So you may recall from a previous post that D was not quite ready to snorkel when we were in Hawaii.
Well that has all changed!
Once all his Trackers camps were done and things started to settle down, and before school started, D and I spent some good chunks of time at the pool, where, in just a matter of a few dedicated days, he overcame his fear of putting his ears in (1), then putting his face in (2), then his fear of jumping in (that’s 3), the jumping in on the deep end (4!), then jumping it without his puddle jumper on (what?!). Each of these things was a huge developmental feat, and I didn’t expect to get much further, since swimming in general has been not his favorite thing, due to some early bad experiences . I vowed to get this new development documented on this blog (not an easy thing to photograph when in the water also–where is that Go Pro anyway…?).
But the warm days continued and we kept going to the pool instead of writing about the pool, quickly accruing more and more skills. Even with a week off (when I went to NY to work), the watery hurdles kept being jumped with ease. In fact it has all happened so fast, it is hard to remember each momentous occasion, but I shall endeavor to do so here, for posterity.
The First Video–Sunday September 4: Snorkeling!
(the music is from the film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, a Wes Anderson movie)
The Second Video–Wednesday September 7: Fish Gets Comfy!
In this video, we can see D getting more comfortable, and even the beginning of strokes.
The Third Video–Saturday September 10: Young Swimmer!
Notice the puddle jumper is gone, and that he is now exhaling underwater, through his mouth!
The song is Everyday by The Cinematic Orchestra. D loves this song, and that’s the main reason I used it, but it’s also fitting, since it’s about appreciating the moments of each day.
About 3 weeks before D’s 6th birthday, Jeff got the idea for a theme for D’s birthday party: Pokemon Go!
Since he and D were already playing the all-the-rage game, and we suspected some parents were also glued to their phones, it seemed like a good idea…but somehow having a bunch of kids looking at phones didn’t seem like birthday material to me. So the idea of real-life, in person poke hunt was born.
First, we picked the location: a favorite outdoor spot of ours with a nice easy trail. We ordered giant bags of small pokemon action figures, and started to cast a net for pokemon themed decorating ideas. We wanted the kids to have to look for certain characters on a “pokedex,” so we printed out line drawings of the each of the cast, and attached them to small, easy to handle clipboards, along with a drawstring muslin bag, in which players could capture their found pokemons. It was super cute, and sadly I don’t have a photo of all the clipboards, or the kids using them (many attached balloons to them, which made it easier to see them in the forest!).
In fact we were so over ambitious we took zero pictures–we were too busy setting up and hosting to think to photograph anything. Thank goodness we had Shelli’s help decorating the picnic shelter, which was decked out with balloons, a pokemon themed centerpiece, and we decorated the long picnic tables to look like pokeballs.
Note to self: do not host another birthday party with 45 attendees, food, drinks, and elaborate decorations in the woods at 10:30 am.
Although we were stressed since we over complicated the party and the logistics, it was a beautiful day and the kids had fun. Besides the activities of the party (which also included Pin the Tail on Charizard and a Draw Your Own Pokemon art station, and a Pokemon puzzle), we also enjoyed watching the local trout, and a lucky part attendee also saw a hawk pluck a trout out of the lake there, right in front of her eyes. We were also joined by one giant blue heron, who kept a close watch on us, from his perch in a nearby tree.
Here are the small handful of pictures I have from what was truly a grand event!
