The road to winning Ka La Hula i Reno (also known as Heiva i Reno):

First, practice, practice, practice. And preferably find someplace fun to practice. Like Half Moon Bay. You know....on the beach....where hula was meant to be done.

Always listen to your Aunty Moe - she knows what she's doing:

Now follow her lead:

Next, find a group of people at the beach who are celebrating a birthday, then perform for them to get experience in front of an audience (sorry you can't hear the song):

Arrive in Reno and hang with your hula sisters to wait for results from the tahitian competition (and be ecstatic for them when your sisters Chelsea, Katelyn and Kalene take 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in their age category - and don't forget Francisco in the back row with the lei who took first place in his age category for Kane [men]!)

Next, run over to a conference room at the hotel and watch the big girls rehearse for the next day:

Then you rehearse with your crew for the next day:

And sneak in a solo rehearsal or two:

Wake up the morning of the competition and go over to the ballroom to watch the big girls block and rehearse their dance:

Then block and rehearse your dance:

Now you can take out the braids mom spent two hours putting in two days ago. Get big girls to do your hair while telling you all their horror stories of how much it hurt to brush out their hula hair when they were little (try to listen and take comfort through tears....then get mom to take over brushout so that it's not quite so painful....or at least you can yell at her and somehow that makes you feel better):

Now go to another parent for be-flowering (hey - no fair - how did YOUR mom get the sucky job of hair brushout?) Notice big smile to get be-flowered:

Some final touches with the flowers:

Such a pretty smile. And look at that great hula hair!

Awwwwww

Now, be sure to let off a little steam in the hotel room, overlooking beautiful downtown Reno:

And be sure to blow us some kisses backstage right before you perform:

Okay....here it is - the big moment! Si is on the far left. Three judges - not too scary, right? Although the one on the far left (in purple) is a Merrie Monarch judge - the superbowl of hula competitions:

Waiting with hula sisters for the results to be announced:

Oh my gosh! Is that right? We won? Let's go get our award!!!!

Pose with sisters - Sarah, Jessica, Jordan, Jasmine (hidden from view) and Sierra - and with judge and Aunty Moe and Uncle Kalen:

Now, go up and hang onto the premiere award - The Adjucator's Pick - the Best Hapa Haole Hula Award:

By winning this award they now automatically become finalists in the Hapa Haole Festival competition being held in Hawaii in October.

In all, Ke Ola Loa (Te Ora Roa O'tea) won the following:

1st place Keiki Hula Auana (that's Sierra!)

2nd place Wahine Hula Auana

1st place Wahine Hula Medley

1st place Music

1st place Costume (older girls)

Best Hapa Haole presentation

And don't forget the tahitian competition from the day before - 1st, 2nd and 3rd place PLUS a 1st place for Francisco

Now pose with everyone associated with the halau (except mom who is taking the photo):

And that's the road to winning a competition. Phew. Take a rest, spend a couple of days in Tahoe, then go see grandma. Life is good.

What a fun way to end your birthday:

It's pretty cool when an orchestral conductor actually conducts the singers for your very own version of Happy Birthday.

Alas, when I say end....I mean for this actual day. It just keeps going with the party on Monday. Oh well, all the more to post. Happy 8th Birthday, Si.

Yesterday in Foster City Si performed with her halau. She's the one in the front, in the middle.



Windy as usual, but a beautiful backdrop of the bay.

Finally.....a chance to see Ry sing at the Giants game!

On the BART platform going to the game:
In front of the ballpark:

All the boys waiting out at the PortWalk entrance:

Goofy people:

Sweeeet seats!

The dugout protected me from the cold, Si's ski jacket protected her:

Summer sports have begun. Ry is on the Brewers and Si is on the Tigers. Ry has had two

games so far and Si has had one. Hmmm.... not much more to say about it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GRANDMA LLANA

Okay, so we're 3 days late, but we wanted to have time to produce the high quality that you see before you!

Another video! What Child is This piano duet from December.

Another video from the SF Boys Chorus Holiday Concert - it's called "Holiday Lights" Enjoy!

Here are Ry and Si performing at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Oratorical competition at school. They compiled various letters that children have written to Dr. King, put them in an order they liked, and recited them. They achieved 2nd place in their category, but more importantly, learned about how special Dr. King was and how relevant his learnings and teachings continue to be.

Ryan's birthday seems to never quite be a day....always more like 3 or 7 days. But I think that's probably how it should be. So here are some photos for your enjoyment of his 9th birthday week.

Everyone wears a party hat!

Hey....anyone notice there's more pictures of mom this year? It's our New Year's Resolution.

Birthday boy favorite dinner: Cherry Soup, Seared Ahi, Orzo, Asparagus and 1% Milk (and don't even try to feed him 2% because he CAN tell the difference!).

Little sister sure likes to watch Ryan open cards.....oh, hey wait....is that a camera right there? Oh, I had no idea!
I just love my brother.....
No, really....I just really, really love him!

Hey...a weather station! Now I can track all the stormfronts for the whole family! (And tell mom how to dress for the weather each day).

Okay....presents all opened, dinner eaten, cake eaten, time to head to Tahoe!

Skiing at Squaw Valley - Ry in the front, Si behind in the blue jacket.

You can't see them, but we really are on ice skates at High Camp with Lake Tahoe in the background.

Ahhh....a lovely ending to a lovely birthday snow trip.

Si received an "Alien Pizza" making kit for Christmas. Green dough, blue sauce. While they had great fun making it, the flavor was what you would expect from green dough and blue sauce. I believe they each took two bites of their individual pizzas and reverted to the fideo Scott had made for the grownups. Lesson learned? Never eat food with color that didn't naturally occur. Ever.

