Reason #152: Because I can post about something as silly as putting my daughter's hair in pigtails for the first time and, with a catchy headline and a little groovy formatting, it looks sleek, professional and, well...., published for all eternity. 
First, there's Shea. Although she seems to be in a perpetual state of teething, she only has two teeth so far, which she got just after Christmas. (No kidding, she got her two front teeth for Christmas. I couldn't make this stuff up.) As she's often cranky and almost always trying to shove things into her mouth, we're expecting the arrival of the upper two any day now for a matched set.
Shea ponied up with a number of "firsts" during our trip, but since then she has learned to clap her hands together and even pull herself up to standing position. Things are surely moving quick these days; it seems like we're noticing something new each week. I'm expecting her to ask me to borrow the car keys and my favorite purse any day now.
And, as Grandpa Jack was here for a visit, I was able to capture this classic image of three generations of enthusiastic cake mackers eating said cake:
After visiting the local farmer's market and buying bags and bags of locally grown fruit for a pittance, we cleared out of our condo and began the trip back to Kona. We wanted to take the northern route out, as we had taken the southern route in, so we would be able to see the whole island (at least from the 11, the island's main highway). So Ed and Amy led the way north, escorting us out of Hilo, first jettisoning our main route for a brief detour on a scenic route overlooking a sheltered bay. The road was a like a miniature version of Maui's Road to Hana (which is the twistiest, jungliest, most lush and spectacular road I've ever been on), except this one was only four miles long. Perfect!
We bid farewell to Ed and Amy at the scenic road's nexus with Highway 11, promising to see them again in Northern California for their July wedding. On the rear windshield of their little car I photographed a small sticker that summed up the ethos of the Hawaiian experience perfectly: No Bad Days. Note the palm trees and fluffy clouds in the sticker's reflection, which somehow underscore the message that, sure, real life still happens to everyone and bills still need to be paid and diapers need to be changed, but life somehow seems a little easier to handle in this type of enchanted atmosphere.
Three hours later and we were once again at La Resort de Olivia in Kona, where we spent our final night in Hawaii. That evening John and I dined on Thai food, while Grandma and Finn ate Chinese food (oh, the convenient choices!). Then we shopped for the requisite chocolate-covered Macadamia nuts and Kona coffee and watched our friend shake her island thang, as she does every Wednesday night just for the love of it, with the rest of the lovely hula troupe. It was a great way to spend our final night in the islands.
we toured the home and 10+ acres that Ed, Amy and a few other folks are currently renting (see two photos, above). Since his arrival in early January, Ed has managed to clear a path through the overgrown jungle that is his backyard to find a deserted and dormant macadamia tree grove; the side yard, once cleared of its overgrowth, revealed a lychee tree. The front driveway is lined with potted herbs, succulents, and tropical plants. With his green thumb, if there's any plant or tree on the property with even a shred of photosynthetic capacity left, it will soon see new life through farmer Ed's patient and able hands. The guy's truly in his element.
Since the sun was out, we made a beach day of it, heading to a picturesque place called "Four Mile." Take a good, long look at the photo above. Go ahead, click it to enlarge it so you can get a really good look. It was THAT pretty. We swam in those placid swimming holes. We ate lunch on a grassy knoll just like that one. We gazed at the newly fallen snow on Mauna Loa in the distance. And before long, we were scheming how we could move to Hawaii.
After figuring out just how many bedrooms and bathrooms we'd need considering all the company we'd surely be entertaining once we made our big "move," we settled back into reality and headed back to the house to meet up with Amy, who was just returning from attending class at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, where she's working on her undergraduate degree. 
The whole lot of us then went to check out the Hilo Zoo (which was free, by the way, as are a surprising number of public attractions in Hawaii). Since we were there for the last hour of the day, we had the place essentially to ourselves and
were even able to witness the once-a-day feeding time for Namaste, the zoo's lone white tiger, wherein he scarfed three whole chickens (the crunch of the bones sounded like he was absentmindedly finishing off a case of Pringles while planted in front of a college football game), 
and a bunch of ground beef, which was also full of bones. For calcium, we were informed by the zookeeper. Yeah? Wow. I've got lots of bones. Maybe I'll step over here for now. 
Would Finn learn to surf (quicker than he would here at home, that is)? 
Day Six: Travel day from Kona, the leeward side of the island (think warm, desert, lava), to Hilo, the windward side of the island (think rainy, lush, jungle). The Big Island, for anyone out there who hasn't been there before, is called so because it's--as the name implies--the largest in the chain of the Hawaiian islands. In fact, it's larger than all of the other islands combined. Because of this you can 
drive in your car for hours and hours and hours, seeing everything from cattle farms and snow-capped mountains to jungles and volcanoes. And beaches, beaches, beaches--with sands that range from black to white to green. It's been said that 11 of the world's 13 climate zones can be found on the Big Island. 
