Mom Flies In, Hansel Flies Out

Well before Maile's school started we bought tickets to all fly out to DC the first weekend in October for Haniel and Anita's 40th Birthday party. A couple of weeks before I looked at our itinerary and was surprised to find that we were going to be gone for almost a week and that Maile would miss 4 days of school. Since she just started school, I didn't want to disrupt things by pulling her out of school that long. So I decided to stay home with the kids while Hansel went to DC. My mom wasn't able to come out when we moved, but afterward she asked if I needed her to come out and help. I didn't at the time, but now I did. She managed to fit in a two-week trip and flew in the Monday before Hansel left.

It was great having her here. Mathis took to her right away thankfully. He sometimes has stranger anxiety or more likely separation anxiety. As usual when my mom visits, I fell off my pescatarian diet, but she did cook with less meat and more veggies.

The Saturday after Hansel left I took the kids to a Moon Festival Celebration at Beck's school. They had various stations set up where the kids received stamps after completing each activity. After they received 8 stamps, they could turn in their paper in exchange for a tea egg. The activities were simple and fun -- face painting, frame decorating, make-your-own lantern, make-your-own mochi, story telling, etc. Maile was entranced by the story telling even the one told in Mandarin.