Tag Archives: summer

Limping Into Summer

The first week of summer is done and gone and we’re already halfway into the next. It feels like Team Hokama has barely survived so far. We started out tired, having returned from a three-day weekend trip to Sacramento celebrating Great Grandpa Vic’s 80th birthday. This seemed okay since hey, it’s summer(!), and there will be plenty of time to rest and play, right? Not so.

Last Tuesday afternoon (June 17), while Keana and Sarah were at Keana’s physical therapy appointment—yes, a couple more weeks before her sprained knee is back to normal—I was on a phone call and I heard Maia and Aliya busy playing. They can be quite the dynamic duo, busying themselves all over the house with this or that, and I didn’t think anything of their little chatter until I hear a BANG, CRASH, and Maia screams, “Papa! Papa! Help! It Hurts!” I quickly got off the phone and found Maia on the floor of the laundry room, on her back, one shoulder in the cat water dish. Aliya was standing by the dryer, door open. I tried to get her to tell me where it hurt amidst the sobs, but it was impossible. At that moment, she didn’t know what had happened, she was just in pain.

Continue reading Limping Into Summer

Limekiln 2013, Day Five: Pack it Up and Move it Out

2013_limekiln_day_fiveWow. We’re back in Fresno. What a day. It’s always a little weird waking up in one place and going to sleep in another, even if it is home.

Yesterday we did make it up to the kilns with our extra hiker, Luna, and she and Keana continued where they left off on our hike to the falls, singing made-up songs together and making plans for staying in touch once we all went our separate ways. Maia really was pretty much done, so I carried her on my back in the Ergo. Good exercise for me and I was even fine in my Vibram five-fingers.

After the hike, Luna’s parents welcomed us with fresh cod sautéed in lemon and butter and then we all headed down to the beach, with Anya in tow as well. And it was a perfect beach day. We played, talked, got some sun, and even saw a seal just barely off the shore. It was pretty spectacular.

After the beach, both Aliya and Maia were very tired and upset (i.e. tired out), and Keana was rearing to go to Luna’s camp as soon as she could. Aliya eventually crashed on my shoulder while Sarah navigated Maia’s needs through dinner. Then Maia and Keana headed off into the forest for a “parting ways banana s’mores party” at Luna’s camp. We decided to wake Aliya from her late nap so we could all go, and we were really glad we did. We all had fun making bananas filled with marshmallows and chocolate chips, then roasted them in the fire. The kids played and roasted marshmallows while we visited some more with Ayan, Liza, their friend Liz, and Cindy (Anya’s mom). They were very gracious hosts and we left feeling very fortunate to have found such friendly, kind, open, and like-minded people while camping.

Maia would not be parted from me for bed time, so she and I stayed out and closed camp for the night, which was pretty cool because then she got to see more stars since it was way after 9 by the time we were winding down.

Today the kids woke up mostly with a sense if excitement for heading home, but Keana, especially, was sad to leave the friends she had made. Maia was the most ready to get back to civilization and all our creature comforts, which made her the most helpful packing up as well. Keana got one last visit with Luna, and Aliya just played in and out of the car while continually asking for Mentos. Overall, Aliya really had an excellent attitude the entire trip, and was the most easy-going of the three, even though she’s just barely three.

We got packed and on the road by 10:30ish, had breakfast at the Whale Watcher Cafe in Gorda, then continued our journey back to super-hot Fresno. The heat basically sucks, but the one good thing is all our equipment dried out in two seconds.

I’m not going to lie, it was not an easy trip. But sickness and meltdowns aside, we thoroughly enjoyed being at the beach and in the redwoods, recharging in many ways apart from normal life. Having time together as a family without the interruptions of the every day is so important, and connecting with new, like-minded people that were easy to hang out with really feeds us in another way too. As it is with the rest of our life, this vacation tested us as parents and individuals, and I wish I could say we hit home runs every time. But no one does and I feel pretty good knowing we did our best and many things were much better than last year’s camping experiences. I’m pretty sure we’re making mostly positive, unforgettable memories for the kids, and look forward to many more wilderness adventures.

