Maui Ocean Center

After the awesome staff at Makena Surf brought cake and singing, our family of four headed up the road to the Maui Ocean Center.  We had purchased week long passes online for the price of one day's admission.  It was a pretty sweet deal that we knew the grandparents would appreciate later in the week.

Shortly after our arrival, we were approached by a woman named Wendy, a naturalist employed by the Maui Ocean Center.  She offered us the opportunity to take a behind the scenes tour for the bargain price of $10 a head.  With just eight other folks, we would be taken into the Employees Only lab and given a tour by one of the marine biologists that would include feeding the sea turtles and the hammerhead sharks.  My answer was, "Heck, YES!"

We had about forty five minutes before the tour started.  We spent that time enjoying exhibits.  There were so many cool tropical fish to see.  The boys were completely enthralled.  Some pics to prove it:

 Paul's favorite cat is named Toby.  It belongs to our friends.  He spotted this fish. It's a Toby, too.

Luke liked this sub.  This is an amazing shot of his shiner.  Good times.

When the time came for the tour, I was honestly a little unsure how this would go.  We met up with Wendy and the other tour participants at the pre-arranged bench.  The boys were a little tired and grumpy, so I was prepared to bail if necessary.

The tour started and we headed right for the lab.  My boys were UBER impressed with the small, slightly smelly marine biology lab.  Did anyone doubt?  Larisa, the marine biologist, talked us through how they grow the food for some of the animals.  It's like plankton, people.  The boys were enthralled.

 Larisa in the Lab

Then she showed us some of the coral they are growing.  Again, the eight and the six year old were WAY into it.  Around the corner she showed us a moon jelly which the boys were able to touch.  VERY cool.  She also showed them this other little creature thing, the name of which I can't recall.  The boys were totally attentive and interested in everything.  It didn't hurt that they were the only children on the tour, so they had no competition for touching things and getting the front row view.

 Larisa holds the Nameless Creature while Paul reaches out and touches it.

 Nameless Creature and Paul

Luke after touching the moon jelly...a little grossed out. ;-)

We then ventured outside where they have the baby sea turtle tanks that aren't for public viewing.  Oh.  My.  Word.  The cutest thing I've ever seen is a baby sea turtle splashing my eight year old in a way that seemed to be on purpose.  Adorable times a million.  We were able to spend about fifteen minutes with that brand of cute.  Larisa even fed them while we were there.  The boys were given lots of cool information about the turtles, all of which I completely missed because I was so busy taking pictures.

The next stop on the tour was the adult sea turtle exhibit where we were all able to toss in the cubes of homemade turtle food, along with a bunch of lettuce leaves.  CHOMP!

Cube of turtle Jello - veggies and algae in a gelatinous cube - YUM! 

Then we headed over to feed a bunch of fish parts to the hammerheads and rays.  MEGA CHOMP!  It was at this point that Paul answered one of Wendy's questions correctly, telling the entire group that the smallest shark in the world is the Dwarf Shark.  Thank you very much, Multnomah County Library System.  It was awesome.

We finished the tour in the underwater tunnel where Wendy gave us more information about the sharks and rays in this particular exhibit, including the important role of sharks in the ocean.  She then invited all of us to stick around for the public feeding of the sharks and rays by a diver in about thirty minutes.  The boys were TOTALLY interested in that.  We spent the next thirty minutes hanging out in the underwater tunnel and managed to get front row seats for the dive.

We posed this shot while we waited for the dive to start, but it's still super fun!

Front row seats for the dive!

Lo and behold!  The diver turned out to be Larisa!  She waved and said a special greeting to the boys from the tank.  Wendy was in the viewing area with her own microphone, asking Larisa questions and giving the audience, a group of probably 75 folks, the chance to do the same.

Larisa and the spotted ray, a favorite of everyone's.

At the end of the presentation, Wendy said that one child would get a prize for answering the following question correctly.  "What is the role of sharks in the ocean?"  Luke's hand shot up and Wendy made her way to him.  (She knew she had a ringer!)  Luke leaned into the microphone and explained that sharks are important because they get rid of diseased and dying fish in the ocean, keeping it clean.

