Ben’s first “hike”!

Good morning, boys. It’s 7am and thankfully you’re still asleep after several mornings of early “ups”. I’ve had my coffee and am starting to feel human. It’s quiet here, as I listen to our neighbor water her plants (hopefully hitting ours, too!). I love this picture of you two from a few days ago. I wanted to write you a note to tell you how much I love you. (Sam is walking down the hall now!). This was Ben’s first little hike on the marsh trail. He loved following you, Sam. He also loved picking up rocks and taste-testing them (yuck!). The little guy is so determined to be a big guy that he walked about 1/2 mile – just 100 yards shy of making it all the way home. He didn’t want to get back in the stroller. I kept trying to offer him a ride, but he’d writhe and squirm and protest, wanting to get out again. He is so strong! So, now that you are both up and looking for me, I must quickly jot down your “latest” news. Sam, you just told me that someone said “You are the most cutest little boy!” I asked who, you said I don’t know. So I asked where you were at the time. You said “The marsh trail.” Nice, huh?

My wee prince took me for a ride on a modern lily pad.

Heidi and I took the SUP out to the beach this morning. Tide was high enough that my fin didn’t scrape the reef and knock us off 🙂 Heidi did a great job paddling all over and even spotted a turtle! I went out for a bit then came back to pick Sam up – my favorite part of owning an SUP. The current was strong so we got a good workout! Then we picked up sushi and cake (eat cake every day of birthday week!) and had a picnic on Heidi’s lawn. We got VERY messy – she had to hose the boys off! Lots of fun.

Sparkling water case has eye holes!

We had some fun this morning with a sparkling water box – it already had eye holes and when you cut an opening for the neck, you end up with a nice breastplate! Can you see my beady eyes?

I’ve been meaning to post this plant and legend for some time so I don’t forget when we move away…this is Naupaka kahakai (naupaka by the ocean). The well-known legend associated with this plant is that the half-circle of petals represents lovers separated: Kai (ocean) and Hiwa (entirely black). Frustrated by having to meet in secret, Hiwa split the flower in half and gave it to Kai before she ran to the mountains. There are two variations of this endemic plant – Naupaka kuahiwi and Naupaka kahakai. The beach naupaka grows so well in dry, sandy soil in unrelenting sun. It’s a very hardy plant, and I’m hoping we will grow some when we landscape our little front garden.

Ben walking and Sam biking!

Ben took his first steps about two months ago, but decided crawling was faster. Just last week he started walking, and hasn’t looked back. From walking about 20% of the time the first day he tried, he’s now up to walking almost all the time just 3 or 4 days later. Here we are at the beach park so they can both wreak havoc on all the weekenders. Ben is weight lifting in this picture. I also uploaded a movie so you can see him following a doggie and saying “duhddie” or something like that, and Sam is biking over logs, through puddles (not very big here) and rolling off curbs! Wow. That’s at the end of this 2 min movie. Click for movie: 2009-06-ben-walking

We still have the plague here. Sam relapsed or still has the same cold, but he never complains and still wants to do all these things. I try to get him to rest, to no avail. Ben is still healthy. Dave has another week of school work before this batch of classes and heavier than normal work load is over. We are blessed, though. Others, whom we pray for every evening, are facing much more daunting days and bearing heavier burdens.  

Full moon from Kailua Beach.

We took a quick ride over to Kailua Beach to see the full moon tonight. Ben LOVES the moon and always points to it saying “bbbbooon!” (Make your lips go sort-of “bbrrrr” when you say it, like you’re cold.) Tried to take a video of him saying it over and over again, pointing the whole time, but there was no light for video. This is a long-exposure shot taken with camera resting on sand.

 

 Our original plan was to go to the Bishop Museum, but Ben was still recovering from our all-out Maui trip (as am I!) and we ran out of time due to a loooong nap (during which I caught up on some work). Sooo…what is one to do?

Honu eating

We had such a crazy week last week with me sick the entire time – really sick, actually. I felt so awful – it was pneumonia most likely and I have not been that tired in more than a decade. Even childbirth and sleep deprivation did not compare. I am so thankful to have my health back! (Thanks ZPack!) Four days of fever over 102 will really knock you on your rear. And I’d committed to editing a 90 page thesis, so I was still working every day through the fever. Unreal. Even took boys for a picnic for Ben’s birthday on Thurs. Anyway…enough about the plague that hit our home. Dave was working 6am to midnight, so he was not available to help out and was doing all he could to avoid getting ill. (Apparently I have PTSD and can’t let it go!) This weekend we celebrated being together again and me no longer contagious. I was so tired, but working so hard to keep the boys healthy so my every move was doubled by cleaning and sanitizing, cough-covering, sneeze-blocking…ugh! Thankfully neither got this awful thing, and Sam seems to have just a simple cold now. We went to Sea Life Park over the weekend, then to several tide pools. We were in the water swimming and snorkeling the whole weekend. Nice!