it was to movie "Night in the Museum." I have to say that the answer is "minimal." The exhibit displays are amazing though. Epic.
Then we wandered back to the train station and I saw this cool train station waiting room.
I originally had to work on all Fridays. But we're a bit short-handed and there's only three of us on my shift. And then one of my coworkers had to take famlily leave suddenly because his wife gave birth to their daughter a few weeks early. So, the two of us left had to juggle days to make sure that all the days were covered. So, I found myself with a Friday night off.
It just so happened that Scottie left for Japan that morning for his mission trip in Sapporo. So, my roommie, Tricia, and I decided to have a last-minute girl's night dinner. I picked the theme.
Mystic Pizza Party
We made our own little mini-pizzas and then watched Julia Roberts in "Mystic Pizza." The only thing our dinner guests had to bring was a pizza topping of their choice. Tricia did all the prep work. She researched possible toppings combination by scouring popular menus like California Pizza Kitchen. She laid out a spread of baked chicken, pears, cheeses, tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, fresh spinach, sliced red onions, and she even toasted pine nuts. She had a variety of sauces to go on the pizza crusts; your regular but favored pizza sauce, a pesto, an alfredo, and this yummy BBQ sauce. We're still not done. She even has a little basil plant that we could pick from for our pizza masterpieces.
I don't really trust my cooking skills so I was prepared to buy pre-made pizza crusts from the store but that had the roommate aghast. Instead, she made dough from scratch following this recipe for Whole Wheat and Honey Pizza Crust and we even got to roll out our own crusts. This is an awesome idea for a get-together. it's fun and hands-on like an Arts-n-Crafts project, but then you get to eat it. Followed by a desert of thick brownies covered with rasberries, whip cream and chocolate sauce and we were ready to rest our full tummies while watching "Mystic Pizza." Ah, 80's movies...always a sure thing for a good laugh.
(Just some of the ingredient layout, place cards made by the roomie)
(my favorite, shredded baked chicken)
(I think girls were just snacking on the pears. I don't think they actually made it to any pizza)
(some of our pizza masterpieces pre-baking)
Sometimes I'll bore you with details of my thrilling life. But, on top of my full-time job and my photography business, I also babysit a few hours every week. She's a darling 19 month old who charms everyone. Our house is pretty toy-less, but thankfully, she loves our piano, my photography props, and she's been known to carry around Scott's golf clubs. To break the boredom, my sister and I have organized combined field trips where I bring baby HB and my sister brings her three youngest girls, all 2 years old and younger. Last week, we went to the Discovery Center in Honolulu. I thought I would blog about it for anyone who hasn't been there yet.
Discovery Center Hawaii
Two big downfalls that we immediately encountered were operating hours and prices. They are open only for very limited hours. They are closed Monday (which we found out a few months ago when we tried to show up without checking out the website...oops). Tuesdays through Fridays, the center is open 9 am to 1 pm. That was hard for us considering my sister had to feed, clothe, and pack up three toddlers by herself. We didn't meet up at the center until 11 am. They are open later on weekends (until 3 pm).
The fee is $8 for anyone over the age of 1. We did eye my sister's twins and HB. Totally tempted to try to knock off 7 months off their ages. Darn, they can pretty much run already so we just had to pay full price. And the $8 is the kama'aina rate and military rate so bring your ID. Once we paid, we were instructed to leave all strollers in the lobby before proceeding into the play area. Yikes. That threw us for a loops. Together, my sister and I had brought
2 year old girl
one 19 month old girl
two 17 month old twin girls
two backpacks
a camera bag
Next time, pack light.
The price was a little high but I think it's comparable to other attractions and we got to escape the hot summer heat. That's the biggest plus I can think of. Once we were inside the Discovery Center, the fun really began. There was an area for the younger toddlers immediately after you enter. We let the kids loose and frankly, they could have played in there the whole time. There was a sailboat that the kids could clamber in. There was a little play fishing pool that the 2 year old used a fishing rod to catch fake, colorful plastic fishes while the babies chose to just roll around on the floor.
All the kids would have been thrilled just to play in the baby play area, but we definitely wanted to explore the rest of the floor and get the most out of our day. There were all these displays set up to convert real world habitats into pint-sized worlds fit for humans under 3 feet tall. I dont' have pictures because I had to abandon the camera to keep up with our little bundles of speed. There was a little hospital room with mini-scrubs hanging on the door hook. Fire truck and a bus. A small theatre with a cool panel where pressing buttons changed the lighting or added sound effects. I got a litttle crazy with the lightning sound effect and my 2 year old niece jumped in my arms saying "skeri, skeri."