Limekiln 2013, Day Four: Hikes, Beaches, and Saying Goodbye

2013_limekiln_day_four10:58: 3% battery on this phone. Headed to Lucia for breakfast this morning, BUT NO BREAKFAST SERVED. Blargh. Got snacks and beans at the store but definitely a big disappointment. Maia seems to be doing okay, but is really just holding on I think. Keana ran into the forest camp sites to play with Luna right after breakfast and now I think we may mobilize for a little hike up to the Lime Kilns. Going to be a perfect beach day too, methinks. Hoping there’s enough battery for a recap tonight…

From Keana:

Then I went to Luna’s camp. We colored a design. Then I borrowed a sweater and a pair of pants from Luna. Then we colored by the fire. Then we went on a hike with Luna. We made up a song and saw fairies! Then we came to the kilns. Then we took a picture. Then me and Luna went on the trail. We talked about what we could play and what Luna was having for lunch.

Then we had lunch with Luna. We had cod for lunch. Then I borrowed Luna’s camelback. We played scuba divers and there were sharks chasing us! Ania joined us and we went to the beach. We had a snack and then we got on top of a BIG rock. It splashed Ania and Luna. Then I went the bathroom. Then we warmed up and went on the big rock again. Then we played in the waves and saw a seal. We named it Sammelcece (Sam-ul-see-see). Luna held on to me when a big wave came. We both got very wet.

Then we went back to the blanket. Luna’s mom gave me a persimmon and I guess it was a persimmon! Then we played camels on the sand. Then we played camels in the water. Then before we knew it it was dinner time. I had tacos and Orangina for dinner. Then I went to Luna’s camp where I found Luna and Ania relaxing by the fire. Then I came and sat down with them. Then we carried Xavie like he was the king. Then Luna’s mom put Xavi in the tent. Then we played Queen. Luna was first, I was second, and Ania was third. Then we saw Xavie escaping from the tent! Then we played horsey and Xavie bit me very hard on the back. Then we made banana boats. While we waited we roasted marshmallows. I caught Luna’s and my marshmallow on fire! I got the burnt ones and Luna got the not burnt ones. Then I tried the banana boat and didn’t like it. Then I went in the tent and told stories. Then Luna walked me back to my camp site. I undressed and went to sleep.

Limekiln 2013, Day Three: Making Friends

Maia, the Mini Movie StarWell, yesterday ran away and I didn’t get back to write (obviously). Maia was still feeling pretty sick, so she watched a movie on the Kindle in the tent, Aliya and Sarah napped, and Keana and I had a nice little hike exploring the forest and Hare Creek. We spent most of the rest of the day on the beach yesterday since the weather was absolutely perfect. We also made some friends, too! First we met Ayan, Liza, their daughter Luna (7) and son Xavi (2), as well as their friend Liz. And of course Luna and the girls hit it off instantly and were off to play amongst the waves, rocks, and seaweed before they even knew each other’s names. Then another little girl slowly gravitated across the beach towards them as they ran from waves, and slowly folded into the pack. Her name was Anya (10) and we met her dad Chris (an engineer/contractor) and her mom, Cindy, who happened to be a teacher who went through the San Diego Area Writing Project summer institute last summer. Quite a small world indeed. So the kids played and the adults visited throughout the day.

I think one of the highlights was when the girls had collected seaweed for about an hour then decided to make dresses out if it. Luna took the roll of designer, though they all seemed to have a vision. Keana was eager to be the first model and immediately Aliya wanted in on the action. So as the older girls dressed each other, Sarah tended to Aliya making her a little seaweed hula skirt with a seaweed head dress. As usual the adults were all staying their distance from each other until our kids basically forced us together. But through this forced interaction we discovered cool things about the people around us. Like the Writing Project connection with Anya’s mom (Cindy) and the fact that Ayan was in the restaurant business, and happened to be a former owner/partner in the Blue Ribbon chain if restaurants in New York. They were also in the process of scoping out Northern California because they were looking into moving from Boulder to here, so we got a chance to hear about their plans and offer what little knowledge we had about Berkeley and surrounding areas.

So the kids set a plan to have a picnic together at 09:00 today and it was just about that time when Luna came down from the forest to visit. We ended up feeding her breakfast and then they were off, back to the beach. It’s tough to let them be free but also keep them fed and safe (i.e. sunscreen’d, out of poison oak, and in bed before they totally melt down). And that is how last night ended: Maia in total melt down. She eventually was able to say she wanted to go to the car, so I took her and we talked. We were able to figure out together that it’s hard camping because of all the unknown variables. When she doesn’t know what’s going to happen or *how* things are going to happen, it causes fear and having to navigate all the different variables throughout the day really wears her down. Not to mention that she was still recovering from being quite sick. I think being in the car helped her get back to a familiar, enclosed, safe place and we were able to work through some if the issues, or at least better understand them. I also reassured her that we can always go home which was comforting too, even though she really didn’t want to leave. There’s a lot of complicated things going on for Maia that she’s struggling with, but really, she’s doing a great job figuring out what it is that’s upsetting her and communicating that. Even if it happens after a melt down.