Mom getting birthday cupcakes ready
And here is a shot I just took of the remaining party favors the kids took home. Inside are Pokemon action figures, a glitter glue stick, yoyo, Pokemon tattoo and some fruit strips:
You may have noticed D’s outfit. He designed it especially to look like a Poke trainer. To give the unitiated some context, here is his trainer avatar in the game:
And in a related moment, here he is a REI trying on backpacks for Trackers camp (more on that later)–being a Pokemon Trainer and being a forest Ranger overlapped in our summer adventures:
This was our first-ever party with birthday gifts. I have to highlight the elaborately-wrapped gift from Jett, who worked very hard with astounding effect on his gift:
As D approaches age 6, I’m noticing how much more willing he is to try new things. He’s always been up for adventure, but putting himself out there, on his own–doing something by himself–is new. In Honolulu, we went to Benihana’s one day for lunch, and he discovered he likes shrimp! Since I never make this at home (and I didn’t eat mine at Benihana) I was really proud that we went outside his comfort zone…the theatrical show didn’t hurt! He didn’t even want to go to Benihana’s but now he is a devotee, and had asked to go back many times.
Putting his face in the water has always been challenging. We tried to break the pattern with the Hawaii trip, by getting him a puddle-jumper (thanks to the Case-Fischers for this tip) and new swim shoes, and packing his wet suit (you know how he loves gear!). The puddle-jumper was a huge success–D initiated the desire to swim, and reveled in the freedom it gave him. He is now swimming in the pool by himself!
At Hanauma Bay, where we went to snorkel, he got all geared up, managed to put his face in, and was freaked out by the sound of water in his ears. I could see he was trying to get up the nerve to try again (he kept hearing about all the awesome fish we saw in less than a foot of water), but just couldn’t make the leap. He has confided in me that he regrets not trying again (so maybe we’ll practice at the pool). I did “ride the waves” with him and that was pretty good–after all it is the big big ocean!
Thinking About Snorkeling
Wave Riders
Fireworks are another thing we have always avoided, because he doesn’t like the loud sound, but also because our neighborhood practically comes under siege each 4th (and so we go away to avoid the noise). This year we were able to watch the entire spectacular show at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, from the comfort of our “lanai” and D learned he loves fireworks…that said it would be hard to find another display that would live up to this one. He did still want to cover his ears, though.
“Alllllooooooha,” is how we were greeted when we arrived at our luau, where the word was almost sung many times throughout the (truly amazing) performance. Originally we were a bit on the fence about whether to attend what looked like it could be a very touristy waste of time and money.
Oh were we wrong!
Not only did we learn a lot about all the people of Polynesia, and were astounded by the fire dancing, we were also exposed to lots of Hawaiian language being spoken, which is like listening to the music of the island. It’s very sing-songy, and lots of syllables are repeated in the same word (e.g. the Likelike Highway–“leekay-leekay”). The words are, in general, pronounced as they are written, so it’s very easy to start picking it up.
Actually our exposure to spoken Hawaiian started on the plane ride to Hawaii, since one of the flight attendants announced everything in Hawaiian or at least a mix of English and Hawaiian, and as we circled the airport on arrival, he acted as a tour guide, pointing out areas of interest and telling us their Hawaiian names and their significance.
But the word Aloha has a deeper, nuanced meaning as well than a simple “hello,” since it is also an all-encompassing word for love. One reads about The Aloha Spirit in tourist guide books and that’s what one expects: that it’s about tourism. After all, we’re talking about “the Aloha state.” But in our experience we found it to be a real thing, not a marketing slogan at all. We saw it in several people–from the flight attendant, to the person who checked us into the hotel, to our tour guide (“Cousin” Shannon), and even in the waitstaff at the hotel.
The first day at our hotel, we had lunch at one of the at the ocean side restaurants. Our waitress was named Sophia. She was a little flighty–brought the wrong drinks, etc. But everything changed when she laid eyes on Dashiell. She brought him his pizza and noticed he was slow to eat it. She dug in her tip change purse and put 2 quarters on the table, and said she’ pay him that $0.50 if he ate his whole pizza (I told him I’d pay him $2.00 if he stopped when he was full, but this was of little interest to him). He loved that the game was on, and did his best to eat the whole thing (I helped him, picturing the upset stomach later). Sophia came back to find the pizza gone and was so delighted she cradled D’s face in her hands and gave him a big kiss on the forehead.
