Indulgences

New York City: Day One

2009-05-14T19:47:00.000-07:00

We left Boston this morning and headed to New York City! It took us about 5 hours to get into the city. Now that we are here we are trying to adjust to the big city pace!

We picked up Julie, our New York City tour guide at the Rockefeller Center and took a quick look around. After that we got back on the bus and headed to Central Park. We got off of the bus right in front of John Lennon’s apartment building then headed to Strawberry Field. Once we were there, we opted to come back to that area later because it was so congested. We toured the rest of the park and saw some beautiful trees, flowers, fountains and statues. By the time we circled back around to the Strawberry Field area, it was a little less busy so we were able to have the Mayor of Strawberry Field give us a brief explanation and history of the area.

After leaving Central Park we cruised around the city and saw things like Madison Square Garden & Times Square.

One of my favorite places we visited today was St. Paul’s church. This church stands across the street from where the World Trade Center stood. Amazingly enough, this church was not damaged after the towers collapsed. Fire fighters would go to the church to rest and eat. Within the chapel are hundreds, maybe even thousands of flyers and pictures of people that were missing after 9/11. As I walked around the chapel and looked at these pictures, I thought about all the families that were affected by the attack as well as all of the fire fighters, police officers, and volunteers that helped during the days, weeks, and months after the attack. Reflecting on these things made me very emotional. As I tried to keep it together, I came across a pew that had a fireman’s uniform on it along with a plaque. The plaque explained that during the days after the attack, firemen would come into the church to eat and rest. These firemen left scratches and scrapes on the pews due to the fact that many of them would lay and/or sit on the pews in their uniform. Seeing this display made me even more emotional. One of the quotes that I read on the wall brought me to tears, "I remember looking at their faces when they walked in the church...their faces were so blank, almost like a deadened look on their faces. But after a while, they talk, and eat, and sit, and you'd see them leave smiling."

After leaving the church we drove by the actual site of the Twin Towers, but didn't get to get out and look around due to the construction that is going on. We might have a chance to look at a couple of memorials around there tomorrow. So hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures of that tomorrow.

For dinner, we went to a Chinese restaurant called Yogee Restaurant. This restaurant is located in China town...the food was pretty good.

After dinner we headed to the Empire State Building! It was exhilarating and scary at the same time. Each time one of our kids leaned up against the wall my knees would get weak.

So far New York has lived up to one of it's many nicknames: "The City that Never Sleeps"...it has been very interesting to watch our kids having to adjust (or having a hard time adjusting) to the hustle and bustle of the city.

More Pictures of Our First Day in Boston

2009-05-11T20:15:00.000-07:00

I have so many pictures, but can't post them all on here. Those of you that are on Facebook can check out more pictures there.

One thing I forgot to mention in my previous post is that the flight attendants had nothing but good things to say about our kids. They complimented them on being well mannered and intelligent! Since I was seated in the very last row of the plane, I was able to eavesdrop on a few conversations that our friendly students had with the flight attendants when they were hanging out in the back of the plane with them. Apparently, that was the place to be during the flight.

Anyways, here are more pictures! Enjoy!!

Our First Day in Boston

2009-05-11T19:08:00.001-07:00

We arrived in Boston around 10:00 am (4:00 am Hawai'i time) after a LONG journey from Honolulu. We had a nearly 8 hour flight from Honolulu to Chicago then a 2 hour flight from Chicago to Boston. We arrived here without incident (well...there was a bag that was nearly left behind and a dropped wallet that was recovered), but for the most part everything went well. All of our luggage arrived with us, which was FANTASTIC!!

Our tour guide, Carrie, met us at baggage claim...once we collected all of our bags we got onto our bus and headed to our hotel. After getting settled at our hotel, we headed to Fenway Park. Once we were there, we were treated to a wonderful tour of the park. We got to go into the Press Box and sat on the "Green Monster". After Fenway Park, we headed to Bunker Hill, walked around there for a while, then headed to Faneuil Hall.

The First Part of Our Trip

2009-05-10T17:25:00.000-07:00

Here are more pictures of us on our Island Air flight and at the Honolulu International Airport. We are still waiting for our flight to Chicago. We will be boarding in an hour or so!

We're On Our Way!!

2009-05-10T14:25:00.000-07:00

After a somewhat chaotic start at the Moloka'i airport, WE ARE ON OUR WAY!!! We are actually at the Honolulu airport right now waiting for the next leg of our trip. We're already having a blast! Here are a FEW pictures to document our journey from Moloka'i to O'ahu. I'll be updating this blog as often as I can so check back frequently.

Persona Poems

2009-05-04T23:09:00.000-07:00

Whenever I have a new bunch of students in my reading class, I love making them write a persona poem. It's a great way to learn a little bit about them and it's fun having them figure out certain things about themselves. Since I'm new to this blogging thing, I thought this would be a fun way to introduce myself (even though you all know me already!) and Dallas. Enjoy!

Chantel

Cheerful, positive, loving, playful

mother of Dallas

Who is afraid of not living her life to its fullest

Who loves her family, music, friends, good books, and learning

Who wants to see Scotland, Tahiti, and her future grandchildren

Resident of Ho'olehua, Moloka'i

...Leialoha

Dallas...

Caring, silly, funny,

Grandson of Marvel and Wesley

Who is afraid of sharks & coyotes

Who loves music, his family, skateboarding, and eating

Who wants to see Utah, Kauai, and San Jose

Resident of Ho'olehua, Moloka'i

...Kamea'i'omakamae

Finally!

2009-05-04T01:05:00.000-07:00

So, I have had this blog since December and actually have 4 posts on it that I never published. I wanted to have some pictures to go along with my posts, but never actually got around to doing it. Now, nearly 4 months later, I am preparing to go on a trip to the East Coast with a number of 5th and 6th graders from Kualapu'u School and think it might be fun to blog the fun things we will be doing in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. So this is will serve as my official first post!