i am...mai

First Library Card

We still have a little less than three weeks of summer vacation left, so the battle against boredom continues.  We've done a pretty good job so far armed with play days, swim lessons, and art classes, but most of Arwen's friends have returned to their schools, the swim lessons end tomorrow, and the art classes are only once a week.  So today I added something new to the "Things to Do" list by introducing Arwen to the public library.

I'm surprised I didn't take her sooner because Arwen loves books and reading.  As a child, I loved to read and spent hours at a time browsing our local library.  Around the second or third grade, we started writing reports, and a trip to the library to complete the assignment opened up a whole new world for me.  I began checking out two or three books at a time, taking them straight home, reading every available second, and then returning to the library within a day or two to exchange the books for a new batch.  By the fifth grade, my friend, Michele, and I became volunteers at the library, with the primary duty of returning the books to the shelves and making sure they were all in order.  This was fun for me, and I just love to see that same excitement about books and reading in my daughter.

Arwen took to the library like a natural, racing up the stairs and then stopping to whisper at the entrance, "We need to be quiet in the library."  She wasted no time, immediately pulling my arm and guiding me toward the shelves of books.  "Where are the kid books?!?!"  Her eyes lit up as we turned the corner, and she spotted her section.  She let go of my hand and started scanning the shelves.  In no time, Arwen had a stack of a half a dozen books on her table and took a seat to begin reading.  She flipped through some of the books on her own, and when I was finished filling out our library card applications, I read her a few.  I enjoyed both the quality time with Arwen as well as the air conditioning. 

When it was time to go, I told Arwen she could select two books to take home.  She talked me into four and then said, "We're borrowing these, right?"  The whole concept of borrowing is new to Arwen (more about this later.)  She's certainly entertained by it, but I don't think she's decided if she likes it just yet.  Regardless, she was ecstatic when the librarian handed over her very own library card and insisted on carrying it and her books back to the car herself.  Our first library visit was a successful one, and hopefully we'll keep this a regular thing.  Maybe I'll even get to pick out a few books for me next time.

My new love - Indian food

My taste buds are still dancing and my tummy satisfied after a fantastic dinner at Himalayan Kitchen tonight.  As the host for this month's Page Turners (our book club) gathering and still without a living space large enough to accommodate any guests, I hopped on Larisa's idea to host at an Indian restaurant to tie into my book selection, Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri.   I'd never had Indian food before, so I put a call out for some help from my friends on Facebook, and Karla came to my rescue with the suggestion of this place.

Unfortunately, after two weeks of receiving anticipated absence reports due to travel, out of town guests, and childcare, a couple more last minute issues whittled our Page Turners group down to just two for the night - Tamzen and me.  Rob and Arwen dropped me off at the restaurant and planned to have a Daddy - Daughter date at Big City Diner and maybe a walk over to Toys and Joys, but decided to join us after learning about the sudden headcount change.

We were seated at a table out on the street side lanai.  It only overlooked the basketball courts and lights across the street, but that didn't matter because the beautiful decor, soothing Nepalese tunes, and hypnotic scent of spices from the kitchen kept our attention right at the table.  With the help of the food descriptions on the menu and our waitress' suggestions, we ordered the Veggie Samosa and Himalayan Spring Roll to start.  Both were delicious.  For dinner, we had Aloo Paratha, Blackened Mahi, Tandoori Shrimp, Chicken Curry, and Chicken Bhuna served family style with some Basmati Rice.  All was fantastic, especially the Chicken Bhuna.  Rob said he could eat that dish every day for the rest of his life.  I think I may agree.  For dessert, we shared a rice pudding.  Yum!  I was afraid the hint of cardamom, a flavor with which she's not too familiar, in the dessert would leave the 5 year old disappointed, but Arwen loved it.  All of this was perfectly paired with the lovely Moscato I picked up at Tamura's around the corner.