But today was good. Lots of play time with friends, they had their picnic by the river in the forest, and we took Luna on a hike to the waterfalls with us. They all had their walking sticks, sang songs along the way, and even Aliya hiked on her own. We had to do some lifting to get up and down from the waterfalls, and I was bummed that I forgot a camera. But we enjoyed dipping our feet in the pool beneath the two falls that were pouring down from 200 ft. up. On our way down from the falls, trying to find a smoother route down to the trail with Maia on my back, I climbed down small crevice formed from a large log wedged against a couple boulders. When I got down and signaled up to the others to follow, I saw a pretty large garter snake coiled up in the crack we had just traversed. Needless to say, we found another route for the others, but it was cool to be able to show the kids a real snake in the wild.  Then it was back to camp, knowing that we needed to get a jump on dinner.

Part of what Maia and I agreed on the night before was trying to keep dinner and bedtime closer to normal time so she could count on something. Luna’s parents weren’t back from town so she had dinner with us and they played a little more on the beach after. There was the beginning of a meltdown as we got ready for bed, but Sarah suggested I put Maia on my back in the Ergo and that seemed to settle her down. So Maia was my backpack helper for closing up camp for the night and it was pretty cool, really. She had comfort and had someone to talk to and sing me songs. She was almost asleep by the time I was ready to head in and Keana and I have been writing since. Maia and Keana are now catching up on the facts about ticks and plans for tomorrow. Sarah’s given one annoyed “aren’t you guys done yet?” so I guess I better shut it down. Till tomorrow…maybe…

Keana’s Selection:

Then we put on real clothes and went to the secret island. We had nectarines, a chocolate bar, crackers with honey, and sandwiches. Then we payed explorer. Then we went the bathroom. Then we went to Luna’s camp. We played on the tent pole and Luna got the highest. Then we went on a hike with Luna. We made up songs on the way there. Then we climbed up to the waterfall. We saw a worm that loved the water. Then we hiked back.

When we got to the camp sites, me and Luna ran to the bathroom. We saw a huge daddy-long-leg. Then Luna came over for dinner. After dinner we went and played in the sand. We played mermaids and humans. Then we went back to camp and Luna forgot her Camelback. Then I had three more tacos.

Limekiln 2013, Day Two: Still Sick but Having Fun

A Walk Through the Forest

9:58: Woke up this morning a little before 8 and everyone was healthy! Maia made it through the night without being sick. Quick breakfast today: cereal. Really nice having minimal prep/clean-up, buuuuut, 10 minutes after finishing, Keana says, “I’m hungry, I need a snack.” So it was really a breakfast of cereal, salami, cheese, and crackers.

After breakfast, while Sarah and I sat looking at the ocean from our “front porch,” it hit me (again) what a huge strain it is having just one sick child. Maia’s part of our team and we need her in the line-up! Aside from having to do extra care and cleaning when she’s sick, her presence amongst her sisters is really an important factor in harmony for the whole family. So while we were talking, Aliya came over and said she was tired and wanted to go in the tent. She was distracted throwing rocks for a minute, then started brushing her teeth and headed for the tent. Sarah’s in there with her now and I think she really is going back to sleep. Now to see what adventures Maia, Keana, and I can stir up…

From Keana:

Then my friend Luna came and wanted to play. We said after lunch. I had some bread and honey. Then we headed up to Luna’s camp. We climbed on rocks to the creek. Then we decided to go to the beach. We climbed back and asked if we could go to the beach. They said yes. Luna put her swim suit on. Then we went to our camp and put our swim suits on. We went down and set up our towels. Then we played sharks. Then we went to the beach. We played on the castle rock. Then we ran in the waves. Then we started to collect seaweed. Soon, a girl named Ania joined in a became my friend. As soon as we collected a whole pile we decided to do a fashion show. We dressed myself up in seaweed first. Then we dressed Ania in seaweed. Then we made a hole called a toilet.

