Today we visited Uncle Matt and Aunty Kristi at Manoa School. Eliza got to sit in on Uncle Matt's lesson about the 13 English Colonies. Cool! Here she is sitting attentively in Room 20. This is right before she turned around and said, "Aunty, what are they TALKING about?"

We also went outside and did some running, stretching, climbing, swinging and JUMPING exercises on the various play areas at Manoa School. Eliza is really strong and since the beginning of summer has increased the length of time she can swing from a bar! She is much braver and will hang (and swing) by herself, several feet above the ground. She is also great at walking the length of a balance beam and climbing up a great tall spiral tower. Aunty sees a future gymnast (or cheerleader, mountain climber, or spelunker!)

Here are some pictures from our day:

CPK again?! Yup, this time w/Uncle Matt, Aunty Kristi, Arianna & Asher. Everyone's trying to burn their promotional discounts before the expiration date!


Eliza has informed Uncle Matt that he must cancel all his plans and spend the rest of the day with her :)


Fearless :)


Low bar w/ "alligator mud pit" below!

And ... here is a funny and informative video for you. Eliza almost daily mentions how great life would be if she had a little brother. So today I asked her, "Why not a little sister?" Here is her answer!

Today we went window shopping at Kahala Mall. Eliza was in a great mood and had a lot of energy. She has decided that she likes hair bows so we browsed through every girl's favorite accessory store, Claire's (which is every little girl's favorite accessory store only until they grow up and discover the Big Girls' accessory store that starts with a T and ends with a Y!)

Eliza and Aunty Christy got a lot of exercise and retail therapy today. Miss E made some great suggestions on clothing, accessories, and housewares, leading Aunty to believe she may grow up to be a stylist, a personal shopper, or a model.

Eliza: "Can I try this on?"

Aunty: "Sorry, that's a skirt for grown up girls."

Eliza: "But if I pull it allllll the way up to here, it is a dress that fits ME!"

The junior fashionista modeled a "Miss Birthday Girl" sash and said rather slyly, "It's still June. So it's still my birthday!" to which Aunty Christy replied, "It's your birth month but no longer your birthday." So Eliza thought about that and said, "Well, can we buy it for Uncle Scott?"

After a quick CPK counter lunch of fusilli with tomato sauce, Aunty got a call from Aunty Kristi Radona, who invited us over to play with Arianna and Asher. Eliza had a great time playing dolls and Littlest Pet Shop. She also met Arianna and Asher's pet tortoises, Holly and Avatar. Finally, it was time to go.

We headed to the Humane Society, where we planned to visit the kitties before swim class, but look what happened on the way!

It's been a good day!

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Conversation of the Day:

Eliza: God is awesome. He gives us rain. And treats. Everyone gets treats!

Aunty Christy: Treats?

Eliza: Yeah! But not the Hawaiians. They only get kalo.

Aunty Christy: Huh?

Today we got to Barnes & Noble just in time to hear a storyteller ("Kainalu's mom!") read Kili and the Singing Tree Snails by Janice Crowl. The blurb below is from TheIslanderGroup.com.

Kili and Tutu prepare for the great lu‘au. The King – Kauikeaouli, Kamehameha the Third – is hosting a feast at Kaniakapupu in celebration of La Ho‘iho‘i Ea, or Sovereignty Restoration Day. Join Kili as he takes in the sights and sounds at this joyous event, and along the way, discovers the wondrous singing tree snails that are the namesake of the King’s historic residence. Kili and the Singing Tree Snails gives a glimpse into the days when the Hawaiian kingdom flourished, and shows the importance of aloha ‘aina – caring for the land and perpetuating Hawai‘i’s native culture.

Eliza made her own Kili craft - a tree with snails in it!

Eliza making her snail tree with "Aunty Kainalu's mom"


Careful cutting and coloring! The finished product!

Today we also visited Aunty Amy and Bentley in Manoa.

Eliza took Bentley for a walk!

And finally, Miss E discovered Aunty Christy's drawer of hair things! The good, the bad, and the bad '90s fashion that fortunately she did NOT care for. But we did settle on a new 'do for today!

Why yes, I DO answer to "Cutie Patootie"!

Today we had a great day! We went to Sea Life Park in the morning ... the drive was beautiful - clear skies, blue water and no traffic! We got to the park and saw lots of amazing things. We listened to a penguin talk (as in, a talk about penguins, not a TALKING PENGUIN!), saw sea turtles, and saw some great waving, dancing, flipping DOLPHINS! Of course, the highlight of the whole visit was ... See below!