What this means, I suppose, is that there's a lot to explore and experience in a place that might, at first blush, be seen as a little speck in the great blue sea that has nothing but palm trees and tropical drinks with little umbrellas to offer. But if you're not in the mood to be "outdoorsy," you can also veg out on the couch indoors with some ice-cold beer and watch the 
Super Bowl, which is what some of us did once we set up shop in our rental condo in Hilo. After the game, Eddie and Amy showed us one of their favorite beach spots in Hilo, a pretty little expanse of beach called "Richardson's," where we watched the sunset and took a smattering of photos of each other to commemorate our special trip.
about a mile south of our condo. The visibility was great, the water was comfortable, and I even saw some fish I had never seen before. (Hello there, little fish with bright blue lips! That's quite a look, but it works for you.) The rest of the gang met us at the beach about an hour later, at which time Shea accomplished her first first of the day: crawling! Right there on the beach, after weeks of rocking back and forth on all fours and moving backwards, she finally managed to propel herself forward. We knew then and there that, with her newfound mobility, the parameters of the caring-for-two-
children game had changed irrevocably. As soon as the kids realize their new collective power and conspire to flee in opposite directions, John and I will lose our advantage; our days are numbered.
Kona Bay, that is Olivia's home. Woooohooooo! Time to celebrate John's birthday in super chill style. Olivia, as I mentioned in an earlier post, is full of the Hawaiian spirit and lives the Aloha lifestyle of grace and graciousness. And it's reflected in her home, which is landscaped amazingly with bright tropical plants, laid out in an open flow between indoors and out, and infused with the same calm geniality that fills its owner and decorator. Plus, it's a damn fine place to have a party!
So we spent the gorgeous Saturday afternoon luxuriating in the warm sunshine, enjoying pizza and birthday cake, cooling ourselves in the refreshing pool, warming ourselves back up in the jacuzzi, playing Frisbee, drinking beer and Kona coffee, listening to the giggles and scamperings of Finnegan and Jasper, and noticing the similarity of Ila and Shea's baby coos, cries and babbles. (Heather noted, "They go to the same [baby] school!")
After lunch, Shea experienced her second first: gnawing on her first cookie, which we bought to soothe her teething, aching gums. You can see from the photo at left just how much she enjoyed it.
, kitchen chores, laundry, feedings, baths, diaper changes, nap management, sunscreen application, sand rinsing, etc. 
of at least 10 spots in our town alone that I could go visit right now for a solid Mexican meal. In Hawaii, however, given its proximity to so many various island cultures, it's Asian food that's similarly plentiful and accessible. And while I love Mexican food, anyone who knows me well knows that this new breadth of culinary access couldn't make me happier. In most shopping centers we saw, both big and small, there was at least one Asian-based food store: Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and more. MMMMmmmmmmmm. Add the fact that you can buy poke, the delicious fish dish I mentioned in my last post, in most regular grocery stores, and that's nearly argument enough for me to begin filling out my change of address paperwork at the post office to notify them of my impending move to Kona.
after we returned from the grocery store, so suddenly our group of four blossomed to a group of seven and we could NOT have been happier about it. In fact, so eager were we to share the love that we also had Kirk and Heather, Jasper and Ila, along with new friends Melissa and Brian, over for a big ol' BBQ that night. We were blessed with great food, great friends, and great family. And six, count 'em, kinds of fresh poke. The islands sure have some ono grinds.
Day Three: After John returned from another morning of surfing at Pinetrees with Kirk, the four of us decided to make our way from Kona up the northwest coast of the island, across the vast stretch of black lava fields, to visit the famed and fabulous Kohala Coast. This is where John and I first experienced Hawaii, back on our one-year wedding anniversary, when we stayed at the Fairmont Orchid: The Nicest Hotel I've Ever Stayed In. Those were the days of mai tais and plumerias, of eating our meals--slowly--in restaurants, and of washing, conditioning, and moisturizing our hair 
and bodies with the unending Aveda products the hotel magically replenished each day (no kidding...I came home with nearly a suitcase full of travel-size luxury bath products that lasted until at least Finn's birth nine months later--you do the math--sustaining my aloha buzz for months.)
beaches of Hawaii? Most of them are gorgeous, have warm, clear water, and tons of tropical fish. This must be like rating ice cream or massages or other such pleasantries, where even the really bad ones are pretty damn good, a job I'd surely love to have--but Hapuna Beach did not disappoint. Sure, the parking was easy, we were able to wheel the kids down to the sand in their strollers on the nicely paved paths, the showers were great and the bathrooms were clean, yada yada yada. But just take a look at these pictures! The water was BLUE for days, the sand nice and fine, the beach plenty wide so that our neighbors were not on top of us. (OK, maybe now I get how they rate beaches.)
By the time we were halfway back to Kona, it was pouring.
often recede soon after they arrive, we had clear skies again within hours. We took it easy that night, making a light dinner of assorted poke ("bite-sized pieces of raw, fresh fish mixed with seaweed and kukui nut relish") and udon noodles (a meal my Mom was so thankful to have nearly missed, no doubt, but one of my personal favorites), and cruising across the street to catch the sunset at Magic Sands Beach. A truly magical day in paradise, spent with my favorite people in the world.
