What the....what?????

Buddy's been hounding me to take him to Lagoon since we stepped foot in Utah....Well, that's a lie, the first thing he had to do was go pee, then it was "when are we going to Lagoon?" Today was the day. We rode the cannibal as soon as we entered the park....and then he pretty much lost interest. Errrrm....where did my roller coaster loving boy go? In his defense, since it's Memorial Day the lines were crazy, so we did his favorite rides and high tailed it out of there....because seriously, we have season passes, no need to extend the torture all in one day when we can drag it out over a month!!!!

 Afterwards, I took him to do one of the two things I've been excited to do while we're in Utah....rock climbing. Unfortunately, Buddy has to be 12 to be able to belay me, but it seriously worked out in his favor!!!! He had a blast.....

And from the blisters and arthritis flare ups in my hands, apparently I did too!!!!! So all in all a super fantastic, Lagoon is better with cousins, day!

Payback....

When we moved to Hawaii, I left quite a few things in my parents' barn. I'm certain they appreciate my thoughtfulness...I mean, if they really start missing me, they can just go to their barn and look longingly at my junk  very important valuables. Every summer Buddy likes to crack in there and play with all of those fantastic treasures! It's like a gold mine in there, well, it is if you're under the age of 11...and I'm not sure the number should really even be that high! Anyway, Buddy decided to break into the barn today and he rediscovered his wagon. Somehow I convinced him that he owed me a very long wagon ride as payback for his earlier years. Of course he was more than happy to accommodate....

What a good boy! In other news, I just bought our tickets for Disneyland near the end of June! Woohoo!!!!!! We are so excited!!!! Is it weird that I have my hotel room booked and bought our passes into Disneyland but haven't figured out transportation to get there???? Errrrr, I should probably work on that! So all in all a super fantastic, getting a free ride, day!

Pyromaniacs

We already know my boy has pyromaniac tendencies. Here is my boy helping me fuse some ropes for scouts...

 Of course he had to up the ante and really go for some serious fusing.....

 Turns out it runs in families. Less than one hour off of the plane in Utah and he's doing this with his papaw and cousins....

Yep, that looks about right! So all in all a super fantastic, at least there was a fire pit, day!

Tweenagers!

I had to go to the only Scout store on the island today, which means we had to take a 90 minute drive over to Hilo. Buddy didn't want to be all alone and bored, so he asked his BFF to come along and be bored with him.....great plan, right???? Anyway, I asked the boys if they wanted to go to the zoo while we were in Hilo (yet again, the only zoo on the island). They wholeheartedly declined that offer, but asked if they could go to the mall???? WHAT???? I mean seriously, WHAT?????? The mall excursion ended with these 2 yokels getting singing ties with pictures of ham and bacon on them! Who knew malls could be so exciting????? Apparently these two did!!!!

In other news, I also bought the boys a cute book with some of the works of Edgar Allan Poe. In other, other news, I read them some of his stories before bed. In other, other, other news.....I don't think reading a story about chopping someone up and then hiding them under the floor board right before bed was the best parenting decision I've ever made! So all in all a super fantastic, go to sleep already boys, day!

Dictator!

A few days ago while Buddy and I were at the community pool, we noticed an outlet blowing high pressured water into the side of the pool. Not only did it have the really awesome ability to jiggle the fat on my legs/arms/you name it, in ways I didn't think were humanly possible, but Buddy could configure himself near the outlet to do the funniest things with his bubbles....thus the pictures from yesterday's stent at the pool. Unfortunately, no matter how much I try, I cannot sink for the life of me and can't stay under the water for more than 2 seconds without being buoyed right back up! One of these days I'm going to be thankful for my surgically implanted lifesaving devices! Anyway, since Buddy and I have rediscovered the GoPro (underwater camera that was sitting on Shane's workdesk for possibly the last year....not sure if he was actually working on it while it was on the aforementioned workdesk), we decided to bring it for our snorkeling adventure up at Mahukona today....The boys wanted to stay at home and play video games. I gently (not really, but let's pretend I'm nice) reminded them that we live in Hawaii and playing video games in the middle of a day, on a day off of work and school is totally LAME!!!!! 

I fully support my dictatorship position! Of course next time I support my dictatorship position I think I may be wearing a wet suit, because seriously I've become a wuss and this 73 degree ocean was freezing me out! So all in all a super fantastic, putting my foot down, day!

That's Entertainment!!!!

Have I ever mentioned this boy could entertain himself for hours on end with a cardboard box? May I present today's watery cardboard box......

 So all in all a super fantastic, who knew a pool inlet could be so exciting, day!

Reunited....

Buddy's BFF has returned from his stent of "getting famous". Buddy stole him for the afternoon and now the lucky ducks have somehow convinced their mothers to a sleepover during the school week. I'm just worried the boys are going to get bored.....Heck, who am I kidding, those two goobers rolled around in a parking lot for 2 hours straight  just running into each other nonstop and giggling their heads off like it was the best thing since sliced bread. I'm certain they would have kept going, but the sun decided to set, and as much as the boys thought it would be awesome to do it in pitch darkness, I do have my limits!

Now they're giggling their heads off because they're making up voices for Tiny (Buddy's rat). I'm glad they are so easily entertained!  So all in all a super fantastic, go to sleep already boys, day!

