2011-01 JAN

Mokapu'u

22 images · 1 video

tide pools

17 images

Sea Life Park

18 images · 1 video

Birthday!

19 images · 1 video

Big Island

195 images · 2 videos

IMAG0013 (2) IMAG0013 IMGP2323  Ben has been doing this every night after bath for about two months. Time to capture it on video! IMGP2327  The model truck Uncle Doug gave to Sam - who made it just perfectly.
secret service  Secret Service guys at Kalapawai!!! IMAG0047  Bucket heads reunited! Such fun to bump into friends on the beach! IMAG0049  He loves the orange one in particular. IMAG0050
IMAG0053  A moment of contemplation? morning jog  Mom snapped this of me running down the beach. I love my beach jogs with Ben. Ben riding horsie  Some of our shenanigans on the beach :) IMGP2329  Catching a gecko is always fun!
IMGP2331  Sticky feet! IMGP2334 IMGP2336  A date in Waikiki to have dinner with dear friends Josh and Ang and visiting Matt and Melodie. IMAG0057  Ben really getting up some speed on his bike!
IMAG0059  And Sam on his scooter. IMAG0062  King of the Hill! (Radar dome hill on base. There is a race this weekend but I don't feel like a 7am start so I did my own.) IMAG0063  Ben just loves eggs...he's at Kalapawai with me after a crazy run down the beach in the driving rain. It was really quite beautiful out - no one on the beach, just peaceful. Ben was warm and dry in his little coach. IMAG0064  Sam doing his homework amidst 50mph wind gusts whipping through the school yard. That is true persistence. I am so proud of him. He likes to get it done before I get there to pick him up.
IMAG0065  Out on a morning jog during the storms. Brief spell between showers. IMAG0066  The light was just amazing. IMAG0068  That's Ulupa'u on base. IMAG0069  After school adventure time. Shouldn't I be cooking dinner or something more fruitful? But I tell you, these boys had so much fun. We also dropped off some toys at a shelter so the kids would have a bright spot in their January. Sam's idea.
IMAG0070  Jumping from mound of mud to mound of mud. IMAG0071  Running up and down together! IMAG0074  Mom I can go FAST! IMAG0075  Then a little walk to a large grassy field. I knew this would be a wet, mucky mess. But how can you deny boys who love it? Ooops - we have a slipper floater!
IMAG0076  Muck muck muck. No open sores on anyone, and no obvious pigs around. Ok... IMAG0077  They got to this stick and said "Oooh! There's activities!" Such as...jumping INTO a puddle! IMAG0078  "We gotta CALL someone!" I guess to tell about all the fun! I had called mom to share the giggles with her - she is the only other person on the planet who would relate to how fun this can be. I have lots of game friends, but they really don't like dirt a whole lot. Mom, however, is all about losing Crocs in the muck, then helping with the cleanup later. Thanks mom! IMAG0079  Heading back to the playground to clean up a bit, then run around and airdry.
VIDEO0005  They were just laughing and laughing about the wet slides and how you just shoot down like a rocket! IMAG0080  The honu on the beach this morning! Full notes posted on 1/14/11 about how he was found. IMAG0081  Heading back to sea! photo  Jumping over mommy and landing on my belly time after time. He's taking a little break now to see how I'm doing.
photo2  Landed funny and needed some cuddles. He is otherwise wild wild wild, always up to no good, doing yoga moves on the beach, then commanding I do downward dog and hold it...and hold it...and hold it! Shaking his head vigorously up and down. Then he crawls in under me and says he's getting in his little car, and that my head is the "head steering wheel" said in his Ben way which I'm not sure how to write. What a nut! He is so much fun though. Full of mischief and chattering all the time. photo3  Mommy lounge chair! IMGP2492  Uncle Tom - I thought you'd like to see Sam at work on tying ropes. He really really loves learning to tie knots. He is teaching himself, although I coudl probably check a book Doug gave him last year - The Dangerous Book for Boys. I bet it has some knots to learn. 100MEDIA IMAG0083  Sam biking to school :)
