Polynesian Cultural Center

Buddy and the infamous fire-walking Samoan.

We were told by many, many people that we have to visit the PCC while in Hawaii. Everyone told us the visit and the luau were well worth the admission price. I already knew that was a priority for me because I've wanted to go for a number of years. I remember my grandparents going to Hawaii back when I was young enough to get really excited about the "grass skirts" they brought back from the ABC store. They came home with those grass skirts and lots of stories about the PCC. In the end, visiting the PCC played a big role in our decision to go to Oahu.

Buddy playing drums with the Tongans

Even Pee-Wee was having fun!

Hot and Sweaty after a long day in the sun.

Let me be clear: We loved everything about it! G had already been before, but for Buddy and I, it was better than we expected. And we had really high expectations. My sister's mother-in-law told me that one cool and unexpected thing for her, was how strong you could feel the spirit immediately when you walk in. That was totally true. It was amazing how many visitors there were (as seen at the evening show and luau), but how smoothly things ran. There were no crowds and there were enough BYU-Hawaii student employees wandering around to make each visitor feel like they were the only ones there. I've never really seen anything like it and I spent many, many crowded days at BYU-Provo. (Maybe I should recommend the planners of Education Week and the supervisors at the Morris Center talk with the people at the PCC.)

M and Pee-Wee at the luau

G and Buddy enjoying the delicious meal at the luau. An employee directed Buddy over to the "kids" food table, but of course he passed and enjoyed the roasted pig buffet instead.

I've often wondered if I was approached by full-time missionaries or missionary-minded friends, if I would join the church. I have to admit that I can't imagine myself accepting the gospel that way. So I've always been really grateful that I was born into it. After my visit to the PCC, I kept telling G that I was curious to know how many people become curious about the students or the church after being there. I mean, not only is the PCC a Polynesian cultural experience, but it's a lesson in the way we're supposed to be living as members of the church. You know, courteous, fun, hospitable, Christlike, having integrity, joy, etc. I honestly think that if I knew nothing about the church, I would have high-tailed it over to one of the students and asked them what was "different" about them. And then I would have joined the church. They don't push the church there. The influence is very subtle, but like I mentioned, the spirit you feel there is pretty obvious. I was a BYU student once, but I don't think I as interesting and mature and well, impressive as the Polynesian and gringo students there. In the end, it was hard to leave. We had a really fun time. And now that our trip to Hawaii is over, Buddy still maintains that the fire dancers and playing the drums with the Tongans were some of his favorite parts of the whole trip (that and the snorkeling, of course). And he still can't understand how those Samoans walk on fire. Well, either can I... (I'm just crossing my fingers he doesn't try it. Yikes!)Our beautiful children. How did we get such cute ones?

M and G. Can you tell we were teaching Buddy how to use the camera? Pretty good for his first try!

So, G and I are seriously considering selling all of our possessions, selling the house, and moving to BYU-H. Do they have graduate programs? G could teach, I could go to school, and we could both work there. And play at the beach all the time, of course.

Aloha 2

It is my turn to update on our recent adventures. On Monday we drove to Diamond Head, but decided to keep going and ended up in Hanauma Bay. We had a fantastic time and Jr learned to snorkel. He hasn't stopped talking about it since. Yesterday we spent all day at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Jr got to dance with the Samoans, bang drums with the Tongans, and stick his tongue out with the Maoris. We all enjoyed the luau for dinner and the night show. Jr especially loved the dances with the fire. Today we drove back to the North Shore with the intentions of hiking to a waterfall and more snorkeling. Unfortunately, the weather decided not to cooperate and it poured rain most of the day. We ended up going to the Dole Plantation, and then spent most of the day in the town of Haleiwa getting soaked in the warm tropical rain and shopping. We had a fabulous dinner at a local restaurant and then came back to Waikiki. We spent more time walking around until the kids were so tired that they couldn't keep their eyes open any longer. M and I are depressed at the thought that our vacation is half over. We are having a wonderful time and are considering selling all of our possessions and moving here permanently. We will have so many stories when we return. I can say that I have learned a few things while I've been here. For example:

1. I understand why my dad acted the way he did (ie, constantly irritatede) on family vacations. It all makes so much more sense to me.

2. Something about being on vacation makes me constantly hungry.

3. I will never own a Po.ntiac G6 (our current rental car)

4. Kids wet their pants and/or need to pee every 15 minutes.

5. Whoever invented the portable GPS should be given a Nobel Peace Prize (it has spared M and I from countless frustrations from getting lost)

6. Everyone talks to you when you have adorable kids and a hot wife who looks to0 young to have two adorable kids.

7. Having someone clean up the room when you leave is awesome.

More to come . . . .

