Warm Spell

Last week thing suddenly started warming up, hitting the 50s no less. So we took advantage by dressing in light layers--I even got to wear my denim jacket I'd almost forgotten about--and headed to the playground. It was insanely crowded, of course, with like minded parents and nannies. But we weren't complaining. Keahi even got to play with one of his classmates, Edoardo. As a bonus perk, he had also brought his blue sunglasses so I was able to capture this kodak moment. Keahi's been saying he can't wait for summer time and that he's done with winter. When I reminded him of how much he loves winter and snow, he pointed out that it's been cold with no snow. I have to agree with him on this: what's the point of cold without snow?

So the boys enjoyed running around and jumping off of high things. You might not be able to tell from the pics, but the ladder they're leaping from is a bit taller than me. Such daredevils.

It started to cool off a bit by Saturday but I held onto my illusions by wearing said denim jacket with no tights. Luckily, our friends the Johnstons drove over from NJ and picked me and the kids up or I'd have paid for my wardrobe choices. They also brought Brad, Heather and their not-so-little Braden with them. We haven't seen them since Grenada so it was great to catch up. The kids had a blast with the water area (as per usual) and I actually got to see the tiny reading corner as well as discovering the building toys. I love how gender specific the kids' playing tended to be with my boys roaring with dinos and sweet Jada craddling her dolls. By the end, Jarom was asking to go home and Keahi, of course, had no intention of leaving. I maybe should have tried to snap a group pic at the beginning because all I could manage was sans Braden and minimal participation from Keahi. Jada, of course, was perfectly willing to sit or pose for any and all pictures. Later in the afternoon, after his nap, Jarom was still wiped and lay down on the rug in the living room while Keahi and I built bugs. Of course, Keahi joined him. I kinda like tired kids.....as long as they're happy-tired not whiny-tired.

Kids are fun. Exhausting. But fun.

Oshimas in New York

That last leg of the endless car trip stretched on forever and I think even the adults wanted to whine, "Are we there yet?" It was mostly uneventful as we watched each state drift by us and we amused the kids with a constant rotation of activities. I especially enjoyed these robots Keahi drew on his magnadoodle. There's Got the Robot (at home he as a stuffed cow he named Tau the Cow), his friend, Bam, and his sister, Ella. We made pretty good time until we hit the NJ turnpike at which time we took an hour to go about 2 miles. The scenery was seriously ugly in that dirty industrial wasteland way, but it was softened by this spectacular sunset that our mediocre point and shoot just can't capture. But eventually we made it home at last.

And then came the unloading of the car. Shudder. We came back with more than we had taken with us. And now we had to find space in our tiny NY apartment for it all. I'm already a bit of a minimalist when it comes to interior design and living in our narrow railroad apt has cemented my views on any and all clutter. But I digress.

The next day Kervin, Mary and mom flew in and had just enough time to drop off their luggage before we took the subway to Manhattan to see Rockefeller Center and check out the view from the top. It's half the price of Empire State Bldg. and you can get great pics of the E.S. bldg. We had bought the tickets online a while ago so we didn't have to wait in the insane line to get tickets but we still had to wait a while for the elevator. The worker near us could have been a PCC employee with his cheerful crowd-engaging personality. He'd get everyone near the elevator to welcome the group coming out of the elevator with loud seasons greetings. He made the wait bearable. It was way colder up there than I'd expected and the poor boys were freezing. But it was beautiful.

It was warmer down by the ice rink due to the oppressive crowds. Yeah, definitely the wrong place for an agoraphobe. We snapped a few pics and pushed our way back out to the street.

We were supposed to go to Toys R Us so the kids could go on the ferris wheel, but everyone was so hungry we stopped for dinner along the way at some small Indian restaurant with a big buffet for $10. We ate till we had to be rolled out of there. So awesome. I wish I could remember the name of the place. Then we tried to hurry to the ferris wheel, but Time Square and all the little vendors slowed us down. After Iz took Keahi to run ahead, I tried to herd everybody quickly after him. I crossed a street and looked back to see that nobody was following me. And then I found out why. My 71 year old mother had fallen flat on her face in the road. Oops. Bad daughter. I didn't actually get to witness it but I heard it was pretty hilarious and involved an unseen pothole that Kerv saw and thought about warning her about just a second too late. She wasn't hurt too badly, though she cracked her glasses a little and was bruised up. But, thankfully, no broken bones.

