So Here We Are...After a Long Flight and Wedding

Again, I've put off blogging to the point where I have to blog about months at a time. Well, here's the deal.

Amy and I have moved back from Kapolei, Hawai'i and are now residing in Rockland, Massachusetts to our respective homes. Our time from May to June in Hawai'i was priceless and I cannot ever put into words the amount of fun, frustration and happiness I had in those last two months.

May was basically a closing up month at school. I focused on students getting caught up but kept teaching for the most part until the end of the month. We learned about light and cosmology a bit toward the end as well as extinction and evolution for animals and plants on Earth.

After school was over, the girls and Tim started moving things from the apartment in Ko Olina Kai to the Fairways where next year Meg, Jocelyn and An will be living together. We moved everything in, sent everything home and sold everything off. Our apartment was empty of everything. Meg bought a car and so we tried to sell ours. We couldn't. In fact, we are still trying. To finish this story, I have to tell this one;

Our last day in Hawai'i Amy, Tim, Meg and Taylor went surfing at White Plains. We didn't know that there had been an earthquake in Japan, so we had to deal with 150 aftershocks worth of waves. It was very choppy, but Tim managed to stand up a few times. Amy and Meg however, got boards that were way too small and couldn't get anything going really. Well, after our hour of fun in the water and fighting the waves (by the way, we saw Creepy Matt! our neighbor from Makakilo Hills.), we lied on the beach for a bit and finally saw what we have been waiting to see since we heard about them! There was a Monk Seal swimming through right past us! It was super cute and VERY fast. Amy tried to run to get a picture of it, but like I said: very fast. Well, it was like O'ahu was saying goodbye to us, so we took it as a sign to go and start getting ready for our dinner at Roy's. So we left and headed home. At about 200 yards from Ko Olina, we were almost home, when the radiator blew and shot green liquid all over the windshield and smoke started to pour out from the hood. Meg and Taylor walked back to get a car and I called J. Trainer for some help. He happened to be on his way home to Makaha so he picked Amy and I up and we left the car there for pick up. We called every scrap metal and Kidney Foundation place on the island an no one wanted our car. We went back to the car and drove it back to Megan's new place and there it stays...waiting to be fixed/sold/given away.

And that's where we are with that even now, Megan called recently to tell us that it's been looked at and we tried to fix it a couple of times, but as of now, it's just not working out. Here's hopin'.

Well, aside from that debacle, we arrived home on the 18th and we had a few hours to get ready for Jay's bachelor party and get our tuxes for the wedding. Everything worked out for everyone but Richard whose shirt didn't fit. We went and got the suits, then headed for dinner and then up into Boston for some fun with Jason which consisted mostly of drinks, Jay puking and fun in a weight room. Good times. The next day was the rehearsal dinner, which Richard and Tim were late to because of the shirt and a tractor trailer flip on 128: they missed the rehearsal completely. BUT! We WERE there for the wedding (barely) and Jay and Tim got ready in his room and Rich got ready in his room and Woody got ready in his room. Tim had to teach all of them how to use the buttons in a tux as well as the cuff links.

The wedding was really amazing. Jay did well, said "I do," then we had some fun with pictures. I gotta tell you, though, the videographer was kind of creepy. I think he wanted Jay and T to make out. Very awkward. The dancing, drinking and good times at the reception were really amazing. It really got us excited for our wedding. Tim's best man speech got some good reactions. **Quick synopsis: made fun of Joe (Jay's mom's new husband), played off like he would be serious, said he saw J naked, commented on fictitious third nipple of Jason's, said he couldn't imagine being anywhere else at that moment, wished them good luck.**

Right after the wedding, the next great step in Tim's life began. He started working at PCC again. This time, he is a Master Teacher. Finally, he's come full circle and is teaching a subject he loves in the program that has been so good to and for him. The summer is almost over now with week 5 half way over, but it's been a lot of fun. The week is fun physics tricks and mind-blowing ideas and the weekends belong to the apartment in Southie that Amy and Tim have rented. We're in the process of building furniture and moving in, still looking for a car and trying to stay sane about the wedding.

All in all, we are holding up ok, so until PCC ends and married life begins....

Island Hoppers and Parental Visitations

T and A immortalized in the rock graffiti outside of Waikoloa!




Since the last time I wrote, we have been to Big Island, Hawai'i (well twice for T anyway) and Kaua'i once. After Alicia left us, we spent the second half of the vacation on Big Island with the 5 girls from school. We had Michelle, An, Bernice, and two of Michelle's sisters with us. It was a big group and we had rented a house to contain us all. It took two cars to chauffeur everyone around the altogether too large island. Michelle and I, being the only two above the age of 25 rented the cars and hence drove the cars. (We got a convertible!)



