Life of Larisa or LOL

  Twelve down, forty more "new things" to go.  My latest: climbing up waterfalls, three to be exact, in the back of Palolo Valley on the Ka'au Crater Waterfall Loop Trail.  This trail has been on my list for awhile.  It was nice to get it marked off.  This hike makes the list of "new things" for a couple of reasons.  One, I had never done this hike before.  Two, I had never climbed up a waterfall.  Three, I've never been so sore and tired after a hike (including when I did Stairway to Heaven).     Ka'au Crater is a volcanic crater.  It is an extinct tuff cone volcano in the back of Palolo Valley on the island of O'ahu. Like the more famous Diamond Head (also an extinct volcano tuff cone), it was created after a series of volcanic eruptions.  The legend is that the crater was formed when demigod Maui tried pulling O'ahu and Kauai with his hook (have you watched Moana?), but the hook snapped off the line and dented the earth, and the end result is

New thing number 11...my oldest son, my first born, my Gabe is GRADUATING from High School.  I can not believe it.  Here we are, a month from the big day.  Of course, the occasion needed to be commemorated.  What better way to keep this moment in time alive than with a photo shoot!   Thankfully I have a photographer friend...otherwise the photo shoot would have been strictly iPhone.  The unwilling participant/soon to be graduate was hesitant of any picture taking.  For someone who constantly watches others on TikTok and Instagram, he was reluctant to participate in anything that would capture his image for prosperity (although, after typing that...I kinda get where he is coming from...there's a TON of idiocy on those platforms).  Buuuuuut, as the mom, the grad photo shoot had to be done.  Thank you Janell (and your twin sister assistant Jennah) for taking some time out of your busy lives with kids and spouses to have a fun grad themed sunset photoshoot by the Barbers Point Lighthou