Ketchup

... I mean catchup

... I mean catch-up

Ah! That's the one.  The holidays were wonderful and too short.  I'll post those pics soon (and by soon of course I mean eventually), but for now here's a few of Manu and I hiking Mariner's Ridge awhile back.

A "walk break" for Manu and a "stop walking break" for me on the  way up the ridge.  Unfortunately it didn't last long - ridges are not good places for toddlers to wander.  

It was a beautiful trail - steep enough to be challenging, but  easy enough that my out-of-shape self could pack 25 pounds of baby up there with out much trouble.  

Love these mountains.

And the ocean.

At the top - Manu passed out not too long after this and napped all the way down.
Shortly after this picture was taken, we met the then-mayor of Honolulu Peter Carlisle up at the top! 

Visitors! - Part 1

We've had tons of fun with visitors in February and March!  In February Nate's parents came out for a few weeks to visit and meet Manu.  We had a great time showing them around the island.

We hung out with Pa....

.... and Grammie,

waded at the beach,

hiked to Makapuu lighthouse and saw the whales spouting in the distance,

visited the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor,

and wandered through the amazing Ho'omaluhia botanical garden.

And Manu got his picture taken in the family's 35year-old traveling pajamas.  Every child and now grandchild in the family has had their picture taken in these jammies!

Pacific Aviation Museum

Dad, this one's for you.

A few weeks ago, Manu and I had our first big adventure together, just the two of us.  Saturday, September 24th was Smithsonian Magazine's National Museum Day, so many museums offered free admission.  So Manu and I packed up and headed out to Ford Island in Pearl Harbor to see the Pacific Aviation Museum.

When we finally got in to the museum (after a shuttle ride, a diaper change, a feeding, and another diaper change) we saw some great planes.  Dad, I thought of you a lot while I examined the different planes and Manu examined the inside of his eyelids.  So, here's some of the cool stuff we saw:

I didn't get many pictures of the really old planes in the first building because the light was bad.  This one is a F-4F3 Wildcat from the 1940s.

North American F-86E Sabre from 1947.

This is an ultralight plane.  It was tiny!

Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawk I (1942)

McDonnell Douglas F-15A Eagle (1972)

Grumman F-14D Tomcat (1970)

Convair F-102A Delta Dagger (1953)

SH-60-B Seahawk

Some of the planes you could climb up and get into or see up close.  It was a pretty cool museum.  Wish you could have been there, Dad!  Hope you enjoy the photos!  

Foster Botanical Garden

Nate and I have decided that we need to get out and appreciate this beautiful little island we call home before we find ourselves having to leave and never getting to do all we wanted.  (FYI: This is not a moving announcement)  So we've instituted "family days" on Fridays when Nate dosen't have class as days to get out and see stuff together.  

So for our first family day, we went to a botanical garden here in town.  It was beautiful.  Such a lovely piece of nature in this bustling city.

Here we are at the gardens with Buddah.

The orchid garden was my favorite, I didn't even take photos of anything else.  These flowers are amazing!

This one is not an orchid.  It's a bromeliad.  

This is also not an orchid, it's called crown of thorns.  

 There was a random camel at the garden.  So naturally we took pictures with it.

Ick!

Let me preface the story of this post by saying that I hate cockroaches.  I think they're absolutely disgusting.  We have them in our apartment occasionally, rather more often than I would prefer.  We're usually quite good at changing our roach baits every three months, so it's not usually too big of a deal.  But, we've been a little distracted lately (something about having a baby), and haven't yet changed our overdue baits.

Usually if I see a roach that is mid-size or larger it is accompanied by a small shriek of disgust and a call for Nate to come with a shoe and get it.  At times I've even exchanged unfriendly words with the critters and made it very clear that they were not welcome in my home.

Last night I was putting away the dishes.  I opened up our utensils drawer (not the silverware drawer, thankfully, though they're all connected, so it only really makes a difference in my mind) and what did I see?   Yes, a mid-size roach scurrying toward the back all over my spatulas, ladle, and beaters.  Sick.

However, I was pretty tired by this point in the day and Nate wasn't home.  So, what did I do?  I closed my eyes, gave a shudder, and closed the drawer.

We need to get some new roach baits, post-haste.  And now, if you'll excuse me, I need to scrub out the drawers in my kitchen.


But, before you all decide to stop reading my blog because I post gross things about bugs, here's a picture of Manu to keep you coming back.  Some of you have seen this one before, but it's so cute I'm going to post it here as well:

Manu in his church duds.  He's wearing a tiny ie faitaga (basically a formal Samoan man-skirt.  Kind of like what Feki wears in Other Side of Heaven) that my mom made for him.

Deb and the Fe'e

Right now I'm enjoying having my sister and her family in town and there will be lovely posts to come from our adventures around the island. But for now, here's a pic from our tri-stake youth conference in late March. Definitely one of the greatest moments of the conference:

Yes, I'm holding an octopus (a fe'e). Yes, it is very slimy and disgusting and my fingers are where are brain ought to be. Eww.

Koko Head Crater

This is Koko Head.Before I get started, I need to throw in a disclaimer or two: 1. I am a lazy blogger and I don't necessarily post things in a timely manner. 2. This hike was done last October, now people won't even let me stack my own chair at church. 3. It is still a great hike. That is all.

The trail to the top of Koko Head is a little railroad track that goes straight up the side. This photo was taken at the beginning of the climb.




This is the only photo I took on the way up because I was too busy huffing and puffing to take pictures. This is the beautiful east coast of Oahu.

I think this is looking to the north east from the top.

If you look carefully, on the horizon you can see Moloka'i, the next island to the east.




Looking south-ish to Hanauma Bay.




Closer shot of Hanauma Bay - great snorkeling. When you all come to visit, we'll take you.




Looking south-westish towards Honolulu and Diamond Head.




I'm not sure which direction this one was, but I like it anyway.

Laundry

I'm not sure what it is. Maybe it's the warm sun on my back, maybe it's the fresh smell of clean sheets, maybe it's seeing my clothes flapping in the blissful breeze that swirls through my apartment. There is something serene about it. I love hanging my laundry on the clothesline on our lanai.

Tahiti Tuesday

And now, the moment you've been waiting for.... TUESDAY! Thanks Steve, for helping me get the videos all sorted out.

We saw some huge sea turtles.

And headed back to the PCC. Here's Joe and Nate at Rapanui (Easter Island).

Whitney and I practiced our Tahitian dancing. Apparently it's all in the knees. My knees do not have it.

The best part though was watching the show at the Tahitian village. They taught the whole audience how to do Tahitian dancing. After we learned, they asked for volunteers and had a competition. Naturally, Whitney and I volunteered Joe and Nate to perform. They were awesome! Check it out:

Here are our dancers in their victory crowns!

These posts really don't do justice to the amazing week we had. Thanks Joe, Whitney and Ellie for coming to visit us!