ArtSpree & Surf Film Festival

ArtSpree was a lot of fun this year, even though it rained off and on. The first thing I went to was the hiking trails through the beautiful gardens at The Contemporary Museum. I love the different pathways that meander through the pretty flowers and plants. We saw aerialists, people art, played in clay, did some printmaking (where Mom helped me draw a skull), visited with Dad's artist friends (notice Ryan's funky mural that was near the cafe!), and I got my face painted like a skull. I called it "My Scary Face", and I keep telling Mom and Dad that I want to be a ghost this year for Halloween. They're not sure where I suddenly got this fascination for scary things, but don't I look scary?!

Coincidentally, the art exhibit in the gallery featured mummies. That WAS kinda scary.

We had a lot of fun, and Mom did not have any energy to go to the Korean festival afterwards.

But, I got to stay with Nana and Pop tonight, while Mom and Dad went to Vince's feature film being shown at the Surf Film Festival at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. Vince used to work with Dad at McCully Bike, and they used to go mountain biking together. So, a few other bike friends joined them to view "Out of Place", a documentary about Vince and others who go surfing in Lake Erie. Mom thought that surfing in Seattle was crazy, but Cleveland, Ohio?! It crazy to see them surfing with snow all around. The New York Times reported, "They surf in Cleveland because they must. They surf with two-inch icicles clinging to their wet suits. Through stinging hail and overpowering wind. They work nights to spend their winter days scouting surf. They are watermen on an inland sea." They all enjoyed catching up with Vince during the movie and over a late-night snack at Zippy's.

Chuck, Chris, Vince, & Dave

Dinosaurs!!!!

Riding the Dinosaur Train with the Honolulu Mommies' kids

Mom took me to see the Dinosaurs at Pearlridge Mall today. I got to ride the train with all the other kids. Every time the moms would try to get us to wave at the camera, we only waved and said hi to the dinosaurs!




After the fun dinosaur train ride, we headed to Gina's BBQ to meet Mommy's school friends for some Korean lunch. I slept the entire time, but woke up just in time to visit the cute puppies in the pet store nearby.

Here are pictures of Michelle's baby Allison who enjoyed gnawing on some Korean kalbi short ribs!

Mmm, what delicious kalbi!

Bob Who?

This morning, as Mom was getting ready in the bathroom, I was shuffling through all the dvds and then opened the armoire to put a dvd in the player. Mom came walking down the hallway and asked, "Chase, what are you doing?" in that Mom voice that usually means I am in trouble. I told her, "I want to watch Bob Simpson." She asked, "Who?" and I said, "This guy...Bob Simpson", pointing to the cartoon character on the box. "How do you get this to work?" I asked.

Mom just laughed and said, "Oh you mean Bart Simpson!"...and then she proceeded to tell me that I couldn't watch it because those were Daddy's dvds and that I could choose something else (more appropriate).

Aw, man!

My 3 Year Old Portraits

We went to Sears this morning to do my annual portraits. I wanted to bring along my soccer ball and a book, so I used the ball during my photo shoot. Mom was worried I wouldn't be into it or that she would be constantly wiping my nose (since I have had a runny one), but surprisingly it went well. Dad was even able to come down during his lunch break to help us choose photos to order. They made me do some funny poses, with my arms bent and hands in my pockets. Mom kept telling me to say, "Cheese, but show your teeth!". So, I ended up contributing some of my own poses. When the photographer asked Mom if she wanted me to do anything else, I said, "How about I go on my back?" and I tried to do a back bend. I also just laid on the floor. She thought that was funny. I also jumped in the air and showed her my super duper soccer kicking skills. The gal did some really cool things with the pictures, and we were lucky enough to walk away with the cd of all of the enhancements because she was backed up and short staffed so she just burned us a copy of the whole thing.

Mom was happy with the one of me posing with my soccer ball in front of my silhouette. At first, she thought it was a generic soccer template/shadow, until the gal told her it was really me! Watch out world....you may have a future soccer star!

It was a successful morning, but I refused to take a nap in the afternoon, so I had major meltdowns by dinner (which I skipped and just went straight to bed). That's why, Mom says, she always schedules our photo sessions first thing in the morning!