Ryan expresses all of our thoughts for this Christmas. It seemed a little simpler, somehow. I'm not sure if it's because we only put out very few decorations....no lights on the tree - just some simple ornaments and beads. I'd like to say it was a design, aesthetic, and lifestyle choice...but realistically it had to do more with time, or lack thereof, than anything else. For those who aren't aware, between December 5 and 23, we needed to be in San Francisco 14 days.....that's 14 out 18 days. Between rehearsals for chorus concerts, Ry and Si's actual concerts, and holiday activities we had planned for the family, this was what we did. It was fine because we love to be there, however, it leaves little time for much else. And I truly did want to simplify this year. My big idea was to do all the decorations in one color....we would negotiate as to the color (I was thinking white....Si was thinking red or gold.....the boys couldn't care less), but we just never got that far. Next year, perhaps. In the meantime, enjoy the Christmas photos.

We love each other......today.....right now....in this moment.....

There's nothing better than being able to paint your own umbrella

Unless it's blowing a ball up in the air

which is fun even for dad!

By the way, Ry and Si have opened several businesses for the purpose of raising dimes. Ry received a CoinStruction bridge. He needs 470 dimes to build the bridge and I believe he's up to 88 right now. Si is pitching in to help and they've opened the R&S Salon - massages are a dime per minute, however, I caught a sale the other day and got a 30-minute massage for 23 dimes. They also offer art lessons, math lessons, cooking or baking lessons, spelling lessons and anything else they can think of. Frankly, if you have any dimes, this would be the time to think up a job and have it done by two very motivated and enthusiastic children. Just give them a call. Happy holidays!

It feels like Ry's playing in the big leagues now. Not baseball, but singing. His San Francisco Boys Chorus winter concert was yesterday at a gorgeous church in Pacific Heights. At times there were upwards of 200 boys singing. Quite beautiful. And some playful songs and choreography too....which was unexpected and quite fun.

I must give credit to Jutka, Ry's former music teacher, for how well-prepared he was to go into this program. In fact, at 8, he entered at the level just below the touring level....and I have no doubt he'll advance sooner than we're actually ready for him to.

Ry's in the front row, 4th from left or right-hair pulled back

It's funny because we just received the DVD for the June (!) 2007 TRS performance, so we came home from the SFBC performance and watched my SFBC videotape, then the TRS DVD. For those who are in the TRS program from whence Ry came.....let me just confirm for you what amazing training they are truly receiving. Getting children to sing who want to sing is one thing, but getting them to all sing together so beautifully when there are several who really DON'T want to sing (as shared with us by Ry & Si), well, Jutka's simply a miracle-worker. The only downside is that you never get to see more than around 60 kids singing together....if the elementary children sing with the primary chorus. But they are so well-trained that if they were 200-strong, they would sound every bit as amazing. Oh, and by the way, Jutka has taught for most years around 120 students by herself. At SFBC, there are 5 chorus directors (plus theory and bell ringing teachers) to teach 200ish. Next up, Si at Davies Symphony Hall. Stay tuned.

If you've meandered over here I'm guessing you're a big Ry and Si fan. So in that light, I feel I can be unabashadly proud and tout how great they are. You've been warned.

On Saturday, we watched Si sing in a preview concert in San Francisco for her girl's chorus. Afterwards, we went to the Parol festival at Yerba Buena, which is a traditional Filipino celebration of the Christmas season, and saw many beautiful lanterns. Finally, we ended up at XYZ - the restaurant at the W hotel. It's a lovely dining room.....very warm, comfortable and grown up. I always like to watch how the kids are going to be perceived when we go to these places. In fact, a couple of weeks ago we went somewhere very nice and the waitress said "oh, are we practicing going out to dinner?" and I thought, hmmm.....really? Does she not see other 7- and 8-year olds? And to be fair, I think they normally think that the check total is going to be significantly lower because the children will want a bowl of pasta or cheese pizza. Clearly they've never met Ry and Si. As we began to order at XYZ, Si (who was sitting up very properly perusing her menu), said "I would like the oysters, the seared tuna, and the butternut squash." "A very grownup order!" commented the waiter. Ry ordered lobster and seared tuna (what have we created here?) and we had a wonderful meal and a very good time. At the end of the meal, the waiter said "we have NEVER had such well-behaved children in here." The scary part is when they grow up and go off to college, and the reality of where they can afford to eat hits them. However, in that light, they have been learning to cook since they were 2, and are quite good at it. So they'll whip things up Jamie Oliver style....simple, satisfying, REAL foods. And they'll be a big hit at their house/dorm/dive they live in with 7 other starving students.

Unabashed proud moment #2: Before we got our tree yesterday, Ry and Si wanted to go to the main library in downtown Oakland. We have a friend who works there so it's their second favorite library after the Berkeley main library. We didn't have much time, so Scott said no, and as they protested, Scott said, no, but we can go to Boomers! [horrible, awful video game/mini race cars/overall screamy kid pit of running around crazy]. Ignoring her father's addiction to sarcasm, Si said - no - I'd rather go to the library.

Instead, we went for a family hike in Redwood Park....Si was hike leader because she had hiked the trail with me before, and Ry was yoga leader - in charge of a few breaks where we breathe and stretch properly. We hiked almost three miles with 700 vertical feet of climbing, came home, and Scott and Si cooked up a homemade lasagna and coconut rice pudding. All in all, a pretty perfect day.