Caspian's Birthday

Caspian turned 11 and we celebrated his birthday with a trip to the beach.  Caspi rarely go for rides in the car because the Prius is small and we can wwalk everywhere.  For his birthday, I drove him to a local beach.  His birthday presents were more of a hit with Kai.  We saw several turtle and a golden retrievor while playing at the beach.

Rainbows

Biking is tiring

We frequently see rainbows on our daily outings.  When Kai and I ride our bike to the Haleiwa.  We also see them at the beach when we walk Caspian there.  Here are a few pictures

Catching up with July

Fourth of July, coconuts on the beach

Self potrait

baby prints

Peekaboo

Peekaboo

July was a busy month for us.  After returning from vacation, Victor was still on leave but went to work everyday.  Then Victor's best friend and his wife came to visit.  Kai and I were able to play tour guide.  Kai is still not a fan of the driving tour portion of any visitors trip.  After they left, it was Engineer Week.  This translate to FRG fundraising while the soliders play sports.  We sold cotton candy, drinks and snacks while Kai played with the other kids.  Victor's company won the Commander's Cup and Engineer Week.  That Friday was the Engineer Ball at the Hawaiian Hilton Village.  Kai stayed with his baby sitters Kat and Kyra at the Hale Koa while we danced the night away.  We arrived back at the hotel at 11 and Kai was still awake.  He immediately fell asleep once I held him.  My good friend Courtney and her husband moved to Hawaii this month,  I am excited to have another friend here.  Courtney helped me dress shop and did my hair for the big event.  Sadly, I did say goodbye to an Army friend Kim.  Kai loved her son Anthony and will miss them.  We started Summer music class with a new teacher.  It is a big class but Kai loves every moment.  We missed a couple classes due to visitors and Engineer week, so we have make up classes to schedule.  Kai started swim lessons at Mother's Beach just east of Sunset Beach.  His friend Olive goes with him.  This summer has not been as hot as last year, thankfully.  We have been going to the local playgrounds to try and get the climbing out of Kai's system.  He loves to climb on everything.  And at home climbs on top of the table if you look away.

Thanksgiving

On Kai's first Thanksgiving we walked to the local beach, then ate at the DFAC at Schofield Barracks and shared dessert with our neighbors Benita and Arvil.

November activities

Playing with Halle

why stay on my playmat when Caspi is here

We had another fun week.  The weather has finally "cooled" to the mid 80s during the day and at night in the 70s.  It is such a relief to not be hot all the time.  Kai is not always sweating in his car seat.  Overnight his little hands get cold and he is not sweating in a onesie in his crib.  Life is good.

Waialua Bandstand

This Sunday was the first Sunday of the month and we went to Kai's 7th concert in the park.  He was in utero for his very first one.  This week's performance was by the Navy Brass band.  They played upbeat jazz music.  Kai enjoyed himself and danced until he fell asleep in his father's arms.  Caspian had a good time as well and made friends with the people on neighboring blankets.

Navy Brass band

It is daylight savings time for the majority of the US.  Thankfully, Hawaii does not participate.  Kai is able to stay on the same schedule and we are only 5 hours time difference from the East Coast.

Bob Stroller

Victor works 12 hour days and on the weekend sometimes he works and other times he is fixing pinballs.  This leaves me with no time to workout and I still have 5 pounds of baby weight and another 5 pounds that I would like to use.  I have patiently waited for Kai to get really good head control so that I can start jogging with him.  I have the nice weather and access to a bike path on Waialua Beach Road.

After getting our permanent fund dividends from Alaska we purchased a Bob Stroller.  I was not sure which one to get but wanted to be able to put him on the beach.  Because I drive a Prius I knew that no jogging stroller would comfortable fit in the trunk.  I finally decided on the Bob all utility as it had the best reviews for pushing on sand and was one of the least expensive ones.

Caspian and Kai

Snoozing

Waialua Beach

Random house on bike path

Kai loves it and we have jogged to the beach everyday since UPS delivered it.  Caspian gives it a wide berth but seems ok with it.  Kai is able to take naps while we run.  The steering is way more difficult then our other stroller but it pushes to easily over the grass in the park we have to cross to get to the bike path.  Even pushing it on the sand is not bad.  We will put lots of miles on this and hopefully lose some of those pounds that are clinging to me.

Happy November

Silly boy

November starts the rainy season in Hawaii.  It rained a bit in Waialua but I would call it partly cloudy and usually still sunny.  After the Halloween candy high wore off, Kai had a playdate with Anthony and Halle.  He attended a music Gymboree class and loved it.  When the class sang his name he made his little proud face.  He was able to play the drum and each of the instruments when it was his turn.  During the class, we rolled the balls around and played with bubbles.

On Wednesday our new jogging stroller arrived.  We have taken it to the beach everyday and it is so much easier to push on grass and sand, I will definitely post more on this.

I still am unable to get my videos to load from my new iphone but will try and get this resolved.

Why stay on the blanket?

Self portrait

Chilling at the beach

Hey Caspi, look at me

Today we went to turtle beach.  Kai is noticing the turtles a bit more and they still love him.

5 months

Today Kai is 5 months old.  Everyday it seems like he is growing bigger and he is learning new things so quickly.  He has mastered rolling over and can move quickly.  He should be crawling very soon.  This morning Kai, Caspian and I went to Mokuleia Beach to try to take 5 month pictures.   This is the beach where they filmed Lost.  I did not watch the show but it may look familar if you did.  Kai can reach the sand from his bumbo now and that was fascinating to him to play with the texture and attempt to taste it.  I may try a second attempt tonight to get photos.  If not i will have to wait for this weekend when Victor can be a distraction.    I was able to get lots of smiles once we were back home and I was one of the more entertaining things in the room.

Perfect Hawaiian Weather

Kai being a big boy in his stroller

Once every six weeks, it is overcast in Waialua.  The blue sky and bright sun are hidden by clouds.  These are my favorite days despite being few and far between.  Our landlord likes to tell us that it never rains in Waialua like it does on the rest of the island.  On the occasionally cloudy day, I can se the rain on Mt Kaa'la from our house.

Kai is able to use his stroller without the aid of his car seat.  He is getting so big!

We took advantage of the "cool" (very relative here it was still 80F) and walked the whole family to the beach.  Kai was able to be uncovered and he loved watching the waves.  We saw a few turtles popping their heads out.  Kai has been practicing his roll overs and is becoming quite proficient.

The other adorable thing Kai does is fall alseep when we have people over to play the 5 pinballs machines. This is not quiet and provides flashing lights.  This does not phase Kai and he will still succumb to sleep.