The BI

So, this weekend, we flew up to the Big Island for a short family trip. Aho and I both hadn't been to the BI in a while, and we thought it would be nice to just go and hang out. We spent the first day in Hilo, then drove around to Waimea, and ended up on Kona side. It was nice to be away from the city and see so much green.


Our hotel in Hilo was a little interesting. They had just remodeled, and instead of carpet, had used all tile. Every single sound echoed throughout the entire floor, including that of our very noisy one year old. And, they only gave us two towels. Luckily, Ola was small enough to use one of the hand towels. lol!
We drove around past Hilo the second day and stopped off at Akaka Falls. Ola had just knocked out in his car seat, and since no one was at the falls that early, Aho and I hopped out for a quick pic. You can barely see the falls just above my head.


We got into Waimea at the perfect time...right before they closed the roads for the parade. So, we found a parking spot and joined everyone else to watch the parade. It was so nice and cool, the little man actually needed a jacket.


My two paniolo trying on hats at the Parker Ranch store. I think Ola is meant to be a cowboy!


Kona side was hot, of course, so when we got to our hotel we headed down to the pool. Ola was so happy to be in the water.


A nice little waterfall between our room and the pool.


We went to a little shopping area for dinner that was totally empty. So, we grabbed some food and sat on the grass while Ola tried his hardest to get down to the water spouts. I'm still surprised that he didn't end up completely drenched.

Tutu & Papa's House

Last weekend we flew home so that Ola could spend some time with my parents on Kauai. I love going home because it's so relaxing and my parents have a large yard where Ola can just run free. He loves to be outside when we are there, and loves that Papa lets him play with as much water as he can get his hands on.

Ola's newest toy at Tutu & Papa's house, his water and sand table. (This was taken right after we set it up, and had yet to hit the beach to get the sand)

Trekking through the yard with his new boots.

Looking for the kitty under the truck. Our poor cat is terrified of people as is, and then came my little monster who would run after him to try and see him. The cat spent a lot of time hiding.

"Let me out!" (Hard to see, but the cat is across the street. It's much safer over there, as there are no little monsters.)Ola's absolute favorite thing to play with on Kauai...Water! Papa had sprinklers and hoses...he was soaking wet majority of the time. And...totally happy about it.

New & different toys...

Recently, Ola has found himself some new, fabulous toys.

It always cracks me up how he can be enthralled by the simplest things...
like finding Daddy's tape measure. He has so much fun pulling it out and then letting it fall back in.

And yet, he loves the extravagant toys too, but mostly for something small...like loving his new car simply for the music button. Never mind that it goes all over the place and has a steering wheel and blinkers and a door and gas tank that open. Nope, the most important part is that it plays 4 songs.

And then, some toys, we're still learning with...like the fancy basket ball game he got from the Tuitele & Albino Family for his birthday. He still thinks the point of the game is to hold the ball up and touch the bottom of the net. Oh well, he probably won't be tall enough for basketball anyway.

But one of the toys he has recently chosen is, by far, my favorite. If he can learn how to use this "toy" correctly, and "plays" with it for the rest of his life, I'll be content.