Coming Home!

Hi, everyone!

Two weeks ago today was my last full day in Kauai! The moon was setting as the sun came up!

The Hawaiian cardinals dropped by for breakfast, and they knew to stay off the table. Grandpa and Grandma were busy packing, but we took time to walk to the beach. We saw whales splashing before we even got there! There were sea turtles on the beach and a hen with little chicks nearby, but no monk seals!

We watched sunset from our lanai again. It was a little hazy, but no clouds at the horizon!

Friday morning, we had to be out of our resort unit by 10 a.m., but our flight home wasn’t leaving till afternoon. We put everything in the car and drove to the beach. I said goodbye to the sea turtles. Grandma told me my neck lei should be returned to nature, so I left it on a tree in the burial plot at Poipu Beach. Grandpa watched for whales. Then we got lunch from Lynell-san at Dim N Den Sum and ate it in the Koloa park. We drove through the tree tunnel for the last time this trip on our way to the airport.

The airline sent Grandma and Grandpa messages that bad weather was coming. Grandpa was worried that a flight might be canceled or delayed, but we got home on time. We flew from Lihue to San Francisco, then took an overnight flight from there to Washington DC. Saturday morning, we got our final flight back to Rochester.

There was lots of snow and ice when we got home. The driveway was so slippery that we couldn’t walk on it! It started sleeting and snowing again Saturday afternoon! Sunday morning, it was so icy that church was canceled! Monday was sunny, and the ice on the branches sparkled!

We had a cold and quiet week with some snow every day! Last Friday, Thomas came over to make ice cream and sticky cookies. He stayed long enough that we were able to freeze the ice cream and send it home with him.

Last Sunday, Uncle Steven’s family came for dinner. James and Thomas invented a new special dessert with ice cream, gummy bears and chocolate chunks! Joe-san’s computer wasn’t working right, so Grandpa brought it to our house to try to fix it. I’m helping!

Today, Grandma and I made an AWACS cheesecake. We had heavy cream to use up from Thomas’ ice cream, and that’s what we need for the chocolate ganache for cheesecake. I helped mix the batter and marbled it before it went into the oven.

We’ve had three days of melting weather, and the snow is going away. Grandma has been working on clearing the ice off the driveway. The ice was so thick she pry it off in chunks! I’m glad the driveway is clean, because it’s supposed to get cold and snowy again tomorrow!

Love,

Lion-san