2009-02 FEB

Valentine's Day holo holo North Shore 23 images

Manoa Cliff 18 images

SwampRomp 57 images

1 We visited the birthing stones (Kukaniloko) on one of our Tuesday adventures. It is the place where ali'i were born, in the central plains of O'ahu. This particular stone was carved and used as a sun dial - there is a concentric ring in the middle of the stone. It was used to mark different seasons as light would cast a shadow right through the middle of the concentric circle during the solstice.	2 The sign at the entrance says do not leave coins on the stones, but it didn't say enjoy don't jump off them. After a brief huddle, the mothers decided the children wouldn't do any harm and that the ancients would rather enjoy the sight of children playing amongst the stones.	3 Hide and seek!	4
5 Where are they?	6 The treeter-totter!	7 A hill that the children all climbed up, then pulled the grown-ups up one at a time.	8
9 Caleigh catching a ride from Sarah :)	10 Christina - lovely soul :)	11	12 We don't touch stones that form a heiau, though.
13	14	15	16 I gotta get to those kids!
17	18	19 I thought this looked like a petroglyph as well.	20
21 Learning to ride a mountain bike on real mountain biker trails! We found some guys there who did jumps for us. Very cool! Sam is about to take his training wheels off...thought he would enjoy the "big picture" of what mountain biking is all about, and a fun way to put all those wipeouts in context :) It worked...he really relished telling all about his wipeout later :)	22 Dave was a great sport - we rousted him right after work to do this. He kept losing his slippers in the process as they were pulled off by a rogue tire.	23 "I can do it all MYSELF!"	24 Okay!
25 Here's the famous wipeout!	26 Richard caught the sunlight on the rocks beautifully.	27 These are some snapshots from Richard's camera - trying to catch Sammy.	28 Look how tall my big guy is now! 44"
29	30	31	32
33	34 Trying to get down was another matter!	35 Mom is always good for a rump slide!	36 On a quickie hike with Ben after dropping Sam off at preschool.
37 Random cell phone shots. Steve, this underarmour shirt did well at the playground! Kept my big guy cool, and cool-lookin'!	38 No, I'm cooler!	39 Baby pineapple growing in our little front garden! We have waited and waited for this little guy. For like 2 1/2 years...	40 Love it!
41 Sam in our little front garden checking out the pineapple.	42 Taking those training wheels off, big guy! Why not on a crazy, muddy trail just like the big boys! Falling is part of the whole fun!	43 Very excited boy out to eat dinner at his favorite place (Zia's) to celebrate.	44 Wildman accompanied us. Am I nuts? Two boys out with mom all alone??? I feel like an octopus managing plates and hands and feeding. Ben almost got a plate away from me and onto the floor. But I grabbed it JUST in time. The owner, Tressa (who is super nice!) spied him and was really laughing at what he almost accomplished.
45 Do you see the blur of activity?!	46 Oh yeah! You know it! Bread pudding!	47 And the after-dance! Here's the muddy bike and the crazy boy!	48 We're watching you-know-who do the crazy man wiggle!
49 This car has a license plate to die for: "HONU" I found myself wondering just how many people on Oahu want that for their plate! How long ago must this person have purchased rights to that word. ("honu" means turtle)	50 At the commissary - they love to drive the rocket cart.	51 Out on a hike at Bellows with some new friends.	52 A little overgrown, but fun!
53 Sam and Aiden.	54 Aiden's mom doing the grass-goatee :)	55 Nice teeth!!!!	56 I like the burns!
57	58 Ben LOVES to "drive" this spice jar around. It's one of his favorite toys. He knows which one is "his" - he has learned to grab only the plastic one at the bottom left of the rack. Now the two boys do "spice races" every now and then.	59	60 Taking "Fred" (a beetle we found out on a run) and a dead butterfly (easier for kids to touch if it's not wiggling) to preschool. It caused a total riot of kids standing 3 abreast to feel it. Then they sneaked back into line for a second touch. Who would have guessed it? We seem to regularly cause riots with our random show and tells :) Look how purposeful Sam is. He is so cute with "Fred" the beetle. He is no bigger than your pinkie, and Sam picked him up gingerly, put him on the front of the stroller, and we both kept an eye on him as we jogged to meet up with mom in the park. He cris-crossed the stroller under Ben's feet the whole time! I asked Sam what we should name him. We both said "Fred" at the SAME time. Weird, huh?
61 Mom feeding Ben at Zia's - they had a day with Gramma and Richard while we sneaked out for holo holo Mommy-Daddy time in Honolulu and some shell collected back here in Kailua. (I just could not get into wandering around town that day no matter how hard I tried!)	62 Look at Sam's mouth :)	63 This is cool, huh? Looks like Sam could drive it right now!	64 Feeding the ducks Cheerios! Getting closer and closer to crack corn. Poor ducks!
