So through a series of cosmic missteps and mysterious happenings, this is where we've ended up. We're not quite sure how we've ended up here, but we're not going to question. Reserva Conchal website
Hill climb to the first house.
Kristin gets serenaded on her birthday.
I'm amazed we were able to get one that we can probably use.
After Arn and Christie's wedding, we played (pirate themed) miniature golf with some of the family and friends in Petoskey, Michigan. Ben thoroughly enjoyed himself, chasing golf balls and running around the course. The next day we headed up to Mackinac Island. Ben loved riding the ferry to the island and was fascinated by all of the horses once we got there.
Last week Ben and I flew to Ohio for a few days (this flying with Ben stuff is a piece of cake now, even if he does refuse to sit down in his seat!). My brother Arn is getting married next month and his fiancee, Christie, was having her bridal shower and bachelorette in the Cleveland area. Ben had so much fun spending time with my family and it was great to get to meet my brother's future in-laws and Christie's friends. Within a few days, Ben figured out who we were talking about when we said "Halmoni, Grandpa, Uncle Arn, Uncle Jim." He now calls my mom "Halmo." My parents indulged him in letting him pretend to drive their cars, logging a few hours in the driveway of their house. Ben has become completely obsessed with "driving." He has even learned to say "drive" although it comes out more like "die." It's a little unsettling to have an 18 month old walk around the house saying "die, die, die!" as he pleads with us to take him outside to the car. In one of the pictures below, you can see him signing "more" while sitting in one of those mall rides for little kids. This was after six rides!
Yeah, this pretty much rules.
Update: I'm just going to keep adding photos and stuff to this post. The weather is here, wish you were great.
One final Hawaii update. We're back home in cold snowy Chicago. What have we learned?
1) Our child is freakishly adaptable to large time changes, so much so that we have seen no ill effects from jetlag in either direction. A great flyer (no baby Benadryl needed!), but not a fan of being belted in to an airplane seat. We purchased a CARES harness, but he's on the small end of its usefulness, so I'm sure it'll still come in handy. It couldn't be easier to use, and installs in seconds. Highly recommended.
2) We would like to move to Maui, effective immediately.
We finally got off our keisters and explored a bit on Wednesday, venturing north of Kapalua, up to Honokohau Bay and Honolua Bay. Photos can't begin to describe. Here's a quick video of surfers at Honolua.
Firedog fans, do not despair, your long awaited update has arrived. We spent the last week in Florida with the Falconer/Luna clan, enjoying the sunshine and warm breezes, eating far too much Peanut Butter Capt'n Crunch (hey, we were on vacation), swimming, playing mini-putt, and generally just taking it easy™. So go to the bathroom, grab a beverage, and flex that mouse finger.
We took Ben to see his Great Grandma Kate for the first time yesterday. She had no idea we were coming, so it was a pretty good belated birthday present. We took him on a quick tour of Grandma and Grandpa's old college stomping grounds, the wild and crazy party school of Manchester College*, but he seemed to be most interested in the ceiling fans at the Main View Tavern.
*It's quite possible that this is the first time those two terms have been uttered in the same breath without a negative qualifier involved. Did you know that in the early 60s, if you were a Manchester College student and were caught in the Main View Tavern, you could get expelled from school? Well, you could. Those were some wild times, man.
