down memory lane

My lil man turned 3 years old today. I know how everyone says the same ol' saying "It feels just like yesterday when I gave birth and held him in my arms." Well, it does. I don't realize how fast he's grown until I look at pictures of him over the last 3 years. The "monkey face" he would make when he was a baby. His first time sitting, walking, and taste of a popsicle. And today while he was playing away with this Spongebob game at Dave & Busters, did it hit me that he's going to one day be a grown man in this crazy world we live in, have a family of his own, and go through whatever obstacles may come his way. I want him to take his childhood by the horns and have a blast! It saddens me to see how a lot of kids nowadays try to grow up too fast. I on the other hand, am still a kid at heart and plan on staying that way!

Today has made me think of my own childhood and reminisce of the good ol days when I didn't have a care in the world! Not all of it was happy-go-lucky, but it's the good ones that I hold on to. Sometimes it seems so long ago that it could have all been a dream, until a familiar smell in the air of cherry flavored tobacco and I'm back at grandpa's and tutu's house in Kailua. Or the smell of "swimming pool" that brings me back to when my sis, our bestest and one of our oldest buds Mischa, and I would walk to the local pool. And after about 5 fun-filled hours of Marco Polo and "who can hold their breath underwater longer", we would walk our sunburned bodies to Taco Bell or Jack in the Box to get a drink we would all share, and play some "ice hockey" on the tables. We got in trouble once for doing that. heehee! I would have to say alot of my favorite childhood memories were from living and visiting my grandparents in Oahu. My tutu was an artist and so we always had access to art supplies to play with. Once during one of our many barbecues, Kat, Mischa, and I decided to make the lower level of the house an "art gallery" and so we drew all kinds of pictures for the display. To this day, I still get teased for my "Dorky of Oz" picture. I hate you guys. Nah, you know I love ya! One afternoon with painted faces, we made scary faces at drivers down busy Oneawa Street. I'm surprised we didn't cause any accidents that day. What a bunch or dorks. So many happy days of going to the beach, buying Sanrio at Liberty House, "panty hunts", barbie doll soap operas, and playing detective, will forever be locked away in a special place in my memory.

And of course I had very memorable moments on Kaua'i as well. Voting season was always fun! Holding signs and waving for Cayetano, Hirano, Kouchi, and whatever candidate signs happened to be posted by our house without permission. It was hilarious to see the confused faces of passersby. Our backyard was abundant with a variety of vegetables. We could've had a stand at the farmers market! There was corn, sweet potato, papaya, peanuts, eggplant, ginger, starfruit, avocado, jackfruit, typical filipino spread of malunggay, saluyot, and some kind of something that I still to this day, am not sure what it was. All I knew it was good for was throwing at cars that drove on the highway. They were a little larger than dates so don't be so appalled! Something I really miss was riding our bikes after school and stopping by the 7-eleven to get our Big Gulp and Big Hunk fix. But we always had to be home by 5:00 to cook rice. Good times.

Now I'm an adult and the life of bills, responsibility, picking up after the family has taken over! But it's okay. I love my family. I have some great memories to look back on, and new ones to make with my son. Happy birthday lil guy!