Well I can't believe just how long it's been since I've updated the blog. I guess it's been so long now that it's a daunting task to update it so I keep putting it off.
Well after we recovered from our virus last month we finally made it on a plane to MN. We had to delay the flight by a day to give Adam another day to recover. Once we were there we had a good time. Most of the rest of my siblings were home so we all had a good time visiting. The weather was nice and it was nice to feel some 'spring' weather instead of the perpetual summer (not that I'm complaining about the Hawaii weather!!).
I just put a bunch of pictures from this past month on my Picasa account. Here is a link to them. Enjoy! I'll have to do some more blog updating soon...
http://picasaweb.google.com/amykerkemeyer/May09#
5/14/2009
4/26/2009
Lost a whole week
Wow, it's been a long time since I updated the blog. I got busy with stuff and also was taking an online digital scrapbooking class so I hadn't gotten around to updating the thing. Then over a week ago I got a stomach virus and was laid out on the couch for 7 days straight. This was the nastiest bug I've had in a lot of years. I'm on day 9 and still now trying to recover after not eating much for a week. To add insult to it all, right now Dan is out biking the Haleiwa metric century with our neighbor and his son since I'm not up to going and Adam is still getting over the bug too. So I had to miss what is touted as one of 'the 50 best rides in the US' by bicycling magazine. Well, I hope they are having a good time!
4/10/2009
Happy Birthday to You
Cole was 3 years old on Monday! We had a low-key birthday celebration. The night before, I blew up a bunch of balloons to decorate the stairway from the bedrooms and then I piled a bunch on the table. They got a kick out of that (I think I nearly passed out from blowing up balloons though...). I told Cole he could pick what kind of cake he wanted, so I gave him a book of kids cakes that I had and he picked out a rocket cake. Thank goodness, that one wasn't too hard, some of those cakes would have been a real pain to frost! It turned out pretty good, he thought it was really cool.
We had Wakana and Taiyo over for dinner and cake. Steve stayed home with TeAnna because she was still getting over a stomach bug. She was very disappointed to have to miss Cole's birthday. I think Cole's favorite part of his whole birthday is that it was his turn to have his special day and he didn't have to share his birthday presents with Adam (at least not on his birthday). Cole was very patient on Adam's birthday and understood that each kid gets his special day, and he was going to take full advantage of his now that it was here! Especially by withholding his brand new firetruck from his brother...
Here's a quick photo history of Cole's first 3 years:
We had Wakana and Taiyo over for dinner and cake. Steve stayed home with TeAnna because she was still getting over a stomach bug. She was very disappointed to have to miss Cole's birthday. I think Cole's favorite part of his whole birthday is that it was his turn to have his special day and he didn't have to share his birthday presents with Adam (at least not on his birthday). Cole was very patient on Adam's birthday and understood that each kid gets his special day, and he was going to take full advantage of his now that it was here! Especially by withholding his brand new firetruck from his brother...
Here's a quick photo history of Cole's first 3 years:
4/09/2009
Hike from Wahiawa
We took a hike on some government property that our friends had gotten permission to hike on. We had a trail guide from a hike book to go by but noone had been on that particular trail before. Had we known what the trail was like we probably would have picked a different trail (since we had a total of 5 kids in the group 5 years and younger) or at least I would have worn hiking boots instead of tennis shoes. But in the end, everyone was glad we went and even though we only hiked probably less than a mile or mile and a half, we had a good time.
The trail started out wide open in a gorgeous (and very fragrant) eucalyptus grove.
We were optimistic, even starting out our trek with strollers, which we quickly ditched by the side of the trail as soon as we got past the eucalyptus grove. Soon we were crawling over logs and hiking along some pretty narrow trails right along the ridge with a steep drop to our left.
(just to the left of the log at the left side of the trail is a very steep embankment, we kept a
There was a steep descent down off the ridge where we had to pass the kids down in some places.
There was a lot of mud, lots of gorgeous thick moss and beautiful tall trees. It was very slow going getting the kids along the trail, but they were all troopers. I really didn't hear any complaints out of any of them. I kind of thought they would start whining to be carried or to turn around, but I think they were all so fascinated by the woods and mystery of where the trail would lead next that they just kept going and going. Sometimes your kids will surprise you!
The trail started out wide open in a gorgeous (and very fragrant) eucalyptus grove.
We were optimistic, even starting out our trek with strollers, which we quickly ditched by the side of the trail as soon as we got past the eucalyptus grove. Soon we were crawling over logs and hiking along some pretty narrow trails right along the ridge with a steep drop to our left. 
(just to the left of the log at the left side of the trail is a very steep embankment, we kept a
There was a steep descent down off the ridge where we had to pass the kids down in some places.