It was a whirlwind vacation. We saw the waterfalls in Hilo first. Rainbow falls, Pe'epe'e falls (Pronounced Peh-eh peh-eh not pee pee) and a few smaller ones including the boiling pots. After that, we drove to Hilo town and cruised around the Japanese park for a while. We also began spelling things with our bodies here as well. A practice that lasted the entire trip. After this we drove down to Puna where the people get hippier and the sand gets blacker. It gets blacker because it's the volcanic side of the island. We stopped at one such black sand beach and we found ourselves neck-deep in naked hippies. On the bright side, they made Tim feel very well endowed on the down side it was creepy when some naked old guys asked us if we were professional pot-rollers. then the bright side again! We saw spinner dolphins really close to shore, just jumping and having a blast in the blue waves.




Tim, An, Megan, Bernice, Jocelyn, Amy and Michelle's two sisters, Megan and Lauren.




We ended the night in the house and began the next day with a trip through Volcano National Park. we stopped at Halema'uma'u lookout, but unlike our last visit, we didn't get to go to the Jagger Museum due to the EXCESSIVE activity of Halema'uma'u and the sulfur dioxide it was pumping out. We did however, still see the Thurston Lava Tube and Kilaue'a Iki crater. But most excitingly, we saw the Chain of Craters Road. This road leads to the end where lava has knocked out the road way along the coast. We got to see the steam rising from the water as the lava entered (but as of yet, no lava). We then started back toward the park but stopped to see some old petroglyphs (or rock drawings).


The petroglyphs had great meaning to early Hawaiians. Hawaiians would bring the piko (belly button or umbilical cord) from a newborn baby down to this spot on Mauna Loa. Here they would chisel out a drawing, something about the moon, the spiritual guide, or simply a pattern with concentric circles and place the piko in it so that the manna of Mauna Loa would look after the baby.

Amy found a Honu!!!











The roomies hanging out at the Lava!



Lava flowing into the ocean...newest land in Hawai'i

After this we drove back down to Puna to do some lava-watching! At first we could see the lava far away flowing into the water, but as the sun went down, we began to see the glow getting closer and then realized that their had been a surface flow right by us the whole time! It was crazy! And of course, we wrote Hawaii'i with our bodies again!

We went to End of the World the next day and jumped off a large cliff into water. Tim's tattoo was deemed really cool by a local girl and everyone jumped (except Jocelyn and Megan). Haha...HoWeVeR! This was where Pele started to get back at us for the girls peeing on her. Tim got a shell in his finger (that he thought was a sea urchin, but it wasn't), Bernice fell and almost killed herself on some rocks before we even jumped and on the way back to the car, Michelle's sister fell and scraped herself all up! Since the End of the World is on the Kona side, we went to Kona that day to see some of the sites and then head north to Mauna Kea.

I swear this is ACTUALLY Saturn!!!

Mauna Kea was GORGEOUS! At the visitor center about 6 Miles up the mountain, they set up 30 centimeter telescopes aimed at various objects in the sky. One was focused on Saturn which was in Leo at the time. Another at the Orion Nebula and another at the Pleiades or Seven Sisters or Subaru if you are from Japan. I have never seen so many stars. In fact, we even saw the Milky WAY!!! I was stoked! I've never seen anything that cool in all my life. I was dumbstruck...it was cold, but very very awesome!




T and A at the Royal Hawaiian hotel in Waikiki!












Out for Amy's B-day!

When we got back from Big Island, Amy and Tim went to celebrate Amy's birthday by staying at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. Anyone who has ever been to O'ahu has seen this pink hotel in Waikiki. It was a really cool place to stay and we got strawberries and champagne! We also met the girls out that night and had a nice dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. It was a pretty outrageous night! The next day we woke up and hung out on the beach after breakfast and then took the bus home to see Meg's parents! Meg and Jocelyn both had their parents out, but Meg's were at home and Jocelyn's were staying in town.

Bernice, Guy, Megan and Taylor on a Booze Cruise out of Waikiki!


Meg's dad Guy and I had ourselves a rivalry war with Jerseys from our Rival teams of Red Sox/Yankees and Patriots/Giants. The competition did get out of hand every once in a while, but I think we all know who won! hahaha... Guy and Karen left after a week and so did Joc's parents, so we were back to our foursome for a bit, until Tim's parents came out a week later. They stayed for two weeks and during those two weeks, I'm pretty sure they saw every once of O'ahu and Big Island.

