This is Ella and Samson. He's been teaching her since the beginning of June but she finally moved up a level to Ms. Jen's class. It was time really. Ella has had the skills for a while but Samson has been teaching her because she is his favorite. The feeling is mutual and I believe him to be Ella's first crush. Her last day with Samson was the first day of this session and a class of 4 new little girls (up until this it's been just Ella or another boy or two.) For the entire class, Ella vied for Samson's attention : "Samson look at me!" "Look Samson, I floating!" "Samson, over here!"...
Now that she is with Ms. Jen and 3 other boys, her skills have continued to improve. She's not distracted flirting with Samson, and as the other boys are better, bigger and older, Ella is working hard to keep up. She's even able to go down the slide in the deep end and swim back to the ladder with no help. Of course she still gets 5 minutes before class starts to sit with Samson and tell him about her day :)
Seeing as we have only weeks left on the island, we are taking advantage of all the beach days we have left.
We went to Ko'Olina on Saturday to enjoy the sun, sand and surf as it would be a little while before we could be back in the water. There was a hurricane forecasted to hit the islands earlier this week but it weakened into nothing more than a few showers and a breeze. I also had my tattoo finished on Saturday which will keep me out of the sun and water for the next week or so.
Here are some of our favorite, notable, Ella quotes of late:
* Ella with a measuring tape around her waist: "Uh-oh, my butt is 60."
* Ella trying to tell Ron and I something: "Hey guys..."
* After telling her we have to go to the zoo another day because of the rain: "Hey guys, I have an idea!...an umbrella!"
* "Someping" = something.
* Upon waking us up in the morning: "My belly is empty. I'm hungry, Mommy. My belly's not full right now."
*Daddy you're brown. Mommy's pink and Ella's pink."
* Ella giving me a big hug: "I'm so glad you're here!" or her bedtime hug for me: "I never let you go!"
* Ella placing Potato Head's hat on backwards: "Mommy, I made a dude. Hi dude!"
We were rained out the other day on an attempt to go to the zoo but today it was hot and sunny. Even though the animals were very lethargic, Ella led us through the park and knew the names of most of the animals, even naming them from her favorite shows "Bindi the Jungle Girl" and "Zaboomafoo."
Notice the statue of the African warrior... nothing says African Safari like a surfboard :)
More video of Ella on the diving board:
After Ella's swim lesson we headed back up Tantalus Drive to do some hiking. We settled and a short little trail designated "good for children." It was wet and muggy, slick and mosquito infested - we didn't last 20 minutes which is good seeing as the trail was only a 1/4 mile anyway. There are lots of trails in that mountain range but many seem to meander along cliffs - far too dangerous for our little explorer who spends much of the hike looking through Ron's "noculars" instead of paying attention to where she is walking :)
After Ella's dentist appointment we drove over the mountains to the Valley of the Temples Memorial Park. Byodo-In Temple is a scale replica of a 900-year-old Japanese temple and is built entirely without nails. The golden Buddha in the temple is thought to be the largest figure carved since ancient times and it's more than 18 feet high. It made us miss Korea and all the beautiful temples; even wishing we could go back and let Ella explore a different culture.
This is Ella and Samson. He's been teaching her since the beginning of June but she finally moved up a level to Ms. Jen's class. It was time really. Ella has had the skills for a while but Samson has been teaching her because she is his favorite. The feeling is mutual and I believe him to be Ella's first crush. Her last day with Samson was the first day of this session and a class of 4 new little girls (up until this it's been just Ella or another boy or two.) For the entire class, Ella vied for Samson's attention : "Samson look at me!" "Look Samson, I floating!" "Samson, over here!"... 