We headed home after that while one of us held onto mom and someone else scoured the street for more potential accidents. Poor Keahi got to the store just in time to watch the last round of kids have their turn on the now closed ferris wheel. We still need to go back there sometime and rectify that.

The next day was a full docket with the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and FAO Schwartz. It was a beautiful day and the ferry ride was so fun for the kids. I think Kerv got his quota of sea gull pics, too. Maybe it's an Oshima thing because when Iz and I were in San Marco square we took about a million pics of the pigeons. It's a good thing I'd bought the tickets earlier online since it was sold out when we got there. There was still a really long line just to get on the boat though a friendly woman was nice enough to let us into the large tent to wait since the boys were obviously cold. And we encountered a new security measure I'd never seen before: a plastic card with interesting facts that they gave us upon entering the waiting tent and then took back from us upon exiting the tent to get on the ferry. I guess it's supposed to detect radiation or explosive material or something dangerous (memory like a sieve). Plus, we got to learn fun facts like how tall the crown is and other tidbits that have likewise fallen out of my head.

Of course, the elevator was broken so mom stayed in the museum area while the rest of us made the trek up 192 steps (which, wow, seems so little compared the the time it took--but that's with 2 little kids...not because I'm out of shape or anything....) to get a better view. I really like my cities like this--from a distance. The NYC skyline looks impressive and quiet and clean from the pedastal.

We didn't spend much time at Ellis Island because we didn't want to disappoint the boys again by missing out on their fun activity. But we were there long enough for mom to verify that even though she was told she'd get her name put on some list of doners when she contributed money to repair the statue years ago, that she couldn't find her name anywhere. Those liars.

FAO Shwartz was just as crowded as the ice rink and we didn't stay long. The line for the floor piano was also way too long so overall it was a pretty disappointing visit. I think everyone will have to come visit sometime other than Christmas when you can actually see and do the things you want without hoards of other tourists. Maybe if we stay here another year mom can come during the summer.

After rushing home and getting the kids to bed, Keahi's former sunbeam teacher, Camilah Cole, came over to babysit so we could go to Peter Lugers. It's been called the best steakhouse in America and it lived up to its rep. Iz and I have never been big on steak till we went to Ruth's Chris back home but now we understand the purity of well aged beef done right. Wow. And the Canadian bacon was outstanding. Pricey, but well worth it. We definitely went home happy.

The next day was New Year's Eve and our friend, Arron, and his sister, Amy, flew in from their trip to Italy (color me jealous) to share bunks with us and ring in the new year. But before they got here, we went to Little Italy to get some good eats. We got some interesting Chinese food along the way (since Chinatown has pretty much swallowed up Little Italy) and missed out on the good Italian import store since it was way too crowded. Jarom was having a tough time and wouldn't stop crying. However, strawberries ended that crisis. Sadly, the restaurant that we picked was rather generic despite the glowing reviews online--which were no doubt paid for by said restaurant. But regardless of the poor food or the freezing weather, the company was good and we had a good time together. After lunch Mary and Iz took the kids back home so Iz could get the Hieatts from the airport and Mary could rest with the kids--poor thing was still sick. Actually I think she was sick for the next two months after she went back to Hawaii.

Kerv, mom, and I wandered about looking at different shops and marvelling at the prices. A cute Hello Kitty headband was quickly replaced upon hearing the price. I remember in college I used to estimate the value of everything in terms of how many Jumbo Jacks I could get for it. That headband was enough to feed all the adults currently residing or visiting in our apartment twice over. Well, maybe with Kervin and Iz it'd be one and a half times. And here I thought Chinatown was supposed to be cheap--price, not just quality. But Kerv did haggle his way into a pretty good deal on a purple sweater and shirt for Mary (so thoughtful), which was quite a feat with the tiny Asian woman harranguing him for wasting her time when he said he only had so much money on him. She eventually gave in and gave him a different set for his asking price. It's good to know that some stereotypes are true and hold true in Hawaii and around the world.

It was nice to get out of the cold and back to our crowded little apartment. Arron's sister, Amy, was great and funny and full of illuminating stories about her big brother when he was little. Apparently, Arron was quite the manipulator. I can see why he grew up to like conducting experiments on people's pyches. But then he must have learned from his parents who told them they'd be taken to the Kid Exchange to be traded in for better ones if they didn't behave (which only worked because little Arron saw a sign on the side of the road, "Kids for sale" and was young enough to accept this version of its meaning). Anyhow, it was nice to meet Amy and to discover another card games addict. We played for hours and talked even longer. I think the Hieatts fit in quite nicely with the Oshimas and the Temples.

