Silly questions

I am filling out forms for summer camp, and the forms are particularly extensive for Camp Kalsman, the Jewish overnight camp Jordan will go to for the first time this summer. Some of the questions on the form are to be answered by the camper. Jordan has been to this camp for a day trip, and he has been on the receiving end of a lot of camp promotion through religious school.

R: Hey Jordan, I am filling out forms for camp, and they want to know what you are especially looking forward to. Any thoughts?
J: I really want to play on those play structures that they have. I am looking forward to a campfire, and canoeing, and being in a community. And the Jewish stuff. And the food. I think it's okay to say the food, right?
R: Sure. "Being in a community," wow, that is a very grownup thing to say.
J: So? I am looking forward to that.
R: Okay, I just mean that other kids might say "I want to be with my friends" or put it some other way. But that's great. They also want to know if there is anything you want to get out of camp.
J: Get out of?
R: Like, do you want to learn something, or come home different from when you left. Some people might say I want to make five new friends, or I want to learn to shoot a bow and arrow, or some other thing.
J: I think I am pretty good just as I am.
R: Then last they want to know if there is anything you want them to know about you.
J: I'm a pretty nice guy? These seem like kind of silly questions.
R: Some people might say, I hate to be tickled so never tickle me.
J: I actually kind of like being tickled. But you don't have to tell them that.
R: Some people might say, I love to be tickled, please tickle me all the time.
J: No, definitely don't say that.

This conversation was very amusing to me. Jordan is a pleaser; he likes to know the right answer, and give people answers that will make them happy, and clearly he felt that he knew the right answers to the first question. But the second two questions just seemed strange and unanswerable to him. He is not a goal-oriented kid; he doesn't decide to do something for some larger purpose; he just does it because it's fun, or because it's what we do. And what would anyone need to know about him? In his eyes, he's just a normal get-along guy, nothing anyone would need to adjust to or plan for. I don't think he even knows what that would mean. We do ask funny questions sometimes, we adults.

Outside and inside

In the car on the way home from grocery shopping.

Aaron: Mommy I think that I am what you might call sensitive.
Rachel: What do you mean by that?
Aaron: Because I ran and fell down and it didn't even hurt very much, but I cried.
Rachel: Yes. Maybe you feel things more, and that is called being sensitive. Or maybe, and this is what I think, maybe you show your feelings more. Your feelings are on the outside.
Jordan: I think that is right. What Aaron is feeling just comes right out.
Rachel: Jordan, I think you are not the same way.
Jordan: Yes. I keep my feelings more inside. I know how to make a bubble around bad feelings and then sometimes I can make the bubble go away. But you can't do that too much. There was a guy in a book who did that so much that he got a bad rash on his leg and it wouldn't go away until he let his feelings out.
Aaron: I always let my feelings out. So that would not happen to me.
Jordan: Also everyone can see your feelings, so they can help you. That is good. You show them you are sad and then they can maybe help you feel better.
Aaron: Also it's quick.
Rachel: There are good things about each of your ways. Jordan, I think what you are doing sometimes when you are quiet about your feelings is that you are cheering yourself up. You know how to help your own bad feelings go away.
Jordan: I think sometimes I don't know what I'm feeling.
Rachel: I totally get that.

Mini golf and goodbye

On our last day in Hawaii, we said our goodbyes to the marvelous house we stayed in... Here are our little surfer dudes on the lanai.

We took a last look at Hanalei Bay.

We also did a little shopping. Jordan picked out an extremely colorful shirt for himself; I don't have a picture of him in it but it is the same fabric as these dressing-room curtains. He loves bright colors and shrieked with delight when he saw himself in the mirror.

And, last but decidedly not least, we played a round of miniature golf! This golf course is also a gorgeous botanical garden, with interpretive signs all along explaining the cultural history of Hawaii. It's very well done.

Two more photos that don't have major narratives to accompany them: The boys in front of the Kilauea Fish Market, which tied with the Hanalei Dolphin for my favorite restaurant.

And the photo they took of us at the Smith Family Luau, another quite fun experience, touristy as all heck but a great time. Delicious food and wonderful entertainment, a whole cultural history of the islands through dance. And yes, many of the ladies were actually wearing those silly coconut bras. 

Anini Beach

(We have been home for a week, but I still have photos to share.) On our last day in Hawaii, we went to Anini Beach, one of the lovely keiki beaches on the north shore. The boys wanted to do some more snorkeling, this time with Aunt Deena; I wanted to do some more sitting in the shade reading a book. We were all satisfied.

Deena and Jordan stayed in one spot for quite a while laughing hysterically and horsing around in the current. We found out later that actually, the current was frighteningly strong, and they were really having trouble getting out of there. They kept a good attitude and didn't panic and eventually managed to swim like the dickens to a calm spot. But, swimmers beware: even at gentle beaches there are dangerous pockets.

Aaron collected coral. However, he respected the rule that one may not remove anything like that from the Hawaiian islands, at risk of being cursed by Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess. 

We enjoyed watching this dog and his human do a little surf-sailing or whatever this is called. Did the Polynesians bring dogs on their outrigger canoes?

Say what?

This morning I said to Aaron, “It’s our last day in Hawaii,” and he said, “That’s okay – because today I’m gonna jerk off!” Um, what? It took me a couple beats to realize that what he had actually said was “Because today is miniature golf!” Now I can’t stop thinking that we’re headed to the mini jerk-off course. But at least there is no need to explain to him what that would mean.

Kauai: Ke'e

We have been to Ke'e Beach twice, because it is lovely, with shade, and a safe and fun lagoon protected by a coral reef. The boys snorkeled both here and at Poipu. The snorkeling on Kauai is not super beautiful; there are some entertaining fish, but the coral itself is muddy-colored, not the rainbow beauty I remember from when I was last here (thirty-some years ago). Apparently Kauai has never been the place for beautiful coral; my memory must be of snorkeling on the Big Island. I did a little snorkeling at Poipu, but at Ke'e, I got in some much-needed quiet time on a shady beach with a book. 

Ke'e is at the edge of the Na Pali Coast, the undeveloped wilderness of Kauai, and has trails leading into the tropical rainforest. The trails were too steep and rocky and muddy for most of us to get very far, but Dale and Jordan got high enough to take some pictures.

Kauai: Poipu

On the second day of rain in Hanalei, we packed up and drove on the rode circling the island until we found sunshine. We had to go all the way to Poipu, on the south side, but it's a small island so that was only a little over an hour. It was well worth it. Beach, sand, boogie boards, snorkeling, picnic: a total Hawaii day.

A sea turtle was on the sand, roped off so that we tourists wouldn't trip over it.

A monk seal was lounging on the rocks.

Shave ice was the perfect conclusion to the day. The boys are now total fans of sarongs: towel, skirt, blanket, pillow, hood, whatever you need all in one soft piece of brightly colored fabric.

The only downside was that we underestimated the sun. Dad and Aaron were well protected, but Dale, Jordan, and I were not sunscreened enough, and spent a lot of time in the water, and after four hours of midday Hawaiian rays, were totally scorched. Jordan had it the worst and had to spend the evening draped with cold wet towels. Poor guy. I was hoping the experience would make him less resistant to applying sunscreen, but no: he still fights it every step of the way. Sigh.