People, I just about wept.  There are very few opportunities when this homeschooling mom gets to see her kids shine in public.  They shine every day in our home, but it's kinda special when I get to show them off a little bit.  Luke won his prize, a very cool shark identification card.  The presentation ended and we headed for the car.

For the record:  The $10 tour at the Maui Ocean Center is TOTALLY worth it, people!  They only give it on Tuesdays and Fridays, so plan ahead if you are going.  Ask for Wendy.  She rocks.  In conclusion, it was simply an awesome day.

Why Housekeepers at Makena Surf Rock

Maui was just too relaxing, so not much blogging happened.  I will make up for it now.  I will begin with the post about why the housekeepers at Makena Surf are so very awesome.

Each morning around 9am, the lovely and fabulous Franny would ring the doorbell of our condo and ask if we needed anything.  Fresh towels?  More toilet paper?  Anything?

On our second morning, she noticed that we had the same last name as the folks staying in G101 and asked if we were related.  I smiled and told her that we were all there to celebrate Grandpa's 65th birthday.  She immediately said that she and the other housekeepers (she called them her girls) wanted to get a cake and sing to him.  No joke.

And they did.  The following morning after a little bit of sneakiness on my part and Lynne's part, the housekeeping staff arrived with cake and song and kisses.  It was definitely awesome.

Here are a few pics to commemorate the awesome.

 I am standing between the fabulous Franny and the birthday boy.  So fun!

 Paul is eating cake for breakfast.  He likes Maui a lot.

 Paul got cake on his leg and the lanai.  He wanted to eat it anyway.  We said no.

Franny and me.  Aren't we lovely?

Unexpected Color

I had intended to blog most days here on Maui, but yesterday we had some unexpected events that prevented a post.  I want to start by saying that everyone is fine.  Okay.  Around 3:45 a.m. after a trip to the bathroom, Luke took a tumble down the three tile steps in our condo, landing on the right side of his face.  It hurt.  A lot.  The screaming Luke tore us from sleep and our beds.  We did our best to comfort him while simultaneously gauging his injuries.

The living room of our place has two twin beds set up as daybeds in an L shape.  Luke took one and I took the other, wanting to keep him under observation for awhile.  The injury just looked dangerously close to his temple.  So, Luke slept and I prayed and watched.  Eventually around 5:30 am, I realized I wasn't going to be able to fall back asleep anyway with all that Mommy Adrenaline, so I made coffee.  Luke was able to sleep until around 8:45 a.m.  He awoke chipper and rested and COLORFUL.  Here are the pics.

 Yesterday evening at Grandma and Grandpa's

 He's so cute, shiner and all.

This morning's edition was even MORE colorful.

Stay tuned in upcoming posts for more eye pics and an entire post devoted to why the housekeeping staff at Makena Surf is the coolest group of folks on Maui.

Hawaii!

We are here!  In Hawaii!!  On Maui to be exact.  :-)  And what a HUGE, beautiful blessing it is to be here.  Dave and Lynne started planning this trip in July before any of us knew how very desperately Amy would need it.  Hand. Of. God. People.  I can see it.

We landed yesterday afternoon, but you have to hear about the week leading up to the trip.  On Tuesday night at Bible Study, I started to feel a little under the weather, slight nasal congestion and weariness.  By Wednesday morning, I knew I was sick.  Knowing we were flying Saturday morning for Maui, I prayed hard and started a crazy strict regimen of EmergenC, Cold-Eeze, and Umcka, all different homeopathic cold products that at least claim to shorten the duration and severity of the common cold.  And then I did something I RARELY do when sick.  I rested.  For two days straight.  The boys subsisted on Kashi cereal, protein bars and string cheese while I convalesced in bed, sucking zinc drops and drinking what felt like oceans of water.  They brought the school books to me in bed and we did school there.  I did no housework (and must apologize to my mother who is housesitting in a glorious sty this week).  But guess what?

IT ALL WORKED!!  I'm sitting on our lanai breathing through my nose!!  Don't get me wrong.  I took a real Sudafed this morning, but I feel immeasurably better.  Thank You, Lord!

