Reunited

This is my family.


Well, it's really half of my family -- the half that made John. The family that has SIX kids, now spread across five states. We all got together in mid-July in Laguna Beach, California -- something that hadn't happened since this day in Laguna Beach nearly eight years ago:

That was taken on our wedding day -- one of the clearest September Saturdays in Southern California just about anyone had seen in their lives -- mere months after the eldest child in first photo was born.

But on the more recent day in Laguna, everyone left behind their rented tuxes and high heels in favor of rash guards and flip flops for a day that would eventually end up a few blocks away at Shaw's Cove, a beach where John and his siblings often went as kids.

Later that day, we all descended on Brian and Geri's house in Long Beach, which in my lifetime has proven to be One of Those Places Where You KNOW You'll Always Have a Kick-Ass Time, and where they've cleverly erected an homage to the Temple at Chavez Ravine in their backyard:

(Here's the original, which stands sentinel over Dodger Stadium from the hills behind the third base line.)

So, what do you suppose a bunch of Irish-German folks, gathered together for the first time in eight years, will do with themselves once reunited?

That's right: consume massive amounts of Mexican food and beverages.

Here's Eric, in the beginning stages of making a ridiculously good homemade guacamole using -- if memory serves (and I had a few of Brian's stellar margaritas, so the memory was in no position to serve, quite frankly) -- no fewer than 12 avocados.

And we ate every last bite before the evening was over. 'Cause when my people go big, they go Texas big.

(They even have the ashtray to prove it.)

One of the best parts of the reunion was watching the new generation, cousins who rarely get a chance to play together, get to know each other better. But because they're kids, the ice -- with a little help of a computer video game or a few plastic swords or the inflatable pool in the backyard -- is always quickly broken.

Here's hoping another eight years don't pass by before we do it all over again.

Home Again

Sweet home Alabama, we're back in Hawaii!

We had a lovely, indulgent vacation filled with Mexican food, family, friends, the beach and baseball. And then some more Mexican food. Really, things don't get much better than that.

Since I have about eleventeen kajillion photos to share, I thought I'd break up the trip into bite-size events and updates. So stay tuned for those.

Not promising chronological order or any semblance of organization, but I'm sure you'll get the drift.

In the meantime, here's a shot of Finney's first day of first grade.

"Um, if anyone out there's three years old, can you please throw a massive tantrum at the idea of posing for a photo? Oh, you there, in the pink! Yes, you're three, you say? Perfect. Whenever you're ready..."

It's July. When Did That Happen?

So many things kept us busy in June that I didn't find much time for blogging.

So thought I give you a quick recap, because -- guess what?!? -- I'm planning to be equally as derelict in my updates in July.

Finn finished kindergarten, declaring that he wants to be "an art teacher during the week, and a dolphin trainer on the weekends" when he grows up. I'll let him figure out on his own that his current plan doesn't leave much time for boogie boarding.

After school was dismissed and talk turned to first grade, Finney earnestly requested that his most favorite-ist kindergarten teacher in the whole wide world, seen below, be his teacher every year from now on.

Meanwhile, Shea finished her first semester of preschool, which she liked a little more each time she went. Which is to say she totally hated it at first and grew to kinda like it. Things reached an all-time high when she agreed to wear the silly hat.

With our newfound free time, we went to the Honolulu Zoo, a beautiful parcel of land that sits beneath Diamond Head and just across the street from Waikiki Beach.

And then, trying to squeeze the life out of our annual passes, back to Sea Life Park.

Finn started summer school, and so did Shea.

Another milestone: Shea (sort-of) sat through her first big-girl movie theater movie, Kung-Fu Panda, incurring only one brief lobby time-out for repeated and noisy squirming, and then fell asleep on my lap for the last 20 minutes of the film.

We had a great visit with some old friends from California.

Other bullet-pointed news items:

• The fucking ants ate through the wiring in our television and killed it dead.
  
• Finn turned six and for his birthday dinner requested ramen noodles and nigiri sushi. He actually ate pieces of tamago, sake, maguro, ebi and unagi -- and tried, but didn't care for, the tobiko. I didn't know what sushi was at 6 years old. He's on his way to becoming a real island boy.
  
• We hosted our first slumber party -- with SIX six-year-old boys -- and survived.
  
• The kids finished their first series of swimming classes -- and Finn, finally getting the hang of moving through water with his head semi-submerged, swam half the length of the pool on his own.
  
• Getting a taste of the bitter medicine his friend Logan had to swallow last summer, Finney said goodbye to his best Hawaii buddy, who moved away to Texas.

And there it is, in a nutshell. We'll be vacationing soon, so have a great rest of July and we'll hopefully see you again in August!

SIX.