Baseball in the park

It's official: Robbie's first year of organized baseball is in the books. We ended the season with two games, an "awards" ceremony (passing out trophies and a pizza party after the last game), and a family bowling party Sunday afternoon. A lot of fun. No surprise here - Robbie likes bowling better than baseball. Cub was up for a few frames then became a little bored rather quickly. The last game was held in Waianae. It's a longer drive for us, but I like the park a lot. I like the feeling that you're surrounded by mountains, and here the backdrop is the Waianae Kai Forest Reserve. Skies were grey that morning, but not cold or windy.

UH Baseball

We had a weekend full of baseball. First up was the University of Hawaii team playing Cal State Fullerton at the Les Murakami Stadium in Manoa on Friday night. I hadn't seen a live baseball game (not including t-ball) in years. I haven't forgotten how much I love watching baseball, but I'll admit I forgot how much I love sitting in a baseball stadium watching a game in person. Tickets are cheap - concessions are not - and the atmosphere is great at the stadium. It was a really nice night. We ended up in the upper deck, covered from the light rain that came through mid-game. I don't even know if that would have put a damper on my mood. I hope to go back a few more times before the season ends.

The end of a potentially short era

Baseball (err, t-ball) season is winding down here. Robbie’s team played in a tournament over the weekend. Four games in all! It was a sunny, windy, dusty couple of days but I had fun.
It would all be more exciting if Robbie actually enjoyed it. He doesn’t. It’s hard to get him to go to baseball practice and hard to get him to go to baseball games. On the mornings when he wakes up and asks if he has “to go to baseball” and the answer is no, then he is happy. We have loved watching him play (despite a few rocky moments at the very beginning with Cub at practice that I wasn’t enjoying) and wish he would like to play more. He has already asked us that we don’t sign him up for baseball again next year. He would like to be the one who sits on the sidelines and watches his brother play. Two more games this weekend, another team potluck, and trophies for the boys during the end-of-season gathering. We are secretly not giving up that sometime in the future he might want to play again, and surely hope that at least he will be a big baseball fan like his parents and the rest of his family!

More birthday fun!

Family is in town this week! The original event that started it all was my rock star, software-selling sister got another Gold Club trip to Hawaii for her sales year. They head to Maui tomorrow for a long weekend at the Ritz Carlton, but before heading to the Valley Isle, they came to visit us! They are staying at a KoOlina property I immediately wanted to move into. Seriously. Time to reset (again) all those retirement goals.
We are heading back today for more beach and pool fun. Last night they threw a second birthday celebration for Robbie, complete with a dinosaur cake. We had a few harrowing moments (but we're laughing now) as we attempted to light the birthday candles with no matches. My brother-in-law did it using paper towels and the toaster! And didn't set off any fire alarms nor should my Mom lose any of her security deposit. I feel the need for some sort of legal disclaimer here...really, do NOT try it at home.
Sorry no picture of the lighting, just the sugary carnage that remained. Robbie provided one of the many cute moments of the evening. A little confused by the birthday celebrations spaced nearly two weeks apart, he innocently asked, "So am I seven now?"

Hawai'i-grown chocolates

Last weekend on Robbie's birthday I treated myself to a few locally grown and produced chocolate bars available in the Dole Plantation gift shop. I've seen various products around and have read a lot about one producer in particular lately, and figured it was as good a day as any to indulge. And indulge not just in the caloric sense - they are super pricey! A small box of 5 miniature bars? $6.00. The other bars pictured? $6.50 each. Were they worth it? Yes, if what matters most is supporting locally grown goods. Not really in most other areas. I'm not one really blown away by dark chocolates without a lot of added sugar and milk solids. (Darn sugar addiction!) In a blind taste test, I'd spot and go for the "milk" chocolate any day. But for fun (and after I get a job!) I'd buy them again for special occasions.

Makakilo Waffle House

After the tsunami warning Thursday night, we are all OK. My in-laws came over early(!) Friday as they were in Waikiki, but ultimately no damage there. I was very tired Friday, but I'm getting back to normal today. Funny, I just can't stay up until 3AM like I used to! ;) And to be truthful, I didn't. I fell asleep on the couch in front of the TV and woke up a couple of times to dark, live camera pans of waves. Yup, I missed all of the "action." One strange bit of good fortune - public schools had a planned furlough day, as did some of the other state agencies. That made it a little easier knowing in advance there would be no school and Noel would also have a light day.
One of the hotels during our quick California trip last month had a breakfast buffet. No pancakes, but lots of waffles, so the boys had those instead. I've had a waffle iron for years but haven't used it more than once or twice. For some strange reason a waffle iron was on my must-get list despite rarely ever using it before (along with a toaster oven, a Kitchen Aid mixer, and other gadgets) when Noel and I got married. So I picked one up back then but it sat unused for a long time until this week as Robbie has wanted to eat waffles. And lots of them! Luckily my go-to pancake recipe works well and the ingredients are always around.
I picked up some organic Fuji apples from Costco earlier in the week. I was bummed to try them at home later and discover they were already getting a little mushy. Don't you hate that? I love apples very crisp. So I made a batch of cinnamon applesauce. I also had an idea to make apple waffles and the experiment was a success! I whisked a half cup of the applesauce in the pancake/waffle batter and gave it a try in the hot waffle iron. In my humble opinion, they came out pretty yummy. Moist, a little sweeter, and less dense than the regular variety. Another recipe for the "keeper" pile.

