Shapiro Summer 2010...Part 1

What have we been doing this summer???
Well...
(Slideshow is at the end)

We got to Minnesota on June 2...My baby sister's 30th birthday. We got to celebrate with her, and that was really fun. She's having her first baby in August, so we had a lot of fun seeing her big belly.

We've been keeping busy with a paddleboat ride on the Mississippi River with our friends...Ilana and Daniel and thier mom Julie. Julie and I have known each other since we were really little, and we love when we get to hang out with them for the summer. We saw a bald eagle which was REALLY cool.

Sam has studying 4 days a week for his Bar-Mitzvah which will be July 9, 2011. He's prgressing nicely, and we are all really proud of him.

Haley left July 14 for 2 weeks at Camp Herzl in Wisconsin. This is her second year at this camp, and Sam's been going for 4 years. She had a great time, made new friends and survived the thunderstorms and tornado warnings.

Sam went to 2 classes at the Scienc Museum. He took one class where he designed a miniature golf course- His was Hawaii themed. His other class was designing and creating a computer video game.

Charlie is back at "Farm Camp." It's actually the preschool I went to a (very) long time ago. They have horses, llamas, goats, bunnies, chickens, etc. and a pool, arts and crafts, science, etc. He LOVES going there, and it is always a highlight of his summer.

The day we picked Haley up at the bus stop from camp, we whisked her off to a Twins game at the new stadium. We had a great time, and the stadium is fantastic. I even got to meet up with a sorority sister who live in Germany who I haven't seen since my wedding...Thank you facebook!!!

Early the next morning we went to New York. We spent a few days in the city with Ar's parents, Jerry and Joan- celebrating their anniversary, His sister, Ilana, and her her two boys, Ben and Eli. We went on a Circle Line tour to the Statue of Liberty, The HUGE Toys R Us, where we met Spiderman and Ironman, saw Mary Poppins on Broadway, and I saw a friend from MN who I haven't seen since I was in High School...again, thank you facebook!

We then took the train upstate to Copake, NY where Ari's family has a beautiful farm. We were joined by Shapiro Family reunion with Ari's cousin Larry, his wife Caren and thier daughters, Amanda, Carly and Ilyssa. It was fantastic to reconnect with them. We all got along so well, that we're planning on vacationing with them again soon.
Ari's cousin Sari came up with her boyfriend, Aaron. We approve immensely, and we hope to welcome him to the family soon...no pressure guys!
There were 20 of us, and we had a blast!!!
We rented a pontoon and some kayaks on Copake lake, rode horses, swam in the pool at the farm, and ate a Chinese Restaurant I've been thinking about since we were there 3 years ago...it did not disappoint.
Back to the city for one night, and Ari and I went with Sari and Aaron to see American Idiot on Broadway. Many of you know of my great love for Green Day and Billie Joe. Although Billie Joe was, of course, not in the show, the singing, dancing an denergy were unbelievable. The show was amazing, and I highly recommend it if you have the chance to see it.

Back to MN, and we quickly had to get ready for the baby shower. Haley and I hosted a baby shower for my baby sis. We had about 20 people for brunch, games and gifts. We all had a great time, and it was nice to be able to do something nice for my sister. I've waited a long time for one of my sisters to have a baby. I mean, I've given them 3 children to spoil, and I'm ready for my turn.

We rented a boat on the St. Croix River. We were out for 4 hours with my sister, Nancy, who came in from Maui also. (So fun to have all 3 sisters together. It doesn't happen very often). We all drove the boat, and had fun exploring the river, and there are some great photos of the kids jumping off the boat.

Lastly, we sent Sam off to camp this morning. He'll be at Camp Herzl for 3 weeks, and he's looking forward to hanging out with the great friend's he's made here the past few summers at camp.

Enjoy the photos from summer part 1. We are having a great summer so far, and we hope you are too!

Haley Lei Day

These are photos and video from Haley's Lei Day performance. The video is very grainy-Sam's been playing with my video camera, so I'm blaming him.

