May Day 2009

Hydroponic Pak Choi

We had the pleasure of harvesting our first hydroponically-grown Pak Choi (Green Dwarf) over the weekend. We planted this one back in the beginning of March - so it was about 2 months from seed to harvest. It was grown in a 1.75g plastic container fitted with a forestry tube. The seed was planted in a combination of rockwool and peat moss. Here is a pic of our little growing table (as you can see, we're doing lots of "experiments" in easy, low-cost home hydroponics - it looks like you need at least a gallon container - though we are trying recycled 1/2 gallon milk containers too):



And here is Jack holding our first harvest - which we ate on Sunday night (yum)...



Looks like we'll be getting our first cucumbers in the next couple weeks - so that will be fun...

Brian Felix - Obituary, Sunday 26 April 2009

BRIAN KEITH FELIX Age 54, of Kailua, died April 17, 2009. Born in Honolulu and raised in Kailua. He was a Damien High School graduate, class of '72. He worked for Paradise Beverages for over 30 years, and was their Operations Manager. He attained the level of Black Belt and was a member of the Advanced Kempo Karate System in Aiea. He is survived by his wife, Criselda; daughters, Kirstin and Haley; father, Alexander; sister, Denise (Buck) Degener; brothers, Kevin (Nellie) of Kona, Jeffrey (Nancy) of Texas, and Troy Felix of Virginia. Brian lived life to its fullest. He was a loving and devoted husband, father, son, brother, nephew, uncle and cousin. He loved family and loved his friends like his very own. He will be remembered for his renditions of "Born to be Wild" and "Great Balls of Fire". Besides his family and friends, his passion was his weekly yard work along with a few Coors Lights. He will be deeply missed by the many lives and yards he touched. Visitation is at 9:30am on Saturday, May 2 at St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Kailua; mass at 12:00N.Private burial. Please no flowers. Updated on 04/29/2009.

Honolulu Advertiser Obituary Link

Lost a friend

Sad day today - last night we lost a good friend and neighbor. Brian Felix passed away in his sleep last night. Looks like a heart attack but they aren't sure. He was too young. We are all in shock - and our hearts go out to his family and friends.

Weekend Pics

Jacks' first season playing Junior Pinto basketball was awesome - Doug and I were the coaches and we had a blast. Unfortunately neither the players nor the coaches ever quite mastered the Princeton offense and we lost in the first round of the KBA playoffs (16-18) - ending a very fun season - RAPTORS ON THREE... ONE... TWO... THREE!...


Liv had some girlfriends (MVBF, OMG) over and they got all dressed up - cute.


Here's the status of our hydro cukes after one week - so far so good


Multi-sport threat Owen in the fort.


A very pretty orchid that recently bloomed in the back yard...


And a pretty good shot of the usually elusive "wild" guinea pigs Opal and Cinnamon (how these things haven't become cat food is beyond me).


Jack of the jungle


Jack's buddy Nicholas came over for a play date... good fun.

We're all doing well - life is good! Very excited about Sam and Geoff's new addition to the LEMCLAN coming this Friday!

Hydro Cukes

We were looking for something fun to do with the kids and we found an article about growing cucumbers in a non-circulating hydroponic system (read: growing cucumbers in a trash can filled with water and fertilizer). After struggling to locate some of the materials we found Miu at DPL Hawaii (808-935-8785, dplhawaii at aol dot com) who had what we needed.
We'll see if they grow...

THE VISIT!

We just dropped Grandma Karen off at the airport tonight - so we finally have some time to start posting some pics and memories from an awesome holiday visit from Kristen's family. In addition to g-ma Karen, we had her brother Shannon, his wife Becky, and 11 year-old Simon out for Christmas.

The first really full day of excitement started out with a trip downtown to pay our respects to King Kamehameha:

And see some Christmas decorations:





Followed by a visit to Da Kine Bail Bonds (more pics of this later :)

A stop by the Dole plantation...

And capped off by a honu sighting and a stunning sunset at Lani's on the North Shore:







The night unfortunately ended with the untimely demise of the faithful 1999 Subaru Forester (RIP):

MUCH more to come...