Then we buried Lunda’s brother in sand. Then we laid down and a big wave got us and Lunda’s brother. Luna’s brother was unhurried and taken care of. Then we decided to go river climbing. When we were climbing I fell in. Then we went back and played in the ocean for a while. Then we decided to rinse off in a secret pool. Then Ania and her mom went back to camp and Luna came with me to my site. She went to her camp site to get ready. Then I took a shower. Then I sat on a rock and waited. Then I made quarter stacks and had a snack. Soon later Luna and Ania came. We carried Maia up by making a chair with our arms. Then Luna had to go so me, Maia, and Ania went to camp site 17 to explore. On the way we saw a snake. Then we planned a surprise picnic for Luna.

Limekiln 2013, Day One: Out the Door and Throwing Up

Poor Maia, Sick on Day One of CampingI journaled during our camping trip using an app on my phone (sans internet access) for most of our trip, however, this first day I didn’t have time to get down. So this is a post-adventure recap, but the rest that follow were written while on our trip.

It might have been a record getting out of town, only 30 minutes later than we planned! We packed the Thule skybox the night before so we were halfway there. It’s amazing how all the little things add up to a lot of time when trying to get out of your house for the week—last cleaning of the cat boxes, fresh water, food; taking out the garbage/recycling; closing all the windows/doors/garage; instructions for the person watching the house—doesn’t sound like a lot, but I swear just those little things add at least an hour.

But we got on the road and spirits were high until just outside Paso de Robles. That’s when Maia began feeling sick. In the back of mind I worried that we had finally reached the point when one of our kids started being car sick on long rides. Then again, Sarah, Aliya, and Keana had just had a nasty stomach bug, so…we pulled over once going over the hill to Cambria, stopped in Cambria, then just after the windy part of the road started, Maia lost it. I’d have to say that kids puking in the car is one of my worst nightmares. Hate. It. But she did pretty good and sadly threw up a few more times in the last 45 minutes of the car ride.

We (luckily) got an “overflow” site at Limekiln though, right on the beach and under the bridge, and got to work setting up camp. It was definitely one of the least stressful camp set-ups in Team Hokama history. And since we got there so early in the day, we even had time for the beach, though it was a little foggy.

As dinner approached, it was clear Maia was not just car sick. She had gotten whatever bug her sisters had the week before. I was also feeling a bit nauseous, but attributed it to having to deal with cleaning barf pans (though Sarah handled handled most of the hands-on stuff in the tent).

So, unfortunately, the exciting start to our camping adventure was clouded a little by poor Maia not feeling well. We went to bed hopeful that it would pass quickly so she could start having fun with the rest of us.

Keana also wrote each day to capture her adventures, so I’ll be including excerpts from her writing as well. Here’s a little something from Day One:

I woke up tired today. As soon as I got used to it I tried to wake up Papa. He said, “Give me till 8:00.” So while I waited, I played horses. Then I played with Aliya for a little, then finally, Papa got up. I got dressed and went outside. Papa put on the bacon while heating the water. Then I had a piece of bacon. Then Papa put on the pancakes. Aliya got half a big pancake and I got the other half.

The Last Trip of Summer, For Reals

Well, I wrote about our last trip of summer, but we actually had one more that I haven’t covered yet. It was definitely a highlight before we started this whole school business, so I wanted to be sure to get it in.

Grandma Jennie and I took off the Tuesday before school started (8/14), and we were going to do a Team Hokama+Grandma trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but it was going to be too expensive but still wanted to something special and a little different. So we opted for a day at the beach and rented a minivan, Grandma packed a picnic lunch, and we headed out to (I think) Seacliff State Beach near Aptos.

Having Grandma in the car with us certainly kept the kids entertained—the built-in DVD player didn’t hurt either—and we made pretty good time, arriving just before lunchtime, to a foggy, but not-too-cold beach. The girls went straight to work running up and down the beach, getting into the water, and playing in the sand. They could barely sit still long enough to eat, but the fact that Grandma had made and packed a peach pie with plenty of whipping cream was a pretty strong attraction at the blanket eating area.

After a couple hours, Aliya fell asleep and napped for a little while under a makeshift shelter (since we forgot our umbrella), while Maia and Keana laid in the warmer sand, stalking seagulls. Keana and Maia also played for a little while with another boy about their age, but mostly were entertained by each other, Mama, Papa, and Grandma. One of best things though was a visit from a pod of dolphins (see video below) that must have been fishing just a few meters off the shore. They stuck around for a while, going back and forth, and sometimes flipped their tails and fins out of the water, playfully, for our enjoyment. That was the first time I had seen dolphins around that part of the coast, even after living in Santa Cruz for 7 years, so it was pretty special for all of us.