Arron and I had talked previously about doing Manhattan for New Year's but after investigating the prices of various venues, we decided watching the fireworks above prospect park was just as good. Plus, we heard Tammy's horror stories about her experience with the freezing weather and standing for hours on end smashed like sardines against total strangers and the ingenous restauranteer who started bringing out food in takeout containers to sell to the crowd and then the equally ingenious people who used those empty containers to solve other waste issues. So, yeah, kicking back in Prospect Park sounded great. But what with jet lag and the cold, he and his sister never saw the fireworks. Actually, Iz and I were the only ones to venture outside at all to see if we could see them from our stoop. It was beautiful and impressive and kinda nice to be able to share it just with eachother in the quiet darkness of our sleepy street. Only one man and his kid walked by and wished us a happy new year. It was perfect.

The next morning the Hieatts left to go back to their different homes. Of course, I got to ring in the new year with the same sickness that Kerv and Mary brought with them. We relaxed in the morning, eating leftovers and watching the kids play with their Christmas toys. Eventually in the afternoon Kervin, mom and I headed back into Manhattan so they could buy more stuff. We spent a lot of time going in and out of 3 neighboring stores, comparing prices and trying not to lose eachother. I got to see this guy on the street hustling people with a card game that I forgot the name of which Kerv could tell me. He even had a patsy or something calling out how much money he'd won on this game today just in time for some poor out-of-towner to drop $200 and lose. We also revisited the scene of the infamous fall and snapped some pics of the monster pothole. Then I snapped a few more of the ferris wheel Keahi never got to ride. Mid shopping, mom and I stopped to watch a guy do caricatures for $2. Mom sat for one and convinced me to come back sometime with the boys to get one of them. Later we went back to the guy and got him to include a big pothole and the sign of the street as well as a crack in her glasses to make the picture more timely. Now that, I think, was a pretty cool purchase.

The next day we relaxed in the morning and I gathered my strength--and my Kleenix--to get ready for another foray into the city. Mom, Keahi and I got on a train to see the big library. I'd been to the Central Brooklyn Library and thought that was pretty impressive, but this library was over the top. It felt more like a museum than a library with intricate ceiling murals and brass work. Even the water fountains were beautiful. I got a kick out of seeing a Harry Potter book in a glass case. I guess it's a hand written copy. One of only seven. And Keahi would have liked to stay longer in the kids section but I was fading pretty quick so we headed back home.

That was really our last outing. I know mom had wanted to see more things but I was pretty much down for the count so I spent the weekend resting. I even had to skip church, leaving the primary secretary to be the only leader there. I'm terrible, I know, but you should have seen me.....actually, I'd rather nobody had to see me like that. So we relaxed at home and I got to have cozy chats with my mom and she got to see her crazy grandsons in action within the walls of our small apartment. Always entertaining. And then, Monday morning she left in a cab to go back to warm, sunny Hawaii. Iz was able to see her off just before heading off to the hospital for his first day of his pscyh rotation. He didn't get much time to relax during our insanely packed Christmas break, but luckily psych is pretty chill.

It was a great visit and things turned out fine. But I will say that hosting such a thing is hard on my system. What with all the preparations and trying to fit in what everyone wants to do in such a small time frame with two active little boys to consider and then stressing out whenever we don't get to do something like eat at Papaya Kings for Kerv (though Iz just tried it out and said it was disgusting so maybe you dodged a bullet there, Kerv), or see the Met for mom, or ride the ferris wheel or go to the zoo for Keahi, December was a frantic month for me. But it ended up well and we got to visit with family and friends which is what it's all about. So here ends the final chapter in the Temple family Christmas Vacation.

