Beach Nut

It's been a busy weekend.  On Friday evening, we saw the final concert in the Marforpac (Marine Forces Pacific) Band summer concert series.  Much cuteness ensued.

Saturday, we went hiking to Likeke falls.  This was an easy trail that X did half of all by himself (with a helping hand).  It's not well marked, but once we figured it out, we found ourselves on the old old Pali road.  It was a cobblestone path!  I can't imagine who once used it.  We passed a view of some cliffs and I snapped a picture, wondering if those were the cliffs that Kamehameha had 400 of his defeated enemies jump off of.  The falls were beautiful, and we could see Kaneohe Bay from the spot where they were.  X really enjoyed splashing around in the water.

The trailhead

Cobblestones!

Creepy cliffs

What is that?

Sunday, we were back at the beach, where Xander did this.  Crazy, huh?  I have to wonder what the ocean looked like from that vantage point.

Kaneohe Friendship Garden

So pretty, and such a nice view.  It's been awhile since I've schlepped up a hill with X on my back, but I've still got it.

There were two paths, one easier loop and the other a little harder.  We opted for the hard one, which came with a truly incredible view that I failed to appropriately capture on the iphone.  We could see the ocean on both sides.  I was a little surprised to see the hike billed as "family friendly," since the path is a little narrow and slopes down pretty steeply, but I was able to handle it.

This is not the park, but from a stroll around our neighborhood.

Snack time!

To Xander: Things I love about you.

I love that you say nonononono while you are committing a “no no” so that I can tell, no matter where I am, that I need to rush in and pull you away.

I love how you are so enthusiastic about helping me in the kitchen that you throw away food scraps, then take them back out of the trash so you can throw them away again.

I love how you plunged back into the tub after I had taken you out and dried you off, replacing the plug before splashing around some more.

I love how you say bye bye to me with this big expressive sad face.

I love how trucks, motorcycles, and buses are so exciting that you go beserk every time we pass one.

I love how you want to say hi to everyone, including our perpetually grumpy groundskeeper and Hawaii’s many homeless.

I love how you pull spoons out of the drawer and tap them on the stove, “stirring” the food in the pots (though you are not supposed to touch the stove).

I love how you pluck wildflowers one by one and save them in your pudgy fists, refusing to give them up even when you need to use your hands.

I love how you plunge headlong into the ocean, laughing.  I can never take my eyes off of you at the beach.

I love how you call a slide an “up up eeeee!”

I’ll admit, some days I am counting the hours until bedtime.  But deep down, I am savoring this time.

More lessons in parenting

Our daycare provider is a veteran "auntie" of 20 years.  Like the TV nannies, she is teaching Bobby and me, who are obviously green, a thing or two about raising a well behaved child.  The other day, she told me that Xander didn't want to put his toys away, but she insisted that he do it while he fussed.  I told Bobby when he got home, and we thought about how we let Xander play while we put his toys away.  We decided to crack down and make our son clean up after himself.  This involved several nights of leading a crying X by the hand to his toy box, prying toys out of his hand, and putting them in.  It wasn't easy.  He's at tantrum age and is never at his best in the evening.  However, now he excitedly grabs his toys and throws them into the toy box.  He's so enthusiastic about this that the other day, when I asked him to help me put some towels away, he grabbed a stack, ran to his room, and threw them in the toy box.  He's proud to be helping.  Lesson learned.  Parenting a toddler involves a lot--A LOT-- of conflict, but those moments when he behaves like a good little boy make the other 75% of the time worth it.

Today, we went to Ho'omaluhia Botanical Gardens, which is only a few miles from our house.  Xander got to feed some ducks and fish.  He would rather have gone swimming with them.