Fall Break Play

Since we are the new kids on campus, this was our first year participating with the elementary school fall break play.  It is a big deal!  It's parent run and the script is written by the sixth graders.  This year the sixth grade class wrote "Over the Rainbow," which was a local style Wizard of Oz complete with the Spam-Can-Man, cowardly pig, Pele, fire knife dancing, hula girls, surfers... oh and Elvis too, of course.

I designed the set and then got pregnantly overwhelmed and then got rescued by an old friend Teuila Tuua, who is an artist and all around creative gal, who basically filled in all the blanks in my design and came up with the coolest ideas ever and made most of it to boot!  She is amazing.  I hope we work together again next year.  I had a blast.  Oh and another great, creative friend, Kari Uluave, saved my hide on the waves and made signs and had her husband cut out surfboards for us to use and was just amazing all around too.  Thank heavens for talented friends!  I was so impressed with everyone who came every day to give their time and talents.  Even people who claimed to not be very creative pitched in and made the whole experience a fun, collaborative group effort!  I think everyone is creative deep down. It's great to see parents work together so their kids can have a cool experience like this.

The boys were pig hunters in the play and they were adorable and fierce all at the same time!  I was really grateful that they had the chance to do something out of the ordinary like this.  Their group leader is an old family friend, Lice Niu, and she was so good with all those wild little boys!  It especially made me happy to see Asher up there being part of the group and chanting right along with the big kids when they did their pig hunter chant. I never want his speech to hold him back and it makes me so happy when it doesn't! So far every experience he has had at Laie Elementary has increased his speaking abilities and confidence.  I feel like I owe them the world!

I'll never forget a funny moment during dress rehearsal as I was all nervous watching all the pig hunters climb down the steps to leave the stage and my friend Emily Bradshaw, who was the director, leaned over to me and said, "Peter is assigned to help Asher off the stage."  I let out a big sigh and booming laugh, because, sure enough, Peter (one of the older kid helpers) stayed back to help the littlest cast member off-stage.  It was too precious.

What a week.  I am glad it gave me a nice, creative distraction from feeling sorry for my pregnant self for a handful of days.  Three more weeks until we meet this little guy.  I wonder if he likes pig hunting too?