A morning in the Country

Yesterday morning it was pouring rain here in Kahului when we woke up, but as we looked up the mountain we could see the sun was shining Upcountry - so it sounded like a perfect day to head to the Country!! We drove up through Makawao and headed to Kalakapua Playground at Giggle Hill Park in Haiku for some playground fun. Dean had a BLAST running all over the place, climbing all over the playground, and sliding down the slides. He has become very interested in what "big kids" are doing and will follow big kids all over the park, imitating them and just watching what they're doing. The park at Giggle Hill is huge and it is usually really packed, so it's exhausting for us to try to keep up with Dean and make sure we can always see him. Several times yesterday morning when I was following him around, he would stop, turn around and put his hand out towards me (Dean's sign for "stop Mom, Stay") and say "no Mom" and once he even told me to "go away Mom". Giving me attitude already!! I was obviously embarassing him in front of the "big kids" by trailing him all over the playground! Here are some playground pics....After we left the park, since we were already Upcountry, we decided to make it a true Day in the Country by stopping by my friend Sue's place, Kula Lani Ranch, and checking out her new 1-day-old baby horse. Dean was exhausted by the time we got there, but it was a lot of fun to check out all the animals!!

Watching Auntie Sue feed the horses...Trying to help Dad brush Chester the Pig...Auntie Sue and the new baby horse...

Another Sunday tradition??

In case you didn't figure it out...I actually convinced Joel that he needed to contribute to the blog. That last post was courtesy of Joel. I'm hoping this is a more regular occurrence, and I'm pretty sure he now appreciates my blogging efforts a bit more now that he realizes it IS an effort!!!

Feeding the ducks...and the Dean.

Due to the raving reviews of a picky 2-year old and an even pickier mother, a new Tapler tradition is born! SUNDAY MORNING FRENCH TOAST!!! It isn't uncommon for Dean to get up and say "Fwench toast, pwease". In true Joel fashion, I decided to make this morning extra special by using half and half and some nice brioche. The only problem with this, aside from Jen not being adventurous , was an excess of bread crust. The logical solution to this was a family trip to the Maui Tropical Plantation duck pond. As usual, Dean didn't want to share with the ducks; also typical, Dean was being hilarious and really cute.

Dean enjoying the flowers on the way to the duck pond.


Upon arrival, Dean scouts out the avian competition.

Dean showed no interest in feeding the ducks. He wanted all the bread for himself.
Dean puts himself in optimal position...
Closing the distance...
Now this is just cheating.
Dean mocks the ducks with his prize.

School

We've had some exciting things happening around here! First of all, Dean is officially enrolled in Preschool!! He'll be starting at the Children's Garden in Kihei on June 1 and he'll be in the 2-3 year old class. Dean's BFF Charlie attends Children's Garden (and so did Dean's hero, Sam, who happens to be Charlie's 10-yr-old brother). I trust their Mom, Ellyn's judgement completely about these things. In fact, she just might be the only Mom I know who tips the scales a bit more towards psycho than me on the "Crazy Mom Scale"!!! (just kidding Ellyn - you know I say that with love). But really, I know how passionate Ellyn is about her kids' educations and if this place wasn't really REALLY awesome, Charlie wouldn't be there. Oh, and if it wasn't for Ellyn's Super Mom powers, Dean wouldn't be there either. See, apparently on Maui you're supposed to put your child on a preschool waitlist while they're still in the womb. I didn't know that, so I didn't bother worrying about preschool until around the time Dean turned 2, then thought I should start exploring our options. When I started calling around I found out the typical waitlist for EVERYWHERE was usually 1-2 years MINIMUM. Crap. Enter Super Mom Ellyn with her powers of....well, it's either "I have 3 kids and they all went here, so our tuition's probably paid for your last 2 vehicles by now, so you better let my friend's kid in" or "seriously. you know I'm crazy. you don't want to mess with me. Let my friend's kid in". I really don't care. Whatever she did, it worked. Dean is in.

Joel and I visited the school a few weeks ago and were very impressed with the curriculum, the setting, everything. I think Dean will be very happy there. So he's going to go 2 days a week, Monday and Wednesday, starting June 1. To prepare him for the sudden introduction of structure to his life, this week we started the Families For Real program. This is a free parent/toddler program offered through the Hawaii Dept of Education. Dean is in the 2-yr-old program and the new session started today. We will meet with 8 other 2 yr olds and their parents for 2 hours every friday through the end of May. The kids will do preschool stuff while the Moms are in a separate classroom doing Parent Education types of things - learning about discipline, potty training, nutrition, education, etc etc etc. I have to say I was very pleased with the program this morning.