Happy 4th of July!

We spent the day (a little drizzly at first, but then beautiful and sunny all afternoon) at Kapi'olani Park, celebrating the 4th of July with the ALS support group, comprised of friends and family we have come to know over the years, since Grandpa was first diagnosed with ALS. The event was also held last year as a fundraiser for ALS TDI. This year, all the donations we received went to our local ALS support group. They hope to focus on respite for caregivers this year.

Vi's family always gets a lot of surfing paraphernalia donations, plus I got some Menchie's gift cards and Bikram yoga gift cards from my friends as raffle prizes. There were kiddie games and adult games, the favorites being the tug-of-war, water balloon toss, and coconut shell relay race (but I couldn't do that one since I'm not even good at holding rubber slippers in between my toes). I enjoyed shooting my new water gun at Daddy and Uncle Jay, playing with their puppy Buddha, eating a huge bowl of shaved ice and watermelon, and running around in my new patriotic Ocean Minded trucker hat. We visited with Chester, Vi, and Britt, who are in wheelchairs and the latter two who are dependent on ventilators and 24 hour nursing care. There was a softball game afterwards, too, as a tribute to Lou Gherig, whom ALS is named after.

I didn't have any nap, so when we got home by 5 pm, I took a quick shower, ate some dinner, and went straight to bed. I hear that Mom and Dad watched the Ala Moana fireworks from the lanai while I was sleeping. They said it was a 25 minute show!

There was a huge fire on the mountains of Kalama Valley last night, but at least Uncle Jay didn't have to work last night. Firecrackers went off all night long, but I slept right through them.

Happy 4th of July! Hope everyone had a safe time celebrating!

My 3 Year Old Checkup

I haven't been to the doctor for a year, so today was my 3 year old checkup with the pediatrician. Daddy usually likes to come to my appointments because he and Dr. Sia talk shoes and joke back and forth with each other, but Daddy was too busy at work so it was just me and Mom.

It was a great, quick exam. Dr. Sia says that I'm healthy, more mature than some 5 year olds he exams, and I had an awesome growth spurt! Since I was born, I've always been in the 10 - 25 percentile when it comes to weight and height. But, that I've turned 3 years old, I'm on the big boy chart! Today, I weighed in at 32.6 pounds (50 - 75%), and I am 38 1/4 inches tall (75%). I'm just a couple inches shy of being able to ride all the rides at Disneyland, and Dr. Sia predicts that I will be 5'11" to 6' tall when I'm an adult (of course, Mommy always remembers that her own dad was mad when Mommy didn't turn out as tall as the doctor predicted she would be, so we take the doctor's prediction with a grain of salt).

I have to go back tomorrow morning to get my TB shot, but all looks good, so my next check up with the doc isn't until I turn 4! (though we'll probably be seeing Dr. Sia in October/November when my sibling comes along)...

Here I am box sliding at school! I even went backwards!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Chase!

We celebrated my 3rd birthday at Ala Moana Beach Park - Magic Island. We had yummy bbq food from Gina's (a popular Korean take out place), with cupcakes that Mommy's friend Michelle made (angel food cake with strawberry pudding and topped with fresh strawberries), and Mom's rice krispie ice cream cones (which I kept trying to lick...I was so confused).

A few of my friends came from school, along with family and other friends. (We were the stroller party, with babies as young as 6 week old baby Jack and 4 pregnant women). The kids had fun hitting two pinatas (which Mom admittedly had saved from my 1st birthday), although I think the adult men had more fun because us kids couldn't break it. We played in my outdoor tunnels, and even though we were the only birthday party without a bouncer that day, Kai'ea and I had a blast playing with ice and buckets of water. I didn't even go to the beach and water until after everyone left. While everyone hauled tents, tables, coolers, and food to the cars, Mom took me to the beach. We climbed rocks and swam for a bit. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep (having taken no nap) on the way back to the parking lot. And, I went straight to bed without dinner or a bath.

The next morning after my birthday I woke up bright and chipper at 5 am and Mom let me open all my birthday presents before I had to go to school. Thanks to all the friends and family that helped me celebrate my 3rd birthday at the beach!