Video: Baby hammerhead swims straight for me!  

Big day at k-bay! This little shark was in very shallow water, at one point coming so shallow that he almost came out of the water as the swell receded. He was so fast that video is all I could get quick enough. I couldn’t snag a picture of him – he darted too much. Apparently K-bay is a breeding ground for these guys, so I’m surprised this is the first I’ve seen in the three years we’ve lived here. Sam and Dave got a chance to snorkel around again today…and now they’re building a PLANE Lego set that we promised Sam some time ago after his big trip to Scotland (hence, the “plane” theme – many many hours on planes – let’s see – 40 hours! Wow. (Crazy that I had to open up the calculator feature to check my math on that one. Usually you can count maybe on two hands, at most, how many hours were spent on a plane. This doesn’t count hours waiting for the plane 🙂 via space-a LOL!) Dave starts swing schedule this week for a couple weeks so I’m glad they’re having lots of good man time even though that means lots of time for me with little-man who is not so sweet sometimes. He is, shall we say, very expressive. A baby hammerhead…

Good reading sent by my mom: “The truth about the lies we tell our kids.”

One thing led to another tonight. As Dave got home, Sam was spraying down the deck because he’d gotten sand all over it bringing me “apple pie” from his secret garden, water was sprayed into the house (not a lot but a little); Ben was walking around with the swiffer mop, banging it and yelling (happy yells), almost slipping on the water Sam had sprayed in; I was halfway through emptying the dishwasher (I usually do that in the morning) and my laundry was all over the bed, half-folded; the vacuum was in pieces on the deck to change a belt that had broken when Sam was vacuuming a couple weeks ago (I’d been limping along hoping I could get it to work all that time, using the wand on the floors, etc. until I just couldn’t take it any more); and there was a red splat of spit-up that was tinged with bright red frosting from after-commissary lunch-dessert on the carpet, which I was also trying to clean while cooking, wrangling Ben, wiping up the floor, and telling Sam to turn off the hose.

Watching some African birds chasing each other with a piece of cardboard in their beaks.

Sam says he liked the tigers the best (daddy bought him a tiger at the gift shop on the way out) and Ben seemed to really enjoy these big birds chasing each other around with cardboard hanging from their beaks. Tonight we had a laugh at the boys – Sam would not eat a green bean to save his soul until this year when he and I started doing bean races to see who could chomp and swallow one first. He still requests beans now to do that game. Ben, on the other hand, fussed until he got the bowl of veggies and sifted through trying to get the green beans and LIMA beans!!!! This is the same kid who fussed and protested eating salmon because he didn’ t like the texture (nor did he eat his shrimp tonight). But green beans, which feel like you’re eating a chicken claw, are a delicacy to be favored? Someone please explain?!

Tortilla coming in from right amidst dive-bombing hands.

Eating with Ben is a full contact sport. I remember taking a similar picture about 9 months ago up at Turtle Bay. Here we are at Cholo’s in Haleiwa after snorkeling in Shark’s Cove. The fish were super large up there! We were all a little snarly at each other at first, fighting traffic, trying to find a parking spot (we ended up with a ticket, too) and then who got to snorkel with Sam first (always a joy) while the other wrangled the biggest fish in the cove (Ben). Anyway – the fish were amazing. As soon as I plunked down into the somewhat chilly water I saw a unicorn fish – literally as soon as I looked around. Saw humuhumu, wrasse, moorish idol, parrot fish, a cornis, lots of butterfly fish, surgeon fish, and more. My friend April and her son, Ben, were there, too – they have moved here to Hawaii so they’re taking in all the adventures they can right away. Big Ben was really funny to watch getting his mask on over long, thick hair! He was like “Miss Alli! I am having a little trouble seeing the fish!” with his hair totally flopped over his mask. Very funny! They had a good time and explored the windward side on their way home. Dave took Sam out into the cove proper this time and they both swam all around the rocks out there, spotting a puffer fish among other very large parrotfish. Sam did really great with Dave using his snorkel and staying calm while clearing it out every now and then. I am very impressed. Another “license” for my big guy. He takes it all in stride, though. When he came back he made arrangements for Dad to watch Ben while he would take me out to show me all the fish. Such a cute guy – had to take a rain check on his plans, but next time! I love snorkeling with him. He holds my hand. Dave says that’s cheesy and only advertisements for resorts feature couples doing that.

