GG is here!

Monday night GG flew in from Phoenix just to see her great grandsons in Hawaii. She is Hubby's grandmother, but her five great grandchildren call her GG, short for Great Grandma. She jumped right in with my two boys. She loves reading Son1 tons of stories, and he insists on sitting on top of her.
She treated us to a train ride on the Pineapple Express and we fed the carp at the Dole Plantation. If you haven't done that, and you have kids, that is a MUST DO. Ew...those fish are big and fat and slither up out of the water like hungry crocodiles for fish food. Ew! We stopped in Haleiwa afterward and GG spoiled us at our favorite homemade ice cream shop. Son2 had his very first ice cream...it was called Tahiti something. It was a vanilla ice cream. Oh that was so comical! Son2 cried, screamed, and squirmed each time the spoon was out of his mouth. He LOVED ice cream!Another day we headed out to the Ko'Olina lagoons for a swim and a beach picnic. We took turns hanging onto Son2 in the water.
GG and Son1 floated out in the calm water, and sometimes the gentle waves would push them onto the shore.
We had a bungie cord that was tied around the float to corral Son1 toward us. He loved every minute of the water, just like his big brother did when he was a baby. It was so nice that GG, the two boys, and I could all be in the water at the same time! GG is pretty active, but we just had to get her one thing, a walking stick. Now, GG refuses to use a cane, because she really doesn't need one. She had her knee replaced, and a walking stick just gives her better leverage every now and then on longer walks or hikes. Hubby just wanted me to go out and get an aluminum cane, and GG about came unglued. So Son1 and I ran around looking for a walking stick. GG has several of these in different states. She keeps one in California at her daughter's house, one in Colorado at another daughter's house, and one in Arizona where she lives, so she doesn't have to fly with a walking stick. She doesn't even use it every day, just on longer walks. Finally, the lady in the garden shop at Wal Mart suggested going to our local Hawaiian hardware store chain, City Mill. I explained to the man that my husband's grandmother needed a walking stick, and I needed a rounded piece of wood. He escorted Son1 and me to the back of the store, and waved us to a bin of bamboo sticks. He gave me this freaky look that suggested I might not actually want these sticks. PERFECT! Now, I ended up with a bamboo stick over six feet tall, but I figured Hubby could always cut it. I grabbed the stick for $3.69 and headed back toward the center of the store, where I asked another associate if they knew where I explained the project with the bamboo stick. I explained I needed a rubber bottom next. He looked at me with a cross between a puzzled look and an intrigued look. He led me to a section of rubber feet, and handed me a package. We squeezed a rubber foot over the bamboo, and it fit! Success for an additional $3.99! Once we got home, Hubby used his saw to cut down the stick, and wrapped the top with some duct tape. Now GG is set for some longer distances!

She will be here through the end of the month. Son1 is on Spring Break so we are able to spend all day together exploring the island this coming week, too!