"I'm on my way home
to the middle of the sea.
There''s an island lullaby
that is calling out to me
I'm on my way home,
my Pacific paradise.
Blue water cools my face
and the mountains touch the sky."
--Imagination Movers, from the song in "Trouble in Paradise"
See, the Imagination Movers have a new episode, "Trouble in Paradise," in which the character Nina needs a traditional Hawaiian skill to perform at her "tutu's" (grandmother's) birthday. After drumming and surfing, she chooses a hula dance. The kids are under her "island lullaby." Bud had me transcribe the words to the song's chorus, along with a few pictures, so that he could dance the hula too.
And so when it came time today to decide on a theme for Babysitter's graduation party with us, they chose "to celebrate Hawaiian style!" We bought leis, floral plates and tablecloth, bright napkins, and the best thing, a lit singing palm tree! They went crazy cleaning and then decorating the house, pulling out their ukelele and bongo drums (okay, not Hawaiian, but similar to the ones in the show). They even made a poster with a palm tree on an island and dolphins in the water, "Time to have a Graduation Luau!" We had Zinger Punch, a recipe Sis loved from Aunt Banana at the bay (though, it occurred to me afterwards that we should have had Gommie's virgin pina coladas with Coco Lopez coconut milk and pineapple juice blended with ice!), and brownie sundaes.
Babysitter arrived early, which was perfect because the kids were bursting out of their skins, and Bud did his hula dance for her, while Sis jumped around giggling. We then all got our leis and sat around the table listening to the palm tree while Babysitter looked at her Texas soap (a souvenir from our trip), two bracelets the kids made today, and our card. We then dug into the brownie sundaes, the first real food we'd all had since breakfast because we were too busy and excited to have snack or lunch. Babysitter told us all about graduation and then her orientation at college--she has grown up so much since she was an eighth grader, obviously; she really is an amazing young woman--or just "woman," I guess, without the young--and has been so good to the kids, who love her dearly, we'll be so sad to see her go away in two months.
But today we celebrated, "Hawaiian style," because we're so proud of her!
Shaka, Babysitter!
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Zinger Punch
1-2 liter bottle of Sprite
2 Red Zinger Celestial Seasonings tea bags
(optional: pineapple rings, separated and frozen; sherbet would be good too)
Steep tea bags in bottle of Sprite until the soda turns pink (I'd say you need at least 30+ minutes to get minimum flavor; I imagine you can steep it overnight in the fridge, so it's chilled. If you're in a rush, though, steep at room temperature and then chill with frozen pineapple/sherbet). Serve with garnishes of your choice.
Aunt Banana
