Hau'oli Makahiki Hou (Happy New Year)

Makana's New Year Wish:

"That everyone is happy!"

Maile's New Year Wish:
"That everyone has hope and care."

Ke'ale's New Year Wish:

"That everyone is friendly this year."

(Girls pic'd at Hawaii Memorial Park visiting Popo)

Tea for 8 and 8 for Tea

Today we went to tea with Tutu, Auli'i, Auntie Lei, Faith and Sage. We are having dinner with Faith and Sage. Love, Makana

Splish Splash, We Flipped on the Paddle Board

Today we went to the beach. And we all fell off the paddle board. It was lots of fun. Love, Maile

Yum Yum Dim Sum with Nellie Lee and Paddle Boarding

Aloha!
We went to eat yum yum dim sum with Miss Lee's sister and then we went paddle boarding. And we ate dinner at old McDonald's.
Love, Ke'ale

Powerless Oahu?

Aloha all,
After 12 hours of "lights out" honolulu - we have power back at 3411 Hinahina Street. There was a lightning storm that knocked out all power to the island (Yes, all 900,000+ kamaina -- aka. locals -- and vacationers and even the Obama family) around 6:45 pm last night. We lit up the candles, watched the lightning streak across the sky, and then fired up the MacBook to watch a flick (don't you just love fully-charged, battery-powered DVD/laptop?!). Gotta say, it was pretty cool. Love, Dana

Surfing Sisters

Today we went to the beach. And we saw a lot of fish. A trumpet fish and a humuhumunukunukuapua'a (Mama said: Humu, for short. It's a triggerfish and the state fish of Hawaii.) And we got shave ice. Love, Maile

Shirtless Obama - Great Quote from News in HI

Favorite quote of the week re Obama shirtless at the beach in Kailua:

"Well," said the news reporter, "at least the future president is humble. He still does the laundry ... ON HIS ABS!"

Enjoy!

"Sandy" Claus Came to Oahu

We went to the beach after we opened our presents. And we learned to surf. Our dog, Ziggy, got new toys. They were a fox & a snake & a lizard. And we had fun.

Love, Ke'ale

Christmas Eve on Oahu

Aloha!
We went to the Hawaii Bowl. UH lost, but we had fun. Papa came to Hawaii. Love, Makana

Losing a Tooth at the Polynesian Cultural Center

Aloha!

This is Makana. I lost my 4th tooth. I miss you.

(NOTE from Mama: Today, we visited the PCC with Tutu. We learned how to: make fire, open coconuts and squeeze milk, dance a native Samoan dance, and more! Makana spent most of the afternoon working on getting a very loose tooth to come out, and voila, while we were waiting to ride canoes, it happened. Kaipo arrives 12/24 and will join us as we cheer on UH vs. Notre Dame!)

Rainbow Day - Shave Ice and Over Diamond Head

Aloha Classmates!
Today we ate shave ice and we went to Michelle's pool. Me and my sisters sent postcards to you. Mama saw a rainbow over Diamond Head.
Love, Maile

Dec. 20 - Dances with eels (post from Makana)

We saw an eel. We saw Santa and dolphins. We went to the Nutcracker. We are having so much fun in Hawaii. Love, Makana

(NOTE: We spotted the eels at Kaimana Beach while snorkling. We had tea with Santa at the Kahala Resort; and they have six dolphins living there. The Nutcracker was performed by the Hawaii Ballet Co., at the Neil Blasdale Theater).

Dec. 19 10:42 PM - From VIP Treatment in the ER to Meeting Hawaii VIPS

(Recap from Mama) Tonight we visited Washington Place - the former home of Hawaii's Queen Lili'uokalani and current home of Governor Linda Lingle. While waiting in line to a sneak peek at the rarely-open-to-the-public historic treasure, the girls were greeted by a very official and warm couple with leis (and a few secret service peeps too!). Turns out, we met Hawaii's Lt. Governor James R. "Duke" Aiona, Jr. and his wife Vivian. Maybe we should head to Kailua where the prez elect is due to arrive in T minus 16 hours!