The babies, 19 month old HB and 17 month old twins, 2 year old not pictured (running amuck)
Fishing is fun, and plastic fishes smell way better
One twin was trying to scale the picket fence gate and look who came to help
Shopping at the pint-sized grocery store
I think the Discovery Center is more geared for kids 2 years and up. Although HB and the twins loved the grocery store, the rest of the displays and scenes didn't hold any appeal. They took more enjoyment climbing up on the snack table. But the 2 year old loved it. It was perfect for her. And all the kids just loved the freedom of running around. I wish they had more props. I went to the children's museum in Boston and they had a 3 foot tall chess set, hula hoops to blow bubbles. I would have liked to have seen that here, especially since they make such cute photo opportunities.
I cannot say enough about the staff at Discovery Center. Everyone was completely kind-hearted, from the woman who sold us our tickets, the young helpers watching the floors who sweetly played with the kids as well, to the friendly staff in the lunch counter who didn't bat an eye when my sister (not the kids) spilled an entire container of macaroni and cheese on the floor. If you have kids who are between 2 and 6, I would recommend it. And you can bring your own lunch, you just have to eat it outside. Just remember to bring your camera!!!
I want to blog. I wish there was more time...Here's a list of the stuff that I need/want to devote more time
-reading Bible and journaling daily (this maybe happens once a week)
-practicing the bass guitar (haven't done this in a month)
-practicing the regular guitar (I did spend some time this past two weeks practicing)
-learning how to use my new camera finally
-emailing people back!!!
-starting to jog again regularly
Here's the high hopes list
-go surfing again and wash the cobwebs off my board
-revise my photography website
-paint our kitchen
-save the world
Not only am I behind in this blog, but now my roommie, Tricia, has roped me into this getting fit and healthy and I'm supposed to blog that every day. That will make blog #4 for me. Oh geez louise.
Here's a sneak peek from our last-minute session with John and his family. He's being deployed next week and asked if I could create some memories of his family before he left. Introducing John, Whitni, and baby "G..."
We're such procrastinators. Joy, of our "Joy and Light" production, had her birthday last week but it took us over a week before we all went out to celebrate. Party animals that we are, we settled on a girl's breakfast at Cinnamon's of Kailua. We just love their yummy eggs benedict. And I have vague recollection of Krystal saying "we should stop by the beach afterward and build a sand castle." Wow, that sounds like such a cute idea. I thought of tossing on some swim clothes but I figured it would be a brief and carefree jaunt to the beach.
The girls (Tricia, Krystal and "birthday girl" Joy) and I headed over to Cinnamon's. I had the veggie eggs benedict with a poached egg perched on a chair of spinach leaves and tomatoes. Yum Yum. The ordering process was slightly complicated by Tricia who seems to have inherited a little "Sally" from "When Harry Met Sally." We stuffed ourselves full of Portuguese sweet bread french toast covered with drizzled maple syrups and benedicts.
The real adventure started on the sandy shores of Kailua Beach. I think the critical turning point was when someone started digging a hole in the sand and Tricia and I kind of stalled with the infamous question "Do you think that's high enough above the waterline?" Remember that question, it became critical. Thus ensued what was about 75 minutes of hauling endless buckets of sand under the hot sun...75 minutes that felt like 5 hours. It was so much fun...I just don't remember sandcastles being such a workout. I think I'm going to have to fill my plastic blue bucket with wet sand and see how much it weighs.
Krystal was the castle foreman and I focused on the protective moat and property wall. Very quickly we realized the tide was rising and waves were battering across our moat and washing up against our castle walls. Then it became a frantic rescue mission and all four of us had to abandon the castle and dig fervently to keep the water away. It was a total losing battle. We decided our castle would be a duplex so we just extended it up the beach. Despite our red faces, we must have made it look like fun because we had a sibling pair on vacation here from Hawaii join in on the fun. It was perfect timing because I think we were all about to pass out on the sand and they were little balls of energy. They actually were born and raised in New Zealand.
(You can't see me but I'm wearing a bright neon blue T-shirt. I somehow missed the memo to wear a black shirt.)
(Krystal, it's supposed to be fun, remember? There, that's better...there's a laugh)
(Tricia and her minions, she worked those two little New Zealand kiddies)
(Can you believe that Tricia actually thought she was going to go straight to work from the beach?)
(Our sand castle taking shape...it was a mansion)
(I can't tell who is having more fun)
(towers and castle doors)
(she was getting a little worked up over the battle between the wall and the waves)
(her brother was building a pond nearby for the castle royalty)
(then he took a little surf break)
(the stellar castle company)
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