2 Brutus, with his satellite transponder on for tracking. I recently joined a group that volunteers to educate the public about these protected Hawaiian green sea turtles. I am enjoying learning about them in the process and Sam will be a good help laying a little rope down to keep tourists from bothering the turtles.
3 Here I am getting training from Joanne. The group works under the auspices of NOAA. I even have a little badge and everything. That's the first name tag and badge I've had since working for Merck 4 years ago! It felt good, in a strange way, to wear a name tag :) I felt like I really belonged. You can see the short hair here, too!
4 Mom and Sam enjoyed seeing Brutus, too! There's our little red rope to keep the paparazzi at bay.
5 A favorite store. It's the Japanese version of Wal-Mart. The best and cheapest diapers can be found in there. Huggies, for those of you who would care at all, cost twice as much here.
6 Having dinner at Gramma and Pete's cottage!
7 Off to the beach after dinner!
8 This is a great little playground on base. They have so many of them, all new, and little used. They're right by the ocean AND by some tank tracks that Sammy and I like to bike on...through the mud. You'll see the evidence here soon...
9 He is a very determined slide-climber. He gets VERY upset when his little knees slip and he can't get up. You can imagine the echo of his cry inside the slide. Very embarrassing!
10 Ahhh...I made it!
11 And back down!
12 A dead puffer fish! Dave is really grossed out by this picture. Maybe it's that I showed it to him nice and large in a slideshow over dinner that night. It was right on our dining table. Perhaps not so appetizing.
13 Caff having a great time at the beach!
14
15 Kids and their toys. There was a storm over Kailua town (in the distance) but we never ended up getting rained on.
16 Dave celebrates his 15th year in the Navy with coffee and breakfast in bed. He's hiding from the camera :)
17 Mom and Pete brought the early-morning lattes! Mom didn't even put her lenses in yet. They ended up having a few too many drinks at Buzz's the night before. Their mai tais are super strong. Mom had two by accident - Pete didn't mean to order a second but he must have signaled a secret Hawaiian hand gesture and ended up with a second round!
18 Saturday morning reading in the yard with Daddy.
19 My jasmine is blooming!
20 Baby palm tree. Looks like a Trojan soldier, eh? Strange how little plants look before they start growing up. Rather like a fetus.
21 My lemon tree is growing, too!
22 And the hula girl hibiscus is in bloom! yeah!
23 Not sure why we decided this would be fun to do. But it was...
24 The little bee is buzzing around!
25 I think I'll sting daddy!
26 Not daddy's nose! Oh no!
27 Buzz, buzz, buzz!
28 The jasmine is growing up that little ladder.
29
30 Unfortunately, this is the last known picture of me with long hair.
31 This is what my family thinks of my antics. :)
32 Squeezing lemons out with Gramma to make a sorbet for dessert. Sammy liked drinking water out of his "lemon cups."
33
34 Ok. Time to trim. The salon was closed so we did it ourselves!
35 Dinner that evening for our friend and my client, Wes and his wife Vicky. We made two pizzas, one with rosemary in the dough.
36 And some focaccia.
37 We had a great time! Wes was curious to see the dough on the grill. He is opening a restaurant in Kailua - Formaggio Grill. He already runs a really neat place in Honolulu called Formaggio Wine Bar. Such nice people, and a great place to eat! See http://www.formaggio808.com if you're curious...
38 Hmmm...it really does cook up on here!
39 Some wine on the deck before dinner.
40 This is how we spend many mornings - running through Kailua and meeting up with mom in the park for a run down "Sammy's hill." He runs up and down, and even draws his own starting line for races :) I do some sit-ups and pushups while he's busy collecting pine cones and looking for gecko eggs.
41 There's a gecko egg we found in the bark! Sammy kept saying "gah-go ives in day-oh!" until I finally understood! He was right! We saved the last egg from certain chomping (the rest were all broken apart, presumably eaten by a predator or hatched). It's incubating on my counter right now.
42
43 After a trip to the salon - it's short, but easy and fun, and lighter.
44 Mountain biking on base while Dave gets a massage!
45 "Mommy got doooty" - Yes, but Sammy made me do it! Dave very kindly gave the chain a good cleaning later.