Unfortunately, into every life, a little rain must fall, as the proverb says. Amy's grandfather had a stroke the day after Tim's parents arrived on island. Of course Amy had to return home to be with family, but Tim and his parents had already purchased their tickets for Big Island. So Amy went home for the wake and the funeral, and the Fitzgibbon clan went to discover Big Island.

T and Mom going deep into the Thurston Lava Tube...Way past the lighted part.
On the Big Island, the Fitz's saw Kona first, since they were on that side, but they also paid a lot of visits to the entire Kona coast. They saw Captain Cook's monument (from afar) and went snorkeling at Hanalu'u Bay Beach Park. They also got a chance to see World's End, and the Heiau up in Kohala. Tim got to take them all along the north shore of Big Island, too. They went to Pololu Valley, Waimea and Waipi'o Valley and up to Akaka Falls. They, too saw the Lava in Puna, swam in the Hot pools and visited Volcano National Park only this time, they got to see the Jagger Museum since the wind was blowing the gasses away from the Museum. It was a really good visit that T had with his parents.




T and Mom at Waipi'o Lookout!











Double Rainbow on Waimea with Mom and Dad Fitz!




Back on the Meeting Place, O'ahu, Amy returned and it was back to work for a bit. Mom and Dad Fitz got a chance to roam alone to some places and then Amy and T took them to Waimea Bay and Waimea Falls that weekend. We kind of had a rough weekend to go to Wainea Falls as it was in the midst of a pretty bad drought. But it was a nice walk and we had a good time. We finished the rents visit with a Germaine's Luau like last year. It was a good time, good food and a good send off to them. The next day, Amy went to work and Tim took his parents to the airport to go home. It was a shortened send off, due to the stupid car making an awful smell and refusing to work properly, but it was a great two weeks with the family together a little bit.

The following Friday, the whole house joined 7 other teachers from the Leeward coast, Michelle, An, Bernice, Beth, Tine, Colleen, and Erin and one marine (sorry again Taylor) and went to the Garden Isle of Kaua'i for the long weekend (granted it was a self-made long weekend). On Kaua'i again, we rented a house and this time three cars, the drivers again were the only ones old enough to avoid the 25 dollar/day surcharge for youth, Erin, Tim and Michelle.

Amy, An, Tim, Michelle, Beth, Taylor, Megan, Bernice, Tine, Jocelyn, Erin and Colleen.

The only time T and A had been to Kaua'i they had only seen Waimea, Polihale and the south shore beaches, (which I've already described in a previous post) so this time, they tried to steer the group a little bit away from things they'd already seen. The first day was a Waimea Canyon Day (give yourself 10 points if you spotted the fact that I've said Waimea on all three Islands!), we saw the Canyon and then the South Shore through the Tree Tunnel. We saw the Spouting Horn and Lay out on Poipu Beach. After that, we headed back to the house.

The next day, we all split up. Two cars went Horseback Riding up in Princeville, and we went on a helicopter tour of the entire island, Amy, Tim, Jocelyn, Taylor and Megan. I can't even describe to you the feeling of flying over the Na Pali coast and seeing the canyon from the sky. The river that Amy and Tim kayaked on last year, we found out was used to film Indiana Jones when he was running from the cannibals to the water plane. We also saw the Waterfall from Jurassic Park. Anyway, we finished our trip to Kaua'i by going on a few excursions to a Hindu Monastery and then to a waterfall, while the other girls went to the beach to chill....

T and A IN A HELICOPTER!!

Waterfall from Jurassic Park

Car # 1 at Hanalei Elementary school, Riding some waves!


Needless to say it was a crazy Monday coming back to work, but it was a lot of fun while it lasted.

Until next time, when, hopefully I'm less forced to right about a whole month....

St. Patrick's, Alicia, Whales and preparations!

Our Easter best...Happy EASTER!

So I think that when things are going well, I tend not to blog and when things start becoming stressful, I begin again. So here it is, my second blog in as many weeks. I left off last time with Richard's visit and that leads into St. Patrick's Day and our next visitor.

