hawaii- march 27th

march 27th day 6 we left thomas in kona for a night of peace and quiet (or so he thought) today, and headed for the other side of the island. hawaii is a relatively small place, but the diversity of climatic zones in astonishing- in fact, of 13 climatic zones that exist on the planet, only 2 can't be found here. kona is on the western side of the island, and as a result of the prevailing winds and nearly 14,000 ft volcanic peaks that separate the 2 sides of the island, it is by far the dryer side. hilo, on the eastern side, is a rainforest. we set out early knowing that as we drove, there was lots to see. our first stop was south point- the southernmost trip of te island, and furthest southern part of the united states (more or less the same latitude as mexico city and cuba). we got out here only momentarily, as the winds were ferocious (apparently they always are) but the seas were beautiful. heading further along the coast, we arrived at the black sand beaches. not only was the sand itself strikingly beautiful, we learned quickly that this is a common resting place for sea turtles- there were several of them scattered among the beach catching some zzzzzz's. it was astounding to see them sleeping comfortably within 10-15 feet of children playing loudly, buildlng sand castles, etc. after spending a bit of time on the beach and introducing molly to the turtles, we continued on toward hawaii volcanoes national park. the kiluea volcano is an active right now as it has been in decades, and as much as we were enjoying time spent relaxing in the sun, we felt like we'd be disappointed if we didn't get over to see its' lava flowing into the ocean. unfortunately, due to the erratic nature of the lava (see the second picture of a road that had been overtaken 2 days prior), we weren't able to get as close to the flowing lava as we'd have liked to, but it was an impressive sight none the less- literally watching earth form and transform before our eyes.

hawaii- march 28th

march 28th day 7 after a relaxing last day of shopping markets filled with the arts and crafts, as well as flowers and local produce from the island (incredible floral lei's, avocados the size of your head, etc.), we enjoyed dinner on friday night with tim and bess from the ranch. before dinner, i had to take advantage of the fact that we were all now good and tan, and the fact that there were lots of willing photographers around- to get some great family portraits taken- island style. molly didn't initially agree that portraits were a good idea- she'd prefer to do laps through thomas's grass than get dressed. after finally being pressed by losing daylight we took her in, threw on her fanciest little hawaiian dress, and got some GREAT photos taken- thank you lisa, thomas, and whoever else was behind the lens! as the burgers sizzled on the grill, it was time for the last session of reading books with the little one out on the lawn, and watching the sun set over the ocean at the same time. it isnt often at home that i can enjoy the view, have a cigar in one hand and a sippy cup in the other, while sharing some goodnight moon time with my little girl. this has truly been a week in paradise.

hawaii- march 29th

hawaii- day 8 march 29th we woke up to our last day, not willing to accept the reality that we'd be boarding planes headed back to "the mainland" this evening. recognizing that we had an entire day to play, however, we rented a boat- put captain thomas at the helm, and headed for the high seas. although thomas was clearly on the throttle, molly did her best to convince us all that this was truly her boat. she'd do her best to ward off pirates with her trusty blue sand shovel (her new favorite toy), and couldn't get enough of the ocean breeze in her hair. kristin, lisa, and molly. just outside of the harbor, we were able to locate a group of "spinner" dolphins. smaller and seemingly more playful than their bottlenose relatives, they were amazing to sit and observe. after a short ride over to some phenomenal snorkeling at captain cook's bay, thomas headed away from shore- out to the open ocean. when we got to a depth of about 500 feet, the ocean water took on a surreal deep blue color- and he encouraged us to jump in, open our eyes, and look down below us. an absolutely incredible experience! while kristin was out being brave in the open ocean, molly and her abuelita enjoyed some time back on the boat, but when mom returned her little bug came right back for some towel snuggles. and, back to the old harbor- a symbolic ending to an amazing week.

our little big girl

i came to the realization this afternoon, amid great afternoon light streaming though the windows in our living room, that it had been over a week since i looked through my lens at molly! shocked, i ran downstairs and grabbed a camera- still packed from hawaii, brought it upstairs, and started shooting. there are some times these days when kristin and i look at each other and wonder when she got "so big." it seems that in the past few weeks, she has really hit a number of milestones- from all but forgetting about the notion of crawling and walking all over the house to using silverware and expanding her vocabulary- both spoken and sign language. she is an amazing little bug, and is growing up before our eyes- and yours! when i first brought the camera upstairs this afternoon, she looked at me as if to say, "not again, dad" (or "taa-taa" as she prefers to call me)- but then got giggly and started playing with telluride, her favorite of all of our animals. she calls the cats "moooows" (can't quite get out a "meow, but she really drags out the mooooooow into about 3 or 4 syllables), and after he literally came up and laid in her lap, she chased him around the couch and returned the favor. all of this is done on her own volition- and really isnt rare- these two are good buddies.

molly's birthday

molly turned one yesterday... kristin and i are in a bit of shock. in some ways, it seems like she has always been a part of our lives, and in others we are dumbfounded that a year has gone by. unfortunately, her 1st birthday is probably one she'd like to look back and forget- she is finally cutting several teeth- all at once- and isn't real happy about it- or the runny nose and fever that go along with it. we got her to "explore" her cake a bit- but the idea of putting things in her mouth right now isn't one she is fond of, so it was fairly short-lived and we didnt really have a chance for many of the required "kid stuffs cake in face" photos. oh, well- we did ok. off to hawaii in six days!

more fun black-and-whites

just some fun shots from this morning- after molly was done reading (see post below). such a "big girl"...

She LOVES to read!

much to her mom and dad's delight, molly absolutely adores time spent reading books. sometimes she likes having them read to her, and sometimes she likes to browse through the pages on her own- as she did this morning. first, she takes several off the book shelf in her nursery, and then brings them into the living room or our bedroom. as you can she, she really gets into the books- and you'd swear she was actually reading through them. again, tons of fun to watch her learn...

i'm walking!

i'm walking...yesiree!

I'm addicted

i'll admit it- when i start to take pictures of molly, it's tough to stop. when i edit them on the computer, it's hard not to post them on the blog. colorado was blessed with a bit of a heat wave today, and molly, kristin and i spent the day skiing again at winter park. conditions were much better today than they had been for her skiing introduction, with temperatures on the mountain in the 50's- a beautiful spring-like day. when we got home, we hung out on the deck for a bit- watching the cats chase birds and soaking in some much needed sun. dad enjoyed a pineapple cigar while mom and mooly did laps across the deck...what a day.