65 Laura and Kathy. I think Laura is saying "Good morning" in Russian to our friend Michelle who also speaks Russian thanks to her time in Vladivostok with the Peace Corps.	66 Love this shot!	67 A big summit about who is going to be the leader. I think they decided they could all be leaders and hold hands. But Aiden didn't want to hold hands. This is the G4 :) On the way home, Sam and I talked about resolving these kinds of issues (because he'd actually awakened that morning saying that HE was going to be the leader and was very upset when things didn't quite work out that way). We ended up talking about WWII (from a movie at the Pac Aviation Mus) and then he asked about WWI, then was there a WWIII...	68 Puppet show about caterpillars.
69 Out for a quick jog before our Tues adventure - this time at Ho'omaluhia for preschool nature hour.	70 Very active Ben!	71 Sam is helping him sit down.	72 We're at the doctor for me - and horsing around outside afterwards. I'm not sure this is blog material, but since this is MY digital diary...I am continuing to have blood in my urine. A really good amount this time. Like the doctor said "Wow, it's a LOT of blood." It's off and on, but we're finally going to pursue a urology consult to figure out what in the world is going on.
73	74 There are a lot of shots of the horsing around...sorry...just couldn't delete them all. It was a bright moment in what is becoming a somewhat troubling few days as I wait for blood tests to come back.	75 Mommy, can you help me? Sure...just as soon as I take this really cute picture!	76 Of your little brother...and your rump! Mommy - I'm stuck!
77 Can I eat this kukui nut?	78 No!	79 Ben walks like a baboon to keep his knees from touching the grass, although he crawls along pavement and cement on his knees no problem. Funny guy!	80 He is a strong kid. He is standing up on his own, just leaning to keep from falling periodically.
81 Serious guy, too.	82	83 The poor lady trying to work 15 feet from us behind those big glass windows.	84 Can you see her at her desk?
85	86 Really stuck now!	87	88
89 This is how Ben claps! He is out with mom and Sam at the playground while I work on Friday. That's Sam in the background. You can tell by the height of the hands just how happy he is - how big the claps are.	90 Riding down a hill at the beach park. He just took off! It was like it was really no issue at all. No big drama, as my friend Kathy would say :) Unbelievable!	91 Not sure what he's looking at here :) Probably hoping mommy will get out of the way!	92 Love this shot - see how fast Dave is having to run?
93 The launch! He doesn't quite have the hang of starting himself up yet. Nice to need us for a little bit longer :) Actually, there are some good hills here and at Bellows where I saw another daddy teaching his daughter how to get going by rolling down hill.	94 Go big guy, go! He just rode and rode great distances. 200 yards at a clip.	95 Mommy and Ben were so proud! Ben was supposed to be napping but it was waaaay too exciting aboard mommy as I ran to take video and keep up with Sam.	96 And here are awesome pictures snapped by Richard on his beautiful Nikon camera - thank you SOOOO much for grabbing these shots so we can relish the moment!
97 Out for a cruise in the park! I am so glad Dave was here to do this with Sam. If he were still on a ship odds are good he'd be gone for these firsts. We are blessed.	98 Video of Sam riding with out his training wheels!!! First solo ride at Kailua Beach Park!	99 We went for a family walk on the beach on Sunday. This is north beach on base - that's Pyramid Rock in the distance. Beautiful and remote.	100 Love seeing my two big men walking side by side...
101 Dave is trying to catch a picture of Ben in the pack just as I have one of Sam at about the same age. It's a photo I really cherish. It's printed out and framed :) Let's see if the next shot will be a keeper!	102 Yeah! There he is! Ben at 9 months :)	103 Time really flies, doesn't it?	104 See the untouched sand? I like the black black black rocks and the deep blue water.
105 Rocks just litter this section of beach.	106	107	108 I think this is the only video we have so far of Ben "clapping." It's adorable!
109	110	111 A typical lunch at our house - playing Tiddley-O's (with Cheerios). We "score" when we hit Ben's head :)	112 At Bishop Museum's volcano - the lava tube slide.
113 Sam really liked a picture here that changes depending on your angle - to show lava coming out or no lava. The picture is out of the frame...sorry. He is fascinated by volcanoes.	114 Trying to wrangle them both onto a snail for a photo...no easy task!	115 Trying to convince Sam to "help" Ben "drive."	116 At the Planetarium at Bishop Museum. Very cool!
117 And the lava show!	118 Here is a caterpillar going from upside-down "J" shape to chrysalis in 10 minutes flat. He turns green within 3 minutes and totall wriggles in within the remaining 7 minutes. Mom and I happened to catch it just as he went in. Thanks to mom for again being on caterpillar watch. We are fascinated by this everyday miracle.	119 A Bruce Springsteen "show"! "OK everybody! The show is about to start! No talking, no cameras, no movies!"	120 Passport time!
121	122 Baby honu charges for water!	123	124
125 It was day of "P" - pigs, palms, pines, paint...we found P connections everywhere. The pigs are out for a jog here. Oh - and going to the doctor because mommy has something wrong with her "PEE"!	126