2008-02 (FEB)

Mariner's Ridge 28 images	Manoa Falls 57 images	Makapu'u Lighthouse VIP tour 20 images
Bellows Loop Trail 28 images

1	2 This is a remote beach on base. A couple cool tide pools and lots of sea glass.	3 A big stick for a little guy to drag 0.5 mi back to the truck! He insisted on taking it home to "show Daddy" much to mommy's chagrin - what am I going to do with a 7' stick in a tiny yard? But it is a boy thing, I guess, dragging huge prey back to the den...	4 So off we go with the stick in tow. Mommy is mean - I said if you want to take the stick home, you'll need to get it all the way back on your own, hoping it wouldn't happen...
5 Building a fortress complete with "pillboxes" to guard it.	6 Some of the sea glass I found on base.	7 At the playground after a walk/jog in Lanikai.	8 New tide pools we found near Makapu'u. Delightful! Busy even on a coold day so no doubt they are very busy during the summer.
9 Just before you hit the Makai Research Pier while driving toward Waimanalo.	10	11 Romping around with Daddy in the tall grass.	12 Helping Gramma shop :)
13 Girebra? See the controversy this creature stirred up on www.kampkrug.com.	14 A huge cone shell I found on base as well.	15 Sammy enjoying some special Gramma reading time. I think they were in this position for 1.5 hrs!!! Lucky boy!	16 I baked some ciabatta to go with soup. It's WINTER here, after all!
17 Sam LOVES his tumbling class - especially this part!	18	19 One-footed hopping! I think he hit 8 times this day!	20
21	22	23 Gym class!	24
25	26	27	28 Yes - he keeps jumping and jumping for about 40 minutes!
29 Sometimes I can persuade him to try something else - like the rope climb. He's learning to use his arms as well as those legs :)	30 Tag the top! No - we're not at all goal-oriented!	31 Doing the last bit on his own to build confidence.	32 Balance beam he has nailed - lots of practice on curbs, trees, etc.
33 Look at the mouth!	34 Toward the end of class they bring out beach balls to play with. Sam goes and gets one then comes BACK to the trampoline to play with his friend "Ball." They bounce together. Ball jumps as high as Sam's head!	35 He bounces the ball with his own bouncing :)	36
37	38	39 See the other kids in back? They are doing a parachute thing that Sam seems to think is for little ones. He did that when he was months old and is so over it ... although this particular day they threw the beach balls up in the air with the sheet and all the moms were laughing as they came flying back down. Drew mild interest from Sam.	40
41 Stamp time! That's Sam's teacher in the background - Di. She is from Argentina I think. She does splits and handstands during the warm-up - the kids love to watch her! She's really great, very warm and encouraging.	42 Look how sweaty he gets! Such a workout!	43 story time with mommy at the library :) we walk/jog there on wednesday mornings.	44
45 I was invited into Sammy's playhouse at Learn with Me - for coffee :)	46	47 We're up to some mischief here I think :)	48 No mommy, no going out the window. You go out the door! (We had just spoken about how to get past little girls who block the doorway, even after asking nicely to come in, please. I suggested going in through the window, which he promptly embraced. But when I said I wanted to try climbing back out through the window, he wisely responded that I shouldn't.)
49 But I had to try, just in case I need to get out of a playhouse during an emergency. Like a fire started by our "coffee maker" or something...you never know!	50 Mommy, what is tha-aaat? What does it DO? (So mom suggested we take a picture and have daddy answer later. Whew!)	51 Now can you go from 3 back to 1? Or straight to 1? Maybe draw a straight line from 3 to 1? Very sequential thinking :)	52
53	54	55 Hmmm! I made a STOP sign!	56 What now mommy? What could it be?
57	58 A BUMP sign! (These are signs we see while out jogging/walking.)	59 Sammy on his bike going over the BUMP.	60 Oooohhh...tricky one!
61 At Learn with Me! He loves to catch big bubbles!	62 Look at this happy guy! We got to see F14s take off this morning on our way in. Pretty compelling sight.	63	64
65	66 Lanikai Beach for a change.	67	68
69 Filling our buckets up with one of the Moks in the distance.	70	71	72 He did a lot of body surfing that morning. He is really getting good at reading the waves, believe it or not. He feels them lift him a bit then he starts paddling in. Sometimes he checks over his shoulder to watch for the next big one. Little surfer :)
73 On this particular morning, I really wanted to get in 30 min on the rowing machine before the day got in full swing. I knew I'd miss a chance later. So I suggested he take his animals for a "boat" ride (see background) and if that got old then to work on his puzzles. So when I came in from rowing he had gone back to his room and gotten his puzzles out. Here he is tackling all 50 states by himself. He did every single one...three times! Wow. He even knows many of them by name now (so do I, finally!).	74 Last piece! Nice work!	75 What are YOU lookin' at?	76
77 He knows tihs state (Alaska) and that it is cold there.	78 And Washington...is where Sammy was born and where Gramma and Grandpa Pete live sometimes.	79 Attaching wings to our little cupid.	80 Flying around after "baff" is a nightly routine! Sometimes it's butterfly, other times big hairy "moff", sometimes dragonfly (this takes two of us!)...or even baby bat (upside down at the end!). I couldn't resist cupid on Valentine's Day :) Dave complied nicely. I think he's smiling there?
81 Getting the arrow ready to poke mommy!	82 Looking at himself in the mirror before jammies go on.	83	84 I caught my little cupid for a hug!
85 Dana learning to paddle :)	86 My friend Dana on her first kayak outing! Woo hoo! NIce work!	87 We're testing out mom's new inflatable kayak with a see-through bottom. Water was so calm we couldn't resist. No - Sam is not wearing a PFD here so I was very very (very!) careful not to take any chances. You can see we did not venture far!	88
89 Ok - just a little ways out but water still very very calm. Like his bath.	90 On our way back. Sam helped me paddle in and mom helped make sure we didn't huli on our landing :)	91 We found a little trampoline at Sal's! For $10 I caved in - he was very pleased with our heist :) Gramma came by to take part in the fun (and help take it home since we'd walked there!).	92 Grape snack at Gramma's!
93 Then sand time.	94 Then giving Gramma a nice haircut...followed by a nice wash with handful after handful of sand. Read my mom's blog at www.skeneclan.com for the hilarious write-up :)	95 Valentine's Day flowers from Dave :) We indulge in the holiday about once every five years :) I dry the flowers, move them with us all over the country, then we replenish every now and then. Also a pink hibiscus from our garden...	96 Sam is working hard on his drop-kicking - he's really getting good!
97	98	99	100
101	102 A trip up to the North Shore turned into a totally random day. We were waiting for the truck to be serviced, so we just took off in the GTI for a drive.	103 Little buddy has a good cold but is always up for a swim!	104
105	106	107 We're at Turtle Bay Resort.	108 From underwater...kinda cool.
109	110 Then a nap on the beach while mommy spotted whales breaching.	111 I had to build him a little improvised tent out of sticks and my shorts to shade him. We didn't really spend much time thinking about the path of the sun this time...we were just chillin'!	112 Then ice cream for dinner in Haleiwa!
113 Sharing with daddy!	114 Here's Kailua Beach. The water has been so calm that it's been busy for paddle surfers and kayakers recently.