Ala Moana Beach Park run

 We decided to go for a run over at Ala Moana beach park to break up the routine a bit – plus our friends were meeting at the Children’s Discovery Center so we could zip over there (just a block away) to hook up with them for a bit. We had a great time. I wanted to see Magic Island as well – there is a really calm lagoon at the tip for kids. Also saw some SCUBA divers getting certified. When Sam wasn’t really responding or listening while biking (he got spaced out looking at everything) I got a little barky trying to get his attention so he’d stay safe while going through the parking lot. I asked him why he wasn’t listening that day (despite several attempts to turn on his ears for him!) and he said “It’s a thinking day today, not a listening day!” Ah ha! Before I forget…did you see the news story about the dog which got a bbq fork stuck in its head? It ran away for two days then returned, the vet removed the fork successfully and it’s recovering now. Guess what the dog’s name is??? SMOKEY! Unreal. Thought that was pretty funny. Sam enjoyed seeing the vet work on the dog. I wanted to be a vet – that was my first ambition. Lastly – Sam asked today on our way home from a run if I knew how to count to 1000. Yup. A million? Yup. A trillion? Yeah… Mom, what comes after a trillion? Uhh…standing at a stoplight now so I turned around and asked a lady in the nearby parking lot a few feet from me. She said very convincingly “Oh! A zillion, right?! Yeah, I’m sure that’s it! Right?” So I decided it was Friday pop-quiz time. I called my A-list of smart women. Kathy says quadrillion. April concurs. I asked a guy on the way home – turns out he was from Austria and wasn’t so sure what to call it in English. See – you just never know what interesting folk the pop-quiz will cause you to meet. We had fun with that. Still need to verify the quadrillion but it sounds pretty good. Check the album for a lot more pictures…if you’re still with me after this post I’m sure you’re one of our loved ones and will want to see more pictures.

hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil!

Guess who is back in town!!!??? APRIL! Can you believe it? The three charter A-team members are together once again. April and family are moving here! Now we just need Amy, who is back in CT and “Anita” in WA! We had such fun getting together for dinner last night. Can you guess what we made? Artichoke, asparagus with sea salt (and almonds), alfredo sausage and sauce, and dessert was angel food cake with strawberries and syrup. Do you see a trend? Each course started with “a” and spelled the same three-letter word. Silly As. Today we went to check out the USS Missouri.  Very very cool. When Sam is 6 we will think about holding his party on the ship – kids as young as 6 can sleep over on an encampment there. Wouldn’t that be neat?

Sam proclaimed this over a meatloaf dinner that Dave whipped up somehow while being on “point” for the kids as I finished the last long hours of editing a book. Deadline is this week…may slip from Tues but I’m still hoping it will stick this week.

Father's Day weekend

We usually have some kind of adventure on Father’s Day. This year was no exception. Click on the picture to see what we did 🙂

6 paddlers taking a Hawaiian canoe out for a spin in Kaneohe Bay!

This is adventure day #3 🙂 Six of us (4 of whom had never paddled before) rented a Hawaiian canoe (wa’a) from base. We paddled out into the bay and learned the basics from our experienced buddies, Angel and Heidi. Angel called out the strokes for us (1 through 10, then hut, ho and switch) while Heidi kept us on course and the ama (the float portion on the starboard side) down so we didn’t huli (flip). We had a great time and got an awesome core workout! More pictures in the album (click photo above).