Since I was the only one at the table that finished reading the book selected for this month, we didn't get to discuss it.  (Loved the book, by the way.  A brilliant collection of short stories about love.  More work by Jhumpa Lahiri is most definitely going on my "To Read" list.)  However, we still managed to share some great conversation about other books we'd read and a few movies as well.  At one point, Arwen came over to my chair to whisper in my ear, "Is this your book club meeting?"  She was absolutely tickled when she learned that in fact it was, and she and Daddy were our special guests for the night.

The staff was friendly and helpful.  The food was fabulous.  The price was a little higher than I expected, but for the quality of food and service received, it was well worth it.  And for us townies, the location was wonderful.  We were having such a lovely time that I didn't want the evening to end, but the antsy 5 year old finally got us to happily pack up our leftovers and go.  My only regret was that my camera stayed tucked away in my purse all night, so I don't have photos to share of the great food, fun, and friends.  Guess we'll have to go back and do it all over again.

Napless Summer Bliss

Arwen's going to begin Extended Day (Montessori Kindergarten) in the fall, which means no more naps for her during the school day.  We've been working on keeping Arwen up during the summer, so she won't be in complete shock come September when she doesn't get to bring out the Rollee Pollee after lunch anymore.  I signed her up for the half day summer school program, so I could pick her up at 12:15 pm and keep her up by taking her on my errands or signing her up for other activities.  This is where the swim lessons 3 times a week came in this month, and then Arwen's summer school teacher said she felt Arwen was ready for Extended Day, and they'd allow her to stay and work until 3 pm twice a week this month as well.  How's it going?  Heavenly.

Arwen now goes to bed at a normal child's bedtime.  We've discovered that naps are like caffeine for Arwen.  When she has one, she can not and will not go to sleep before 10 pm.  We can try to put her down earlier, but she'll stall, toss, turn, grunt, and whine her way to 10 o'clock - sometimes later.  Without a nap?  She's out cold by 7:30 pm.

I am loving it.  5 years of sleepless nights have finally delivered me to peaceful evenings of watching TV, replying to emails, and reading... UNINTERRUPTED!  It's been amazing.  Here I am getting ready to settle down for the night and read some more of my book club book, Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri, and it's before midnight!  I've updated my Outlook.  I've answered a bunch of email and facebook posts.  I've blogged.  Normally I'd be crawling into bed at about 3 am without having accomplished at least one of these tasks.

 

By the way, this is a fabulous book so far.  I am seriously enjoying Jhumpa Lahiri's writing style and am looking forward to reading more of her work after I finish this one.  More about this and the book club when I'm done.

Books, Music, and Alana's 1st Birthday

There should probably be laws against scheduling this much activity in one day.  Perhaps this is why I can never get anything done.  We're always on the go, go, go!

First stop was the Hawaii Book & Music Festival.  I've been trying to get to this event for a few years now, but for some reason something else has always fallen on the same weekend, so I miss it.  Love books.  Love music.  Surely this would be the event for me.  I'll admit that I wasn't incredibly impressed.  Maybe it was the mental build up I'd given the event after missing it all these years. 

Target did have an awesome Keiki Activities tent.  Arwen spent lots of time decorating a cute little canvas book bag while I watched the Pop-Up Book Kings, Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart. 

These guys presented a great demo and gave me all sorts of ideas for some pop-up cards to make.

I also found some great deals at the Bess Press tent, so the event really wasn't all bad.  Just don't get me started about the bounce houses.  ugh.

Click here to see a few more photos from the festival.

We had more music on the agenda as we head over to Aina Haina to attend Miss Amie's Eine Kleine Keiki Music Concert.  We enjoyed a sweet performance by some of Miss Amie's afterschool music students, and then the kids had fun singing all of their favorite songs with her.

After a long nap at home, we were off to Mililani to help celebrate Alana's 1st birthday - her actual birthday.  She'll have a big party with her big sister in June.

Isn't she a cutie?

And I'm so proud of myself for keeping my stamping momentum going with a handmade card for her:

More pics from her birthday gathering are here.