T2's braces

Today was the day for T2. Not to much fuss or pain.. with 5 different tooth brushes and a major dent in my account.. we have started 16-18 months of metal mouth.

Before.

During.. I knew you wanted to see part of her skull.
All done.. she was given a choice of all metal, or the porcelain on the top 6.. she went for the porcelain.

Traditions

A little later than we normally go, but May was so busy that Mother/Daughter Tea kinda got forgot about. We made some time today to fix that, and invited Laurel and her daughter (her birthday part 3.. because of the accident we didn't make it to tea)

I wish this was just something they did.. but no.. seconds later there was a fight.
Laurel and her daughter.

Tea.. our 6th year, and one day they wont eat all the sugar out of the dish.. right ?!?!

Maui, wowwie

Home. The trip went by too fast, as all great vacations do. We had a wonderful time and got to share some new experiences with the girls. To save your blogging time for the day, but keep my memories clear here are some bullets from the trip, and if you last (or want to skip down) then pictures.

• My dad has a strange obsession with laundry. Our condo had washer and dryer, every day he was gathering clothes to wash.. I came home with all clean clothes.
• T1 has a phone problem. She spent about an hour a day hiding in the closet to text. Point of contention for my dad and I.
• We went 6 days without a fight.. not bad. (see above bullet for reason)
• The really white kid (T2) goes really pink, and even with sunscreen still blistered her ears.
• Turtles (Huno) are really cool! Sadly the crappy water camera I had did not pick up the photos of the 9 (nine!) turtles all together we saw.
• We are dorks and left our new "waterproof" camcorder at home.
• I don't really like Luau food. But the dancers were cute!
• I think I would rather just stay white. I am 3 shades of pinkish red and have horrid lines. The top of my thighs look like red thigh highs and my caves hurt to touch.
• Snorkeling is fun, I cant wait to scuba in Australia!
• Parasaling is a blast! Glad Sirj went with T1.. she is really loud!
• The Road to Hana is hellish. But the burger at the end was yummy.
• Bogey board are way fun, till the next day when you see all the bruises they leave.. underarms and ribs.
• I am not a 50's wife. Sirj and slept in two different beds the whole trip, there was no A/C and the double bed was not enough space for the temp it was.
• Red Eye flights home are hard!!! I don't think one of us got any sleep.
• The air in Maui smells like flowers. And I didn't take enough allergy meds. But.. not to worry, with an ABC on very corner life was good.
• Get fruit from the store, the dude on the side of the road was WAY to pricey.
• Sugar cane is like gnawing on sugar flavored tongue depressors.
• Kauai is by far my favorite island.
• The Hawaiian language is hard. 13 letters total and all the words sound like they were made up by potty mouth 4 year olds.
  

My mom and dad at the Luau, on dads birthday.

My favorite (haha) picture of T1.. most of the photos are like this, or of her texting.

My favorite daddy daughter picture.

Isn't she adorable!

One of the few photos T1 would let me have of them together.

Favorite picture of me.

This is the best group shot ever! We have one took on the street with birds coming in the mail, but my dad was not in it.

I am so glad he went with her! I think regardless of the screaming, she had fun.

T2 and I had a blast!

Dude.. Maui Rocks!!

No time to talk.

Maui

Its beautiful here. No really, I am miserable and cant wait to get home :P (hahaha)
Today we got acclimated, the four hour time difference is kinda taking us all a little bit to get used to, and the sun goes down around 7:30, so that adds to the body clock confusion. We are staying in a time share, so we went to the store and are looking forward to BBQing tonight. We did a small amount of activity planning, but for the most part are keeping our days open and hoping to find Aloha.
T1 cant leave her phone alone and wants the perfect tan, T2 wants to control what the rest of us are doing, my dad cant seem to relax, my mom is hobbling around (the car accident we were in a bit ago let her knee messed up, something about knee cap and the tendons.) Sirj wants to escape and not have to ever go home and for once.. I am just chilling..




What is there not to love?

You can find us here..

Its over (part 1).

Friday was T1's last day of elementary school. The whole situation has added to my "odd" feeling about where I am in life. I am feeling like I need to find a reason to justify why I don't have a job. I know why I don't work, no one is willing to work with my odd schedule. I have always felt that my way of giving to the family was how much time I donated, and now I have no idea what that looks like.. right now.. summer is really slow!

Any way.. about T1. She so couldn't have cared less. She is so ready to get out of the elementary and be with the bigger fish. Me.. not so much. I went to a end of year staff dinner and we had 3 of our staff retiring. Mrs Winter (T1's Kindergarten teacher) got up and had us all sing "It is time to say goodbye to all my friends". I lost it. I listened to T1 sing that song 7 years ago, every day at the end of school. The unknown, the cruelty of Jr high, the growth and change that is coming is scaring the hell out of me! Here are things I will miss about T1 not being at the elementary.

1. Volunteering in her class.

2. Teaching her class/grade for a whole day.

3. Being able to poke my head in her class at any time.

4. Great relationships with her teacher(s).

5. Watching who she is hanging out with at recess/lunch. (our kitchen window is right over the 6th grade rooms).

6. Being welcome by her in the school.

7. Knowing every kid in her grade.

Right now, I don't have a list of anything I am looking forward to about Jr high. And as much as she is looking forward to August 24th.. I am dreading it!

(Oh.. check back this time next year when I go on full melt down that my baby will be doing this.)