Conversation with Keahi

After talking with another mom from PS321 while we watched the kids frolic on the shrunken bit of ice along the school fence, I felt like a schmuck of mom who doesn't send her kid to violin lessons at the conservatory or sign him up for soccer or art lessons or whatever else parents with money in the city do. So on the brief walk back the apartment, I decided to talk to Keahi to see if he felt he was lacking in some area. Of course, I wasn't going to bring up violin lessons because I know we can't afford either the lessons or even the instrument so I headed in the sports direction.
"Keahi, I know a lot of your friends do different activities after school. When it warms up a bit, would you like to join a soccer team?"
"No, mommy," he replies with a slightly confused look, "I'm going to be a scientist when I grow up."
"Okaaay. So what about right now. Don't you want to run around with the other kids and kick a ball about? Daddy loved playing soccer when he was little."
"No. I want to play tennis."
Who is this kid and what does he even know about tennis and who has he seen playing tennis--certainly not his parents.
"I think the racket might be a bit heavy for you and the net is tall and I just think it's something that older kids might do."
"Okay. Then when I'm older, I'll play tennis."
"Well, what about while you're still little? Would you like to do karate or some other martial art?" (I know at least 3 of his classmates do this every week so at least I could get names of places.)
"No. When I'm 7 or 8 I'll play tennis."
So I gave up. Later after relating all this to Iz we talked to Keahi about what music he was interested in and he got very excited about the trumpet. So now we'll be on the lookout for cheap trumpets--one for Keahi and one for Iz so he can learn and teach Keahi. And in a couple of years, apparently, we'll have to look for a tennis racket. What a funny kid.

Combating 2nd child syndrome

I realized early on that despite my good intentions I had definitely fallen victim to 2nd child syndrome--as the inflicter obviously. Poor Jarom only has several hundred pictures instead of the thousands of his older brother. And I haven't used nearly as many of his quotes either. The whole not talking for the first one and a half years also contributed to this oversight. But all joking aside, I do feel bad that I had tons of video of Keahi singing and counting and doing all sorts of dancing bear routines we parents coax our kids into doing for our entertainment. But I have almost none of Jarom. So I figured it was time to rectify the situation. Here's a video of his version of Twinkle, Twinkle, the Safety Seat song, and Rain, Rain. I wonder how many of you will be able to understand his words, but even if you can't it's still pretty adorable.

It's easy to overlook his accomplishments because of Keahi set the bar so high. But while he still isn't completely accurate with either his letters or his numbers he does know most of them including the sounds. Which is pretty good. He knows his shapes and colors and often suprises us with his funny phrases just like Keahi did at this age. Of course, if he wanted to catch up academically he'd have to sprint since he'd have to start reading simple books in the next 5 or 6 months. That ain't gonna happen. But it may not be as far a stretch as I'd been thinking. On Sunday at church after coloring for a while with Keahi and two other little kids in our row, Iz starting writing things on his page. When he pointed at J-A-R-O-M, Jarom actually said, "Jay-ar-om!" Then, with a little coaching, he sounded out cat, dog, dad, and mom. Actually, he got mom on his own. Yeah, we know who the center of his universe is. So here's me bragging about my second child. Aim spotlight here. Cuteness and brilliance abound. And now I'd better start focusing on him more.

Holiday Trip Part 5: Toledo

Because we were driving instead of flying, we were able to make a pit stop in Toledo to see Lani, Nate and the tots. We haven't seen them since Paul was only a toddler so it was great to catch up and watch all the big kids play around together. When we arrived at their place they were actually still out shopping so we kicked back in the yard and played on the swings, slide and seesaw and threw snowballs at each other. At first Jarom wasn't sold on the seesaw but then he really got into it. And Keahi got blasted by Iz several times and even got snow in his ear once. But he also got Iz pretty well--I love Iz's dramatic flair. Color me jealous that they even have a yard. With a garage. The playground equipment was just salt in the wound. Oh for wide open spaces. Then when the Roehls returned, Paul quickly snagged Keahi to show him his new video game, Monkey Ball. The boys whooped it up in the basement (another awesome house tradition) while the rest of us chatted and got reacquainted. I love all of Iz's family and I love how big that family has grown. Watching Lani and Nate interact with their kids reminded me about all the things I love about my own kids and reinforced my goal to be a better mom. All this travel with two small active boys had really worn me down but it was rejuvinating to watch them play with their cousins and feel like a bigger family.

We sampled the local favorite pizza joint--which was tasty though I'll admit to liking our neighborhood pizzaria better (loyalties, ya know). But I was overwhelmed by the massive gyros that accompanied the pizza. That's right. Gyros. Then we relaxed with distended bellies while the kids watched Star Wars. Notice their rapt attention? I wish I could inspire that kind of focus.

We only stayed the one night and had to wake up early to finish our trek back to Brooklyn, but I'm really glad we were able to visit. Iz and I are acknowledged as the worst corresponders of either family, I think, but we'll try to rectify this. Soon. Just like I'm also committed to updating this blog with details that are now 2 months old. Anyway, the Roehls rock and we're glad to call them family. . . . .and I've only realized now that I'm posting pics that we didn't take any with the grown up Roehls. Wow. You can tell where the priorities are for us parents, huh.

