Welcome Home

We made it back from Hawaii. It was a quick trip, but felt we got a lot accomplished. It's good to be home, but wish the weather was a little warmer. We went to Costco on Sat and they had this big inflatable ball. It was a real hit with the neighbor kids.
Nate's sticking his head in, with Emily watching. The idea is to get one kid, and only one kid to hop inside and he can roll around the yard on it.

It was Emily's turn here. The kids were anxious to help the person inside the ball, by pushing the ball around the yard. The person on the inside meanwhile feels like they are stuck on Tumble Dry.
Trying to figure out whether it looks like a Carbon atom. It came with a hand pump, and instructions that you should only use the hand pump so as not to over inflate. Of course there are like 20 sections to blow. There was no way I was doing that by hand. Must have a psycho working in marketing.

While we were in Hawaii, Nate wasn't feeling well. Had to take him to the Dr. Here he is getting an X-ray of his lungs.

Here's Nate trying on a tux. He's going to be the ring bearer at Robert's wedding. Thought he looked great all dressed up.
At Nate's carnival, there was a woman who wrote a book on birds you see out the window. Nate's been fascinated with birds ever since. He's been asking to build a bird house, so Sunday we decided to do it. Here's Nate lending a helping hand.

Here is the assembled product. Nothing perfect, but it's something that more than meets the expectations of a 4 year old.
While Nate liked to help, he liked that Logan came over and helped too. We knew we would need to paint it before we could decorate it. So here we are putting on the base paint.
Two helpers made the job go faster.
But with two fighting over the paint, not sure that it went better. The important thing is they had fun doing it.
Now need to wait for it to dry so they can add stickers, paint etc to make it a cozy home for the birds.

Gathering with friends

We're at it again. On another vacation, hooking up with friends while we're out and about. This time, the Horne's happened to be in Hawaii the same time we were. We got together a few times for dinner and drinks, but the highlight had to be this boat ride. The seven of us got paid for a spot on this snorkel trip, leaving from the north shore. It turned out to be a sort of private cruise after no one else booked the trip. While the captain acted in traditional Hawaii style, showing up late, forgetting lunch etc, her made up for it with some spectacular scenery.

We got to see Dolphins. In fact Rob caught a video that's available on You Tube from our trip. Check it out at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evS9v_TSbCk

The kids, Sarah, Zack and Nate ready to head out to sea.
The Horne family, Tiffany, Sarah, Zach and Rob.

A starfish brought p by our snorkeling companion.
Rob doing a little free diving.
We saw several turtles. Great to see them swimming so free.
Another turtle.
That's me taking a dip under water.
Zach, with a little Shaka brother for the camera.
Nate and Sarah, preparing to dance on the net.
Rob and Tiff, with the "Lost"beach int he background. The last few years they've moved production of lost to this beach and it's been filming there, although they just wrapped up the final episode.
Maria and I enjoying the day, just wish we had a cocktail to go with it.
Rob and I hanging out with the kids, relaxing on the netting.


Captain Nate, steering us back to shore. Good thing there's nothing for us to crash into as his attention span doesn't last too long, he's running from the front to the back of the boat.
Nate hanging out with Baba on the top of the boat. Not too happy about having to be in one place for more than a minute.
After the boat ride, we went to Breaker's for lunch. While waiting for his food, Nate fell asleep. Then Zach took his iTouch. Nate didn't even miss it. Nate's been a bit sick this trip. Runny nose and all. Took him to the Dr. the following day and they gave him some antibiotics to help with the ear & sinus infections.
Here we are walking through the Dole pineapple maze. Nate forced to wear Baba's hat and not too happy about it.
The kids ready to set a new record going through the maze. I think we made it in ~45 minutes this time.

Back to the Beach

Well, with many problems with the current property managers, including a now vacant apartment, we decided to head back over to Oahu and see about making a change once and for all. Let's hope this new company works as well as we think they well, at worst they should be a few steps up from Marina Hawaii Vacations. In this photo, we're hanging out at Blowhole, over looking the beach where they filmed From Here to Eternity, while waiting for the parking lot to open at Hanuama Bay.

Nate trying to remember how to boogie board, or maybe better at remembering how to fall.

That's much better form. Almost looks like he knows what he's doing. Although he did start asking for smaller waves.
That's a perfect wave to catch.
And we're off again. Although with the board like that he can't see the oncoming waves, which may not work out so well.
This time he decided to just skip the board and go right out into the waves.
This trip he's really enjoyed playing in the sand, almost if not more than playing in the water. He loves his sand toys and everyday wants to be buried in the sand.
He needs a pillow to rest his head on. And he likes the heavy wet sand, makes it harder for him to get out.
Snug as a bug in a rug?


Hanging on the shores of Waikiki