Celebrating 5 years of joy

Five years old. Our not-so-little boy is five years old. Aside from those first few months of sleep deprivation and utter shock at being responsible for a helpless human being, it's been a pretty smooth ride with this kid. He continues to be very sweet, sharing and kind...and more recently- a little argumentative, a lot whiny and a tad bit sassy. :-)

In a few short months, our little guy heads off to kindergarten. All day! (Who got to decide 5-year olds are ready for full day school?! I wanna punch him in the throat!) ;-)

Ryan just a few days old...this is my favorite picture of the two of us...little did I know that same adorable clinginess (yes, I made up a word) would last five more years!

Because he's our only child and I'm a little, well...overinvolved, we went a little overboard with the birthday festivities. We started off the celebration by baking cupcakes on Thursday night for him to bring to school on Friday.

Per his very specific instructions, they had a picture of the Shinkansen train and were blue and white.  

He was so excited to go to school that day (his actual birthday) because my mom had made him a birthday pin to wear, which he insisted he had to wear all day so that everyone would know it was his birthday. And wouldn't you know- the minute he stepped into class his classmates began calling out birthday wishes to him- which made him break out into his classic huge, shy grin. Later that day they sang to him, and classmates were also asked to raise their hand and say what they liked about him. One little boy said with a straight face, "He's very good looking." Hysterical...and I love it!  

Later that evening,we took Ry and his cousins to their favorite restaurant (Bubba Gump's) for what has become an annual birthday tradition for Ryan (he loves being serenaded by the wait staff).

I turned my head for ten whole seconds and somehow, Keni's face got decorated by tartar sauce.

And since we had time to kill before we met my parents, JJ & Lynne for dessert, we took them to Hale Halawai next door to burn off some energy. I discovered some wire ropes and decided we would have a tightrope walking competition! But...it...was...HARD!

NO ONE could stand unaided for even 2-3 seconds!

I sucked!!! I couldn't stop laughing because it was impossible to stop swaying/shaking on the rope!

The champion! The only one who could stand for a second or two unaided! But while wearing a tutu and carrying a little umbrella? Highly unlikely! So overall- a loser like the rest of us! :-)

And finally, on Sunday we had Ryan's birthday party. Since it's always so hot in May, we figured it would be nice to have a pool party down at the condo. And because the condo rules limit us to 16 guests, we kept it small and simple with mostly family and just a few of our longtime friends.

On Saturday evening, I got a late start on his cake, but was able to make it quickly because the design was very simple.

The cake started off as two bread loaves so I could get the train shape without having to stack layers (lazy).

And because I'm also too lazy to bake a denser type of cake and/or harder royal icing, I used regular cake mix and a thin layer of butter cream (which equals lumpiness...but takes half the time). 

Ta-da! A Japanese bullet train in less than 2 hours. :-) I also made the bamboo tray in a wood shop class. It was easy because I'm part-Chinese, so bamboo is like putty in my hands. (Oh wait...I think I bought it from Ross last week. Honest mistake.) 

On Sunday morning we got up early to bake the blueberry mochi and make all of the bento (food) boxes. 

One of our favorite treats! (Side note: Love aluminum baking cups...have never used them before, but am now a fan. Both our cupcakes and sticky mochi popped right out of them!

The bento assembly line in action!

We sprinkled the rice with furikake and dried plum for taste and color... and because I didn't have a sakura-shaped cookie cutter I used the closest thing I had. There was also gyoza (pot sticker), salmon (baked by my mom), teriyaki chicken and a mini-fruit kebab.  

Once we got to the pavilion (a little late), my parents and brother Jon were (thankfully) all there to help set up. Huge thanks to my for making the giant platter of inari sushi, my brother Jon for beautifully carving up the fruit platter & also making his signature garlic butter edamame...and my sister-in-law Lynne for making the furikake-spam musubi. No party is complete without it.

Da spread

Despite a forecast for possible rain, the day and weather were absolutely perfect. Blue skies...swaying palm trees and frolicking kids. Ryan was in heaven. 

