1 Rosemary focaccia! This batch turned out really well - yum :)
2 Full moon view from our deck. Nice night. Very clear.
3 A little dessert after a picnic dinner with Gramma. It was cold this evening - with the wind chill it may have been 65. Sam really enjoyed a peanut butter layer cake (so did mommy and daddy!). He dragged me back over to the dessert case to point out the next one he wanted to try. He is so funny...Of course we didn't indulge :)
4 A great hike with Dave up the Kuli'ou'ou trail. I love the entrance to this forest near the top of the ridge.
5 The boys examine their sticks...
6 And perhaps a Banyan way up here? Whatever created this root system, it was my favorite part of the trail. Very Narnia-esque.
7 The view from the summit - elevation ~2500'. This is looking over Waimanalo (southeast).
8 Not too much room up here on the summit - great views! If you zoom in you may be able to discern some names scrawled onto the sign. At the top is "Scuttles"...the signifance will be noted later...
9 Dave likes the composition of this picture.
10 Sammy got out of the pack for a snack. You can see I lay down the trekking poles as a line in the dirt for him to stay behind. He was so very good - such an obedient little guy. He knew it was serious (we have long talked about "edges" and this one was quite evident even to a 2 yr old!).
11 It is about 2.5 miles and 1800' elev gain to this point. The last 1/2 mi was a bit tough - very steep and along a ridge. Not too narrow on the treachery scale, but just enough to make you be careful. On the way down Dave helped me with my footing because it's a bit slippery. That's his hat peeking just over the edge :)
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13 The three of us - back on the trail again as a family! It's been a month since Dave had a weekend off (well, last weekend he did but I had planned the birthday camping trip!).
14 Daddy and boy hiking through the ironwoods.
15 We'd been talking about having a beer here since we left the summit. Little did we realize that they would shut down for SuperBowl Sunday. We had no idea the game was on. We got to the door only to find out they were closed. The next place we tried was as well.
16 Ahhh...at last we got to sit and eat at the Blue Water Grill in Hawaii Kai. I was famished!
17 Here - strangely enough - is "Scuttles" himself! We told our waiter we'd been hiking and he asked where, so when we told him the trail he was able to point out his name on the sign in the picture we'd taken. A small island, eh?
18 A little ice cream snack while out running errands, thanks to Gramma!
19 Looking for crabs at the tide pools.
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21 Found a little pool with tiny fishies!
22 These black crabs are super hard to spot on the lava rock.
23 On a run in Lanikai. The hill in the background is our "Pillbox" hike. We got rained on a few minutes later...
24 And ended up the run with lunch at Kalapawai Deli with mom. Sam really enjoyed getting all wet and rubbing water on our arms and legs. He spent at least 15 min going to the water, rubbing his hands, and coming back to rub it on us. Only a week later did we realize (thanks to Pete!) that he was putting sunscreen on us!
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26 A nice night out at Formaggio Wine Bar. We really enjoyed ourselves and especially the great food and atmosphere!
27 As a tech writer, I can't help but notice interesting signage.
28 A new table for my trains! Thanks Daddy! (I prevailed and we ended up buying the least expensive one :) It is wonderful - Sam loves the colors and space, especially the edges so trains don't fall off so easily.
29 Not sure who is loving it the most!
30 Out on a Sunday evening family run. We had a great time, and finished up in town for some salad and pizza. Here is where Sammy and I always stretch out - it's our turnaround point, looking down over "his" tide pools. Then he runs about 1/2 mi from here, up and down the dunes, chasing birdies.
31 Peeking down at Sammy's tide pools.
32 Doing stretches with Daddy.
33 How precious is this???
34 Looking out to flat island. We (read "I") want to swim out there, and maybe around it, this weekend. It's a popular kayaking destination.
35 Chasing birdies with Daddy!
36 Dave loves this picture.
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39 I love this one. Dave is saying "Do you want to go in your stroller now?"...Noo-ohh? (Sam replies with a questioning lilt.) "And have dinner?" Nooo-ohhh? And off he ran up the hill.
40 Yum! Morning muffin with Gramma! We took a day off from my busy week working on several projects to spend some time at the beach.
41 Fun feeding the birdies some crumbs.
42 And hanging out with his best friend.
43 Doing yoga on the beach, and finding a new perspective that inspired several other pictures :)
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45 The beach looks different this way!
46 Ok, enough, right?!
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50 A Hawaiian snow storm! Today's "preschool" lesson was snow. We saw some in NYC on the news and decided to recreate it here. We're trying to be there in spirit, really, we are!
51 I guess we'll have to dig the car out!
52 water colors with Gramma
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55 and a little fun with the refreshments!
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63 Hiking the Pillbox trail with Sammy. We had such a good time! He hiked all the way back from our turnaround point! Lots of ups and downs, and some climbing.
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65 Testing out the combat boots I'll use for the Swam Romp. Brought along duct tape in case I got hot spots.
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68 He's really good at the shaka sign now!
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70 Yum - shave ice afterwards!
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77 Rolling out pizza dough so we can grill it up.
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79 Opening a treat from Aunt Diane and Uncle Cool!
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81 Wow! A cool truck that rolls right over our yard! It does flips and stuff!
82 Dave's cocktail menu. This comes in quite handy during a party - it helps people figure out what they want to order from the bar. The girls came over after the Swamp Romp and really enjoyed trying out some new drinks. Thanks, Dave!
83 Transplanting some palms to the front of our house from a neighbor who didn't want them anymore.
84 And one in the back yard.
85 Ooops - they hit a water pipe. Dave's experience doing water drills on the submarine came in handy here! He had it patched up quickly, after several runs to the hardware store to get new tools :)
86 Sammy drew the squiggle on the right and said "moun-ain"!!!! MOUNTAIN! Good boy!
87 Pete fixing our vacuum cleaner!!! Thanks Pete!!!