I was also impressed when both girls wanted to be buried in the sand, and Jennie and Sarah had fun making them into mummies, mermaids, and even sea horses. Keana doesn’t usually mind rolling around in the sand and waves at the beach, but Maia really doesn’t like getting sandy, so I think it was actually a pretty huge step for her.

By the time 5 o’clock rolled around, we were all pretty tired and hungry and ready for some less sandy scenery. We found a nearby bbq joint called Sid’s Smokehouse and had a great dinner together to top of a great day at the beach. The ride home wasn’t as quiet as you’d think, all three of them staying awake, still vibrating from the exciting day with Grandma at their favorite of all places: the beach.

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The Last Trip of Summer

We’ve been back a week from our last trip of the summer and school feels like it’s right around the corner and a month away all at once. In reality the start of school is only one week off, and I think Keana and Maia are both nervous and excited. It’s been good to remember how I felt as a kid the week before school in an effort to allow Keana and Maia to just have their feelings about it without me, as an adult, trying to overwrite how they feel or what they’re thinking about it. When I catch myself doing that, my intention is to comfort them, but I realize that it’s really just telling them they shouldn’t feel how they feel; it’s hard. Anyway, there’s sure to be big changes happening around here soon as we settle into the new schedule.

So, our last trip, the annual family campout. We hadn’t been for a couple years—never with three kids—but we felt confident we could handle it since we had just been camping two weeks before. What I found out quickly was that I hadn’t quite prepared myself for the differences in camping with just my immediate family and camping with a bunch of people we know and my immediate family. What I found was that Maia and (especially) Keana didn’t want to be in our “boring” camp, but wanted to be just about anywhere else. They especially wanted to be over at Tia’s camp with their cousin Olivia. There were times when Olivia wanted to be at our camp, since she and Aliya like to play, but mostly, they wanted to be somewhere else. I struggled with setting appropriate boundaries and letting them explore and have freedom. I was also worried about them being a burden on other people, but eventually realized it was up to those other people to let us know if that was happening. Also, I wanted to be with my kids, but realized that I wasn’t as fun as some of the other adults since I had to be cooking, cleaning up, doing “camp stuff” much of the time. I tried to incorporate the kids with that, but if you’re 7 and the choice is to play or do dishes, well, that isn’t much of a choice.

In the end I had to make it clear to the kids that they had to be careful when they ran off into the forest, that they had to let me know where they were going and plan for when they would be coming back, and then just try and let a bunch of stuff go. Luckily that did happen—the letting go of some stuff and agreeing on some boundaries—and we were able to have some good days down by the river and enjoy time around the campfire. They especially enjoyed a story I was making up, in chapters, about Monkey, Tiger, and Dragon. Keana wanted a ghost story, but I didn’t want to scare them, so I told a story of a tiger’s ghost that came back to an island to comfort her friends Monkey and Dragon (a Komodo Dragon). Then it jumped back in time to when they were babies together and all their adventures on the island. That was typically followed by us all lying in the tent together, Aliya nursing, and me singing a bunch of songs. The favorites were Hotel California, Message in a Bottle, Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes, The Wind Song, and Graceland. Once the kids were asleep, Sarah and I were able to sneak out, back to the campfire, and have a little time to ourselves. At this campout, many people stay up late with didgeridoos, drums, guitars, and/or singing punctuating the distant sounds of conversations along with the sounds of people wandering between camps. Not wanting to leave our kids unattended though, we stayed at our camp at night, which was fine with me (especially since I knew waking children with full bladders and hungry stomachs were not far off).

Keana is continuing to really want to be independent and try new things out, especially social situations, so the campout proved a ripe testing ground. There were more than a couple times that she rolled her eyes when I told her to be careful as she tromped off socialize with other campers. Maia was a little more cautious but was happy to follow Keana anywhere. Then there was Aliya. We hadn’t been there more than 30 minutes and she took off up the meadow, alone, waving and shouting, “Bye-bye Apa, bye-bye Ama!” She too, had no trouble running off, following Keana’s lead. Her experience with two older sisters also positions her to be more of the mischief-leader when she and Olivia hang out. She calls Olivia “La-la” and Olivia calls her “Aweela”, and there are already some pretty entertaining tales of “The Adventures of La-La and Aweela”. Add a forest, a stream, some marshmallows, and fire to that and you have your entertainment for the day.

