Back to School | First Grade during COVID 19 | Aiea Family Photographer

First Grade... here we go! We got dressed, ate breakfast, posed for pictures and then I dropped him off at the kitchen table to start online school.

We found the Rainbow Tunnel! | Aiea Family Photographer

The iconic Rainbow Tunnel was on our “To See” list since we moved here. With the beaches and hikes closed, it seemed like the perfect Aloha Friday adventure. The tunnel is located in a Mililani neighborhood, and admittedly, much smaller than I thought it was going to be. It seems so grand in pictures. I found that the trick was to put the boys just inside of the tunnel so that we could use every inch and ring of color. It was very bright outside and very dark in the tunnel which made it a challenge to shoot in, but I love these pictures. You'll also notice somebody (Mr Rhett) brought their A-game with poses.

Quarantine Week 5 and 6 | Pearl Harbor Family Photographer

Whew! It was a busy two weeks in this hale. We celebrated our family’s second quarantine birthday. Landon turned SIX! We ate cinnamon rolls (while his class sang Happy Birthday), had M&Ms as breakfast dessert, Facetimed everyone, opened presents, played outside and ended the day with cake. He said he had a pretty good day and we will celebrate again once daddy is home.

My favorite thing we did was celebrate Lei Day, by making our own lei.

Lei Day is a celebration of Hawaiian culture, or the aloha spirit. People commonly celebrate by giving gifts of leis to one another.

 Landon and I walked around the backyard and our street to collect enough plumeria flowers and leaves. Landon strung his lei all by himself and it turned out really pretty (and smelled even better). Normally his school would preform a hula to Hanohano Wailea on the big outdoor stage for parents, but we settled for a private show in the backyard.

After this school activities were done, we placed the lei over the mailbox to show appreciation for essential workers. It was neat to see all of the leis on our run.

Other than that, we’ve spent as much time outside as possible.

Oh yes, there was an ER visit.
Rhett was eating popcorn and inhaled a kernel while trying to smell it (allegedly). I tried to get it out, urgent care tried and we finally ended up at the children’s hospital. He is still telling people, “popcorn….my nose…. so scary!”

Quarantine Week 4 | Kailua Family Photograher

Y’all! I’ve been sitting on these pictures of Rhett for a few days and they are possibly my favorite pictures ever. I usually check on the boys before I go to bed. When I saw this scene, I had to grab my camera.

Mimi sent us some pirate booty so we had a little pirate hunt. Turns out, Landon can’t read a map to save his life and both boys are blind as bats. I eventually just had to point out the treasure because the bottom dropped out. Luckily, dad ran down the hill to get the car to rescue us.

Our coconut tree is starting to drop some small coconuts. The boys love collecting them, peeling the top off (not sure why) and then trying to break them open. These will get much bigger, but a guy will come, climb the tree and cut them down.

Another week down. We’ve been mostly housebound for over a month now and we are starting to get really antsy. My house is always a disaster and it’s so hot inside. Hopefully we are in the home stretch.

Quarantine Week 3 | Kailua Family Photographer

Does anyone else feel like they have a routine? I just can’t get there. Online schooling is great because it’s so flexible, but I definitely like the structure the school year provides. I tell myself I’m going to workout, shower and put on real clothes while also making sure Landon gets his work done. The reality is that I move at a snail’s pace all morning, get my workout in and then stay in my gross clothes until after the boys go to bed and I can finally shower. Oh well, maybe we will get it down next week. Maybe.

Rhett is enjoying not having my full attention during the day. I caught him eating chips out of the pantry.

On Thursday, we did a family zoom call/ Passover Seder. I realized that Landon didn’t know much about Judaism so we took some time to watch kid’s YouTube videos explaining passover.

Saturday was my birthday. My in-laws were supposed to be in town and we were supposed to have a kids free weekend in Waikiki attending the Submarine Birthday Ball. However, those plans obviously had to change and we settled for a walk on the beach and carry-out steak (plus a bottle of wine) for dinner. It was still a sweet birthday.

Easter Sunday sort of snuck up on me so we didn’t have cute clothes or even take a family picture. The boys loved their baskets and egg hunt, so it was still a successful day spent together.

Onward….

Our Quarantine Week 2 | Kailua Family Photographer

For school this week, Landon had a Zoom call with each of his Specials teachers. We don’t officially start until next week so we’ve been doing workbooks, practicing sight words, journaling and honestly, just surviving.

