No Snow for Thanksgiving?

No problem. My family likes to go sledding over Thanksgiving. Sometimes the weather cooperates, but usually it doesn't. This rarely stops us. Not with my dad involved. So if there is no snow and you want to go sledding, you can either A) Pretend the grass is snow and sled the day away...


It's debatable who enjoyed this event the most - the kids or Gramps. Everyone was all smiles.


...or B) Go to where the snow is. In our case, we chose Idaho. There wasn't as much snow as there usually is this time of year, but it worked.


While you're there, you might as well find a tree...




...ambush Grandpa with snowballs...


...and eat a donut...

...or two.

Yummy! What a fun Thanksgiving weekend we had.

Just to prove I was in Hawaii too...

...and because who wouldn't want pictures of themself at a beach 5-months pregnant floating around the internet? I don't have much to say about these pictures except this: we went to Hawaii, it was beautiful, the weather (mostly) was awesome, we had a great time, and we can't wait to go back. Annie wore her swimsuit underneath her snowsuit when we played in the snow today because she just can't get used to the idea that we aren't going to the beach every day.

After church outside the Marriott Ko Olina - great place to stay.

Hanalei Bay - you know, Puff the Magic Dragon and the land called Hanalei... And yes, we do feed Cole - he's just a bit lanky.

Sunset dinner cruise along the NaPali Coast. Holo Holo Travel Rule of travel number one - no expectant mothers. Oops - didn't see that rule until it was too late. My stomach held out fine anyway. If anyone noticed, they were kind enough not to call me on it.

A waterfall - I forgot the name. I think it had a lot of "a's" and "k's" and "m's" in it.

These last four pictures are all at Ke'e Beach - the end of the road in Kauai. It was gorgeous, especially at sunset.



The End.

Hey Surfer Boy!

It finally came! You were waiting for this for over a year and I think you talked about it each day during that year. It was cute to me that even though you didn't really know what Hawaii was, you were excited to go. Your excitement is so contagious. One of my favorite moments of the trip came before we even left the house when I saw you run upstairs, grab the lei you made at summer adventure camp, and tuck it into your backpack. I thought it was so sweet that I grabbed Annie's as well.
You couldn't wait to hit the beach - that is the first thing we did and the last thing we did. You loved everything about it - looking for fish, rolling in the sand, finding beach treasures, and of course getting wet. I don't know how this afraid-of-water-mother has raised two little fishies, but you and your sister certainly have no fear of water.

You kept us all entertained with your descriptions of the various sea life we encountered. Who needs an encyclopedia when you are around! You climbed nearly every tree you saw - they were just so tempting.

Hiking with you is quite an experience. I've always been a don't-look-around, get-to-the-top sort of hiker. Not you. You take it all in. We stop for every critter, every new type of vegetation, and every cool rock. We also stop for frequent drink breaks. Aunt Kar, Grandpa, and Annie may have beat us to the top, but Daddy and I certainly learned more on our hike up to the lighthouse.
Do you remember the Polynesian Cultural Center? Remember how proud you were when Daddy made smoke on the fire stick? Remember the Coral Reef show and how mad you were that people are destroying them? Remember how excited you were when they talked about one of your heroes, Jacques Cousteau? Remember how the people ahead of us pushed you out the door before we could get there and how you almost got lost but remembered to say a prayer and soon Daddy found you? Remember how excited you were for the fire eaters? So excited that the minute they were finished, your energy was spent and you fell into an exhausted heap on Dad. We had a lot of fun there.
You had two favorite things on this trip - one was getting souvenirs and the other was snorkeling. I loved watching you snorkel. You saw all kinds of beautiful fish. You could stay under the water for such a long time - longer than Mommy! It was fun to watch a fish catch your eye and see you swim off after it. You never caught them, but that didn't stop you from trying. Poipu Beach is one of your new favorite places.
You were a good brother on this trip (mostly) and let your sister tag along for all your adventures. What good times you two had together!

You loved the boogie board Grandpa bought for you. Loved it so much that Mommy had to re-pack her bags to get rid of one so that it could be her carry-on for the flight home. Mom's heavy bag weighed in at a whopping 50.0 pounds and barely missed the overweight charge at the airport. We were planning to leave the board in Hawaii for some other child to enjoy, but that was clearly not your plan. I can't wait to use it somewhere next summer.
Coley, your enthusiasm for life is one of your greatest qualities. You make even the ordinary seem grand and it makes my life happier. Thanks for a great trip!

Dear Island Princess,

Whoever said traveling with a 2-year-old was difficult clearly never traveled with you. You were an absolute delight on this trip. Not an hour went by that you didn't make us laugh and give us snuggles. All by yourself, you came up with a clever way to travel through the airport, so not even that was a problem.
You loved the beach. Burying yourself in sand and playing with the sand toys were some of your favorite activities. Each time we took off your swimsuit, a cup of sand would fall out.


It took you a little while to figure out that "Hawaii" and "beach" were not synonymous. If we said we were in Hawaii and we were at the beach, you told us we weren't in Hawaii. I think you finally figured out that everywhere was Hawaii.
You were up for every adventure. You tried snorkeling, swung from trees, climbed trees, and crashed into waves every chance you got. You loved the dancers at the Polynesian Cultural Center and even though you were exhausted, you stayed awake watching them for over an hour. You were sad to miss out on the fire eaters.
You were a little sad that mommy forgot to pack you baby dolls for the trip. It didn't take you long to find other things to love, however. You mothered your giant blow-up whale, Baby Beluga, and also your new pet "duck" - giving her food, wrapping her in a blanket, singing her lullabies, and rocking her to sleep. What a good mother you are!
Sometimes you'd surprise us - like the first time you answered a question with "never, never, never" (a new favorite phrase) or when you'd strike a yoga pose at the beach and proclaim, "I'm just doing my downward dog."
You don't seem to suffer from the same humidity-induced hair disasters as your mother. While I looked like a frizzy mess, you were perfectly lovely at all times. What a lucky girl!
I love you, Island Princess. Thanks for being such fun and for letting us in on your joy in just hanging out. It broke my heart when you cried yesterday because you wanted to go to the beach. I'm sorry to say that it might be awhile. The snow outside our window is not a good sign for beach weather anytime soon.

Jurassic Park

How much do you know about dinosaurs? Unless you have a degree in paleontology, I'm pretty sure Cole knows more than you do. We don't just "play" dinosaurs anymore. Now, he strategically sets them up according to period - Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous. I believe the display above is Cretaceous based on the T-Rex, but don't hold me to it. They might be Allosaurus - I can't tell if they have 2 or 3 claws.


I myself am not really a dinosaur fanatic. Somehow I still spend over an hour each day reading dinosaur encyclopedias and pretending I'm a dinosaur. He has started asking me to teach him Latin words so that someday when he discovers a new type of dinosaur, he will be able to give it a good name. Given my limited knowledge of the Latin language, these are interesting conversations. If he ever does discover a new type of dinosaur, his greatest dream in life, he better name it after me.