Was this just Sophia’s method to earn a bigger tip from us? Sure, maybe a little. But the kiss, too? Call me cynical, but I can envision stateside patrons would be thinking of a lawsuit if a stranger kissed their kid (we would not count ourselves among them). To us, it was a great example of how in a place like Hawaii, there’s still a sense of us all being a large family in the same village; the spirit of Aloha and Ohana (family) are alive and well. So naturally “Auntie” Sophia would be planting her lips on her nephew Dashiell.
Jeff and D with their new Ohana
Jeff turned us onto the music of Jake Shimabukuro a couple years ago, when he got interested in playing the ukulele. Jake, who is from Honolulu, became famous about 10 years ago, for his stunning ukulele covers of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” He has gone way beyond those covers now, making his own compositions and even working with symphonies. As luck had it, Jake was playing at the new Blue Note Hawaii jazz club when we were in town, at an all-ages show no less, which was perfect for D’s first concert.
We had excellent seats at a booth in front, and had dinner before the show. As we ate, I reminded D of Jake’s incredible life story: how he mastered and reinvented ukulele music. His mom was a single parent who worked a lot of low-wage jobs day and night to support Jake and his brother, and so Jake had a lot of alone time…missing his mother, who had taught him to play ukulele. To fill the time, he practiced. And practiced. And practiced. And he turned that adversity of being a lonely kid into art. I said to D: I bet Jake’s mom is here to see him play. And Jeff said: yes, and maybe Jake’s 3 year old son is here, too.
And we were both correct! Jake’s son Chase joined him onstage for a song, and his mother performed the encore with him.
Here is Jake with his son Chase performing “More Ukulele”:
This was awesome for D to see, to empower him and show him that even a 3 year old can start learning an instrument (Jake started at 4). I’m hoping see Chase will inspire him to also try an instrument…
Here is Jake and his Mom performing Fats Waller’s “Sweet and Slow.”
But even with all that talent, aloha, and ohana spirit, I must say the real star of the show during this trip was our very own Dad!
Check out Jeff, who got chosen to dance the hula onstage at our luau.
When D was about 1-and-a half, I wrote a blog entry with a video where D attempts to climb up on a slide at Ikea, accompanied by the traditional Hawaiian song “Leahi,” performed by Gabby Pahinui, whose music features heavily on The Descendants soundtrack, which was in rotation at our house at the time (and is still excellent, I highly recommend it).
Leahi is Hawaiian for “tuna forehead” aka, Diamond Head, the famous crater / mountain at the east end of Waikiki beach. I used this song, since, to little D, that slide was like a mountain.
Today I am pleased to tell you our not-so-little D, at age 5 (and three-quarters!) climbed the actual Leahi himself! In fact he was able to climb to the top far faster than dear old Mom (it was quite hot and humid that day).
While I don’t have any video of him hiking, I do have the some memorable stills of the views we saw as we climbed up (some of which already appear on my previous post, but I think are worth highlighting), and I have these perfect shots of D with Leahi behind him, at sunrise, on Waikiki beach:
Here is what I saw on the way up the mountain:
To me, one of the amazing things about these shots is that you can see how shallow the water is near the beach, and you can see the coral reef and rocks right there, by the shore. You also get a sense of how dense the capital is, but at the same time, how natural it still feels, like it’s all just always been there.
