Gumma

My grandmother, Gumma, died last night. She was a great grandmother. She was my favorite grandparent. She has been essentially 'gone' for the past ten years, so in many ways this is a blessing. But I missed her then, and I miss her now.

I remember that she was born Regina on February 24, 1919. Her mother died shortly after her birth, her father wouldn't look at her for two weeks, and when he finally did, he renamed her RoseMarie, after her mother. I remember that she was raised by her father and his sister, who moved in after her mother died (she called her aunt "Mama Peggy"). I remember stories about her childhood growing up in Berkeley. I remember running out to her big powder blue car when she picked me up from grade school. I remember going to her house after school and eating ice cream out of bowls shaped like halved apples. I remember her making me "rose tea" (the bags had pictures of roses on the ends) with a LOT of sugar and milk. I remember that her embroidered candy house was always full. I remember eating in front of the TV on TV tables at her house (big treat!) I remember her driving me to play practice at night while my dad was getting a bone marrow transplant and in the hospital for 6 months (and my mom was always with him). I remember that right before I started Stanford she brought me a newspaper clipping of Justin Armour and told me I should meet him at school (and he turned out to be practically the hottest (if most religious) guy in my entire class).

Yesterday morning I went and said goodbye to her. I feel so lucky I was able to see her one last time, even if she wasn't really there anymore. She will be missed.

Mahalo

We're here!

Loving the golf cart

C

D

We saw the Screaming Face!!

Saving the baby bird

Oh yeah, we're going outrigger canoeing

C deep sea fishing

Bean bag toss!

We had a great time in Hawaii. From the moment the girls picked out their leis in the airport they had giant smiles on their faces. They loved:

--Spending time with Gram and Sam (despite our failure to secure good pictures to prove it)

--Riding in the golf cart. When we first got their we rode the cart to the general store where the girls had "the best milkshakes they had ever tasted." They were giddy.

--Swimming… though not in the baby beach pool this time around. C and D tired of it quickly and L has always been more of a swimmer than a splasher so preferred the big pool because she could actually swim in it. Made me a little sad as I adore that baby pool.

--Deep sea fishing--ok, this one might have been more of a Molly highlight. A colleague of Andrew's very kindly offered to take us out on his fishing boat. He owns/supports the highest grossing deep sea fishing team of all time (i think i am saying that right). Unfortunately, Dylan threw up the night before the boat trip (LBD had a similar one-time incident right before we left) and so she couldn't go. So it was Andrew, C, and myself. It was fascinating to sit in the 'driver's seat' of the fishing boat and have the captain prepare me to catch a giant fish. To be blunt, I was scared sh*tless I was going to actually get a fish and fly out of the boat. But it was awesome to really see what it takes to catch large fish. It was also great to get some C alone time---we never get that opportunity. C was interested at first but then grew bored when we didn't catch anything quickly (note to self ===ANDREW IS KRYPTONITE TO FISH. NEVER GO FISHING WITH HIM AGAIN!!)

--Hula lessons. Though D was a little offended that the teacher “didn’t remember us from last year” and clearly didn’t realize that this wasn’t their first rodeo, they once again enjoyed getting lessons. I enjoyed watching A taking the lesson with them.

--The kids club. We didn’t make use of it as much as we could have because L is too young for it, but C and D really loved the time they spent there. They liked it in part because the only 2 other kids in it were girls age 8 and 10 who were nice to them.

--Rock climbing. C and D went rock climbing first with the Kids Club. On the last day I said they could do anything they wanted and they chose—rock climbing! Andrew and I went and I think it is safe to say that the only person who was a little scared was A—he discovered a lingering fear of heights. C and D were A) good at it and B) tenacious. They worked so hard and were so patient! On the last climb there was a “screaming face” at the top. D didn’t make it to the top the first time. After C made it, D said “I want to try again!” And she did, and she too saw the “screaming face.” They were so (rightfully) proud of themselves it was thrilling to watch. And they were so supportive of each other—they would cheer each other on, and C would have a cup of water waiting for each of us when we finished climbing.

--Canoe lessons—also part of the kids club. They repeatedly told me that they want on an “outrigger canoe, not just a canoe.”

---Shaved ice. They liked eating it and, unfortunately, spilling it.

--Arts and crafts at the cultural center.

--Saving the baby bird. Outside our door we watched a baby bird fall through a grate near the golf course. It took about 45 minutes, a golf club, and Andrew to save it from certain demise.

--The ONLY bad thing about the trip was that the kids were pains in the *sses about taking pictures and so we didn't get any great grandparent pictures and no great pics w/ all 3 girls. Grrr!

All in a fantastic trip. Thank you Sam and Marsha!!!

Mothers Day

This year Andrew was gone on Mothers Day because of a bachelor party weekend that then blurred into a work Monday on the East Coast. While it was tiring to be with them all weekend by myself, we made the best of it. We went miniature golfing, topped our day off with very large Icees, and we scootered out to dinner that night. Sadly, for most of us mothers w/ little kids all we want on Mothers Day is time away from them : ). But we had one of those days where no one fought too much and we all seemed to enjoy ourselves. And in 20 years I will probably remember it more fondly than any massage I'll ever get in another year (though, to be fair, I am writing this long after and admittedly, I got angry at andrew--more than once--for not doing anything--at all- in the days and weeks that followed to make up for his absence)

At dinner we talked about their grandmothers and how much they loved them. They are lucky little girls.