There was a lot of mud, lots of gorgeous thick moss and beautiful tall trees. It was very slow going getting the kids along the trail, but they were all troopers. I really didn't hear any complaints out of any of them. I kind of thought they would start whining to be carried or to turn around, but I think they were all so fascinated by the woods and mystery of where the trail would lead next that they just kept going and going. Sometimes your kids will surprise you!
Class material
Well I've been taking another online digi scrapbooking class. Already I'm two days behind on the material and we're only on day 4 (sigh). If I could get some of my to-do list knocked off I could spend more time on the class. This one focuses on writing and typography (another Jessica Sprague class, she's awesome!). Well here is the first layout from the class anyways...
On another note, today I registered Adam for Kindergarten. I can't believe it. In about 4 months he will be an official kindergartener. The packet of information they gave me was a little mind-boggling, between huge supply lists, an 8 page school bus info/application packet (?!), along with information on parent orientation (do I need orienting?? maybe I do)... It's a good thing we still have 4 months left to get ready :) They may be offering a school orientation during July for kids who haven't been in preschool, so I may sign up Adam for that. Otherwise when I drop him off the first day (which is assessment day), he will probably hang on my leg and bawl (which of course will make me cry too!) By the end of the first couple days he'll be an old pro, of course.
On another note, today I registered Adam for Kindergarten. I can't believe it. In about 4 months he will be an official kindergartener. The packet of information they gave me was a little mind-boggling, between huge supply lists, an 8 page school bus info/application packet (?!), along with information on parent orientation (do I need orienting?? maybe I do)... It's a good thing we still have 4 months left to get ready :) They may be offering a school orientation during July for kids who haven't been in preschool, so I may sign up Adam for that. Otherwise when I drop him off the first day (which is assessment day), he will probably hang on my leg and bawl (which of course will make me cry too!) By the end of the first couple days he'll be an old pro, of course.
4/06/2009
Time is free...
Tonight I put Cole to bed as my two year old baby and tomorrow he will be three. Time certainly does slip through your fingers when you're not even looking. We've already been in Hawaii almost 9 months. I think time is in hyper-drive!
"Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't
own it, but you can use it. You can't keep
it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it
you can never get it back."
--Harvey MacKay
"Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't
own it, but you can use it. You can't keep
it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it
you can never get it back."
--Harvey MacKay
3/29/2009
Tandem tandems
Of all the weird coincidences in life... The friends we had met a while back with kids the same age also have a tandem. We had discovered that a while ago but they hadn't done any tandeming with their kids other than short rides carrying the youngest around the neighborhood. They got a trailer recently, so they went on their first longer ride around the area with us. We had a good time, we went down to the Pearl Harbor bike path and then out to Ford Island, since they have military ID.
Here's a shot of us all heading out down the neighborhood street by our house.
Me and Dan in front of the Utah memorial at Ford Island in Pearl Harbor.
Another family shot near the Utah Memorial. It's always handy to have someone else there to take some pictures for you. :)
It's really hard to get pics of yourself on the bike, so we were trading cameras back and forth to get pictures of us on the bikes.
Here's a gorgeous, old banyan tree that we happened to go past on Ford Island.
The ride worked out really well. The kids had fun all playing together when we'd stop and we had a nice pizza lunch on the way home. We plan to go on another ride in the near future, it's good to have someone to ride with here too.
Here's a shot of us all heading out down the neighborhood street by our house.
Me and Dan in front of the Utah memorial at Ford Island in Pearl Harbor.
Another family shot near the Utah Memorial. It's always handy to have someone else there to take some pictures for you. :)
It's really hard to get pics of yourself on the bike, so we were trading cameras back and forth to get pictures of us on the bikes. 
Here's a gorgeous, old banyan tree that we happened to go past on Ford Island. 
The ride worked out really well. The kids had fun all playing together when we'd stop and we had a nice pizza lunch on the way home. We plan to go on another ride in the near future, it's good to have someone to ride with here too.
3/11/2009
Doing a little LOST stalking
I drove up to the north shore of Oahu today to try to see them doing some filming on the TV show 'LOST'. Turns out they were filming elsewhere today but we did see the cabins they often use in the others camp and the blue VW van. There was a work crew setting up fabric tents on the beach that I imagine will show up on some future episode. I'll have to keep an eye out for them while I'm watching the show.
We drove out to the end of Farrington Highway, I've heard that they do some filming out past where it turns into a dirt road. I really didn't want to take my car in there, so we just parked at the end and the kids ran around and explored. It was gorgeous out there...
