Surprise!

...and they said it would never last! Okay...well maybe 'they' didn't, but I did! ;-) Happy Anniversary to mi madre and mi padre, who will be celebrating 39 years of wedded bliss tomorrow! And just wait till they see what we got 'em! Psst Joey! This will DEFINITELY catapult and cement my status as 'favorite' child for decades! (evil laughter)

Love the glasses mom!

Guess I can't blame them for my ricebowl bangs...

Mom, even though we all know you can do *soooo* much better, we thank for you sticking it out with dad! ;-)

And I couldn't possibly end this post without throwing in a few Rizzle pictures now, could I?

Ryan at his school's St. Jude's trike-a-thon on Thursday (he's upset because I made him leave his aviator shades and leather jacket at home...so he blamed me for not having any chics asking to ride on the back).

Look who just got a new Elmo t-shirt!!! (Now if I only I could tell if he likes it or not...) Ha ha. Thank you Grammy Kay for Ryan's bestest, favoritest shirt ever! As soon as he saw it, he had the hugest grin! I had to coax him for quite a awhile to take it off before his bath (I mean, if YOU were given an Elmo t-shirt like this one, would you ever want to take it off?! Yeah, I didn't think so.)

Ry takes on the beach- Part IXVII!!!

I've been keeping my resolution/vow to take Ryan to the beach more often...here we are at Baby's Pond (and boy were the whales putting on a show there yesterday)! And thankfully, the water was almost warm today- you know, unlike last week's near-frigid 78 degrees where I almost had to use a towel when I got out of the water (whew...that was a close one).

You know how laid back and cool surfers always look dashing from their cars, boards underhand as they run into the ocean? I like to think that Ryan has captured this same, uber-cool pose as he carries his little floatie into the ocean.

Cousin Kenichi with his castle.

Smiling with Dada and cousin Riki.

Can't deny that this little guy just looooves the beach! All the way there he kept chanting "beach beach beach" in anticipation. I don't know what he likes best- the rocks, the water or the sand. But I know what I love most about the beach- the showers. ;-)

A rare photo at the beach with mama- I'm always there, but always hiding behind the camera. It's a mother's duty. This photo made the cut only because Ryan conveniently hides all the chub!

OMG...

Forgot to mention that a week or so ago we took Ryan to McDonalds for breakfast. While there, he saw a slightly chubby old lady with a big, white hairdo, wearing a red top and bottom. So he pointed right at her, smiled and exclaimed, "SANTA!"

Gulp.

Tee hee.

Ua mau ke ea o ka 'aina i ka pono!

Check off one more thing on the to-do list! Because today I rounded up the troops for a trip I've been wanting to go on for weeks now- the 1871 Trail down at Pu'u Honua O Honaunau (City of Refuge)! I grew up here, but until very recently, had no idea it existed.


Grandpa Wayne took this picture of the happy hikers at the start of the trail.

The 1871 Trail is so named because back in 1871, in lieu of paying your taxes, you could help rebuild this old former trade route/trail (too bad Nicolas Cage couldn't work out a deal like this today).

Grandpa and his two boys Kenichi & Riki! The trail takes you along the beach, where you can see multiple lava tubes, heiaus (temples), holua (sled) trails, crumbling village structures, etc.

But my absolute favorite feature of the trail was the old rock ramp that was built so that horses carrying goods could travel between villages...it felt kinda medieval!

The only bummer of the day? My grossly out-of-date guidebook didn't prepare me that the lava tube/cave (to the left) is no longer accessible, so we could neither explore it nor cliff dive down from it into the ocean!

The beauty of this little cove/cave nearly made up for that though...couldn't help but think how cool it would be to kayak over to it from the nearby beach once Ry is older and have a picnic there with spam musubis (just like the ancient Hawaiians probably did...with their spam musubis).

After walking about a mile in (it's a loop trail, a total of two miles), we turned back and made a quick stop at...