Okay, enough of my goofiness, let's get some pictures up here and allow you to enjoy some fun and beauty.

First, you should know, our boys have been counting down to this trip for weeks now.  They started singing a Hawaii song of their invention about a month ago.  When we first shared with them about it, they were fairly confident it was going to be the best thing ever.  They were not wrong.  Since the airport all four of us have not stopped wishing each other, "Happy Hawaii!"

But right before we left I had to do this:

 Yep.  I'm a homeschooler.  Paul got the globe and a finger on both Maui and Portland for me and smiled a super cheesy grin.  Perfect.

I will say the day of travel was tough on my eldest.  Luke contracted the cold the day before we flew.  I hate that he could only take that weak sauce kids' cold medicine.  That junk does NOT work.  So, he was fairly miserable on the flight, but his life here is much improved.  How could it not be?

 Last night, despite a full day of travel and a time difference that meant it was already two hours past their regular bedtime, we walked the boys down to our beach.  They LOVED it.

 We are staying in the center set of windows in this picture.  Actually we are in the unit on the ground floor below the center set of windows.  It is perfect.  The beach is right in front of it.  You have to walk around the cliff on soft, toe-pleasing grass.  Nobody minds.

 I love these dudes.  And I am unable to express how grateful I am to Dave and Lynne for providing our family with these super sweet memories.

 We kissed right after this picture.  On the beach.  In Maui.

Okay, some details, mostly for my mom.  She loves the details.  :-)

Our kitchen:

 Our dining room:

Our living room:

The view from our lanai this morning:

Me posing in front of the view this morning:

Wanna hear how smart I am?  I knew the time difference was going to be a killer on our first few mornings.  The children who arise in the 6am hour on the west coast find themselves looking at clocks with threes at the front on Maui.  This could have been very, very bad.

With this in mind, Erik and I acquired some hand held video gaming devices for the children, along with about twelve super cheap, cheesy games.  The story behind the vetting of these games is worthy of its own post, but I'll just say that Erik bought them used during the weeks leading up to this trip.  We would then lock ourselves in our bedroom and play each one...to determine its suitability, people!  ;-)

So, how did all this shake down this morning?  Sure enough, I emerged from our bedroom at 4am local time to discover Luke sitting in the living room.  He was chewing a piece of gum which he "accidentally" put in his mouth and now had to finish chewing and spit out before going back to bed.  Okay...this kid knows the rules.  His clock does NOT say morning seven. It says middle of the night four.  Simultaneously, he's done sleeping after nearly eleven hours.  So, when I started pouring cereal for him, he was pretty amazed.   Paul must have smelled the Cheerios because he also appeared.  So the boys ate breakfast before 4:30 am, and then were handed electronic entertainment and sent blissfully to their room.

I meanwhile sat on the lanai watching the stars fade out and the sun rise.  The bird song alone was amazing, never mind the amazing view of Molokini on the horizon. Brilliant.

Paul with his electronic thing:

Luke and Erik enjoying electronics together this afternoon:

Later when the rest of the world was functioning, Erik and I ran into Kihei for Starbucks and groceries.  The boys spent time with Grandma and Grandpa at the beach, on the lanai, and on a walk.  More pictures!

Boys and binoculars:

One of the major reasons the boys love Maui - GECKO!

Some Maui beauty courtesy Lynne:

And now we are hanging at Dave and Lynne's place, four doors down, casually watching the Blazers, but mostly just enjoying each other.  Beautiful.

What is Paul up to?

Well folks, Paul amazes me. Just now he arrived in the playroom to show me how he had "transferred the mechanism from Cole's earth driller" to the blaster of his Hero Factory guy. (His words in quotes) Don't worry about the character names. Just know that he took the part that made a wheel turn and made a stationary blaster barrel into a rotating one because he thought it would be cooler. He was right.

I took a picture of the inside and of Paul showing it off.

Writing With Ease

That's the name of the writing curriculum I use with Luke. I picked it because it felt like it would be...you guessed it...easy! And it is.

On Monday every week I read a passage they give me to Luke. I ask a few comprehension questions, also provided. Then I ask him to briefly summarize the passage. At this point, he dictates that business to me and I write it down.