Another free picture slideshow by Smilebox

Bumper Boats, rock walls and trapolines!

OK, last post of the day. I swear!!!

We went to a birthday party yesterday at the Sports Park. The birthday girl asked for no presents, but instead to bring food for the food bank. She gave out a prize to the kid who brought in the heaviest bag of food. Haley won!


Sam and Charlie on the bumper boats


Haley has her game face


Charlie even got to go solo...


Check him out on the climbing wall!!!


He's so high up there (heehee...nice angle Sam)


Feeling like the bigkids


Sam made it all the way up the 2nd hardest


Look how close he was the hardest. His arms were about 1 inch to short to really get a good enough grip to pull him up, but you can see how close he was


Charlie did the big bounce trampoline. He didn't love it, and stopped early...but he was smiling (above) when he got off. Just so glad he's a kid who's willing to try new things.

Random April pictures

I need to explain a few things in this post, but the slide shows don't give me enough room...

The videos of Haley (please ignore her unzipped shorts)...the first one is the 3rd grade class performing the virtue of the week. Every week at Carden, the kids study virtue. At the dance assembly every year, the 3rd grade class does a dramatic interpretation of the week's virtue.
The second video is of her dance performance.

The video of Sam...for those of you who don't live in Hawaii, May Day is Lei Day. Many schools i the islands have May Day performances. Seabury had theirs on April 30 (And so qualifies to be in April photos). The 6th graders and seniors teamed up for a group performance. There is a royal court complete with a processional, and every grade does it's own performance of music, hula and song. Charlie was climbing all over me, so the video is shaky. Ifyou get ill watching it, I totally understand. Sam promised me that he'd smile for my photos...yeah right!

This picture slideshow personalized with Smilebox

Easter at Children's Garden

Every year the kids make their own hats. Love it!!! They
also make their own Easter baskets.


They parade on a little stage...


And then they hunt for Easter eggs.
This is Remy, his girlfriend.

Happy 12th Birthday Sam!

March 31 was Sam's 12th birthday. Our good friends the Dodge Family were visiting from Minnesota, so they came over for dinner and birthday cake (Well, cupcakes and cookie bars).


Ari and Sam enjoyed a game of darts before dinner




Sam got his own stand up paddle...


Make a wish on those yummy red velvet cupcakes



Rock Star Matt and Ari Serenading us


Charlie and Nick enjoying some dessert

Spring Break 2010

So, I was worried about the cold and snow, but we had mostly bluebird days skiing.
We stayed at our friends house...Thank you Bobby!!! His house on Garfield Bay, just outside of Sandpoint, is beautiful with just amazing views. We made fires every night, and loved to snuggle up after a day on the mountain.
We skiied almost every day at Schweitzer. The kids and I took 3 days of lessons...then we just played the rest of the trip. I have lots of videos and photos below.
We got to visit with lots of friends too. The Evans families (they used to live on Maui) live in Sandpoint, and they just started a coffee roasting business. It was fun to catch up with them and see how big their kids have gotten.
The Wilcox family (also used to live on Maui) also came to visit from Spokane. Amy and I sat by the fire and chatted while the dads took the kids on a nice, mellow hike.
We had a great vacation, and we are already talking about when we get to go back.
Enjoy our photos...

Forgot for Feb...

As if I didn't inundate you enough with photos...I realized that I forgot to add a series of cute pictures from the pool at the Kea Lani where my grandparents stayed.



My grandparents relaxing by the pool

Ari's mom, Joan, gets a free ride

Charlie doing tricks out of hte waterslide

Ari's dad, Jerry, down the slide

Joan's turn

Ari helping Charlie practice surfing

February

What a big month!
We had a really fun month with a lot of activity. There are lots of pictures, and lots of videos to enjoy! My kids interviewing my grandparents in the first slide show is great. and the videos of the kids going (and me) going down the water slides are really fun too.
Feb 1-9: My grandparents Visit to Maui

Feb 5: Haley's school talent show


Feb 12: Charlie's Valentines Day Party
Charlie made tissue paper flowers for his valentines this year. Actually, I made them, but he DID pick out the tissue paper, and told me which colors to layer for them. He passed out valentines, decorated a cookie, and got to play with his friends.