...Pu'u Honua O Honaunau (City of Refuge), mostly so we could take a picture in front of their well-photographed cultural sites! (Look at Ryan checking out the statue!)

Psst...one of these guys are Roy (& Ry)...guess which! (Hint: Roy has the biggest butt and is wearing socks.)

The 'ohana (I look so brown next to my two haole boys)!

Just back from 6 weeks in Japan, cousins Kenichi & Riki always provide awesome entertainment and company for Ry!

...and no trip would be complete without a stop at the beach (and dislocating your 1-year old's arms out of his sockets)! We love 'Two Steps' down near Honaunau...huge shallow, sandy swimming area filled with turtles for the keiki.

More father-son fun at the beach! I know what you freezing cold East Coast folks are probably thinking- life is rough here in the islands during the winter. And you know what? You're right. Because the water was a bit on the chilly side- I'm thinking 78? Maybe 77? After about 30 minutes, Ryan's teeth chattered so hard we had to take him out of the water. I'm betting it's at least that cold right now in Maine, right? So yeah, we all suffer during the winter. But at least we don't complain about it!

Two days in the life of Ry...

I am shameless, because I have more, more, more Rizzle shots! Here's Ry at school yesterday getting ready to paddle his canoe like the ancients once did...

And here's our not-so-happy firefighter (Ryan is not happy because he's just learned that some kids play with matches)! Very disappointing.

And here's our little hippie (sporting his Earth-friendly t-shirt from where else? Uncle Joey in San Francisco!) playing at the park today.

After our visit to the park, I took Ry to Petco so he could see the turtles and fish (he's a little timid around the bigger creatures), since really- what kid isn't an animal lover (I mean, besides me)?!

Irresistable Ry

My mom and I took Ryan out to eat with us at KRUA (a local Thai restaurant...great food). While waiting for our food, I got bored. So I tried to decorate Ryan with the cloth napkins. My mom got in on the action too. Ry obliged.

This is sweet, quiet Ryan at the doctor's office. We were there because I volunteered to take my infamously paranoid grandmother for a routine blood test. Ryan spent the entire 20 min. quietly and slowly walking back and forth across the waiting area, sucking his thumb. During that time, a few of the patients smiled at him, and a few buried their noses in their dogeared magazines (but were not bothered by him). At no point did the reception staff look up at Ryan once. However, from the moment we entered the office, my grandmother repeatedly loudly said, "Make him sit down! They're very strict here you know! They're going to come and scold you! He's going to fall down! Watch him! Take him outside! Don't let him touch that! They're coming to scold you!" I kept telling myself that at least she hadn't threatened to call the police yet (which she has done to Ry's 5 & 7-year old cousins on more than one occasion when they dared run in her apartment). For this reason, I have opted to award myself the "Saint Award of 2010" (feel free to challenge me if you'd like, but I think I've got a lock on it).

Daddy couldn't resist getting Ryan this puppy costume. But he was not such a fan...

He was on the verge of tears.

Such a sad, little puppy....

...that is, until daddy picked him up! Then he thought it was a hoot and started panting like a dog!

Neeeeext up!

