Hawaii is awesome.

Here in Ottawa, one gets really tired of winter really quick, unless you fall into one of the following categories:

• you're under 16 years of age (especially if you don't have a car),
• you ski or snowboard, or
• you sell winter tires for a living.

So, building on our experiences gained while based on the west coast, it was finally time to schedule a tropical holiday for when it's supposed to be super-mega-ultra-cold-and-crappy here in Ottawa, which also happens to be when most people are routinely heard exclaiming something along the lines of "@#$%& winter; I'm so tired of this!"

After several months of planning and airfare we booked in back in September, we were once again off to HAWAII. This was the third trip for Laura and I (last time was early 2001) and the first with Katherine.

We flew through Vancouver, where Katherine was left to be spoiled-beyond-belief with TWO sets of grandparents in Langley. The next morning Ian, Laura, and her brother Colin were off to Honolulu/Waikiki on Oahu! Baba and Grandma Liz would join us in Maui in 5 days, where we would spend the next 8 nights in condos on the beach!

Woohoo! Plane ride! I can't count how many times we heard Katherine say "Plane!"...here we're still on the tarmac in Ottawa.

..kinda makes the 10+ hours of flights from Ottawa worthwhile, eh? This is Waikiki Beach, right across the street from our hotel.

This is looking back at Waikiki at night from the end of the small pier, again right across the street from our hotel.

The three of us went to hike the Diamond Head crater the first full day we were there.

This is a view into the crater from one of the lookouts as you climb up the inside of the crater.

Needless to say, the views from the top make it all worthwhile...

Here we are.

Here's the view of Diamond Head from the pier across from our hotel in Waikiki.

We went to the Polynesian Cultural Center on the north side of the island for an afternoon, took in some of the presentations, and stayed for the big luau dinner. Here are the the gents bringing in the imu pig. An imu is an oven that is best described as a hole in ground with banana leaves (if I recall correctly) lining it and covering it. Heated rocks are placed inside, which brings the moisture out of the leaves, steaming the pig inside. Good stuff, let me tell you.

You can't NOT get the fruity drink in a carved-out pineapple.

Yummy....

The memorial over the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbour. The flag is attached to the mast of the sunken ship sitting on the ocean floor and fuel still leaks from the tanks, the so-called "black tears" of those entombed inside.

A couple of shots of the sunset one night on the north shore, renowned for its big waves, on the appropriately-named Sunset Beach.

Colin and Laura in front of the statue of Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, the Olympic medallist swimmer and commonly dubbed the "Father of International Surfing".

Hanauma Bay, where went for pretty much the best snorkeling we have ever encountered. Just beyond the small reef you see in the middle of the picture, the water drops off to 40+ feet and more in depth...we saw several turtles, tons of different tropical fish, an eel or two, among other things.

This is the view we had eating breakfast at the open-air restaurant on the second floor of our hotel, Lulu's.

Our last full day on Oahu was mostly spent on a guided kayak tour in the waters you see in the distance in this shot, Kailua. This shot is looking back into the town from a lookout along the highway back to Waikiki.

This is the courtyard of the Honolulu International Airport (HNL)...WAY better than most places you have available to you to endure a layover!

This is the view we had to endure for a week or so, from the lanai (patio) of our condo in Kihei, Maui...ya, that's the beach right there.

We got up at 3am one morning to check out the sunrise about two-thirds of the way up the Haleakala Volcano....Laura's Dad, Ron, on the right.

Standard cheesy tourist pose #1. These two crazy kids are where it's at, baby.

Ya, we're all crazy like that. Way to bring it, Ron!

We went to one Iao Valley State Park rain forest to check out the nice easy walk they had to offer and get out of the sun a little one afternoon. Such an easy walk, makes a little girl fall asleep, I guess.

Saving the best for last, here's our not-so-little-anymore girl in her special grass skirt and coconut bra outfit. I'm not sure how I feel about my little girl wearing a bra already, but you can't NOT get this picture.

Here's the view from the roof of the condo building down to the beach that was in front of our condo.

...when do we get to go back...?

Snow is lame.

Ya so after the 51cm of snow last weekend we're now 33.4cm or so away from the all-time record for snowfall in a winter. Let's give'er!

The view out our front door on Sunday morning...


...and our back patio...


...our SUV is under here...


...front view of our place...


...seriously, this is dumb.


I hereby hope that everyone in Vancouver has hay fever from mowing their lawns this week!

Talking to Mommy

Here's a quick clip of Katherine talking to Mommy on the phone. Mommy is in Edmonton for work for 10 days or so.



We miss you Laura (Mommy!)!

Stuff in January

Ya, OK, so I'm becoming somewhat less creative with the titles.

Life update: We're all doing well now that Laura and I are done being sick for the first 2-3 weeks of the month. Katherine's immune system has so far proven bulletproof.

Work is crazy-busy so it makes it that much more fun to hang out with Katherine on the evenings and weekends.

Katherine is using new words every day, which is helping her communicate and mitigate the frustration (that I assume every kid goes through, and me too on some days) of not being able to get your ideas (i.e.: demands) across.

Anyway, here's a video I have entitled "Running and Jumping"...I know...again with the creativeness.


I ran out of patience to edit this one...after all, there are video games to be played. Here's some "Singing and dancing and gerenal silliness before bedtime"...


Bye!

Christmas 2007

Well, another Christmas come and gone. Although, Ian gets his PS3 tomorrow! Anyway, I may be the only one who cares about that, so off we go...

Katherine loves the tree. If she ever notices that it's unplugged she points to it and asks "On?" so we will turn on the lights. Then she pinches a light and says "Hot!".


As seems to have become tradition, we get dishcloths from at least one set of parents (these are welcome, by the way). Katherine has her own idea for them, however.


As is triumphantly on display here, we had spaghetti for dinner on Monday night...and it went over well.


I like these shots of my girls playing piano together. Katherine's free-form jazz piano is coming along nicely, I assure you.


As is tradition for the last workday before Christmas, the kids come to work, too. Katherine seemed to enjoy experiencing how Daddy spends much of his days while she's having fun with Dodi. (Dad's note: The novelty wears off quick, kid.)


OK, so Christmas is now here in this little storyline. Here's Katherine with one of her favorite new toys...her Doodle Pro. She loves to draw and color, although has yet to absolve herself of the temptation to nibble on her crayons, etc.


Here's a couple of shots of Katherine and her new bowling game. Apparently we have some work to do with the technical aspects of the game, but that never stopped her from having fun with it!


She likes to wear sunglasses, this particular pair taken from a book designed as "Grandma's Purse".


It was obvious long before Santa came around that Katherine needed her own little baby to mother. Her new addition seems to enjoy all of the same things Katherine enjoys herself; here reading a book.


Milo has clearly had enough of the commotion...


Also obvious to Santa (besides that he TOTALLY freaks out Katherine) is that she needs a drawing/coloring station. Rest assured she will be churning out countless priceless works from this very location for a long time to come...


One last shot of Katherine dancing up a storm after Christmas dinner. Singing and dancing are among her favorite things as well...the singing is not as prevalent right now, but is progressing all of the time.

We certainly had a merry Christmas and enjoyed spending it with our (almost) adoptive family here in Ottawa. We did however, miss our friends and family "back home" terribly...something only emphasized by the holiday season.

FYI: What a difference a year makes, eh?

Snow Day

So this Sunday we had more snow in one day than I think Laura and I have experienced since arriving here in Ottawa in 2001.

Ready to go out and play?


Here's the before shot on our way out to play (and shovel)...good times.


Taking a break from our work.