Our Gap Year

🌪️ May Madness & the Time Warp

Forget March Madness — I feel like we should shift to May Madness for the rest of us non‑sportsy folk. It might be just me, might be just parents, or it might be Hawaii, but May around here has a history of being jam‑packed with birthday parties, school activities, and the buzzing energy of pre‑summer excitement. I feel like I start every letter talking about how busy everything is and how fast time is flying… does it ever slow down?

I usually have these posts written and ready to go about a week before they’re due on the 15th. This month, though, I am just sitting down to write — with less than two days before posting. Crunch time.

Time is so funny, and it’s interesting to reflect on how my sense of it has shifted with age and location. I grew up in Michigan, spending 18 full years with four distinct seasons. Most of my childhood memories are marked by a season — that’s how I kept track of life.

When I moved to Hawai‘i in 2006, it was a mind warp that took years to adjust to. For the first few years, time doesn’t exist. Every day is sunny, with a little rain once a day, and the sunrise and sunset barely shift throughout the year. Eventually, you start to notice the subtle seasonal changes: the winter cool‑down and rainy season, the late‑spring and early‑summer flowers, and then the scorching heat through the fall.

I don’t use seasons to mark time in Hawai‘i — the weather never changes, so my memories anchor themselves to the people I was with or the place I lived, which feels fitting on an island where life is always shifting and everyone seems to be coming or going. And now, with a move off the island and a year‑long adventure ahead, I’m curious what my brain will latch onto next — the countries, the chaos, or whatever wild thing happens to us in between flights.

🌺 Celebrating Culture & Creativity

We kicked off the month celebrating May Day on May 1. May Day is celebrated in various ways around the world, and here — May Day is Lei Day in Hawai‘i! It started as a Western, commercialized celebration, and it still sort of is, but overall it’s a joyful tribute to Hawaiian music, dance, and of course, beautiful flowers. Schools and organizations put on elaborate pageants and performances honoring the islands and local culture.

I look forward to the school performance every year. It’s so colorful and fun, and I just love watching each grade do a hula and engage with the culture. Sometimes the kids play Hawaiian instruments; sometimes there are local performers; and sometimes the smooth, practiced movements of students who have studied hula for years will give you goosebumps. I just love it.

Ivey’s class honored the paniolo (Hawaiian cowboy) and danced to the Taro Patch Twist. She didn’t perform (by choice), but we were a great set of audience members, joined by our friend Alicesara. I found a fun video compilation of people performing hula to “May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii,” likely created during the COVID era when celebrations were limited. Enjoy the hula!

While May Day is my favorite event of the year, Ivey’s is ArtsFest. The school transforms into a giant exhibition of student art, with bouncy houses, craft vendors, black‑light glow rooms, dance rooms — anything and everything creative you can imagine. Ivey always has the best time running around with her friends, doing cute activities and just having a blast.

💦 Chickens, Playdates & Pool Days

Before we dive into the rest of the month’s chaos, we had an unexpected visitor (well… four).

The next noteworthy event was the chicken family that made a home in our garage for a few days. One afternoon, a momma and her three chicks settled on our street, and Ivey immediately decided to “adopt” them. To save the neighbors from the invaders, we let them hang out and sleep in our garage.

They were surprisingly domesticated and comfortable with humans. We could pick them up freely, and they would even jump onto our backs and heads. At one point, momma was sheltering all three babies on my head. Don’t ask how — it just happened. After a few days, some kids from another street collected them, and we’d go visit periodically. It was fun having those little chickies around.

Ivey’s month was jam‑packed with playdates — pools, friends, and even a few tennis lessons with our friends Maya and Kirsi. Turns out she likes tennis, and she caught on quickly. It has been so amazing watching these celebrations of friendship. Sometimes we had four days in a row with after‑school playdates! We even had a visit from a local, endangered monk seal at the beach near our house. Enjoy some pictures of Ivey with her dearest friends and other fun things.

🤩 Grown‑Up Playdates

And while Ivey was living her best social‑but-feral nine‑year‑old life, I had my own version of May fun.

This month was full of my own “playdates” with friends. I am so grateful to have so many beautiful women and friends in my life. Some highlights: playing in the kickball All‑Star game, lunch dates and meet‑ups, and my favorite — attending my second PubChoir with friends.

This month was spent celebrating present friendships, building new ones, and bringing old ones back to life. Every day that passes makes it harder to leave this place, but luckily, proximity doesn’t take away from the magic these people bring to our lives. Here are some pictures of my shenanigans and the PubChoir video we were part of. (If you ever have a chance to participate… DO IT!)

🎉Ivey Turns Nine

We closed out the month with Ivey turning NINE. Let me say that again. Ivey is NINE.

Remember when I talked about time at the beginning? Parenthood is its own version of a time warp. That old cliché is obnoxiously accurate — the days are long but the years are short. Nine looks so good on this kid.

Ivey has grown into this incredible mix of funny, smart, sassy, and kind. She’s a natural helper, a lover of plants and animals, and the reigning queen of kitchen‑table science experiments. If there’s a way to turn everyday objects into a project, she’ll find it. Creativity is her love language, and she pours it into everything she touches.

This year asked a lot of her, and she met every challenge with courage and honesty. She has stretched herself past her comfort zones again and again, building confidence in ways big and small. Watching her grow braver has been one of the great privileges of my life.

She’s also fully in her digital‑kid era — chatting and playing games online with her far‑away friends and learning Katseye dances with laser focus. Her favorite pastime is snuggling our cat Neville like he’s her emotional support potato. She is one of a kind. She is growing up so, so fast. And I am endlessly proud of the person she is becoming.

Happy 9th birthday, Ivey. You are magic. May this next year bring you endless joy, community, discovery, and adventure.

And as for me — I’m learning that time won’t slow down, but these everyday moments make me grateful for every bit of the beautiful chaos. Especially considering we didn’t even touch the logistics of moving off an island and planning a year‑long around‑the‑world adventure. That’s a story for another day — preferably one when I’ve had more sleep.

Next month’s post will come from the road — the journey officially begins. Wish us luck and lots of snacks!