The program meets at Pomaikai Elementary School, which is about 2 blocks from our house and where Dean would go to kindergarten and elementary school. Today was basically introductions and getting to know you. Dean is one of only 2 boys in the group and he's the only haole (white) kid! It's so cute to see his litte towhead (well, actually giant towhead compared to the rest of the class) there among all the rest of the dark haired, brown skinned kids!! His friend Sienna (you might remember her from Dean's birthday party) is in the class. Sienna's Mom & Dad were in our birthing class and they live down the street from us. Dean also made lots of new friends today. Here are a few pics I took:

Dean coloring. He's getting really good at coloring. He's able to draw circles now, but mostly chooses to draw lots of lines. He says they are "maps". He'll draw lots and lots of lines and then show you where Dean's house is and TuTu's house and the park and Grandma's house. And he'll say "Mommy's street. Daddy's street. Speed bump. Stop sign." and just go on and on. I think it's pretty funny that he thinks he's drawing maps and he's creative enough to imagine all the important places in his life being on those maps (as well as his favorite road signs - stop sign and speed bump)!!
Dean eating snack with Sienna:
Auntie Lorly, Sienna, Dean and Jayden:
Dean & Sienna playing with necklaces:
Dean & new friend Leianna and Auntie Lerma playing playdoh:

It was interesting to me to observe a few things in the class. Dean and the one other boy, Jayden (who had a twin sister in the class too) had much shorter attention spans than any of the girls. During the introduction and circle time, when we were singing songs, the 2 boys only lasted about 5 minutes before they had had enough of that and moved on to play with the toys in the room. The girls all mostly sat quietly for the entire 10-minute circle time.

Dean showed off his artistic abilities a few times in class today! He colored with markers, used some rubber stamps, and painted a really nice blue and red picture on an easel (and somehow Auntie Joyce, the teacher, managed to get him to wear an apron - something we haven't been able to do at home). We had to leave his painting there to dry, but I'll show it off after next week's class.

Oh, and I'm not sure if I've mentioned the struggle we've been having lately with clothing. Specifically Dean's aversion to it. He hates it. All of it. It takes about 15 minutes to get him dressed to go anywhere because first we have to literally chase him all over the house and then pin him down and practically sit on him while he kicks and screams and cries in order to force clothes onto him. And he absolutely REFUSES to wear shoes. That's been going on for most of his life. He hates shoes. I guess the kid's lucky he lives on Maui where he's able to go barefoot all year!!! (although I'm pretty sure that's why we're in this mess in the first place!) I got an early start this morning knowing it would be a fight to get clothes AND shoes on him before going to school. The shoes were the bigger issue and after FINALLY getting them on and getting him moving, we get to school and into the classroom and it turns out that the kids don't wear shoes in the classroom!!! Just like when you go inside someone's home here, everyone took off their shoes when we went into the classroom. So I'm not even going to bother next week!!!

Lastly, Dean was REALLY disappointed that he didn't get to ride a yellow school bus today.

Keeping Grandpa CR healthy

I think I've mentioned that one of Dean's favorite sets of toys is his Mainstreet Village Collection. One of the new sets he got for Christmas was a little Farmer's Market stand complete with a little farmer who bears a striking resemblance to an older version of Grandpa CR. (OK, maybe it's just the hairstyle and the fact that they both grow vegetables, but for us that's enough....but Mainstreet Village Grandpa CR is older because his hair is quite a bit more gray than the real Grandpa CR). Anyway, Dean doesn't really play too much with the Mainstreet people EXCEPT for Grandpa CR. He knows exactly which person is Grandpa CR and everytime he gets out his village, he likes to make sure Grandpa CR eats his veggies. It's so funny. Dean goes straight for the little crate of vegetables and pretends to eat some of them. Then he makes Joel and I pretend to eat our veggies. Then he says "Grandpa CR" and makes Mainstreet Village Grandpa CR eat his vegetables. Just doing his part to keep Grandpa healthy....

Catching Up

I'm a little behind on my February blog posts, I know. Quick post tonight to catch up on some pics.

Several weeks ago Dean and I enjoyed a fun morning at the Wailea Marriott with our good friends the Shapiros. Dean got to hang out with his BFF Charlie and his hero Sam (seriously - Sam has rockstar status with Dean. Dean talks about Sam CONSTANTLY). Somehow I only got pics of Dean and Sam and missed Charlie completely...