Birthday boy!

Our oldest turns 6 today! He requested his favorite, red velvet cupcakes, and I couldn't pass up the chance to bake them for him. A few months back I tried a recipe off the Food Network site. OK, but not great. With another search I found a food blogger's version and it looked better. It was! We found a keeper. I'll it make again in the future, maybe next time try the multi-layered cake. Noel even liked the cream cheese frosting, but I made the much sweeter option the blogger hints at. I tried to stick to the original ratio of cream cheese, butter, and sugar, but it was much too strong on the cream cheese side for me. So I doubled or tripled the powdered sugar until you just got a hint of the cream cheese. It's closer to the version that Robbie likes at Genki Sushi anyway. Yes, that's right. The local sushi chain has cupcakes for dessert and that's where he learned to love them. That and a chance stopover at a cousin's house where they had a Costco red velvet cake, but that's a longer story.
It's raining here today, at least parts of the island. Robbie's baseball game was already called, so we will head to Dole to see about one last train ride before the annual pass we bought last year on Robbie's birthday expires.

Switch light at the Railroad Museum

We made a special pilgrimage to the "train museum" before heading on to Tahoe. The plan was to fly into the Bay Area and drive directly to Sacramento from the airport. We figured it would be easier to wake up with the Bay Area traffic behind us and a few steps away from the museum in Old Town Sacramento.
First phase of our plan went well! The boys liked waking up with a view of the bridge and the railroad tracks from our fourth story hotel room. We liked not being stuck on 80 East any longer than necessary. And the museum! Didn't disappoint. We could easily spend the weekend there, but had to squeeze all we could in a half-day. This picture is a classic railway "switch light." My Dad purchased one a long time ago and refurbished it; his was very similar and had the same blue/green and red lenses. He had it in the house for many years. It always makes me think of him when I see one.

Where did the month go?

Tomorrow morning we head to Robbie's elementary school for their monthly assembly. Our kindergartner was selected as a "Jet of the Month." He will be honored with others in front of all the classes. The announcement came home last week in the form of a form letter and it read, "For the month of Honesty." Yes, we had a good laugh about that. Good thing it wasn't the "month of Attendance" because we've blown that one. We took a quick but awesome family trip to Tahoe and SNOW! Lots of it. We knowingly pulled the boys out for a few days, and then all of us got sick and they missed more after our return home. We are still making up the homework.
The holiday started out waking up in a hotel along the Sacramento River, a short walk from the California State Railroad Museum, our first destination. Here's our view of the Twin Tower Bridge, processed through the Old Photo PRO (free!) phone app.

My nephew's quilt

We were in the Bay Area briefly this past week, sandwiching a family Tahoe snow trip. So much fun! More pictures and stories to follow, until then, a little filler with the story of the quilt I made for my nephew. I've been meaning to post a picture for many years now...
My sister hosted us at her house late Monday night; my Mom made a yummy pot of soup, my Aunt came along and brought home-baked goodies, and Robbie played with his cousins and all of their toys. (After a brief run to see Great Grandma at her home, Cub was in quarantine back at the hotel with Noel. He was developing a cold and had an eye infection, so we kept him away. Poor Cub! He missed out on a really fun time.) I snapped this picture of the quilt in Johnny's room before the end of the night. If I remember right, when my sister was pregnant I asked her what nursery theme or colors she chose. She forwarded me a link with the design, so I tried to make a custom wall quilt to more or less complement the room. "JP" in the center represents my nephew's initials - "J" is his Dad's middle name, "P" is Dad's great friend and his godfather's name. "L" is his Dad's sister, "M" is our family name, "B" is for his Dad, "A" and "C" are for my Grandma and Aunt, and "F" is his paternal Grandma. "S" is for my sister and "H" is for me! The numbers were chosen at random, and "D" got in because I wanted to add a dog. All applique was by hand, created and designed by me using various online clip art pages and fonts. The piecing and minimal quilting was by machine and binding was by hand. Finished size is approximately 34 x 48 inches.
Robbie was very young and Cub had yet to come along, but it took me nearly a year to complete. My gracious sister never complained, even when the "final" product was delivered without a hanging mechanism. They improvised and seemed to do just fine!
Working on the quilt ornaments this past holiday made me wish I had more time for quilting, and seeing this makes me want to make something for my niece, but I have to be OK with this hobby being on the back burner for a bit longer. Hang in there Sarah, I haven't forgotten you! ;)

Happy Valentine's Day!