Bonuses!!!!

Who knew homeschooling had so many bonuses???? Not only do you get to sleep in (seriously the night shift working nurse in me is doing flips in my head over this one), but you also get the skate park to all yourself...... 

Downside.....you get the skate park to all yourself! In other news, a while ago, Buddy and his BFF sent in applications to be on Paradise Run. Turns out, they don't accept colorblind contestants so Buddy was not chosen, but his BFF and another friend got to go today for the taping. I'm going to be honest, not a huge fan of a show that discriminates based on color.....isn't that against the law? Just sayin'!!!!! Stinking show!!!!! Now Buddy is asking me to get him on another show "so [he] can be famous". Who does this kid think he is? Better yet, who does he think I am?  A Hollywood talent agent? Because seriously?????Seriously????? He'll just have to settle for being my own personal star! So all in all a super fantastic, living it up, day!

Love and Hate.....

Buddy's cello teacher taught him how to play the Star Wars theme on the cello today. When Buddy's lesson was done, he immediately got on the internet to find out how to play it on his first love (that would be the ukulele for those of you not in the know)....

 That internet....it's a love/hate relationship with that thing. Want to know what else I have a love/hate relationship with? The fact that Buddy always wants to play with my toe hairs.....

Embarrassingly creepy! My shame can be for your humorous pleasure, you are welcome. So all in all a super fantastic, loving my loves, day!

SLUMBER PARTY!!!!

Buddy got invited to a birthday party/slumber party tonight, which means it's chick flick central in these parts! My consolation prize for being tortured with being able to watch girly movies for once, is this gem of a picture from the hosting mom....

Did I mention that the party is being hosted at a resort with 24 hour access heated pools? Lucky boy I have there! So all in all a super fantastic, having a good time, day!

Appreciating Nature....

Last week when Buddy and I went to Kalopa State Park, we noticed that to the side of the park was a Hunter's Access Station. At the entrance of the station posted the clear rules that  hunters are only allowed to hunt only with bows and arrows and knives and kill no more than one pig and two goats per day!  Needless to say, the little Budster was thrilled with this little detail and insisted we return to go hunting! I decided that it probably didn't matter too much that we don't have hunting licenses since I assumed the boys would be too loud to get close enough to kill anything....a point I decided not to share with the boys since they were more than excited to pack in all of the weaponry they could find, heck, even I was packing a sword....just in case.....

The boys successfully killed two fallen trees using their mad sword swinging and arrow shooting skills! In other news, Buddy got accepted into a charter middle school 30 minutes away yesterday that has an awesome STEM based curriculum. That's even after I confessed to the Principal that Buddy doesn't like to do his homework and ended up missing 22 days of school this year! All I can think is that she must appreciate the honesty.....or Buddy's fantastic qualities outshine those minor details! I'll go with the because he is fantastic answer...and he's excited about the new school he's starting next year. So all in all super fantastic, Buddy's fantastic, day! 

Closeted.....

Yesterday we did some serious closet cleaning for my personal favorite hoarder.....

It's amazing what you find when you clean out your closets! So all in all a super fantastic, cleaned out, day!

The cat is away....

Shane went to Seattle for the weekend, so Buddy and I decided to live it up....or kill ourselves mountain biking on the craziest path in the universe  (this is Buddy pushing his bike back up on an actual road because his imminent death wasn't so exciting anymore). 

 Don't worry though, he got me back for that one by taking me to Umauma's Giant Swing (that would be a giant swing that takes you 150' up in the air over the Umauma falls.....I of course didn't grab any pictures, because I was too busy screaming  swinging. So here is one from their website...

Those must be paid professional models though, because they are smiling and happy. Buddy is now giving you an imitation of my facial expressions after we were done!

Yep, that looks about right. Then Buddy took me out to eat to IHOP for my Mother's Day present. At least that what he told me he was doing. I wasn't quite sure if it counted as him as taking me out to eat if he didn't drive, pay or let me pick out the place....but I guess he's the only kid I've got, so I guess I can't be too picky.  Anyway, Shane will be back tomorrow night so we've really got to up the ante tomorrow morning! So all in all a super fantastic, playing mouse, day!

Rockin' this Homeschool thing!!!

So it's day #4 of our Homeschooling foray. I'm pretty certain I'm rocking it. Yesterday I took the boys to an obsidian mine as inspiration for a research paper on obsidian....

(We've yet to write.....or research for that matter). Today, we decided to grab our hostage Homeschooling Buddy by our newest means of transport...

and went for a huge bike ride around the fish pond for a lesson on sports physiology...

(We've yet to learn about sports or physiology). When we got home Buddy practiced his cello before heading to his ukulele class....

Because his ukulele teacher is amazingly awesome and wants to incorporate his cello playing with the group playing the uke! We may need to do a little (errrrrr.....a lot) more practicing before we can do that! On the way back home from his uke lesson, Buddy declared loudly for all to hear.... "I love music, and music loves me"

Well said Buddy!!! At least something went completely right today....although I had absolutely nothing to do with it, I'm totally going to pretend that was an all me moment! I've got to take what I can get....otherwise, this will be the only thing I get to claim....

So all in all a super fantastic, rocking the nose picking at least, day!