The song is Ka Makani Ka’ili Aloha (The Kipahulu Zephyr), by Gabby Pahinui, featured on the soundtrack for The Descendants, and here is the translation of the lyrics:
E aloha ae ana nō au
I ka makani kaulana o ka ʻāina
Aʻu e hoʻoheno nei
Ka makani kā`ili aloha
Hui: Kuʻu pua, kuʻu lei, kuʻu milimili ē
Kuʻu lei kau i ka wēkiu
A he milimili ʻoe a he hiwahiwa naʻu
A he lei mau no kuʻu kino
I aloha ʻia nō ia home
Ia home luakaha a ka malihini
Aʻu i noho ai a kupa
Ka makani kāʻili aloha
I love the
Famous wind of this land
Mine to cherish
The wind named Love-snatcher
Chorus: My flower, my lei, mine to cherish My lei that I adore above all others You are my favorite and precious to me A lei forever for my body Beloved is this home This home so delightful to visitors Where I stayed many years With my love that was once snatched by the wind
On the last week of school, art teacher Jane sent home all D’s Kalama year art in a nice portfolio, and handed me 2 larger and delicate pieces so I could be sure to transport them without them getting grubbied up…
We have really noticed the steep increase in D’s fine motor skills this year, and I attribute this in large part to art class. Maybe because it was new, or because I helped a lot in the art classroom this year, but D seems to have really absorbed what Jane taught him.
At the Art Show earlier this year, D was keen to point out the aspects of his butterfly art that were important to him. I was going to simply relay these in the blog, and then I realized D could tell the “viewers at home” all about it himself (kudos to the Gardner culture that promotes students being able to present their work to their peers and adults…and to YouTube, where D watches a lot of sports events, with after-event commentary by the players, which I think is also at work here!!).
Abstract Work
HundertWasser-inspired work (see more about this interesting architect-turned-painter)
Butterfly in Flight
(oil pastel and watercolor)
On his butterfly, Dashiell wants to point out:
he used the white oil pastel technique for the clouds (color with white oil pastel then paint over, and the paint won’t stick, resulting in a clean white)
he didn’t center the butterfly, making a stronger composition
the butterfly is close up and coming off the page, adding drama
he made his signature subtle and painterly by using a related color for it
Sunflower
(tempra paint. appears in Gardner Calendar on September)
Jane selected D’s sunflower for the calendar because of D’s choice of colors in the background.
Self Portrait
(oil pastel colored background with pen on plastic overlay)
Blue Birds
(water color and pen)
D’s bluebirds got selected for use in the trimester-end newsletter. This is his most recent major art piece, and the attention to detail and fine motor skills impressed us!
Chameleon
Fall Self Portrait
(blocking soccer ball as goalie)
Shape Art
(under the blue flap is a pen drawing of a car in the garage)
Last Friday was the last day of school. It was a big day for many reasons–D’s now a first-grader!–but mostly because it was also Katherine’s last day at Gardner, and Marks last day as Head of School. Since they are both beloved, and in many ways represent the best of Gardner, there was a special closing ceremony, and many hands reaching for tissues.
Before I arrived there was a “kinder leap” where the Kindergarten graduates “leapt” into their next phase of life. Teacher Betsy took these terrific shots of D’s leap.
D’s leap was, not surprisingly, the most athletic of the group.
The Tahomans also leapt, seeing as they are oving from 8th grade to high school..
In the last few months, D’s independence has grown by leaps and bounds, and we are taking every opportunity to encourage this emotional growth spurt. He ties his own shoes, uses public bathrooms alone, and has adopted
Run and find out
as his motto, a line we have often enjoyed when reading Kipling’s Rikki Tikki Tavi aloud.
Chewing gum has also been discovered, thanks to a couple kidlets at school and next door, and this has put a whole new spin on his young personality: gum chewing, baseball slinging, knife-wielding boy.
Knife wielding!?
Indeed. I knew he might enjoy having some knife skills, and when I suggested that perhaps we could get him a pocket knife, his eyes grew large as saucers in excitement. But as we researched and prepared for his Trackers camps this summer, we learned a pocket knife is not a safe option nor what will be taught in his camp called Wilderness Survival: Fires & Knives. So Jeff ordered their text book and one-each of their sanctioned long-bladed knives (with sheaths), one in “Chris Kratt” green for D (from Wild Kratts) and lessons commenced (thanks to Daddy for all the time and patience in this pursuit!).