I made the boys an obstacle course which kept them busy for a while. Instead of hula circle, Rhett preferred a mele circle and sang “Into the Unknown” from Frozen II as loud as he could. Followed with a bow, of course.

Really, there is only thing you need to keep the Lauber boys (yes, all three) alive. Fake cheese :)

The best part of the week… daddy is back! Whew! That was an underway for the books: roof leaking, Coronavirus (there were only a few mainland cases when the boat left), homeschooling, tsunami watch… I was D.O.N.E! The boys earned another star for their banner.

Taking pictures with these two is becoming an occupational hazard.

Onward to week 3

Our Quarantine Week 1 | Kailua Family Photographer

Is it week 1? Maybe 2? I’m not even sure at this point. Trip went back to sea so we were sort of hanging close to home anyways. Then it was Spring Break when we had to start practicing social distancing AND it rained every single day. So, I think this was our first official week in quarantine, but we’ve been home for days (and days and days). All I want to do is go somewhere, anywhere really, but I’m also in a sheltered little bubble here. And that’s nice too.

Landon hasn’t started online school yet. We’ve been doing a little ABC Mouse and practicing our sight words. Other than that, it’s been lots of playing (mixed in with a decent amount of fighting).

My focus this week has been potty training Rhett. It was actually the perfect week, because I forgot how much of a time-suck potty training is. We spent most of the week hanging out in the bathroom and then running to the fridge to get “chips” (M&Ms) after a job well done.

Our “highlight” of the week was getting a Tsunami Watch alert. That will make you stop in your tracks! I was cooking dinner for the boys when I got the message. Luckily, other wives from the boat jumped into action to rally the troops because what do you even do in a tsunami during a pandemic?! I checked our evacuation zone - we are just outside of the main one, but the only way to leave our neighborhood by car is to go into the evacuation zone and cross a bridge that is next to the ocean (so clearly in the evacuation zone). By the time I had set up a plan with a few different ladies (all with husbands at sea), we got the “all clear”. That was a stressful 45 minutes to say the least!

We have another wet weekend ahead of us (what the heck, Hawaii?) so we will have to get creative.
We are holding up pretty well, but I’m tired and ready for life to go back to normal.

Dinner at Aulani | Makahiki "Menehune Mischief" Character Dinner

The last part of the boy’s Christmas was to visit Aulani for dinner. We really want to stay here, but we figured dinner was a nice way to get our Disney fix in the meantime.

On select nights, they have the Menehune Mischief Character dinner where Uncle tells stories and you get to meet some characters. In true Disney fashion, everything was extremely well done.

We arrived a little early to walk around and explore the resort. It was decorated for Christmas which made it extra fun.

Just like other character dining meals at Disney World, you take a picture with one character (this one was Donald) while you are waiting for your table.

Like most Disney Character meals, it’s becomes a little chaotic at times. I think the best tip I have is to leave the camera on the table so you are ready to go at a moment’s notice. We also start watching the flow of characters because they will all follow the same sequence of tables. We’ve also asked the character attendant too if we were worried. Anyways, Rhett started off a little timid, but quickly warmed up. I’m not sure if it was because the restaurants wasn’t full, but Chip and Dale came to our table a few times.

As far as the food, I was pretty impressed with the buffet. It was full of seafood, sushi, a carving station and a awesome dessert bar. We definitely ate our money worth. The Chef was great and walked me down the line telling me things Rhett couldn’t have due to his egg allergy and things he could make special for him. I was pretty impressed and Rhett was able to eat fruit and pizza. Landon ate about 10 dinner rolls.

We also got our beloved juice from the Ohana breakfast at the Polynesian. Then our waitress told us it was local so now we always have some in the fridge! It’s POG (Passion-O-Guava Nectar) and it’s the most delicious thing in the world! As Trip said, “it taste so good there is no way it’s good for you!”

Throughout dinner there was a little show/ story telling. Honestly, it wasn’t anything too amazing, but the kids enjoyed it. It was interactive so they got to shake bananas and walk around the restaurant with Chip and Dale which they thought was fun.

We ended the night with the boys spending some of their Christmas money in the gift shop. Landon picked a Hawaii Mickey keychain for his book bag and Rhett picked Hei Hei plush from Moana.

We are looking forward to another visit to Aulani soon!

Christmas Tree Pictures 2019

I look forward to creating these pictures with my boys each year. This is now the 3rd or 4th year I’ve done these in the second house. If you are curious about how I created these pictures, you can watch me shoot and edit them here.