North Shore

...a Sunday trip to Haleiwa on the North Shore. It was a longer drive than we anticipated because we went halfway around the island the wrong direction, but once we got back on the right highway we headed up to the North Shore for some authentic shaved ice (the Passion Fruit was UNBELIEVABLE--even Kate had some Hawaiian ice on her pacifier), views, big waves, and sandy beaches. We even happened to be on the beach yesterday when a couple of sea turtles stopped in to rest for a while. Unfortunately I forgot to change the camera settings and most of the pictures ended up blue, but I changed them in time to get a couple of good sea turtle pics. After all that when we got back to the hotel Kate got to play in the pool and she loved it! We're headed back down there whenever she wakes up from her nap--remember its only 1:30 here. Amanda, Steve, and I spent today at Pearl Harbor, so more pics to come tonight.

Sun Worshipper

...Kate's first trip to the beach.  After 24 hours in Hawaii we FINALLY made it to the beach.  At first she had her "inquisitive Kate face" (if you have been around her much you know what we are talking about--she has to really check things out).  But then, well then the sun popped through the clouds and she was hooked.  Our Baby Kate loves the sun (we promise she had on high powered sun block!).  We spent about an hour and a half at the beach putting her toes in the water, sitting on a towel with mommy and daddy, and best of all playing with Granny and Papa.  We aren't sure who was having more fun or who adored who more!  What we do know is that it pooped her out completely (see bottom picture of the stroller ride back to the condo).

Morning in the Land of Vowels

...a great Hawaiian morning! Quick question: I haven't researched into Hawaiian history much, but was there a K-Mart blue light special on vowels when the original Hawaiians started naming things? I didn't know you could use multiple A's, U's, and O's in the same 12 letter word with only 2 consonants. Anyway, after the coffee place finally opened (see previous post about patiently waiting) we got ready and headed to the Rainbow Drive Inn for some breakfast with the locals (see first 3 pictures)...Portuguese Sausage, eggs, and 2 scoops of white rice (Amanda was happy with the choice since they serve lunch at 9:00 am). The ironic moment of the day took place at the Rainbow; sitting next to us was a table of people that just participated in the Diabetes Awareness Walk and were now consuming plates of carbs and starches. We then drove up the Windward side of the Island for some ocean scenery (see the bottom picture) before heading back to Waikiki to take Kate swimming in the ocean. Stay tuned for upcoming pictures of Kate at the beach!

Aloha!

...Aloha! Because AlohmygoshI'msotireda doesn't roll off the tongue quite as well. Well, we made it. Kate did better than her parents with the plane rides. We left for the Lubbock airport at 3:45 am yesterday, left for Houston at 5:00 am, flew from Houston to LAX at 7:30, and then made it to Hawaii by 1:30 pm Hawaiian time (6:30 Central). During 10.5 hours of flying time Kate never cried. No kidding. Thanks to some thoughtful flight attendants we had a row of 3 seats to ourselves from Houston to LAX and from LAX to Hawaii, which made all the difference. She was able to lay down on a pillow in her own seat and sleep for much of the trip. Thank you Continental Airlines! When she was awake she was laughing and smiling at people and making new friends. We made friends with a mother/daughter from Fayetteville, Arkansas, sitting across the aisle from us to Hawaii and when Hawaii finally came into view they held Kate and let her look out the window. This kid is really amazing.

It has been a long time since Amanda and I stayed up for over 24 hours, but yesterday we got up at 2:30 am in Lubbock and went to bed at 11:00 pm Hawaiian time (4 am central). I'm "patiently" waiting for the coffee place next to our hotel to open this morning. Seriously though it is wonderful to finally be in Hawaii. Although we are trying to adjust to all the green and having moisture in the air. The hotel has great internet access so I will be posting everyday while we are here. See the Oklahoma post below this post.

So how was Kate after a full day of traveling...you can be the judge.

Oklahoma Trip pics

...Kate;s first trip to the Big XII Basketball Tournament--sadly we forgot the camera for the championship game (the game Kate attended) but we got a lot of great pictures from the weekend in general. Oh, by the way we are posting this at 5:00 am Hawaiian time! I will do another post about our plane trip to Oahu this morning too.




This picture of Kate "playing" the piano with my Dad just seemed perfect in black and white

Travelin' Kate

...a spur of the moment trip, a planned trip, and a trip of necessity.  We travel quite a bit and with Kate getting bigger and bigger we decided to get her a convertible car seat to make it a little more comfortable for her.  We purchased a Maxi-Cosi convertible car seat (it works for kids 5-40 pounds and will eventually be a front-facing seat).  I think she likes it already and that's good because she has quite the travel schedule coming up.

First, we are headed to OKC this weekend so that Michael can go to the Big 12 Tournament with his dad (it's kind of a tradition).  A few days later we depart Lubbock for a long awaited trip to Hawaii (I promise there will be lots of pictures).  Then, in mid- to late April we will be headed to Houston to take Kate to Texas Children's Hospital.  

Please do not be too alarmed.  We are just going to get a second opinion on her left eye.  For those of you that do not know, she has been preliminarily diagnosed with 6th Nerve Palsy which causes her to not be able to move her left eye very much which makes her right eye work very hard.  Most of you have never noticed it because we do not post the pictures that show it!  We are going for a second opinion because the doctor here in Lubbock said that this is rare for an infant with no known trauma (she came out this way!).  Most likely there will not be much we can do other than work on helping her make her eyes work together so that it is not too noticeable.  We just want to make sure it will not negatively impact her vision.  

We will keep you posted and promise lots of pictures from all of our adventures!

The Grrrrrr in Tigers

....Kate figuring out how to growl. Maybe she thinks she's one of the dogs I don't know, but whatever the reason, Kate likes to growl at everyone now. It's very cute and funny. Last night Amanda and Kate came out to watch me play softball; our team is the Tigers--I have no idea why we are named the Tigers by the way. Anyway, Kate put on a show in the stands growling and laughing at everyone. Have I mentioned she likes to show off around people? Here are some pictures of her at the softball game:


Where's the hot dog? You're not fooling anyone with this cracker mom!