Unfinished Books, Projects, Habits....

Does anyone else have this characteristic in their lives?
I love to begin non-fiction books ~ rarely do I finish them though! I have 4 (that's right... FOUR) going on right now in Hawaii... yes, those are just the ones that made the cut into the suitcase.
Yarn projects are the same way.... the adorable baby bunting I began last year for "Baby Bear"... still not done & there is no way Kimberly fits it now!

Sea Life Park

We enjoyed a few hours at Sea Life Park last week. It took Kimberly a little while to realize that there was more going on than to watch Dad with the camera!

The dolphins were pretty entertaining.

In spite of the entertainment, exhaustion caught up to this active little girl.

Snoozing away....

Have you ever watched a painting sea lion?

Dada, Kimby, & her penguin

"Oh Penguin, you're my favorite!!"

She saw this little penguin in the gift shop (maybe with some help) but once she had it in her arms, it was instant love. Even now, if we make an 'eee eee' squeeky noise, she reaches to look for him. Yesterday I saw her trying to get the poor bird to take her pacifier!

Diamond Head Hike

The first hike we took in Hawaii was up to the summit of Diamond Head Crater (Le'ahi). According to the brochure, "the weather here is always hot" and it is a "semi-arid climate".... a bit of a surprise when you think of tropical, but it really was a hot, dusty hike!
You can learn more of the military and cultural history of this state monument here. If you like hiking through long, dark tunnels, this is a hike for you! or stairs...there are lots of stairs. Excellent workout!

It was nice to have a view of a snowmobile as I was huffing, puffing & sweating in the heat.

At the top getting blasted by the tradewinds.

Only 2400 miles to LA!

Hiking in the heat? No sweat to this sweet girl!

View of Waikiki & Honolulu

Where is Jason working? On top of those ridges....

Stealing my sunglasses

The Ergo carrier is awesome, but not as awesome as this incredible man who carries our baby on hikes!

The view from inside.... scaaarryyy!

Aloha from Hawaii

Time for some Hawaii updates! We've been over here for over two weeks now, amazing how quickly it has gone! I'm going to post some of the general pictures, and then more localized pictures as separate posts.
We heard rumors of work on Hawaii for many months, so it was actually kind of surprising when Jason called to say that we were actually going. With one weeks notice, we were able to book my ticket identical to his (& retain all of our arms & legs), Jason brought the trailer home, we winterized everything, packed, enjoyed & relaxed for a couple days at the church family camp, and made it to the airport all in one piece. If you are feeling relaxed after reading that, awesome. It was NOT a relaxing experience, with the exception of family camp!!! Every new experience brings its own challenges & lessons... the big one for this experience was that I need to absolutely work off of a list, not trust anything to my memory, & I need to schedule a sitter so there is a time of absolute quiet to concentrate. To other mommies out there, perhaps you can relate? :)
Children are such an important part of the culture here... outings take longer because we are often stopped as strangers ooo & aaah over Miss Kimberly. Of course she absolutely hates it & forces herself to grin and drool & look cute.

View from our hotel room... we often see rainbows as the rain rolls through.

Kimberly standing by the flowers all by herself... no steps yet, but she stands for a while these days.

Heading home from the North Shore of Oahu... pictures don't do it justice. Funny that I was looking for shots of the mountains rather than the ocean... :)

Agriculture is in our blood... this picture is for our dads. :)

New Kitchen, Tiny Kitchen

1 mama, 1 stroller, 1 diaper bag/purse, 1 baby.

Guess that I wasn't blogging too much when we changed campers this past spring to accommodate food and family, but I will fill you in on one of the best my favorite features: the fridge and pantry.
We went from one single camper size fridge/freezer that is perfect for a weekend of camping to a two door fridge/freezer that can hold a week's worth of groceries. Having spare food is a security blanket of sorts for me.
Fast forward 3 months and we were back to California, down to one vehicle and I not only learned how to grocery shop for a week at a time, I embraced it! One trip and the cupboards were loaded: food for meals, snacks, Jason's candy cravings, Kimberly's growing appetite, and my "what-if" fears were settled.
Fly to our present location, where the blues in the ocean are constantly changing in the light, we can hear the roar of waves from our open window, and we have a new food challenge.

Our Fridge:

Our Cooker:

Our total "kitchen":

Ahhh... people do this all the time in big cities! Surely there is a blog on "how to master this", right?! ;)

4 blocks away is an excellent grocery store - stocked with all foods American, Japanese, & touristy. All I have to carry this food is the opening line, plus Jason in the evenings, but with no place to store food, daily or at the least, every other day, grocery trips are necessary.

However, yesterday I turned a corner in the challenge... we finally dined in... eating an excellent American meal... Kraft Mac n' Cheese made in the microwave. With 3 more boxes in reserve for another meal time.  :)

How to Sneak Cookies at 8 months

Early in the month of August, Miss Kimberly figured out how to get into the drawer that holds all of her snacks. Here is her picture tutorial on how to sneak cookies in such a cute way that even Mom will allow cookies before dinner. :)

July Progress

July brought 2 teeth, which are cutely featured in this video of Kimberly tangling my yarn beyond recovery. She is standing, climbing the stairs by herself as of today, and fearless.

So proud to be standing!

Mom, Dad... I'm awake!!

Fabulous rummage sale find... $1 was the price of this entertainment

We fill the wagon with puffs for the "animals" and Kimberly eats them.

This wagon even has the dumping feature.

Yummy maple cookies.

mmmmm I just want to kiss her almost all of the time!!

July's First Adventure

As with all vacations, our month came to an end and the massive Costco trip was accomplished, clothes were packed, hugs & kisses given.
This time we traveled with one vehicle. How nice it was to be able to visit with Jason whenever I wanted to and not have to wait for cell service!! Plus, there are way more opportunities to knit as a passenger! :)

Kimby's cozy nook. She loves tents made by blankets.

Pretty sure this was in Arizona

Nothing like driving shots... but the colors in the rock are amazing!

The first time we broke over 100*, but a few hours later we hit 111*. I wonder how long it takes blood to thin out enough to feel comfortable at those kinds of temps?

What a welcome surprise to find ourselves back where we just left the beginning of June! No new area to learn this time!

Vacation Month

Coming home to cloudy skies, rain, snow on the mountains, and a chill in the air was so, so, so pleasant! We thoroughly enjoyed the typical Flathead June weather.
Jason's mom and my parents came for a visit the first part of the month. Kimberly finally got to meet the rest of her grandparents, more aunties, master crawling, discover how great crawling on grass is & learn to sew... busy month!

*this one makes me smile every time!*

Nothing beats naptime with Grandma!

Kimberly's first "girl talk before bedtime"