More from the backpack

Preschooler art alert! Another masterpiece came home in the backpack late last week. It was rolled and later smashed, hence the fold lines. I snapped a few pictures then placed it in the area of our paper recycles. Robbie found it and asked why I had it with the recycles, not wanting to part with it. Darn, the kid just won't let me throw anything away. I took it out of the "trash" pile and will let it sit a few more days, but will sneak it into the real trash bin one morning this week while the boys are in school. He'll never remember unless he starts reading this blog. At the rate he's learning, that will be sooner than I think.

Happy New Year!

A lesson in patience

This past Sunday the boys and I hit the farmers market a little late. The produce vendors were packing up; the popcorn vendor had already left. I looked around but no one had any ripe, yellow bananas left. Only the green ones you see here (small "apple banana" variety - I think in St. Lucia they called something similar the "five fingers" banana, but I could be off here). No bananas ready to eat made us switch up our normal routine a bit - finding a shady bench and having a few bananas before we get back in the car.
The hardest part is getting the boys to stop opening them when they're green. I don't cook with green bananas, so we waste a lot when the boys tear into them and realize they're not what they were looking for.
This bunch went on top of the fridge (and out of reach) once we were home. By Tuesday the boys were getting anxious for one, so I let them open a few, not expecting them to be consumed. But ripening on top of the fridge worked! They were ready and the boys learned a little more about their favorite fruit.

Future Picasso?

No, I'm just kidding myself over here. This piece is simply an exercise in preschool cutting and pasting that went awry. I pulled this paper bag mouse puppet out of the backpack yesterday afternoon and had to laugh. Upon further review last night as Robbie was taping his brother's artwork on the wall, the chuckles kept coming. So many layers of funny to me! Happy Friday all.

No baseball?

The boys both received mini-dry erase boards for Christmas. Noel has said they are a "genius" gift. I completely agree. (And I've only had to scrub off words written with a Sharpie pen once! To my surprise, permanent ink fades away with a little 409 and some time.) Robbie uses it more than Cub, but I guess that is to be expected. What we would never have predicted was that the white boards have ushered in a new era of child-parent communication for us: the written negotiation. Here's Robbie's attempt to get out of t-ball practice yesterday afternoon. Other favorite pleas include "No bath" and a detailed, ordered list of what he gets to do before bedtime.

Farmer's Market find: Peppers

Impulse buy at the farmer's market this weekend! I don't even know what to call this variety of pepper. They're tiny (each less than an inch long) and I've never seen them used in a dish here, either. But Robbie picked up a bag to look at them, I asked if he liked them, he said yes, and then said we should get them. At a dollar a bag, I figured, why not? My first thoughts were to use them to flavor broth in a soup. We'll see if I get creative and come up with anything else.

Cal and the artwork

If you want to keep things in good shape (or sometimes just simply keep things), you've got to keep them off the floor at our house. Our dogs are pretty good but we can't say they're perfect. Far from it. I have a half-dozen small Lego parts perched on the windowsill above the sink, items I found Brady chewing on. Cal likes tissue and paper towels, so we have to be careful about those, too. A not-so-destructive habit they have is laying down on anything on the floor. Towels, clothes, blankets, soft bags and toys....they will attempt to rest on it. Even artwork! They're just looking to be comfortable, but they end up getting lots of things very dirty. Here's Cal on a recent drawing. I snapped this picture and tossed the paper later when he moved.

Play ball!

Guess who's playing t-ball this year? And guess who's more excited? We signed Robbie up last month for youth baseball (at his age they still hit off tees) and practices started a few weeks ago. The team has a practice tournament a week from now, league games start in a month or so. We picked up his uniform this week.
Unfortunately, I'm not liking practices so far. Cub comes along and doesn't sit still. Nearly two hours of following and/or running after him in open areas drives me nuts. Plus he wants to follow his big brother around and I sometimes find myself on the field with the team, pulling Cub away. Lord I hope he's old enough to play on his own team next year.

Christmas Day 2010 painting

Happy Friday all! And a three-day weekend, too, for most of us. Here we'll be drying out and watching football. More rain and one whopping storm came through the islands this week. Knocked over a couple trees on our block. Of course, they were young trees with thin trunks, but they went down and will be missed until their replacements shoot up.
This painting is one of Robbie's works, painted with new paints received for Christmas. I love that we can archive our kids' art with photos, allowing me to toss them or re-purpose. I turned this and another painting into thank you notes and a birthday card for Grandpa Tipon.
Noel looked at the "piece" and swore he was in a restaurant last month where they had local works on the walls for sale (some as much as $5,000 ?!?) and he claimed Robbie's was "better."