Then we went back and tried to find what one book calls the LOST beach. Apparently they do some filming at Makaleha Beach. From the looks of it they hadn't filmed there recently but it was a nice beach. It was loaded with driftwood and the boys had a good time building things in the sand out of the driftwood.
So we didn't get to see any stars on our little outing, but at least now I know the areas to look if we know they're filming up there one day. Even if they're not filming, there's always the beach!
We drove out to the end of Farrington Highway, I've heard that they do some filming out past where it turns into a dirt road. I really didn't want to take my car in there, so we just parked at the end and the kids ran around and explored. It was gorgeous out there...
Then we went back and tried to find what one book calls the LOST beach. Apparently they do some filming at Makaleha Beach. From the looks of it they hadn't filmed there recently but it was a nice beach. It was loaded with driftwood and the boys had a good time building things in the sand out of the driftwood.
So we didn't get to see any stars on our little outing, but at least now I know the areas to look if we know they're filming up there one day. Even if they're not filming, there's always the beach!3/04/2009
Adam and Cole
The kids have been a little walking disaster areas lately. The other day, he was playing in the back of the pickup truck and Adam was trying to 'help' by closing the back gate. Well Cole leaned on it and landed flat on his face on the pavement. Then Adam got a fat lip after he fell off the slide at the playground. Now this morning, right after Cole's scab on his nose came off he must have hit it on something and has a bloody gash on it again. BOYS! At least they haven't taken to breaking major limbs yet...
Adam has become quite the little helper around the house lately. He likes to wash the dishes and keeps asking if he can get the duster out and dust the furniture. I guess I should milk this one for all it's worth until the phase passes!
Adam has become quite the little helper around the house lately. He likes to wash the dishes and keeps asking if he can get the duster out and dust the furniture. I guess I should milk this one for all it's worth until the phase passes!
3/02/2009
Arizona Memorial and the PCC
Still catching up on updating the blog from mom's visit. We didn't do much of anything last weekend, we had done enough sightseeing for a bit. While mom was in town, we went to the Arizona memorial and the Polynesian Cultural Center, more places that I hadn't made it to yet. We went to the Arizona memorial on a Saturday so that Dan could watch the kids. I'm sure that Cole would not have wanted to wait or to be respectfully quiet at the memorial so he wasn't going to go. Adam decided that he didn't want to wait in line, so he stayed home too.
I had been to the museum at the memorial once before when we did the holiday lights tour at christmas that started there. But since the kids were with us then, I hadn't had a chance to really SEE and actually READ anything at the museum. So it was nice to have some time to find out more about what happened at pearl harbor and across Oahu during the attack. They had a very sobering movie before the tour of the memorial. It was hard to believe what the harbor looked like that day compared to how it looked when we walked out of the theater on that calm, sunny morning. The tour of the memorial itself was serene and they gave you some time to look at the submerged wreck and to think about all the lives lost. It was well worth a visit there.
Another place I hadn't been to yet was the polynesian cultural center. Turns out that mom had been here 30 years ago when she and dad vacationed in Hawaii. It was a huge place and it was kind of hard to keep Cole corraled sometimes. But it was a really cool. There were different areas for each of the different polynesian cultures. Each one had buildings and demonstrations you could watch. The kids liked getting 'tatoos' and weaving fish out of reeds. We stayed pretty much all day, but we didn't stay for the luau. I've read that they have one of the best evening shows on the island, but after all day of being on the go the kids were worn out.
Grandma and the boys
Adam's tatoo on his ankle below...
Boad parade on the canals at the Polynesian Cultural Center
I had been to the museum at the memorial once before when we did the holiday lights tour at christmas that started there. But since the kids were with us then, I hadn't had a chance to really SEE and actually READ anything at the museum. So it was nice to have some time to find out more about what happened at pearl harbor and across Oahu during the attack. They had a very sobering movie before the tour of the memorial. It was hard to believe what the harbor looked like that day compared to how it looked when we walked out of the theater on that calm, sunny morning. The tour of the memorial itself was serene and they gave you some time to look at the submerged wreck and to think about all the lives lost. It was well worth a visit there.
Another place I hadn't been to yet was the polynesian cultural center. Turns out that mom had been here 30 years ago when she and dad vacationed in Hawaii. It was a huge place and it was kind of hard to keep Cole corraled sometimes. But it was a really cool. There were different areas for each of the different polynesian cultures. Each one had buildings and demonstrations you could watch. The kids liked getting 'tatoos' and weaving fish out of reeds. We stayed pretty much all day, but we didn't stay for the luau. I've read that they have one of the best evening shows on the island, but after all day of being on the go the kids were worn out. 
Grandma and the boys
Adam's tatoo on his ankle below...
Boad parade on the canals at the Polynesian Cultural Center
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