UH-Cinci game pics from 6 Dec

(trying to catch up on the blog...)

Tim Brown totally hooked Randy, Marc Lammers, and me up with tics and field passes for the UH/Cinci football game on 6 Dec. It was a blast - and those players are freaking HUGE! All was going well until the 4th quarter when we had to witness one of the most painful Hawaii sports collapses in recent memory - but we had a great time nonetheless. Many thanks to Tim! NAPA ROCKS!!!



If you've ever wondered - this is what field turf looks like REALLY REALLY close up. Basically a mix of rubber pellets and shredded green plastic. Underfoot it feels pretty good - a little bouncy - but I wouldn't want to leap in the air and land on it.



If you've ever wondered - this is what THE RAINBOW DANCERS look like REALLY REALLY close up. Marc Lammers getting the scoop.



I got to meet Nick Rolovich - which was totally cool. Rolo (along with Colt Brennan and Timmy Chang) is a bonafide Hawaii QB legend. Look him up on wikipedia - he had arguably the greatest 3 or 4 game stretch of any QB in NCAA history.



View from the endzone - we watched most of the first half from the field. Great experience. Thanks again Tim.

Hawaiian Style Christmas Tree

Norfolk Island Pines are all the rage here - and despite a slight "Charlie Brown" type feel - they are really beautiful and it is hard to beat island grown and fresh-cut trees. Here are some pics from the tree farm up by Wahiawa - Olivia with some trimmings:

Jack had fun...

And Owen refused to have his likeness captured in digital form:

Ah - the winner (no we didn't buy a 15' tree - they cut the top 7 feet off - the stumps live on and grow another tree in a few years - cool):

Sewers - yummy

Well - it's not the best smelling surf site in Hawaii - and it's rarely breaking - but when it happens and you catch it with no crowd - wow. Thanks to Doug for turning us on to his favorite West side spot...

(yet) More pics from North Carolina

Mr. Hugh's Jim Carrey impersonation

The BELLY!

More pics from North Carolina

Art Tozzi (Samantha's dad) came down.

This is a rather large order of South 21 fish dinners (it is impossible to explain how truly wonderful this food is - you have to experience it)...

...and onion rings (oh my)...

Mr. Hugh

me and Hugh

Maw Maw's funeral trip

Was able to make it back to NC for my grandmother's funeral. Obviously a sad trip but it was good to see everyone. Here's a pic of all of the grandkids. From left to right: Geoff, Amanda, Jack, Anna, Allison, and me.

Maw Maw

Sad Day

Some really sad news today - our beloved Maw Maw (my paternal grandmother) passed away this morning. We had a tough talk tonight with the kids and if there is nothing more you can say for a 3 year old - they do have a way of lightening up even the most somber news. Jack kind of gets it - and Livy was really upset. We are all heartbroken and sending lots of love to BP, Paw Paw and Tudi, Uncle Ron and MJ, and my cousins.

RockingOwen

Hanging with Owen

Got to hang out with Owen this morning while Kristen took Jack and Olivia to some appointments. He got into the eggs...



...and then proceeded to ROCK!

HappyBirthdayTudi

Carhole of Scariness Part 2 - HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Halloween was a big hit this year - the haunted tent was magically transformed into Frankenstein's castle. The kids were totally into it - here are some of our many helpers posing with the creepy tombstone...



Here's a shot from the front of the tent - that lantern is a classic...



The "Science Lab" room - complete with sizzling black light, Electric Pickle station, bottomless pit, brain in a jar (carved melon), reanimated eyeballs au jus, and the restless severed arm.



And Dr. Frankenstein's infamous "Reanimation Chamber" - complete with power plant, fog machine, electric globe, strobe light, and giant 8' reanimation table equiped with restraining chains and jumper cables...



Not shown: the haunted graveyard (Pepper's ghost illusion) and Baron Victor Von Frankenstein "seeing eye" portrait. Mila took a lot of pics - so hopefully she'll have some good ones. More soon.... Bawahahhaahaa