The playground

After Sea Life Park, we went to visit Aunty Christy's uncles and aunties (so confusing!) ... Uncle Matt helped Eliza have a treasure hunt in the yard, and Eliza got to see an orange kitty and her four little kittens. Even Bentley came out to play.

Other pictures from today:

Penguin!


Amazing!!


A snork for swimming!


Deluxe arm paddles!

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By the way ... she LOVES this YouTube video (click picture). Her favorite part is "Bow wow chicka bow wow ..."

Today Eliza was very patient with Aunty as we went on some b-o-r-i-n-g errands to secure pet supplies at Wal*Mart. She did however find the TOY and BIKE department, and suggested that Santa might come (really) early this year and bring her this bike.

Aunty: Don't you already have a bike at home?

Eliza: Yes, but it's dirty.

Aunty: I bet you could clean it.

Eliza: My daddy is really good at cleaning. He should clean my bike. But I think he will rather buy me a new one.

Aunty: If you say so!

After Wal*Mart we bundled up and went to ... ICE PALACE! It was Eliza's second time and she was very excited. We pulled into the parking lot and Aunty Christy moaned and groaned because there were about six big yellow buses in the parking lot which meant of course that there would be TONS of kids inside.

Eliza: What's wrong, Aunty?

Aunty: There are going to be TONS of kids inside!

Eliza: YAY! TONS OF KIDS!

Sure enough, when we got to the entrance, the lady warned us, "There are about 400 kids inside. Want to go have lunch and come back?"

That got a big N-O from Eliza, so we braved the crazy crowd and watched while the Zamboni went around and around ... and finally we laced up our skates, stepped on the ice and swooshed around like the two complete pros that we are.

Hee hee!

Eliza had a great time. There are only "resting" pictures because cameras aren't allowed on the ice. Aunty Christy needs a nap but Eliza is NOT tired AT ALL!!! (Can you tell which parts of this entry she dictated?)

Skates on and ready to go!


Relaxing with her pal.


Having a moment with Kona's kitty.

I was unable to embed this into the blog post but take a look at Eliza's first experience with Pucker Powder. (Not my finest moment as an Aunty/babysitter, but it was so cute! And I promise -- she did NOT eat it all. She had three tastes and that was it.) Sorry but you have to turn your head because I took the video the wrong way.

Movie on 2011-06-21 at 14.03 a video by christy_yee on Flickr.

Today we went to the Friends of the Library Book Sale. Here's a video of Eliza reading her new book, "Who Will Go To Kindergarten Today?" Sorry, Flickr only allows 90 seconds, so her performance was cut off. Next time I'll use the Flip cam!

Eliza and her friends jump through hoops at Leahi!

"Hey, Kona. What are you looking at?"
"I don't know, Eliza ... what are YOU looking at?"

Aunty Christy is really, really, REALLY out of shape. We hiked halfway up Kuliouou today (to the picnic tables) and Aunty Christy kept asking Eliza, "Aren't you tired? Don't you want to turn around and go back to the car? You do, don't you. Let's go back!" ... but Eliza replied very serenely each time, "No, we are going ALL the way up, Aunty." Look at the picture - she didn't even break a sweat. Eliza and her pal Kona are SUPER TROUPERS!

Today was very low-key, due to a dramatic doctor's appointment complete with two shots! The shots must have done their job, though, because Eliza is even FASTER and STRONGER than before! She won every single race with Aunty this afternoon, and she turned her cherry Jell-O to mush with just a few pats of her spoon.

In the afternoon we visited Aunty Christy's mommy, Aunty Amy, and Bentley (Kona's brother). Eliza got to see the huge turtle, a bird named Cuddles, and lots of baby fishes at Aunty Amy's house. Below is a picture of Eliza playing Chinese Checkers with Uncle Daniel, who was also visiting at Aunty Amy's house. Eliza is so good at games, maybe one day she will join in and be the Grand Champion of the "Family Bonding" at her house. Watch out, Uncle Tenny!

Chinese Checkers

Today we picnicked at Manoa District Park. A little ribbon of Manoa Stream runs near the recreation center, so we put a blanket under a tree and ate sandwiches before going "fishing" - and of course we ate the blue Jell-O that Eliza made yesterday! Here she is showing off her berry blue tongue. -->

We had to practice our jumps in order to get from one side of the stream to the other without A) falling in or B) disturbing the toads that sleep under the muddy edges of the stream bank. Luckily, Eliza is now 5 and therefore takes great big 5-year-old leaps. We didn't fall in or wake up any toads!

Eliza was very quiet along the edge of the stream so she could observe the fish - some small and some BIG! - and the red crayfish that scuttle backwards when they are scared. We caught some mosquito fish and a pretty swordtail in a plastic cup. We poured them back into the water and away they swam.

