Hawaii-Tuesday, Day Four

As I type in the post name, I can hardly believe it is already Tuesday! Before I left Mother told me that time would fly while I was here and that I would wish I could stay longer! In fact, today Embla pointed to the calendar and said, "When do you leave?"

We showed her on the calendar where the 31st was there at the end of the month and then she said,

"No, I want you to leave on the next calendar flip"

This morning Kate and I were up bright and early, and I was able to catch the morning playing of Reville on my video camera for all those back home. Next I will attempt to get Taps on film!

Today we had a quiet morning, unlike yesterday, and not much happened until we went outside to the beach for our picnic at about 11:00. It was extremely windy, but we picknicked nonetheless. After watching some little girls jumping off the little round tops on the pipes in the water, Kate and Embla walked the slippery pipe that led to them and I took pictures of it all.
We were inspired to swim, seeing the water wasn't as cold as we thought, and all hurried back to the house to re apply sunscreen and get on swimsuits. When we got back, we had nearly the entire beach to ourselves and so we each took turns jumping off the top of the pipe with the children, snapping photos all the way! When we got home the children watched a movie in Icelandic and they had the routine 'quiet time' we had been instigating the past few days. I went to the gym again, and sweated and sweated. I love working out. I just love it!

When I got back to the house I was reminded that I had promise Embla I would make cookies with her today. So, with her help (and she was helpful and did exactly as I said!), we made a batch of Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip cookies. Kate chopped up some white and dark chocolate bars, and then added in some mint chocolate three musketeers bars Arnheidur gave us. They turned out very well and everybody liked them, even Ellert (he had 3 I think!) I really think that they children are catching on to our way of doing things. We had an extremely low number of fits today and much less whining than ever. Both Embla and Ellert are saying please more often now without us having to remind them each and every time. I is refreshing to see our little efforts pay off.

Kate took the children out on the beach while I cleaned up and did a bit off swiffing around the kitchen. When I came out, they were on the park, and so I joined them. But no sooner had I started to play with them I saw something floating (or swimming) near the shore, about 10 feet out and getting nearer. It was black, and shiny on the top, and was swimming against the current, so it seemed. We watched it get steadily nearer for quite a while, all the time trying to identify what it was. Embla and Ellert were so excited to get to see real turtles-in the ocean! Finally, when it was about 6 feet away, we realized they were two sea turtles, one on top of the other. The one on top looked like he was simply hitching a ride on the much bigger lower one doing all the swimming. Kate got some amazing pictures of them that I will post upon my arrival home. Just when we thought that the next wave would wash them ashore, the lower turtles' flippers shot out and churned up the water at least two feet in the air. We all squealed in excitement. Then the turtle decided to go, and go it did! In 3 seconds they were off and away back into the turquoise blue water. We didn't see them again after that, but we will remember it for a long time!

We headed down the beach to a little outcropping of rocks in the ocean we had wanted to see, but it was a long way and we didn't quite make it. However, we did have a great photoshoot in one of the trees along the way. Embla and Kate walked briskly back, but I turned and saw that Ellert was in his own world again-battling the ocean with his sword stick complete with sound effects. He was coming as slow as Christmas, and I knew it would be a long, long time before he and I made it home at that rate! So I had an idea I had used on Zion before-make walking back a game.
"Ellert,"
I yelled to him, and it took me a few more tries before I finally got his attention.

"I am the evil dragon-king, and you are Ellert, the dragon slayer prince. You have to get me now before I get to your castle over there!"
I pointed to 6th picnic table on our right.

He loved the idea and chased me and chased me. Somehow, he always just nearly had me, but I got away. Then, the dragon got tired and started to walk slower. Seizing the opportunity, Ellert broke out into a run and ran over to me. I turned around, and he made a motion with his stick like he was throwing fire at me. I pretended like my arm was hit and waved it around madly. I was standing with the wounded arm towards the sloping part of the beach facing Ellert, when somehow I lost my balance (which is nothing remarkable considering my clumsy oaf-ish tendencies!) and fell down as real as it was. He burst out laughing and jumped up and down in delight at me as I lay dying from my mortal wound, for his fire darts had pierced my scaly dragon skin. We continued on and on until we met up with one of the ladies and her son who live in the neighborhood and knows Ellert. She was very kind, and her little boy, James, was a sweet little boy too. We talked for a while and then Ellert wanted to go home and play there, so we said goodbye to his friends and headed back home.

Embla and Kate were watching Finding Nemo in Icelandic when we finally returned, which left Kate and me rollicking with laughter. There is just something so funny about seeing familiar little cartoon fish talk in a foreign language.

While they watched, I prepared dinner-chicken and a quinoa with veggies and salad for Kate and me and fish sticks for E&E. After dinner, which included not a fit nor whiny voice to be heard, Embla asked if she could please have some shave ice. Certainly, we said, and Kate set right to work making it for them. After making it we realized Ellert hadn't eaten any of his dinner, so we shuddered in the realization that we would have to try to get him to eat at least one bite before shave ice time. We were shocked to see that with only one balk he ate a piece of fish stick and we handed him his shave ice out in the yard as he finished his round of golf. With a happy dance and a fist bump, we went back to cleaning up dinner as they played in the yard.

I set up Arnheidur's iPod she purchased at the comissary and quickly put on Ellert's favorite Icelandic lullabies CD in hopes it would help with bedtime. It did, and the only problem we had was when Kate put on his PJ's and he didn't want to. Embla talked to her Mom and made her daily picture journal entry about the turtles we had seen earlier that day.

All is well; safely rest, God is nigh!