46 Daddy climbs up the slide, too!
47
48
49 Wheee!
50 Push Daddy up the slide! Stuff him up there!
51 I think Dave has missed all his dive school workouts. Maybe he'll do pull ups this way more often :)
52 Sam loves stuffing his hands in his pockets. Thanks for the new shirt, Aunt Kate!
53
54 You gotta love seeing Dave with Sam. We are so lucky to have him home now and not out at sea. I can't imagine telling Sam that his daddy has to go for 6 months. I don't know how we did it before. I miss my personal time and unfettered mischief, but I know it is the best for Sam to have his daddy home. I will go on "deployments" this summer with Sam :)
55 The "purse" I mentioned earlier...a little dirty. I'm SO feminine, aren't I?
56 Wally Amos of Famous Amos Cookies at a business luncheon I atteneded as a guest of our real estate agent, Lee Alden Johnson. Thanks again Lee!
57 Sam hitches a ride in the kayak back to Mom and Pete's.
58 I love that shaka!
59 St. Patrick's day at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Dave and I went on a "date" and just pretended we were tourists. We walked all around this incredible place (incredibly pricey!) and enjoyed a great dinner.
60 A blue Hawaiian for me, thanks!
61 Sammy tries his first M&Ms courtesy of Gramma!
62 Climbing out of the water from my swim to Flat Island (seen in the background to the right).
63 Buzz's Steak House at night. This is a neat place, right on the beach, and a quick walk from Mom and Pete's. Their little cottage is really in a great place!
64 Girls' night out! We tried a new place in Kailua called Casablanca. Excellent Moroccan fare. We had a great time. I really am blessed to have so many wonderful friends. This is April and Diane. April has SEVEN children! She is super funny. Diane is full of energy and ideas, and goes along with many of my zany notions, which is quite nice of her!
65 From left: Angel (my dear friend of 6 years now), April, Diane, me, Leo (crazy MPH/rower friend), Laurie (another fantastically witty, intelligent, nutty friend), Heidi (steadfast and sure, Heidi keeps us out of too much trouble - and despite this picture she assures us she has a wonderful time! Heidi was our loan officer, too!).
66 Ahhh...there's the smile!
67 Can you see the glint in her eyes? Leo has a 4 yr old daughter and a 7 month old daughter, and yet she still manages to work as a PA two nights a week, run, row, and agree to wacky adventures with me.
68 Sammy was sniffing the hibiscus with Gramma...
69 Cute little face! And another nice new shirt from Aunt Kate. He looked so snazzy!
70 Sam loves to water plants (any excuse to play with the water) and learned how to hold the hose like a Fireman. He's taking care of our transplanted palm trees here.
71 A morning out on the beach.
72 Bringing some water up to help Daddy build a nice wading pool.
73
74
75 Nice to see Dave playing in the sand, too!
76
77
78
79
80
81 Dave has already lost 15lbs despite working some long hours and having to squeeze workouts into busy days.
82 Dragging mommy into the water now!
83
84 Somebody was too eager to get back into the water for a little family self-portrait...
85
86 Doesn't this look fun!!!?
87 After a hike, Sam and I cooled off in the water before picnic lunch on the beach.
88 He took a nose-dive into the sand and was COVERED so I'm trying to get the layers of sand out of his hair. He didn't want to clean up. He wanted to run and play in the water.
89
90 As you can see - I didn't exactly change into a swim suit for this impromptu dip. Oh well. We did get some interested looks from spring-break vacationers :)
91 Wow this diaper is soaked!
92 Dave's bike workshop nearly completed. The bike has some new tires on it, and all the tools are within reach. He really enjoys keeping our gear all nicely stowed, clean, and in good repair. I have it pretty good. When I was raising horses, it was up to me to feed, clean, saddle. Now I can just ride out on my wheeled "steed" :)
93 Story time in the dentist's waiting room.
94 Our first bike ride since we moved here. (Dave had gone a couple times, but our first together.)
95 A group of people watching whales and counting the number of spouts.
96 Dave ordering some lunch at Lanikai Juice - acai bowl and Kailua Monkey smoothie. So good!