Last week I returned to work and we began to recover from this trip, but it was tough. It took all week for sure, and even now I’m feeling kind of worked. We realized though it was also because we were still recovering from dealing with sick cats in between our first camping trip and this last one. And then, of course, we’re dealing with the reality of summer ending and school beginning. It’s been 108/109 for a few days now, not dropping below 80 at night, and that too takes its toll. I have a lot I want to write about the kids themselves—their growth and development and all the fun/cute things they’re doing—but that’ll have to wait.

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Camping, Kitties, and Catching Up

It’s been one of those periods where I’ve been wanting and wanting to write the recent adventures of Team Hokama, but the adventures pile up and before I write one down, another happens. This puts me in a state of hesitation, a prolonged state, a one-month-long state. So I’ll do my best to get the highlights in here without totally boring you with a list of “stuff we did”.

We seem to be handling the heat pretty well this summer. The girls have been enjoying a larger, inflatable pool we bought as summer began, but we still just have to stay inside in the hotter afternoons. Perhaps the best way we’ve dealt with the last crazy heat streak (many days of 100+ and one topping out at 109) was leaving. We planned our camping trip for July 10–14 to Big Sur and it just happened to be the hottest week of the summer (so far). We wanted to camp at Kirk Creek, but of course it was full, so we headed up the road a little to Limekiln. All the campsites in the redwoods were closed due to funding cuts, but all the sites closest to the beach were open, and a few were available. We found a nice spot, isolated on top of a hill, and proceeded to have a blast. Well, I have to admit, it wasn’t exactly a blast at first. The long drive, tired kids, and setting up camp got to me and I admit I acted like more of a child than the children, but after that initial hiccup, I did well. It was, in fact, our best camping trip ever.

You’ll see from the pictures that you have to go under a bridge of Highway 1 to get to the beach, but it was kind of fun to see the engineering feat up close, and it was so high, we hardly heard any traffic above the ocean waves crashing on the shore. A fresh water stream flowed nicely to the ocean, so on the beach we could play in fresh water pools above the ocean. We also took a couple hikes into the redwoods, and seeing the girls tromp down a trail gave me hope for our future adventures in backpacking. Limekiln Falls were definitely a highlight, and we even climbed up to the base of the falls to be right underneath them. We had to carry the kids up (and down) a precarious little patch, but it was fun and well worth it.

The cool thing about this camping trip too, was that Keana and Maia were able to handle everything better than in the past, and still enjoy it. They’ve always enjoyed camping but they were able to enjoy it while still doing more around the camp and adding more activities, like hiking. Keana was very helpful with dishes and watching out for Aliya, and Maia’s coping with a different environment was smoother than in the past. I think part of that is them simply being older and partly because Sarah and I are coping much better ourselves. Sarah and I even got a couple nights by ourselves out by the fire, under the stars (no fog!), while the kids slept soundly in the tent. By the end of the trip, the girls were begging to stay longer, so I think it was a success. Once we had our camp broken down we went down to say goodbye to the beach and hit the road. The girls were awake for a few minutes, then crashed for a couple hours as we wound our way south down Highway 1.

The rest of summer has almost been a blur. I’ve mostly been working and Sarah has been keeping the girls busy with visits with Tia and Olivia, trips up to Grandma Bev’s lake house, playing in the pool in the backyard, and general tom-foolery indoors. I’ve done a few session of “music camp” where we play instruments, sing, practice rhythm, and learn instrumentation and genre (think YouTube videos of all kinds of types of music). This summer I introduced a little solfége and a few musical terms too. I also took the girls to the library last week, which they loved, and hope to make a few more trips before the summer’s over. Keana is really into reading longer “chapter” books and can sometimes be found walking around the house with a book in her hand, somehow maneuvering around obstacles in her way without looking up.

The big event this last week though has been the illness of our youngest cat Fluffy (a.k.a. Kira), who got a respiratory infection and had to be hospitalized for a few nights. We took her in last Sunday, got her back on Wednesday, and went back to our vet for check-ups Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. She’s finally drinking on her own and has perked up considerably, so we think she’s over the worst of it. Miko got a milder version and has been on antibiotics for 10 days, but luckily the big strong guy has been able to stay home.