Aloha!

Well, if Buddy hadn't made me crazy-mad several days/weeks in a row, we wouldn't be here...

Greetings from beautiful Waikiki Beach.

It all started with "talk" about going to Hawaii one day. And "talk" about taking a "family vacation" once we finally were a family with kids (plural). I've been excited to take family vacations for several years now. We took a bunch of vacations when it was just the two of us, like trips to visit family in Utah/Oregon, Victoria in Canada, Las Vegas, New York, and then a cruise to the Caribbean. Then when Noah came along we went to the Oregon Coast a few times, Utah/Nevada to visit family, and Disneyland/San Diego.

But then as soon as Pee-Wee came, I wanted to go someone just the four of us. Plus G and I just celebrated our 10-year anniversary and that definitely is something to celebrate. And then Buddy royally hoarked me off one day. G came home from work and I said that I was either getting a part-time job and putting Buddy in daycare, or we were taking a trip to Hawaii. I needed a break from the normal grind in a major way. Next thing anyone knew, the airline tickets and hotel were booked.

And here we are.

We got here yesterday and we've been having a great time. Buddy is so over the top excited, we can hardly get him to relax or shut up. First it was Sea World, then it was Uncle Luke's farm, and now it's the ocean in Hawaii. He has a new favorite place on earth.

A few highlights so far, although we'll have many more stories and certainly cool pictures later.

• The 6-hour flight was uneventful -- except when Buddy somehow fell asleep and peed all over the seat. Buddy never sleeps in public and for some reason he has a problem holding his pee when he goes to sleep. Well, just that once he fell asleep. Oops. Thank goodness he was wearing nylon pants that dried quickly. I feel really badly for the poor person that gets that seat next flight.
  
• We are totally messed up on our time since we're three hours behind Pacific time. We were in bed by 10:00 PM last night and up a little before 7:00 this morning, which is unheard of for us.
  
• We went to the popular swap-meet here on Oahu today. It was hot, but pretty fun. A lot of cool touristy stuff and a lot of junk, but we got some treats, a sun hat for G and some beach towels at least.
  
• We swam in the ocean today, which was really fun. We had to because we were so tired of Buddy asking us to take him. And now that he's been, he won't stop asking to go back. He loves, loves, loves it.
  
• But Sam, not so much. He'll get a little more used to it, but he didn't really like being covered in sand.
• We took a "walk" to look for somewhere fun to eat dinner tonight. We walked and walked, following a bunch of people we had overheard talking about a good place to eat. But Buddy walks slower than those adults, so after about 45 minutes of walking, they got too far ahead of us and we couldn't see where they went. We ended up eating at a Hawaiian "hamburger stand" that we walked past on our long walk. It was a place we talked about driving to tomorrow. Thank goodness we rented a car and are paying $24 a day to park, when we end up walking everywhere...

* * *

In other old news, we have had an extremely eventful month of May. I plan to blog about the highlights later when we get home. But if you're interested in hearing about why I haven't had time to blog (including my trip to Utah, my new primary president assignment, or Sam's sealing, you can read my sister's post. Since we pretty much spent the entire month together -- which was really, really great.)

First Impressions

After my first year of law school, M and I came to the conclusion that we needed to get a second vehicle. We did a lot of research and finally found a car that we could afford that would suit our needs. We ended up purchasing a 1993 Honda Accord LX. It has been a good car and has done well over the years. However, it is now 15 years old, the paint is oxidizing like crazy, one of the windows doesn't unroll, the antenna is busted, and the rust finally wore a hole in the muffler. Now M can hear me well before I pull into the garage on my way home from work. Of course, I've been too busy to get it fixed, so I've endured the sound for months now.

Anyway, tonight I had a meeting with a new client in a very affluent part of Portland. It took me a little while to find the house I was looking for and so I was driving around the neighborhood while people were wondering how I was even allowed through the gates of the community. Once I found the house, the owner was waiting for me with other owners. I pulled into the driveway and parked behind the owner's BMW 750Li and his wife's Lexus SUV. As I turned off the car and it sputtered out, I had a feeling of embarrassment and a fear that I was going to get fired solely based on the car I drove.

There seems to be a delicate balance for a lawyer's vehicle choice. You want to be able to drive something nice enough that clients will think your successful, but not so nice that they are upset that they feel like they are paying you too much. In any event, I think the time has come for me to make some sort of upgrade.