Today's passage was from The Story of the Greeks by H.A. Guerber. Here is what Luke dictated to me:

"All children in Sparta were trained to be brave and fearless. They were taken away at the age of seven, the boys to be trained in the army, the girls to be taught how to keep a house clean and tidy."

Look at that second sentence, people! The structure on that thing is unbelievably complex, especially considering it's from an eight year old boy.

I am continually amazed at the faithfulness of God. Maybe, you ask what Luke's awesome sentence structure has to do with God. I see it this way: I've been struggling with depression. School has continued to happen because God has consistently led me to great curriculum that has produced great results despite a mom with low energy and tears in her eyes.

When I read my Bible, it reminds me that God is able to give us immeasurably more than we ask or imagine. In my world, that second sentence of Luke's is clear evidence of that. My typical prayer during all of this has been, "Help us get school done today, Lord." He had done SO much more. And I am super grateful.

Here's a pic I took of Luke's narration this morning. I hope it helps you see the immense goodness of the God who created you, loves you and wants to provide more than you ask or imagine.

What Happened?

WARNING:  This blog post rambles like brambles, people.  Watch out.

Long story short(ish):  About four weeks ago I was diagnosed with depression.  What does that even mean?  Well folks, I've been struggling with the everyday life stuff for about four months now.  I finally noticed in early March that I was pretending to be me when I was around others, but when I was alone I just sat on my couch and felt miserable for no perceivable reason.  Odd, huh?  And most telling for me was the fact that things that usually feed my soul (Bible Study, time with Erik, girl time, time alone) were completely uninteresting and even miserable making.  Blah.  Lots and lots of blah.

So after sharing the above with some important folks (my husband, my awesome Bible Study buddies), I went to the doctor.  She walked me through a little questionnaire.  Out of nine symptoms I had seven in spades.  Guh.  That's the sound I make when I feel like everything sucks and I wish this weren't my story.  But it is.

My doctor rocks.  She gave me some samples of a new anti-depressant with very few side effects.  I started taking them.  I still don't feel 100% like me, but we have seen some improvement.  I've started laughing at Erik's jokes again and actually made a joke last night.  But there are still massive struggles that just don't feel very Amy Bangsund-like.  For instance, currently my first tendency is to avoid people, and at the same time when I'm alone I feel awful.  Decision making is not my strong suit.  In fact, don't ask me to make decisions right now.  My brain doesn't want to do that.  And so I dither.  It would be funny except that it's my life.

The thing that has been the best in all of this has been homeschooling.  Raise your hand if that shocks you.  Yep.  Me, too.  My curriculum is that good.  It's open and go.  No decision making.  No dithering.  I love it.  Every week day there is a window of time where I feel productive and effective because I can open a binder, find the day's readings and do them.  Have I mentioned that I think Sonlight curriculum is a gift from Jesus Christ to our family?  Cuz it is.

So we aren't behind in school.  Miracle.  And I crave time with my boys.  Total miracle.  And I am so grateful to God.  I know He is with me.  And simultaneously...

I'm in the middle of something that is so hard and lame.  Just today, I'm headed to spend time with a friend this evening, but I had to spend ALL morning talking myself into going.  She is a delightful, low-maintenance friend.  I know that time with her will be good.  But the process of getting in the car and going feels overwhelming.  I actually credit my awesome counselor with giving me the tools necessary for survival right now.  When I was struggling last year with anger, she encouraged me to visualize the boys being crazy and me handling it well.  I did that.  Now I don't have the anger thing, but I visualize myself grabbing my purse and keys, heading out the door, getting in the car, starting it up, and heading down the road.  That wasn't so hard was it?  Nope.  Totally do-able.

So, that's the story.  Or part of it.  It doesn't really have an ending yet.  I'm in process.  Everyone is in process, but depression will show you how very much you are in process.  Guh.

And now, because I know it will help my heart and perhaps yours as well, the pics.

 Luke in classic homeschool "uniform" picking flowers.  It's spring!

 Up close and personal with Paul

 We took a walk on a cool March day.  Luke hugged this bush.  I took a picture.

Paul eating lunch in an upside down circus tent.  Obviously.