IMGP2495  Reading "Rain School" to Ben. It's about a school in Chad (Africa) - the kids have to build their own school building each year because the monsoon rains wash it away between sessions. They have a one-room schoolhouse. Sam read the whole book to Ben. Very sweet - he did this on his own. There are not a lot of sweet moments between them...so this was really cool to see. (Meaning there are a lot of very typical brother interactions between them!) IMAG0091  The most dangerous playground on the island. Lots of climbing, no mat. Wow! Sam loves it! Ben made me very very nervouse at the top there because he sometimes flops around without knowing where all his limbs are. He is saying "Be careful, Ben!" in this picture. IMAG0100  Double rainbow!!! Sooo intense! ;0 IMAG0102  Lots of driftwood  up on the beach right now. Good fort-making.
IMAG0103  And a great bamboo pole find! I know very well now the pride my boys feel in finding and hauling a prize home. A couple ladies noticed me on the beach later in the week and asked what I ended up doing with my pole :) I put it in a tall pottery vase that we use specifically for keeping large finds like this. Glad we have a showcase for them! beach with ben  Jogging with Ben :) Thank you to GG  Reading a birthday card from Great Grandma! IMG 1649  Thanks to mom for capturing these sweet moments with Ben. I run down the beach after dropping Sam off at school, then do some yoga/pilates with Ben's help. Right now he is on his "motorcycle" he says.
IMG 1652  UP, and DOWN. IMG 1653  Oh! IMG 1657  Now this is Gramma's car (see how long, like a wagon?). IMG 1661  This is Daddy's little car, he says. "Bye bye Gwamma!"
IMG 1665  He likes to be smooshed, too. Not sure why. But lots of giggles ensue! IMG 1666  Covering mommy up. IMG 1669  That's a beach tool we found on one of our jogs. IMG 1670
IMG 1672  Cleaning mommy off now. A good back scratch! IMG 1676  Back on the...motorcycle! IMG 1678  Looking for his egg at Kalapawai :) cake assembly  Cake-making process begins three days before the big day. I am on the phone with my friend Ang, from whom I've borrowed a doll skirt mold (Barbie!). I am trying to figure out how to screw it all in.
cake assembly2  The 7 layers all assembled now. Dave is wondering when he'll get his fridge back. I had to store groceries hither and yon in the fridge to make this happen. IMG 1758  Decorating (Day 2) was a LOT of fun! This was truly hygenic, though. We washed hands multiple multiple times. (As a former epi student, I was thinking about foodborne outbreak investigation! Oy!) IMG 1760  Oh yes! IMG 1762  More lava, Gramma!
IMG 1763  smear in on in all the cracks so it looks dome-shaped, and not like a missle. IMG 1764 IMG 1765 IMG 1766  Look at those hands!
IMG 1769  Cleaning up a bit. IMG 1771  Now for some more lava flows. Trying all kinds of new cake-decorating gimmicks here. IMG 1773  Sam has a go at it, too. cake lava going on  Now the lava!
cake putting lava on  The lava going on! IMG 1774  This cookie icing is fabulous. It oozes until it hardens, just like lava. Happy accident! IMG 1775 IMG 1776  More lava! Of course!
IMG 1777  Round and round we go around the caldera. IMG 1779  The stuff on the right is what worked really well for the lava flow. IMG 1783  All done! IMG 1785  Back in the fridge!
IMGP2563  Cut soda can inside to hold the dry ice and water mixture to make smoke. cake peeking in fridge  Peering in to see if it looks ok. Ready for Day 3 - at school! beach run  Another gorgeous morning jog. It is Sam's birthday...this is the calm before the storm. Must head to hardware store to get flea treatment (we are under siege once again), douse the house, vacuum, do laundry, assemble all cake tools, feed Ben, load truck, get to school, sign in, assemble cake and make smoke! Check "birthday" folder for the school photos and video.