Last weekend Dean helped me bake Chocolate Chip cookies. Joel wasn't home so we went with the easy instant mix variety that you just add butter and an egg, bake and you're done!! Dean thought it was pretty cool though!! He got to break the egg and stir the dough. His favorite part was licking the spoon!!!Trying to get Dean to smile for the camera is just about impossible these days!!!


I hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day! We celebrated tonight because Joel was coaching wrestling ALL DAY yesterday. The Baldwin Bears took 2nd place in the Maui Interscholastic League Championship Tournament, behind Lahainaluna. Joel had 13 of his wrestlers - 10 boys and 3 girls - qualify for the State Tournament, which is next weekend in Honolulu. He'll fly to Oahu with the team and other coaches Thursday night and come home Sunday. Dean and I stopped by last night during the finals, but didn't stay long - Dean didn't understand why he couldn't run out on the mat and roll around - I'm pretty sure the refs might have frowned upon that, so we said hi to Dad, whished the team luck and were on our way.

Sarah (Sarah the Great who Dean loves) came and babysat this evening so Joel and I could go out for a nice Valentine's dinner at Maalaea Grill. We hadn't been there in a few years and it was very yummy!! It's right on the water in Maalaea harbor and we saw a few whales playing in the harbor during sunset while we waited for our food. We'll definitely be going back there.

Haleakala Trip

Well, I survived another Crater Hike. It was questionable there for awhile. I've decided I like the IDEA of this trip better than I actually like the trip. Last time we did it I said I'd never do it again. I'm not sure what possessed me to do it again. Anyway, Joel and I set out Friday morning with my good friend Jayci (Corwin for you Okies) and her "Maui Magic" guy friend Jason and Jason's sister Lindsay (who it turns out works with Joel). I also seemed to have forgotten that it was SPRING the last time we did this and it's now WINTER, which means it was a little bit colder at 10,000 ft elevation!!! So here are the pics. I never know where to put the picture captions, above or below the pics....so the captions are below the pics....There are a lot of them.
Sorry.

Joel and Jayci at the summit, getting ready.
Joel and Jen at the trailhead.
Joel, Jen, Jayci & Jason at the trailhead (is that enough "J"s for ya?)
Looking into the crater from the summit (10,000 ft elevation)
Joel and Jen, self-portrait
Heading down Sliding Sands Trail (you'll notice from most of the pics that I'm usually bringing up the rear!)
Joel crossing the lava field on the floor of the crater, just after our lunch break. mmmm....Subway sandwiches.
Heading up the "March of Death" (as I've affectionately termed this portion of the hike). Joel decided that my attitude about this part of the hike was clouding my judgement about it and causing me to unfairly dislike this part of the day. He told me if I called this portion of the hike something like "Gallagher's Happy Fun Walk" that I'd magically enjoy it much more (I then told him exactly where I thought both he and Gallagher belonged).
From the top of "Gallagher's March of Death" looking down towards where I still have to go on Day 1. That little person inside the white circle is Joel...way ahead of me as usual!
Just a pretty picture.
FINALLY! Holua Cabin is in sight (inside the circle...across that GIGANTIC lava field...only about 1 mile to go!!)
Resting at the cabin (and sooooo happy to take off our hiking boots and and put on some slippers!!!)
A couple of Endangered Hawaiian Nene (The Hawaii State Bird) hanging out around the cabin
Joel and Jayci huddling for warmth under a "Space Blanket" while Joel enjoys his hot meal of spaghetti (which he cooked for us)
Jen & Jason taking care of some much-needed personal hygiene. We're actually INSIDE a cloud at this point (that's why it looks so foggy)
Sunrise from Holua Cabin, day 2.
Joel making his morning coffee. Mmmmm, folgers Crystals.
Joel and Jen - well rested and ready to head out
Final Good-byes to Holua Cabin (I won't be back for a loooong time)!
Crossing a lava field, Eastern rim of the crater, Day 2
Jayci & Jason, ready to head up Switchbacks, a.k.a. "the ass-kicker"
About halfway up Switchbacks - that's Joel & Jason inside the circle.
Looking back down on the lava field & meadow we crossed from the cabin (inside the circle) to get to the base of Switchbacks
From the top of Switchbacks looking over the Eastern rim of the crater, above the clouds, down towards Hana - you can see the shoreline & ocean from here - and we're at about 8,000 ft elevation at this point!!! It was a beautiful clear day!
Last view of where we've been
I'm tired and I want to go home!!!

Video

I posted a video of Dean enjoying a little Valentine's project I created for him for one of my Design Team projects. The video is on my design blog HERE. Scroll down to the bottom of the post and hit the "play" button to see Dean looking at his book. He really enjoyed the book - calling it his "'Tine Book". He's so cute!!