Yesterday was one of those rainy days, starting with rain falling throughout the night before. I love to lay in bed, in the quiet and darkness of the evening and listen to the rain fall through the trees. It's melodic, peaceful. It rains back in the valley almost every single night. Right on cue, the sun sets, the clouds roll in over the mountain, and it rains. By morning it usually tapers off and we have a beautiful day full of sunshine. This is how it goes about 85% of the time. But yesterday, it continued to rain through the morning. And the afternoon. And the evening.
One thing it made me realize: living in Hawaii is all about being outside, all the time. Not a day goes by that we aren't outside doing something: the beach, the zoo, walking in our neighborhood, or playing at the park. It's how most everyone spends their days, all year!
I think people (that have never been to Hawaii), think it's so tropical and hot and humid, I can tell you, they're (mostly) wrong. It is a bit more humid during the Rainy Season, our "winter months." The average daytime temperature in the summer is around 85 degrees, cooling about 10 degrees at night, and 78 degrees in the winter. The heat and humidity we have here are nothing like what I experienced growing up in Virginia and living in Florida. I would say, most days, all year, are pleasant.
So yesterday when I realized the rain wasn't going to let up we had to think of something. I wasn't feel well in morning anyway, so Christian and I snuggled up on the couch and watched Cars. (What else?) At 10:30 we went to MyGym where he was able to burn a TON of energy. I'm not lying when I say I have THE MOST ACTIVE child in that class, regardless of what we've done that morning. He loves to play, and I love hearing/seeing him laugh and know he is truly having so much fun. Now that I've moved him up to an older class (he is the youngest in his class!), I feel like he's having more fun. He was bowling over the kids in his age group.
Come afternoon, after nap time, we had to think of something. There was no way we were sitting inside ALL afternoon. We live in a 2-bedroom, 1000 square foot, ohana house. Being inside all day is never an option. Ha! So we went to... wait for it... the mall, where he could run around inside. It's a smaller mall near our house that's never too busy, and they have a Fun Factory where we played games and "drove" the big yellow truck. Plain and simple, it was something to do. And upon leaving the mall to head back home for dinner, we saw...
Maybe you can see it, but there are two rainbows in this picture! And Christian was fascinated, as he always is when we see them.
Today has been a lot less rainy, still with a few sprinkles here and there. This morning we walked down to Tiny Tots with our umbrella. I don't know what this afternoon holds, but I'm sure we'll find something to do. (That hopefully does not involve going to the mall!)
PS - This also totally makes me realize that I need to get creative with things to do inside the house. So any ideas appropriate for a 22-month old are much appreciated!
Happy Wednesday!