And next we head up to the annual family campout that Sarah’s done all her life by Wishon Reservoir. Keana first went when she was 3 months old and Maia when she was 9 months, but Aliya has yet to have the full experience. We promised the girls an extra night camping, so I think we’ll be up there 5 nights/6 days. Not entirely sure how we’re going to fit all that food/water, but we’ll work it out. With every trip, especially the camping trips, our Nissan Pathfinder (even with a Thule skybox) gets smaller and smaller.

So that’s the gist of it. Below are photos and video from our camping trip to Limekiln; figured I better at least get those up before the next one!

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First Dance Recitals and End of School

It seems fitting to write something about the latest goings on of Team Hokama on Father’s Day, so, um…here they are:

First Dance Recitals (photos and video from the dress rehearsal at the end)
The big news I’ve really been wanting to write about is Keana and Maia’s dance recitals that happened last Saturday (June 9). It was such a big a deal! Of course they were both rehearsing their routines months beforehand, and I was really glad that they still focused on the basics and didn’t spend all of every rehearsal learning the routine. There were fancy costumes though and of course the girls did their hair and makeup(!) for the recital. Man, they were talking bout the makeup alone for a full week before the thing.

Of course, this sort of thing conjures up all kinds of issues as a parent. Is all this appropriate for kids this age? Maia’s dance was to Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend and part of me wanted to just enjoy it for the cutesy number it was meant to be, and part of me thought we were doing a grave injustice to Maia and women everywhere by allowing her to participate in something so sexist, materialistic, and outright dated. Sarah and I talked about it and in the end we figured what was the harm in something that Maia was so clearly enjoying and maybe it didn’t have to be anything more than just a cutesy number.

Keana danced to a somewhat generic piece called Music Box Dancer and the choreography was more classically ballet as far as I could tell. She was still dressed to the hilt in pink, sparkly, froofiness and again, we questioned if we were bad parents for participating in this stereotypic socialization of our little girls. I know it will be something we grapple with for a while, but this time, we let it go and just let the girls have fun. They’re 4 and 7. They like to dance. They like pink sparkliness. It is what it is.

The day of the recital was very exciting to say the least. We woke early to do hair and makeup for the dress rehearsal. Maia went on at 9 a.m. and Keana at 10 a.m. The recital was at the CUSD Performing Arts Center which was beautiful; new, modern, great stage, lighting effects and everything. I was very impressed and proud we could provide such a great performance opportunity for their very first recital. They were both a little nervous, Keana more so than Maia, but they both got up there and did very well. After their run-throughs, we went back to their dance studio which was about 10 minutes away for pictures. After the madness of pictures, we headed home for a few hours before heading back to the recital hall at 3:15 p.m. for the performance, which started at 4 p.m.

The studio was very organized, keeping all the kids backstage for the whole thing, entertained with various art stations and things for the kids to do between performances. The grandparents—Jennie, Robert, and Cin—met us there and we got great seats in the middle, far enough back from the stage to see everything clearly. When Maia came on my heart jumped and any doubt I had about letting her perform was instantly washed away. She was even better in the performance than I had every seen her and she was so alive on stage. Both Sarah and I were definitely teary-eyed.

We had to wait till after intermission for Keana to take the stage but again, any doubt I had about her performing was gone the instant she made her first move. She too was even better in the performance than I had seen her perform before and she seemed more relaxed than in the dress rehearsal too. Sarah and I weren’t going to spring for the professionally recorded video, but after seeing them live, we couldn’t resist.

Of course we took family photos and all went out to a celebratory dinner after. What a joy-filled day. There was some anxiety, but mostly it was just pure fun for the girls and they both can’t wait for the next one. At the end of the day it was a good reminder that sometimes as a parent, you have to just let go and not worry so much about whether or not you’re scarring your kids for life. There will be plenty of time for them to “fight the power” and right now may not be it.

End of School
School’s out! Keana is now officially on summer break and ready for second grade (but not quite yet!). It was a long, fun, tough, exciting, tiring year and we were all ready for it to end. Of course, once it was over, Keana instantly missed her teacher and friends but we’re going to make an effort to keep her social this summer between our family plans. It is really amazing how much she learned this year. Everything she learned—reading, writing, math, social studies—was leagues beyond what I remember doing in even second grade. We want to keep an eye out for burnout, and are still evaluating if the academically intensive nature of the school is really good for her, but right now, we’re just enjoying summer, which officially starts tomorrow for her. And I will happily let our hard-working Keansta Monsta sleep in on her first Monday off.

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