Feb 12: BON JOVI!!!!!!!
So, I'm sure you've all seen the video of Charlie singing Bon Jovi. If for some reason you missed it, click here and scroll down to find those super videos. Bon Jovi came to Oahu for 2 concerts. We knew we had to go! We got awesome tickets, and made a week end out of it. We stayed with our super good friends, the Carharts, and we enjoyed the show, the company and the whole week end.
This was Haley and Charlie's first rock concert. I took Haley to see Demi Lovato last summer, but that doesn't really count. Sam came with us to see Aerosmith. If you ask Charlie, however, he'll tell you this was his 2nd rock concert. We saw our friend, Matt Dodge, perform last summer (Click HERE to read about his band and hear his music), and Charlie says Rockstar Matt was his first concert. For those who don't know, Matt was the boy (Now a 22 year old man...wow!) who I babysat for all through high school and college. The Dodges are family to me, and words cannot express how proud I am of Matt for his talent and pursuing his dreams (can you hear the haros in the background?)I was babysitting him and his little brother Nick in Hawaii when I met Ari...
OK, the pictures...


This is a great picture of Charlie watching the show. He sang loudly at the songs he knew, and studied the show when he didn't.



Singing Livin' on a Prayer

Haley sang and danced her butt off the whole time!

Charlie wore his rock 'n roll jacket (Thank you Morgan for outgrowing it)

We're gearing up for the show.

Feb 13: Oahu waterpark with Coral and Kimber We've been to Oahu tons of times, but we've never done the waterpark. We took out a second mortgage on our home, and ponied up for a day at the park. The kids had a blast. Check out the fun videos of us going down the slides and playing at the park. Our friends, Kimber and Coral met us there. SO fun!!!

Feb 14: Charlie's first snorkel
The Carharts live in Ko Olina which has a few lagoons. These lagoons have no waves, and it was the perfect spot to try Charlie with snorkeling gear. He's a total fish. He dives off the side, jumps off the diving board, and can swim his basic strokes...and for quite a while. He loves the water! He got the snorkeling thing in like 5 minutes!
Ari got an underwater camera for Hanukkah this year, and Sam will showyou in the video below how cool it is!
Feb 20: Marriott with the Baums
The Baum family- Julie, Ben, Ilana, Daniel and Alicja came for a week to visit from Minnesota. We played in the pools at their hotel, went to the beach, played and ate. It was a really fun visit, and it was not nearly long enough. The Marriott has a really fun pirate ship kiddie pool. The kids all had a great time (until they found some poop in the pool... and then we were out of there. The risks of using the kddie pool)



 

Feb 21: Zip Line at Piiholo Stables


Feb 24: Dance Party
On the Baums last night here, we had a BBQ at our house with them and our friends the Magys (Also visiting from MN). After dinner, Club Shapiro was in full swing.Dark with the disco lights going...Ilana and Daniel didn't want to leave. We know how to PARTY!!!








Feb 27: Tsunami
My sister Nancy showed up about 4am. She lives just feet from the beach, and being the party animal that she is...she heard about the earthquake in Chile and impending tsunami before the sirens even started. At about 6am, the warning sirens began, and we filled containers with fresh water, got out candles and flashlights, got ready for the impending big tsunami that was headed our way. The news showed continuous footage of past tsunamis and we just sat at our house, looked out at the ocean, and watched the whales, and more whales...but no tsunami. We're all very thankful that the tsunami was as small as it was (about 3.2 feet), and that there was no destruction. However, since we had so much warning, and everyone had plenty of time to get out of harms way, a little more to see would have been nice.
So, this is the view from our lanai at the time that the tsunami was scheduled to hit Maui...




Feb 28: No rain, no rainbows
This was just to make all of you cold mainlanders jealous. Even when we wake up in the morning to winds and rain...we have true beauty.