Holiday Trip Part 4: Chicago B

So we made it back to Chicago safely and quickly and had plenty of time to prepare for Christmas Eve dinner. We actually fed the kids at the regular time and put them to bed before getting out the good stuff for the real dinner when Tom got back from work. That's right. Work on Christmas Eve. But before we put them to bed we let them open their new pjs and one gift from popo. They really did look adorable in their new footies.

I have to say that dinner pretty much rocked. The turkey breast was moist and bursting with lemony herb goodness. The Chinese ham rivaled our Aunty May's. And the roasted veggies were a perfect complement. While Iz's custard pies didn't hit his usual standard, my attempt to recreate a childhood memory for Tammy worked rather well. She's a sucker for the no-bake cheesecake/Nilla waffer/blueberry (only the can--she hates fresh) thing. It was too much Coolwhip for my taste but I'm glad she got to relive the good ol days.

We spent Christmas morning opening gifts and picking away at leftovers while the Burton's traditional breakfast casserole finished baking. Wouldn't it be great if every morning could be like this? We relaxed and watched Happy Feet and exuded a general contentment with the world. Some highlights of Christmas presents included:
-Keilani's immediate fear upon opening Popo's Christmas Eve gift (a vibrating cuddly pink pig--Keahi loved the vibrating cow back in Laie). She's also deathly afraid of the small cow flashlight her parents bought her a while ago. She likes to take it out of the cabinet and then run away from it when it moos. I think she's got a hang up about barnyard animals. Luckily, Popo's other animal gift (a calico cat pillow with a blanket tucked into it) went much better.
-Jarom ignoring all other presents after opening the Thomas train track set from Aunty Tammy. He even started running a loose train over the picture of a bridge on the box cover. He couldn't wait till we let him open it up to play with the actual track pieces inside.
-Opening my awesome present: an ice cream maker attachment for the kitchen aid mixer Iz got for me. So awesome. We've made cookies, bread, ice cream, and flourless chocolate cake. Yum! My biggest Christmas present ever.
-Keilani's eyes following the candy wherever it went.
-Jarom and Keilani hanging out in a box learning to say Melekalikimaka.

Then for our last day in Chicago we headed to the Museum of Transportation which was a big hit with the boys. Life sized trains and massive farm equipment? What little boy wouldn't be giddy? The boys kinda crowded poor little Keilani, raining down too many affectionate kisses and hugs from rowdy little boys. Afterward, we picked up Tom from work and ate at an awesome Cuban restaurant. Everything was amazing and I loved mine especially (though Kervin's oxtail stew made me realize I'd been missing out on ambrosia all these years). I also really enjoyed the drive through hazy Chicago at night. You can understand why they filmed The Dark Knight here.

I feel like I'm missing plenty of amusing annecdotes but I guess that's what happens when you wait this long to record events. I'll edit later if I recall anything.

We really enjoyed our visit in Chicago--even though we nearly lost some fingers and toes to the cold.

While we were gone...

Kervin and Mary arrived in Chicago the day that we left for our ski trip so we didn't get to see them till we got back. Poor Kerv was still sick and with the insanely cold weather he missed out on going to Monday night football with Tom. I wonder how crowded the stadium was with hard core--cold blooded--fans. But by the next day, Kerv was up for the Shedd's Aquarium with the little boys. We're sad we missed out on all the shark-filled fun (but not to the point that we'd have missed out on our ski trip) and the pictures were so cute I had to post some. I love the shots of the boys with their snow pants suspenders showing. Winter gear is so cool--pun unavoidable. It's always difficult to get in face shots when their attention is so riveted on the fish but Kerv managed to get a really good one of all three of them looking. I was pretty impressed.

There were some incidents and Tammy's response was basically "Wow. Boys are way different." I head about how Keahi got a hotdog out of Tom when he got home from work after being refused by everyone else. Tom said he gave it to him because he reasoned with Keahi. I wasn't there, but from personal experience I know that if you're not careful, that clever little boy can spin his logic around you pretty tightly in order to get what he wants. I know bath time was an adventure since it was when we got there. Popo seemed to coast through it all though and thought the boys were pretty easy since they like to play together and I guess Jarom's whining didn't bother her too much. I have a pretty rockin family to look after our two active boys for two and a half days.