Pictures don't lie...you can't get a child to fake this much enthusiasm, right? So I think he had a great day, and I hope that someday these pictures put a smile on his face. And even though putting on a party is always a bit stressful...I'd be lying if I said I wasn't already dreaming up Party #6. :-)

Two Weekends of Recaps

Last week Saturday we celebrated Boys Day (5th day, 5th month annually) with the three boys. We didn't do anything grand, as I explained to Ryan that he just went on a special trip (and that we still have 2 other events this month). So we rode scooters at the park, had dinner at McDonald's and Blizzards from Dairy Queen.

Rocking their new shirts from NYC

Riding their scooters at the hockey rink and making their 'game face' as instructed

Dessert!

Then yesterday was Mother's Day, and Rich was kind enough to let me do exactly what I wanted- an early morning cup of Darjeeling tea, a refreshing hike through the misty rain forest, 2 intense hours of hot yoga and an hour of restorative meditation at the beach....ha ha ha ha!!! I actually ate arare & popcorn while reading People magazine on the sofa. (And on an unrelated note: why am I so chubby?)

In all seriousness, I had a great Mothers Day. Rich spoiled me rotten in ways that may not sound grand to the masses, but were exactly what I wanted, and lovely beyond measure- I slept in, was served an acai bowl in bed, then he let me catch up on some reading while he watched Ry and did yard work, took me to the worst movie we've seen in a decade (Pain & Gain) and bought me a giant bucket of popcorn, let me run with Karen, then helped make dinner with the other menfolk of our family.  I didn't want a single thing other than some arare, which is exactly what I got from my two boys. Like I said- perfect.

And another quick note on what we did this Saturday-

I want to congratulate our friend Karen for earning her Masters degree with academic honors. Karen is the coolest cat I know- smart (she listens to NPR...by choice), is a triple threat (she can swim, bike and run while also working and going to school), is a doting wife and mother to the world's cutest 2-year old, 2 dogs and a cat (all pets were rescues of course...that's how she rolls), and has tirelessly dedicated  her career to the health and well being of our local community. She's one of those people that has seamlessly assimilated to life in the islands, proudly calls it home and will punch anyone in the face that ever bad mouths the local population. Even though she won't let me spoon her, she's pretty rad. So congratulations Karen!!!  Our entire family is very proud of you.

PS- I just realized we are now fellow UHM alumni! Go Bows!

Two other pics I wanted to post-

The little jet setter on the way back home

We made Karen what we think might be the world's first Power Gel lei! Also...some mini graduation caps to eat! :-)

Trip Out Takes

Just a few more pics that didn't make it in the first time...

I told the hot, young Abercrombie model and his 6-pack to cover up, because something younger and hotter was in town.

Ry & daddy at Central Park

Waiting for a sweet treat at Dylan's Candy

Do not mess with us (I even dressed the all black commando part)

Ryan's all time favorite ride...he's a thrill seeker!

The Party Animal.  

Freezing their Hawaiian okoles off.

Swinging at dusk in Amish Country while horses and buggies clop by...

Rich & Ry waving from the Smith Playhouse in Philly

Writing his name in the sand on the Jersey shore

Days #14 & 15 - Atlantic City, NJ & NYC

We finished off our trip with a short trip to the Jersey Shore...mostly because we love walking along the Boardwalk in Atlantic City. It's one of the best places to run- cool ocean breezes, wide enough to run without having to dodge people, and because it's actually made of real wood- easy on the rickety knees. Perhaps this is why I flaked out on 3 out of the 4 designated run days on our trip-

NYC - "I'm having way too much fun! No way am I spending a third of my day running!"
Scranton, PA - "I'm coughing and too congested. Better take it easy."
Amish Country - "Eh. No reason. Just lazy."

I finally ran out of excuses on our last full day on the trip and managed to crank out...wait for it...a whole four miles. Four whole miles over 15 days. Very impressive self discipline. But aside from failing to do 75% of my runs, we had a fabulous end to our trip. We drove 90 minutes from downtown Philly over to Atlantic City and checked into a gorgeous hotel on the water (I will gloss over the fact that we left Ryan's blanket at the hotel in PA and then drove back to get it the next day on the way back to NYC...because that's crazy). ;-)

Loving the ceilings of the Showboat Casino (where we stayed)...which was right next door to...Trump's Taj Mahal. Ugh.