St. Patrick's Day began early (or Air-Lee for those of you into the Brogue) for us in Waikiki, much like last year. The girls were in already as Meg had an appointment and I drove in later to meet them by the block party. (They cornered off two streets and a parking lot to let a bunch of wild partiers take over and dance to live bands and drink. It was good times.) So the girls came and we did a bit of shopping at the Aloha Tower Marketplace and finished up by buying sunglasses and stuff from Honolua. We celebrated our new purchases with some refreshing and apropos Green Beer from Hooters in the Marketplace. (I figured Aunt Julie would be proud of us for that one.) We were also marking the commencement of beers with green stickers which were placed on the body sequentially as they were needed. (That's smart talk for we were wearing Shamrock stickers in various places.) After the Green Beer we moved over to O'Toole's and Murphy's...I know very Hawaiian of them...with our friends Bernice, Michelle, Baum, Frankie, Beth, Tori, and Tine. It was a good group to go with. We then set out to have some fun and we met up with some new friends of ours from the Marines, Taylor, Austin and Tim. We listened to the Piranha Brothers play for a while and danced in the street. (Some of us danced, 0thers attached themselves to Bernice to try to keep the crowd from being mauled by her crazy "dancing") We got into O'Toole's later and then Meg went to the Airport to pick up our new visitor, Alicia. Soon after they returned, it got a little late and we headed home to sleep.



Keeping Bernice and bystanders safe and losing my sunglasses in the process.

Alicia and Meg at St. Patty's Day in O'Toole's

Alicia came out for a week, Monday to Monday. Jocelyn left during the week to be with family for a while, so she did not get much Alicia-time. All in all, it was a very relaxing week, and I'm quite brown because of it. We took her to Waimea for Tuesday and the waves were HUGE! Some people were body surfing and it was fun to watch them get blasted by the waves or dropped from the top of a barrel. Most of all, it was good just to sit still for a while and relax after St. Patty's Day. We stopped at a place in Hale'iwa that we'd never gone to before called "Cholo's." It was good as far as Mexican goes, but I would have liked Taco Bell just as much (especially now that they sells the Kalua pork quesadillas! yum...) Wednesday we went to Cabanas, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were a blur of beaches on all sides of the Island. We went to Waikiki one day to hike to Diamond Head for sunrise again and then breakfast at Bogart's again, and then surfing! THIS TIME I STOOD UP! I was going to get trounced by a wave, but just when I thought I was going under, the board caught the wave and I stood up! I got a bit cocky though and stood still, the board started moving out from under me and I ended up walking off the backside. Oops. Anywho...I stood up and this time my nipples didn't hurt so much (wore a shirt this time...that was a plus)
Amy, Tim, Megan and Alicia after Surfing!

Saturday was a booze cruise of course. I'll spare the pictures this time...we've posted enough, but Sunday was Easter so Amy and I went to church with Bernice at St. Jude's and then we all went back to Ko'Olina Kai to have some food, lay by the pool and have an Easter Egg hunt with Michelle, her sister and her nephew baby Dylan. We got a call from Kim and Kevin while at the pool so they came and joined us with some other Navy friends and we all an Easter Egg hunt. (Amy hid eggs in CACTI!! What kind of monster am I marrying!?!) Easter night we watched a movie with Bernice and then Alicia and I played some Wii...she stunk and I ruled...although given the following day's activity, we probably shouldn't have worked the arms so much.

Only two here, but
Alicia found all of her eggs, eventually...Tim helped!

Monday we finished off the week by going to Kailua and kayaking. We left from Kailua beach and headed for a place called Flat Island which is a bird sanctuary (and there were no birds). On the way, though, we saw a couple big turtles but Megan was too slow with the camera so we didn't get a picture. The next turtle was pretty big too I guess, but it scared Meg and Alicia too much to get a good picture. After Flat Island we went toward Lani Kai and then back out to Mokulua Island. On the way to Mokulua, we saw a little baby turtle...he was so cute! The girls went ahead of Amy and I and got stuck in the reef, so they missed THE COOLEST THING EVER! (I hope that was dramatic enough) Amy and I were floating trying to wait for a baby turtle to resurface and we heard a big thumping sound. The noise got louder and softer depending on the waves, but then I had just asked what the noise was when I looked up and saw a HUGE humpback whale fluke slapping the water! INCREDIBLE! So after the waves got too big since we were in the wrong spot, we had to fight to get back into Mokulua where we relaxed for a few minutes before heading back to Kailua beach and returning the Kayaks. The girls got some shave ice and then we went to Lani Kai for about 2 hours and I slept, so I have no story for that one. Alicia left Monday night and Jocelyn came back Tuesday.

Tim, Amy, Alicia, and Meg on Mokulua

When Jocelyn came back, we were just getting ready for Big Island...which I will write about soon...so...until I've deemed enough time has gone by to write again....

WHOA! Three Months!? Sorry...

Ok, well I know I said I'd write again when I felt the urge but because so much has happened, I got a bit overwhelmed and just kept putting it off. Well, I will write about events from more recently later, but for today I will sum up my activities since Christmas.

