Waking Up

Yawn.  That was some dream.

Oh!  Mama with a camera.  I'm coming!  I'm coming!!

I'm here.

Kinda cute, yeah?

Pfft!!

Bon Dance

When I first moved to Hawaii, Mikey told me about Bon Dances when I saw preparations at one of the local Buddhist Temples.  Recently, I had the chance to visit my first one when the Hongwanji Buddhist Temple in Mo'ili'ili.  It was close enough to walk to and made for an entertaining evening out.

That tall thing in the middle is what everyone dances around in something akin to a giant, circular line dance.  Maybe next year I might actually join in.  Must remember to actually learn the dances!

The Bon Dance Festival also included several food booths.  The lines were so long!!!  But eventually, we secured waffle dogs and Dad had a good time introducing them to Liam.  He approved.  

We can't wait for next year!  Maybe even Liam can dance too!

A Year On...

Liam over his first year...

At the hospital

July 2011

August 2011

September 2011

October 2011

November 2011

December 2011

January 2012

February 2012

March 2012

April 2012

May 2012

June 2012

July 2012

Partying: Liam Style

On July 15th, we had the great fortune to celebrate Liam making one year old.  And on September 10th, I'm finally putting up the pictures!  We celebrated with an "Under the Ocean" theme at the Kokokahi YWCA in Kaneohe.  Thanks to Poppa for sharing extra photos with us!

The sign directing folks to the party.

An ocean of people...and blue tablecloths.  We were so blessed to have so many friends and family come help set up and clean up!

Margaret and Cousin Zachary helped greet guests at the reception table.

Granny Sharon kept the lumpia pupus coming.

Liam wanted his guests to have a good time, so we hired a digital cartoonist...

...and a shave ice truck!  See the line?

My good friend Susan's husband Nao owns a restaurant and catering business called Kahai Street Kitchen, and he did a fantastic job with the food!  Everything was delicious!

In fact, Dad had to hold out the Okinawan Sweet Potato and Kalua Pig Cakes toward the camera to get Liam to look that way.  He was just too interested in the Cakes!

Liam spent a lot of time schmoozing with his friends and family.

The cake was so good!  White cake with a fresh strawberry filling and whipped cream frosting.  Yum!

Mmm...gimme cake!  Just kidding.  Liam didn't really like the cake.  But he had a good time anyway!

The cartoon says it all!

Instagram Invasion!

I've been working on an impromptu Instagram project and have unfortunately neglected our Team blog a bit.  Where is Dad Dad with his videos when you need him?!

In any case, here is a sampling of the Instagram photos I've been occupying myself with lately.  They are mostly in black and white on Instagram because I have illusions of artsy fartsy-ness, but I leave them in their gloriously original form for your enjoyment...

Here we see the boy and his books.  One day, we were reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and when we reached the part where he ate a whole bunch of things and yet continued to be hungry, Liam tried to feed him part of his sandwich.  What a generous guy!

Contemplating the water given to him by Uncle Pono while Dad Dad helped canvas.  We were very sad about the election results.

Liam is still not the greatest sleeper in the world, but we're hoping that with his two protectors, Ugly Doll and Cordy Blue, on duty, sleeping will be less scary.

We find that we have to take our little caveman out of the cave on weekends before the whole family goes stir crazy.  At Ala Moana, Liam really enjoyed watching people go up and down on the escalators.  

The kitchen is a favorite spot of exploration as long as he remembers to "stay on the wood."  He hasn't been that in to stacking blocks, but he happily stacks cans of soda and jars of gravy.

With the advent of Lunch Club at work, sometimes we go to the Capitol on a Saturday to get our leftovers for lunch.  Liam was learning to walk in his new shoes on this particular Saturday.  Of course, that let to a goose egg on his forehead when the rubber soles caught on the concrete and he broke his fall with his head.

Granny Sharon got a cabin at Bellows one weekend and while Liam is still not all that impressed with the ocean, he was more than triumphant when he succeeded in climbing up on the kayak that was safely next to the cabin.

Liam does not like touching the earth.  Whether covered in grass or just plain dirt, he will go out of his way to keep his hands from being sullied.  This is particularly fun to watch when we walk around at the school next door.  Falling...falling...falling...safe!