Raya is a joy at our swimming pool. Even though she
can't swim, she jumps in over her head. When we pull her back out,
she gasps, "You saved me". Then she jumps in again.
February 23 - March 6 The Mexican Riviera
Viki and I made our first trip to the Mexican
Riviera with a side trip to Vegas.
On March 4th, another grandchild arrived for Teresa. -
Mitchell William Erskine born to Angela Mitchell and William Erskine.
At the beginning of May, we made our first trip to the Hawaiian
Islands. I was surprised how little I knew about them. The
high temperature is in the low 80s in winter (very cold) and the high 80s
in summer (very hot). Evening temperatures are only a few degrees
lower than daytime, so it's pleasant every evening. In winter it's
rainy season, but even in summer, the clouds build in around the islands
by noon each day. The trade winds this far south blow from the east,
so the east or windward side of the islands have the most rain, while the
leeward or west side has the least rain. This is the opposite
of North America, so it seems a bit disorienting. Hawaiians
were united by one King in the late 1700s and share the same language,
which was written down by missionaries. The language has had a major
influence and is noticed as soon as your flight crew starts using the
phrase "Mahalo" for "thank you" on your flight
over. The words are consistently applied, so the same names appear
on multiple islands and within similar location names. For example -
"wai" means freshwater and is part of Waikiki which sits on a
freshwater lagoon and Waimea which refers to a freshwater canyon.
"Napali" on Maui and Kauai both refer to cliffs. There are
very few native Hawaiians left and there is a large contingent from
southeast Asia and the Pacific. Many locals cannot afford to live on
the Island any more and are moving to places like Las Vegas. There
is also quite a lot of resentment toward the missionaries, as their
descendants now own most of the land on the islands. Even the
pineapple and sugar cane are largely gone from the islands, as places like
Thailand can produce these crops at much lower cost. The main crops
now are macadamia nuts and Kona coffee.
The farther south in the chain of islands, the newer and more active
the volcanoes are, with the Big Island being the newest, biggest and most
active. We visited the following:
The girls surprised me this year with the best
father's day ever. They planned a dinner at Willows Beach and
once there they showered me with gifts including a Tim Horton's Coffee
Maker that I had been eyeing. They actually searched all over
town and bought me the one I'd been looking at near my work. It
was a total surprise!
Marika and Tyler brought Raya over for a swim this morning, as Raya
was full of energy. I let her take pictures with my underwater
camera. After swimming, Marika convinced Raya to sit with her
and watch a movie. Marika and Tyler fell asleep, but Raya
wanted to play. Viki and I convinced her to walk to the
park. When we got near the big watering can at Beacon Hill,
Raya threw a small fit - the reason was that "park" to her
meant "playground" and she knew this wasn't one. We
convinced her that I would carry her on my shoulders quite a distance
to a playground, which I did. After playing, we had trouble
getting her to leave. Then suddenly she bolted at a full run
from the park. Viki and I ran behind, but had trouble keeping
close. Raya would glance back over her shoulder to see if we
were following and when she saw us doing so, her face would fill with
glee and she'd increase to full speed again. She did this
several times and ran more than half way back to the watering
can. Her expressions of joy were priceless.
Early in the year, Raya was often aggravated by her Grandfather's
teasing. Some key remarks:
"I'm on Facebook and you're not"
"Stop it or I'll pound you!"
By the end of the year, she was teasing back and making up
names: Granpa Zias and Raya Fronos.
When Ray started kindergarten in September, she was
disappointed to learn that she was only 4 and most kids were 5. When
she was asked how old she was, she would disappointedly say, "I'm not
5 yet." A few short months later, just after her birthday when
asked how old she was, she proudly replied, "I'm almost 6."