Amy and I went home for break and got a chance to see our parents and families. I didn't get to see my siblings, but because almost everyone will be home next Christmas, it seemed ok to us. We also got a chance to see Christopher and Derek and Jake from Maine and then stop by and visit with the family Cyr before heading up to Belfast to see Amy's Dad. What we weren't counting on up there was the freak blizzard that got us stuck there overnight. Our car was covered and we had to help Amy's Dad drive to the quarry and then back again with his truck so he could dig us out and clear the road. We headed back to Rockland and spent a few more days relaxing. We did much visiting with friends and spent NewYear's in Brighton with Ame's friends from high school. They are good kids but the night didn't end that well for my stomach. I was busy introducing the young ens to my old pal Jager-bomb. A new found friend but a friend none the less.

The Girls and some Romanians

Well, after the flight home, we only had a couple of days and then it was back to the grind stone. We celebrated our little Christmas with our roommates and we all received a trip to Cirque Hawai'i from Jocelyn. It was a good time...and we met Elvis!!! (he's Romanian and hairy!)

In February, Pro Bowl came to town and with the Pro Bowl came a few of our boys. We went with a bunch of friends and got down to the field level at a few points. I got a couple pictures of Vrabel, Samuel and of course Vince Wilfork. Aside from the game, there was a small bet between Meg and I. The bet was that the Pats would win the Super Bowl and the winner got a picture of the loser in the winner's Jersey to be sent to their father. Well, here is the picture taken at Pro Bowl and I still managed to get my Patriots into the photo.

Tim and Meg in "the bet"

Big Bad Mikey V.

Samuel, Ed Reed, Vince Wilfork, Ben Rothlesberger

Assante, Lynch and Champ Bailey on the 50 yard line from the second row!

Well, after Pro Bowl, we didn't really have too too much going on. My Buddy Rich came out to visit during his February Break after he taught 5th grade. We did a ton during his visit...an absolute ton! He came in on early Saturday morning, and Saturday was a pretty chill day. Sunday, we went on Booze Cruise #9 or 10...honestly I've lost count. Every time someone comes out we go on one of these things. I love them and we always have a lot of fun. We hung out with some friends from our schools.



Jim and Tim, just two Eighth grade science teachers sharing a Mai Tai...what's wrong with that?!





Anyway...We had Monday off, so the next day we went for a hike and climbed to the top of Lahilahi, the mountain on the edge of Cabanas beach. Cabanas is one of our favorite beaches and we always wanted to climb that mountain. The view was above amazing. The two buildings are what the locals call Cabanas and the beach has a really long Hawaiian name, in fact one day recently, we saw a turtle that swam right underneath us. Is it any wonder why I love the beach?





View of Cabanas from Lahilahi






So Tuesday, Rich went to school with us and saw the girls for the first part of their day and met their kids. After that, he came to good old Wai'anae Inter. and met my golden children. They were in full show off mode. He got to meet one of my best and one of my goofiest classes. After that, Rich and I did a three hike day. We went to the Top of Diamond Head for sunrise, then to the Blowhole and saw a HUGE honu from far away, then Makapu'u lighthouse, Maunawili falls and ended the day with Pali lookout followed closely by the hot tub and KFC. haha...we had a pretty eventful day and got a lot of hiking in.



Sunrise at Diamond Head, the faint bump on the water is Maui.

Honu at the Blowhole...good thing too, since the Blowhole wasn't doing anything.

Well, Thursday we went surfing for the first time on the island. We went to Waikiki so it was a little crowded but it was a blast. I can't do it, but I had fun. I think there should be warnings on surf boards that it may rub your nipples off, but other than that, I did ok, I tried really hard, but I couldn't get standing. Amy did get up and ride once or twice and Jocelyn, the old pro did too. Rich, Meg and I tried and fell a lot. After that we bought Rich a new shirt at "The stupid factory" since the wax ruined his shirt and we went to eat at Duke's DELICIOUS!

Friday, Rich and I were supposed to go Scuba Diving, but because the dive master was sick, we went snorkeling on a Dolphin excursion, although we didn't see any dolphins. We did, however, make friends with a 6th grader on vacation from somewhere in the Mid-West and her family as well as see a small pod of humpbacks whales about 100 ft. from the boat. They were humongous and so close. We could hear them breathing. It was a great visit with an even better friend.

I can't believe it was so long ago. Well, my next update will include all of March...Including St. Patty's Day and Big Island with the Wai'anae Teachers!

Until the time arises when I can type again....