2008 & 2009 were good years for us, but it was (and still is) difficult for me to 'let go' of the idea of moving to San Fran and/or NYC (since those were our pre-baby plans for years). But we know that for now, and for likely a very long time- Kona is where we need to be. So with that being said, 2010 is all about focusing on the here and now! As such, I am officially focused on planning our next two Hawaiian adventures. First up? A 2-night camping trip to Kalopa State Forest in Honoka'a!
Pretty, eh? I've never been there before (it's about 90 min. from here). But I'm attracted to the cooler elevation (2,000 feet), the fauna, the trails and the quiet. And I'm excited to once again be bringing along the parents & Ry's two cousins Kenichi & Riki for some more fun-filled family bonding (because living together on the same property simply isn't enough)! (Psst- we're Asian and Hawaiian-at-heart...so we never get sick of each other.) As I was filling out the permit application, I came to the conclusion that Ryan isn't quite old enough to weather a 100% outdoor tenting experience yet (especially since it's often cold/rainy up there). So once again, we'll be renting a cabin with hot water showers...only this time we'll also have electricity and cooking facilities!!! Still, cabins are always...ahem, rather rustic. So it's gonna take some pre-trip mental preparation to get over things like mildewed shower stalls and dead bugs littering the kitchen cabinets. But I'll do it, because...sigh. I am a giver.
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And the second adventure? Planning our trip to Hilo in March for the Big Island (Half) Marathon! I just booked the hotel (nothing to get excited about)- it's cheap, conveniently located and has a pool for Mr. Rizzle Fizzle! But here's the exciting part- instead of driving to Hilo our usual way (around the west side of the island), we're gonna head east toward Pahoa and go to Ahalanui Park first!

I've been yammering about going there for months ever since I learned about it in a magazine article. Check this out- it's a naturally (volcanically) heated brackish water pond right next to the ocean! How friggen' cool is that?! I'm super, duper pumped to hit that place! How I never heard about it until now is beyond me, but what I'm very quickly learning is that the experiences and interests I had on the island from ages 1-17 are very different from the ones I have now. And yeah, while some would say that's pretty common sense, I've never said I was all that bright (unless YOU think a low-800s SAT score is bright, but that would be only you and a few remedial community colleges). So it looks like I have plenty to look forward to over the next few months...e komo mai 2010!

Ry & the waves

I'm no Clark Little, but I had to try and capture the beauty and size of the waves Kona's been getting the past few days (which I failed to do...those suckers were HUGE!). Yesterday's 10-footers had much of the town abuzz, all but stopping the traffic on Alii Drive as everyone cranned their heads out the window to check out the waves. Since Ryan never likes to miss out on the action, I took him down to the shore this morning so we could ooh and ahh over the waves together (and I think the pictures below do a pretty good job capturing how enthralled he was by the experience).

(Insert sound of Ryan whistling as he strolls along, oblivious to the waves)

Head down, determined to walk miles of coastline...without ever looking up to see the waves.

So as you can see, Ryan was clearly thrilled and deeply moved by the whole experience. I could especially tell this when he kept asking for cookies the whole time and then after 45 min. kept saying "Home? Home? Home?" :-)

Kaloko-Honokohau Beach

Confession: I am from Hawaii, but I'm not a fan of the beach. Some people find them to be soothing, relaxing...even spiritual. I find them to be too hot, sticky, windy, sandy and salty (and I'm pretty sure that the rest of the world agrees with me that tropical, white, sandy, Hawaiian beaches just suck). I just don't like covering my body in slimy lotion and getting little particles of sand stuck all over my butt cheeks. However, my little guy (and the baby daddy) love the beach. So over the past few 4-5 months, I've made a huge, Mother Theresa-like effort to gamely plaster a smile on my face, pack my son up and head to the beach!


Here's our latest adventure- a trip to Kaloko-Honokohau's Ai Opio beach. This beach is one of my favorites because of its scenic and historic fishpond, heiau, and hale...amazing!

Each trip to the beach Ryan finds a different object to focus on- hermit crabs, fish, turtles, boats...on this day, the object du jour was rocks! He would pick one up, toss it. Pick it up. Toss it. Pick it up. Toss it. Pick it up. Toss it. You get the idea.

Rizzie at sunset.


Ry & daddy chilling. Daddy said that he could not swim on this day because he claims he 'hurt his back' vacuuming earlier in the day (no worries ladies, I'm not buyin' this load of horsepucky either)!


There are always a lot of turtles at this beach. And even though I'm not native Hawaiian, I'm pretty sure that based on my running speed, the turtle (honu) would be my aumakua (family god). So I had to honor this turtle who kept swimming by my feet by snapping a picture of him!