Dec. 19 - Ke'ale's Santa Sighting

We saw Santa in Hawaii. We got candy canes, and new mermaids. And we went swimming. And I made cupcakes. We are having a party for our cousin Makana-booboo today. Merry Christmas! Love, Ke'ale

Dec. 18 11 PM - Young Family Single-handedly Supports Hawaii's Healthcare System

The best laid plans ... Ke'ale was set to write tonight's blog, but we put this on hold due to the "hey-we're-in-Hawaii-let's-visit-the ER" extravaganza. We can hear a little giggling because on the mainland, we almost never go to see our doctor. However, when we visit Hawaii, we end up in ER within a day or two of landing. (Note: we have been on Oahu for about 52 hours ;) We'll save our Visit with Santa (which also happened today) for Ke'ale's post.

Here's a recap of our night (told to Mama by the sisters).

Makana: "We are going to the Emergency Room."
Maile: "I am freaking out!"
Ke'ale: "Can I come!"
Mama: "No, you are the only one who hasn't gotten bitten by anything - yet."
NOTE: Ke'ale, although very disappointed and very worried about her sisters, happily played Webkinz at home with Auntie Malia and Tutu.

From the ER:
Maile: "I got a fake cast on my hand - I had a bleeding finger because Ziggy bit me. And, I had a swollen arm."
Makana: "My leg is swollen, and my arm, and my other leg too. I got a bad bug bite. And, Dr. Dana (we like her because she has the same name as our Mama) drew on our arms and our legs!"
Maile: "Dr. Jay looked at us too - and then we got shots on our okoles ("b.u.t.t.s").

Other highlights: Maile's future as the voiceover in horror films as evidenced by her blood-curdling scream heard by the entire Kaiser staff (and patients); iPhone movie (Ella, The Enchanted) calmed the sisters, and was a great distractor; Hershey's kisses with mac nuts (yum), grapes, and guava juice; and (huge sigh of relief) everything covered by Kaiser.

Ke'ale is on deck for an officially "non-emergency room" post for Dec. 19.

December 18, 2008 - MeleChrismahanukwanzakah

We thought this headline was funny, and, of course, we had to add the "mele" ("merry") to give it a little influence of Aloha.

Tonight's blogger will be Ke'ale (check back later in the day). Here is a sample of what's going on around the islands (from Mama):

- most Oahu beaches (and the news) are warning "no go swimming" due to "opala" ("garbage) and run off from rains luring "mano" ("sharks") close into shores.
- thunderstorms on Kauai are moving towards Oahu.
- Santa is supposed to arrive on an outrigger canoe this week.
- Barack Obama and his family will arrive here on Saturday, Dec. 20th. He's heading to Kailua and will attend a memorial service for his grandmother who passed away the day before he was elected to be our 44th president.

Have an ALOHA day!

December 17, 2008 - Aloha Classmates

This is Maile typing. We went to the Hawaii Discovery Museum to see the bubbles and explore. We also ate spam musubi. We gave Ziggy a bath. It is raining, but warm. That is all.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008 - Flying the Friendly Skies

We had fun flying to Hawaii today. We watched "Tinkerbell" on the plane ride and met Ziggy (our Hawaiian dog) when we arrived. We love Ziggy. He's so cute. Makana hasn't even sneezed once, so we are going to ask Papa for a dog when we are home in Oakland. We ate "candy chicken" with Tutu tonight (sweet & sour chicken at Happy Days Restaurant). We are so happy to be at our Hawaiian home. We are going to the Hawaii Discovery Museum tomorrow, and we want to go to Hanuama Bay too. We are writing in our journals. Oh, we also had Malasadas tonight - they are Papa's favorites. Tutu told us that Lala called them Watatadas when she was four. That is funny. Bye bye. Have a good night.