Celebrating Girls' Day

During our visit to Hawaii last month, John and I found a fantastic Asian imports store in downtown Hilo that had an entire window display filled with these one-of-a-kind little hand-carved and hand-painted wooden dolls.













We learned from the proprietor that the dolls, called Kokeshi, are coveted and collected by Japanese girls in celebration of Girls' Day--also called Hina-matsuri--recognized in Japan on the 3rd of March each year. So we picked up this adorable little Kokeshi--or Kokeshea, as I call her--doll for baby Shea's first honorary Girls' Day.

Striking resemblance, no?

I Couldn't Sit On This One Until Father's Day

It's A Toss Up

My head is about to explode from trying to decide which one's cuter here...

Why I Love Blogging

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.

(And also because here at doubledutydiary we relish all milestones that involve introducing products and accessories to Shea's adorable mop of unruly hair.)

Hide And Seek

I'm Just Grateful They Don't Turn The Camera On ME First Thing In The Morning

Catching Up

Now that the birthday and travel posts have tapered out, I thought I'd get everyone current with the many milestones that we've experienced recently.

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.

Then there's Finney, who wrote his name for the first time on Valentine's Day. Watching him pen his nickname letter by letter -- F ... I ... N ... N ... -- was like watching him paint a picture, both in terms of the suspense of watching something artful unfold and of the time it took to complete it, and when he finished the second N it took my breath away with pride. Sometimes these reactions take me by surprise, but there it is.

It was beautiful. I was proud. He beamed. So amazed were we both that he had written out FINN for the first time that we shared an ecstatic, squealing hug to celebrate.

Her First Pro Bono Gig

You may have heard me mention a time or two how having a girl baby has made me weak in the knees for the unbelievably cute clothing I'm able to put on said baby. Well, lately, one of the largest temptations to my normal budgetary constraint is a little shop called Naartjie, which sells buttery soft, adorably designed, cotton clothing manufactured in South Africa and sold at a mall near you.

And, unfortunately, at a mall near me.

I sent the company a photo of Shea, fast asleep on Grandma and Opa's new couch, wearing her fun heart romper and for about a month or so our own little bundle of cheeks and lips was featured on their site. (They rotate the images they receive, so Shea's term has come and gone.)

Here's the picture they used. Awwwwwwwwwww.

The Neverending Birthday

(OK, after today no more birthday posts. Sheeeesh!)

Before we left for Hawaii we had a little hometown birthday celebration for John's birthday. Here is the cake Finney picked out for his father from the local grocery store, which looked to me like the love child of Elmo and Mr. Krabs from SpongeBob SquarePants:

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:

Aloha Travelblog, Days 9 & 10 -- Plus Bonus Link!

Day Nine: Before leaving Hilo (and in doing so, Eddie and Amy), we all had a big breakfast together at Ken's 24-hour diner. During our stay in Hilo, we had driven by the place a few times and it had struck me as a kind of Hawaiiana Denny's or Coco's. But once inside, with a scrumptious Vegetarian Benedict and plate of Macadamia nut pancakes in front of me (it's vacation--why not go big?), I understood why Ed and Amy were such fans (they have coconut, mango and lilikoi--passionfruit--syrup for your pancakes, in addition to the traditional maple, folks!), and why there were cars idling out front, waiting for parking spots to become vacant. MMMmmmmmmmm, a great way to begin our travel day.

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.



Day Ten: Time to head back home. Truth be told, as hard as it was to travel with two small children (much more so than I had anticipated), the hardest part of the trip was coming home. It was a delightful respite and celebration and I'm so grateful we took the opportunity to go. I couldn't imagine a better way to mark John's 40th birthday, except by bringing a nanny, housekeeper, and a cook. Maybe next time. Or in the next lifetime.

Special bonus link: For those of you interested in seeing even more photos of our Big Island 2006 trip, click here.

Aloha Travelblog, Days 7 & 8

Day Seven: Despite weather charts, stories, warnings, and centuries of folklore indicating otherwise, we did not see a single drop of rain the entire time we were in Hilo. Ed and Amy, who just moved to the Big Island from McKinleyville, CA, where it rains like Seattle's melancholy little brother, are used to arranging their lives according to the day's weather patterns: when it's rainy, you take care of indoor projects, paint, study, write, nap, etc.; when the sun shines, though, you make hay, so to speak. Or, in our case, you play. The unexpectedly good weather allowed us to do plenty of outdoor activities during our stay on the "wet" side of the island.

John and Eddie started the day off with an early surf session just north of Hilo Bay. Once the guys returned, 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.


Day Eight: Another sunny day, another beach day. (We're very easy to please, in case you haven't figured that out yet. Besides, sightseeing with babies is just no fun for nobody.) Back to Richardson's, this time mid-day instead of at sunset. Another gorgeous spot. Another day free from rain. Another day spent scheming of our imminent relocation.

Would Finn learn to surf (quicker than he would here at home, that is)?
Would Shea learn to hula dance?
Would we ever get tired of tropical fruit?


Does one ever grow weary of paradise?

Aloha Travelblog, Day 6

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.

Aloha Travelblog, Day 5

Day Five: With Grandma and Uncle Eddie helping John with the kids in the morning, Amy and I were able to sneak off bright and early to Kapaluu, a great snorkeling spot 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.

But before everything went downhill, we headed uphill--to the grand resort, perched on a spectacular hillside overlooking the entire 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.

After we all watched the sun set once again into the Pacific and bid adieu to the cruise ship that had docked in Kona Bay as it headed off to another port, Shea experienced her third and final first for the day. After being prompted to bid everyone farewell, Shea mimicked Grandma by waving her little hand and telling no one in particular, "Bye bye!"