Furlough Friday

We have now successfully maneuvered through furlough Friday number two. The first Friday that Gabe was essentially "laid off" from school (Hawaii state budget cuts), we did his homework packet and played with our friends Mohamad and Danya at...McDonald's. Real educational right? I told myself that I would try to keep Gabe's mind engaged during the 17 Fridays he is off this school year (in addition to all the other holidays, teacher work days, it's Tuesday so we'll take a break from school days). So much for that plan. When Gabe was first born I also told myself he wouldn't be a kid raised on McDonald's and t.v. So much for that plan as well. I'm not saying this is all we do (I don't have an I Heart McDonald's blog or anything) but it certainly is a fun and air conditioned place to kick back with another mom while the kids run wild, catch hundreds of germs, and eat a good old fashioned American cheeseburger.
Yesterday was furlough day number two. I had not one little boy to keep entertained, but two. Our friend Solomon accompanied us (along with my friend Malia) to Ko Olina for a few hours in the sun. The vog was nowhere to be seen so we enjoyed a clear morning of sand, sun, and black rock crabs. All that sun and floating in the water made us hungry. Malia had never been to Aloha Salads or Menchies so we stopped at both for our after beach treat, I mean lunch. I'm not sure our day was too educational again. Unless you count how to maneuver in traffic while texting as Driver's ED and Language Arts? Weighing and paying for our frozen yogurt---Nutrition and Math? Dead crab leg floating in the beach water---biology? Beautiful sunshine---weather? Gossiping with my girlfriend on the beach---communication? I guess Gabe might have learned something---I mean it is important to know that Menchies Irish Mint is great in combination with chocolate chips (think grasshopper) and that his mom is an expert at checking Facebook and sunbathing (a much better multi-task scenario than today's). That concludes today's lesson.

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