Ry and I posing in front of some prime Hawaiian real estate! Because I ran to the beach from my house (and met the boys there), I'm wearing my run-swim gear). Do you love my milky, white ample thighs? I do......not. How much does Photoshop cost anyway?! Or half a spray tan?!

One more gem of this beach- it's proximity to the harbor! Ryan loves boats, so we made a point of walking by all the boats afterward (I want to say Ryan was riveted, but his nose was buried in his cup of Cheerios and raisins and he barely noticed them)! Ah well...here's to more beach adventures this year! Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll start to grow on me!

Liar, liar pants on fire...

I said that I normally don't, and wouldn't do resolutions this year, but since I do have a list of things I really want to do this year...so why not list 'em out for accountability?

1. Throw a sweet 2nd birthday for Ry. Nothing big or fancy (I've already denied Ry's request for a purple diamond-encrusted crunk cup that says "RIZZLE"), but since I didn't have time for the personal touches last year, I hope to do them this year! And now that I've learned my lesson, I will start early. Months early. Which means soon since he's a May baby. I still don't have a theme though- right now he's really into Elmo and dogs, so I'm guessing it will be one of the two.

2. Host a Halloween get-together for the 'lil chil'un in our lives. I had an epiphay last Halloween after watching my two nephews proudly parade around in their adorable costumes for a grand total of about an hour (and then taking them off once they were done trick or treating). And since I bet I'm not the only one who feels this way- I thought, why not host a pre-Halloween costume party for the kids? (I know, right?!!! I bet it's NEVER been done before!!! God, I'm brilliant sometimes.)

3. Host a garage sale of Ryan-related paraphenilia. I've tried to join Freecycle like eight times over the course of the year. And since the site moderator has clearly gotten wind of exactly how many plastic bags I've used to discard poop (not mine) over the past 19 months...he/she has yet to get back to me with an access code. So although we do donate a lot of clothes/toys to those in need, it would be nice to get a little money back for Rizzle's college fund.

4, 5, 6 & 7. The other stuff I mentioned a few days ago- more physical adventure, more beach (so far so good on this one!), make some $ and better eating!

I will consider myself duly challenged and get crack-a-'lackin!

And so it begins...(again!)

Roy has gained about 10 lbs. over the last 6 months, and I have gained about 3-4. As such, we have decided to 'team' together to try and lose the weight. (Queue up the Rocky soundtrack!!!)

Unfortunately, if past experience is any indication, this 'teamwork' will pretty much disentegrate the moment we write our weight loss goals up on the refrigerator. Because once that happens, Roy will start to heat up half a bowl of bamboo shoots in the microwave (doing jumping jacks while he waits) for dinner, while I will settle onto the sofa with some fun-size packets of Skittles from Halloween, because you know, it sucks that I have to diet and stuff.

So between Roy being male (better metabolism), and his possessing something called 'self discipline' that I've never really understood (at least when it comes to movie theatre popcorn and tortilla chips), he's generally got the edge. Which of course, doesn't make me bitter AT ALL (it makes me furious) , it just makes it a little frustrating. Nonetheless, as a happily married couple of twelve and a half years, we have basically transformed into pretty much the exact same, boring person...so we may as well do it together.

The only way I can see me NOT sulking and pouting for half a day after our first weigh-in would be to level the playing field a little bit. You know...like determine the winner by % of weight loss versus total pounds lost, and um, 'forgetting' we're on a diet and baking Roy some of his very, favorite brownies every few days. Maybe dropping half a stick of butter in his morning cup of coffee. Bringing by some freshly baked cinnamon buns to him at work 'just in case' he has to work overtime.

So it's on folks. Roy vs. Josie. What is normally a happily celebrated New Years Day has become a very somber affair at our deprived household. Only Ryan is exempt (well, we did ask him if he wanted in on the challenge, but all he did was smile and say "Moon?").