Eliza also enjoyed picking yellow flowers and tossing them into the stream and feeding the fish her leftover bread. Here are some pictures of our day at the park!

Ready to scoop up some fish!


Sleeping grass!


Flowers in the stream


A quick stop at the playground before leaving the park :)

Kona loves having Eliza over! He really enjoys practicing tricks like SIT, ROLL OVER, BE VERY STILL, SHAKE YOUR TAIL JUST A LITTLE, and SING! Aunty Christy said, "Eliza, you should be a professional dog trainer when you grow up," but Eliza said, "Nah, I'm going to be on Dancing with the Stars." So Aunty Christy asked, "As a star or as a judge?" "As a STAR!" Aunty Christy is sure Eliza will be famous for something when she grows up!

Today we went to Barnes and Noble and read some books, including a fun book about counting called The Ten Button Book. There's a page for each number from 1 to 10, and you put colored buttons in the holes in the pictures! Eliza mentioned that she would like to make her OWN book with her OWN drawings. Sounds like a fun project for the coming weeks! Aunty Christy enjoyed drawing with Eliza today and agreed that she is a fantastic artist with an eye for color!

We watched part of "Annie" while we ate lunch. Then Eliza drew a picture of Annie (see the red curly hair?) under some thunderclouds. She also made a beautiful outfit for Annie!


Here's Eliza helping to make some blue Jell-O, which she's excited to eat at our park picnic tomorrow!

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Conversation of the Day:

(after some Taylor Swift car karaoke en route to swimming class)
Aunty Christy: Eliza, you are such a good singer.
Eliza: I know. I think I will go on American Idol instead of Dancing with the Stars.

"EIGHT! EIGHT CRAYONS! AH AH AH ..."

Today we went SCHOOL SUPPLY SHOPPING! Don't you love the folder Eliza picked out? (You may have to click on the picture to make it bigger.)

Eliza is 5 years old today! Hard to believe that when Aunty Christy met Uncle Scott, Eliza was only a few months old!

At the birthday girl's request, we spent the day at the Honolulu Zoo ("Are we there yet? Are we there yet? WHEN ARE WE GONNA GET THERE?!") In case you haven't been there in awhile, the zoo is HUGE. We had so much fun! Lots of walking, skipping, and climbing; visiting the animals, having snacks and making friends -- in short, Aunty Christy is too tired for paragraphs and the rest of today's entry will be told in pictures.

Elephants, of course!

Peacock encounter


Making friends with the greatest of ease ...


She ordered it herself, handled it herself, and ate it all by herself!


A very patient goat!


A picture of Eliza in the Goat Habitat in August 2009, the last time we took her to the zoo.


When we got home, we had a Gummy Frog hunt ...


But of course the Smart Girl found all the frogs!


♥ What a fun day! ♥

NOTE: The camera LOVES Eliza but Eliza does not love the camera! She scampered away most times she saw Aunty Christy taking aim. More pics can be found at my Flickr page.

Day 3 - Lots of fun! Eliza is such a funny joke teller. Q: "What did the dog say when he went to the bank?" A: "It's time to brush our teeth!"

Today we went to Manoa Elementary School to visit Aunty Christy's brother, Uncle Matt, and her friend, Aunty Kristi. In summer school Uncle Matt teaches 4th grade and Aunty Kristi teaches 1st grade. Eliza got to visit both Big Kid classrooms after the other children went home. She got to look at some stories the kids wrote about bananas riding bicycles. We also went outside and swung on the monkey bars, tippy-toed across a balance beam, and ran on the painted lines of the blacktop. Eliza said she is very excited to go to kindergarten in the fall so she can learn new things and make new friends. Speaking of learning new things, Aunty Christy learned to remember the phrase: "Do you need to use the bathroom before we leave?" Fortunately both Eliza and Aunty Christy can run really fast when they need to, so no accidents today!

After all that exercise we met Aunty Kristi and Uncle Matt at Kit N' Kitchen on University, where Eliza ate every bite of a yummy cheese pizza (except the crust, which she generously offered to Uncle Matt.) Then we went to Frost City and had some Raspberry snow ice. Yum! Eliza and Aunty Christy were both more impressed with the pretty decorations than the actual snow ice.

After lunch we took our full tummies home, where Eliza took Kona on a nice walk around the yard and talked to Shumai the turtle. Then it was time for swimming lessons!

More arm paddles and pizza circles today. Eliza was a very good listener and waited patiently for her turn during the lesson. Lots of smiles and high-fives. She did pizza circle slices all the way across the pool without stopping! Great job, Eliza!

Underwater with Aunty Sophia

Drawing a whale on the table with Uncle Matt