We're starting something here

I read ages ago (or maybe saw on Martha Stewart) that you can grow butternut squash in your own yard using the seeds from a squash you picked up at a grocery store. Last month I decided it was time to try it. I saved the seeds after making soup one day, put them between damp paper towels, zipped them up in a sandwich bag, placed them on top of the fridge, and covered them with an over-turned cereal box. And waited. After a few weeks they sprouted and on June 1 I put them in our backyard planter box. They're thriving! I planted seven sprouts and four are doing well. The other three? I guess when a 4-year old likes to help and "waters" them with rocks, they were not meant to be.

Gecko penny!

I remember when my sister and family were visiting last year they mentioned something about getting souvenir pennies for Johnny while they were at the Pearl Harbor Memorial sites. He already had a bunch from various locations. You know those pennies, from the small, hand crank machines you see at a lot of tourist sites? I didn't think much of it until she said it again while we were in Maui in January. I went online to see if there was a site that told us where we could find them, and of course, there is! We found a machine literally a block from our rental and we (or maybe just me) instantly became addicted.
Back on Oahu, I checked out all the locations and have run around when I'm in various areas to get extra pennies. Lots of machines, with lots of pennies with local designs. And, yes - there's a gecko penny.

Back at the Kahala for Sunday Brunch

We returned to the Kahala Hotel for their Sunday Brunch yesterday. It is the best brunch buffet on Oahu that we've had and the food and the service is first-rate, but for someone who doesn't eat a lot of meat, I'm not all that crazy about it. Still it was a fun half-day and it's easy to get the kids there - all you say is, "Ready to see the dolphins?" and they're in. After brunch we wandered down to the pool level to watch the dolphins up close. I wanted to get out of the sun and away from the open pool during a dolphin "break," so we headed upstairs to the lanai right off the lobby. The kids soon lost interest in the dolphins and instead had fun hiding behind the planter boxes. Go figure.

Butterfly stickers

It's only the third full day of summer vacation and Robbie managed to cover the furniture with self-adhesive postage stamps. I'm not even sure where he found these...they're $.24 butterfly stamps - post card rate a few years ago. I don't know where they were tucked away, but I found them later in the afternoon as shown. He was saying something about "butterfly stickers" earlier in the day, but Cub had my attention and I didn't turn to see what Robbie was up to. Luckily they are easy on, easy off.

This reminds me of a letter my Grandma (Dad's Mom) wrote me in May: "About the drawer of stamps you have. My Brother Hollis was a stamp collector and he was the one that started Robert [my Dad]. The set (of four) United Nations stamps he bought for one of the Birthdays. Whenever we were at Hollis' home he would always show his collection. As Robert grew older and in Boy Scouts he worked to get a badge. Later it was one with his penny collections that my Mother started with him. My Mother had a few Indian Head pennies and gave them to Robert and [my aunt]. I think your Mother might have the book he filled." [She does!] So it will hopefully be a fourth generation who will be interested in stamps.

World Ocean Day

Not quite sure if it's today or if it was over the weekend, but World Ocean Day is here. One of the world's leading authorities on plastic pollutants in the ocean is in Hawaii for a series of events. He was on the news last night to highlight the issue of the tiny pieces of plastic that are threatening our ocean and food chain. It's not all the large, intact plastic bottles and bags that you see on the water's surface that's the problem (but it can't help, can it?). It's mainly when plastic breaks down into micron-sized particles as shown above. This is what the fish and other sea creatures are eating that causes the chemical concentrations now found in fish that worries scientists. Another sad, related note? Search teams scanning the ocean 700 miles off the coast of Brazil are finding mostly ocean garbage and not the wreckage for the downed Air France jet. I hope that the scientist is a believer that we can turn it around; otherwise this is just a very depressing foreshadowing of the future.

Balls!

Or maybe he just didn't know he misplaced his ID card. If anything, he obviously doesn't read the newspaper. The brainiac who left his ID behind when he robbed a bank earlier this week was caught after robbing another bank. On the day the story ran in the paper with his name and picture saying he was wanted in a bank robbery. Anyway, he was located in Waikiki on Thursday and is now in police custody. One more stupid criminal off the streets.

This picture is completely unrelated to the news above. It was taken a few months back, early one morning when I was out in the back. I'd never seen geckos this color, but they do get this dark to blend in with the night and the surroundings. This guy evidently was still waking up, as it looks like I caught him before breakfast.

Hawaiian Monk Seal at the Waikiki Aquarium

Last Saturday found us in Waikiki for Noel's softball games again. We wandered over to the Aquarium to beat the heat, and Robbie got upset when I headed into the inside tank exhibits. Didn't want to go in, and once in, wouldn't stay in. I do not like this development; I would prefer to be inside! So we hung out near the outdoor exhibits and I got a few pictures of the Monk seals lounging and trying to beat the heat, too.

Read this in the paper today and thought, "Wow. It's not just in other parts of the US where criminals are stupid. We've got 'em, too!" This from the Advertiser:

"At 2:24 Tuesday, a man approached a teller at [a bank], handed him a note and demanded money. He fled in an unknown direction. CrimeStoppers and police (editor's note: when did they become different groups?) are seeking the public's help in finding Gregg Inoshita, whose state-issued ID card was left behind at the bank counter."

Countdown to summer!

Public schools here get out soon for the summer. Robbie's last day is Monday (and they only go in for a few hours). Pretty much a light week this week, too. Friday a field trip where they will head to a local park with a playground, then off to...yes, you guessed it: McDonald's for lunch. We have no immediate summer plans to keep the kids "busy" during the free time, I'm guessing our days will be a lot like our weekends with more beach runs and monorail rides at the mall thrown in for diversion. I suppose the more appropriate title of this post should be "Countdown to July 31!" because that's when school starts again.

Here's some recent preschool art. I believe they read the "Hungry Caterpillar" book and then drew some of their favorite parts. Our son is not much of an artist (yet!) but his teacher is a really good one, so I think she aided heavily in the drawing outline. :)