This picture doesn't reflect it...but the glass ceilings reminded me of Italian Murano glass. Gorgeous.

Cruising the boardwalk

Checking out the soothing shoreline

Tub time! (We don't have a tub at home at the moment, so these are fun treats for Ry)

Hunting for seashells

After getting up early to take turns running, we drove back to NYC ($12 in tolls, $13 to cross the bridge onto Staten Island...all for a 90 min. drive!) so we could enjoy our final evening on vacation in the city. We each chose our favorite least meals- Rich had more lobster bisque from the Soup Nazi, while I opted for my third round of Chipotle. ;-) And we ended our last day there the way we started our trip- at a park. Central Park to be exact. My happy place.

Our hotel was only 3 miles from JFK...right on the water (this was the view from our room) in Brooklyn.

Jerry Seinfeld was not kidding. You don't mess around with the Soup Nazi. 

Saying goodbye to Central Park for awhile...

The 10-hour flight between Honolulu and NYC is always a bit brutal (though no one makes a flight as pleasant as Hawaiian Airlines), but I'm already dreaming of a return. I've been trying for years to persuade Rich to take a sabbatical so we can live there (he's not as keen). It probably didn't help that while we were there, we found out that the Tsarnarev brothers were headed to Times Square from Boston with 6 more bombs when they got caught. NYC to me, pulsates with amazing energy, but post 9/11, also has that element of danger (which is why we're here, and not there with our little boy) that leaves you just a little bit unsettled in heavily populated areas. Still, the city captured my heart years ago like no other, and I can never get it completely out of my mind. So someday...someday. :-)

Huge thanks to the baby daddy for driving us all over the place to fulfill his wife and child's every whimsy...to Ryan for always being a such a patient and happy travel partner, to my parents for holding down the fort, and to the universe/God for getting us there safely and back. I have much to be thankful for.

Day #13 - Philadelphia!

Even though he's a little young, we decided to spend the day in downtown Philadelphia so that Ryan could be exposed to some American history and culture...so we took him to a few places we'd visited ourselves ten years ago.

While Rich waited in line for the Liberty Bell, Ry and I soaked up Independence Hall in all its splendor . The hall is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (a passion of mine to hit as many of those as I can). On this trip I learned that Abraham Lincoln was laid there for his funeral procession...which I never knew!

He was absolutely convinced (he insisted Grandma Janice told him so, but I know that she did not) that we would be allowed to ring the Liberty Bell. He was devastated to learn that I was right. Poor kid. (What the hell is wrong with City of Philadelphia that they won't let us all each line up and take a few swings at it? I mean, it's already broken.) ;-)

Where Congress once convened to debate/discuss

The actual room (virtually unchanged) where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were drafted and signed

Later in the day after chowing down on some delicious Philly cheese steaks, we walked over to the US Mint to watch the coin stamping assembly lines. We learned that of the four active US Mints, the PA one is the largest (and oldest). No pictures were allowed inside the mint. It reminded me a lot of our trip to the Federal Reserve Bank in NYC (where we went on a tour of the bank's underground vaults filled with gold bouillon) a few years ago...we really enjoyed it.

We finished off the historical part of our day by walking over to the Christ Church cemetery so we could visit Benjamin Franklin's grave. Later, Ryan would report to random people in a low, hushed voice-  "And this is really sad, but today we went to the grave of the man who is on the $100 bill..." 

Ben Franklin's final resting spot

We ended our day at Fairmount Park (I loved driving along the river and seeing all the crew houses!) so Ryan could run around & stretch out his legs a bit. Specifically, we hit Smith's playground and playhouse.

The famous 40-ft long wooden slide

The basement level at the playhouse...where our little driver always safely yielded to the traffic lights (it was beyond cute to watch).

All in all, we loved our day in the city and wished we could have had more time to recuperate so we could have seen Laurel and her family (I had to cancel since 2 out of the 3 us were hacking by this point) and checked out a few more sights in the city. But we were excited to head south to Atlantic City for some bright lights, tacky souvenirs and the boardwalk...