Beach balls and Letters

Jessie really likes trying to bite the beach ball...it was pretty funny. Before I took this she was trying to figure out how to pick it up with just one hand. That was hilarious and she was getting a little frustrated because it kept rolling away, but she finally figured it out on her own that she needed two hands for this bad boy. :)

Jessie never sits on her bum. She always sits like this..almost like she is ready to get out of there in a moments notice. It is pretty cute.

Phil dug a little pool for Jessie in the sand. She loved it because it is much more calm than the ocean. She is a bit weary of the waves coming in and getting her. It is cute to watch though.

Phils dad insisted that he was just resting his eyes, but I am not buying it. :) It was about 5 pm and the perfect temperature!

Got these at wal-mart for a dollar....best investment I have EVER made. Jessie will sit and play with them for a half hour at a time, which for a 10 month old is amazing. I had to help her put them back on the fridge the first few times, but she is getting the hang of it.

Whale Watching

We went out on the boat on Monday. Phil and his dad went out early fishing, and then they picked up Katie, Jessie and me at around noon. We had lunch, did some bottom fishing (we caught 3 which we ate for dinner), and watched for whales. We saw a ton of whales breaching, but the best was when we where sitting still while bottom fishing and they popped up about 200 yards away. There were at least 4 of them, and they got closer and closer and closer. Unfortunately we were drifting towards the shore pretty fast, so we had to start up the engine and get out of there, before we washed up on the rocks. When we started the engine, it spooked them and they went right up to this other boat which was anchored. They had a few people in the water snorkeling, and I was really jealous that I had not thought to bring a mask and snorkel. Anyway, the whales got to about 100 meters away from us and it was so neat. We could here them blowing water, which was really cool. I am definitely going to take a mask and goggles the next time we go out.

By the way, I did not get any pictures because the boat was rockin pretty good and it made me sick to try to focus on one thing through the camera, so sorry, if you want to see the whales, you are going to have to come visit us between January and April. :)

Jessie loves being on the boat, especially when she is feeling sleepy...Katie put her right to sleep there on the front of the boat.

See my teeth?

Jessie has 3 teeth and three more on their way. Besides slobbering profusely from the mouth, she has been pretty good while teething.

Jessie loves to play with Phil's hats...although sometimes I think they might make her hair fall out because they are so dirty and grimey. :)( it is his work hat)

Ohia and Lehua

Jessie's middle name is Lehualani meaning Heavenly flower , or flowers of Heaven. Lehua (flower of the Ohi'a tree) and lani (heavenly). We knew this before we named her, and up until a few days before she was born, it was just Lehua...but we added the lani because I thought it was pretty and I liked the meaning. ANYWAY, we knew the meaning behind Lehua, but not the story. Well, I just read about this Hawaiian Legend behind the Lehua Flower, and I liked it, so I thought I would share.

According to legend, Ohi'a was a young, handsome Big Island chief. The volcano goddess Pele knew that Ohi'a was courting a beautiful young girl named Lehua. Pele became enamored with Ohi'a and desired him for a husband. One day Ohi'a went up into the mountains to cut kukui bark to stain his surfboard, Pele appeared to him. She was dressed in her finest clothes and was quite striking. After a time, she announced to Ohi'a who she was and asked him to be her husband. Nervously but very diplomatically, he turned her down, professing his eternal love for Lehua. In her anger, Pele told him he was as gutless as a piece of weed, and changed him into a gnarled tree with grey-green leaves. When the other gods saw what Pele had done, they felt bad and tried to reverse it, but failed. The best they could do to reunite the broken-hearted lehua with her beloved Ohi'a was to turn Lehua into a beautiful blossom on the same tree. To this day, it is said that picking a lehua blossom off an ohi'a tree will produce rain. These are the tears from heaven for separated lovers everywhere.

Lehua Blossom

Ohia Tree with Lehua blossoms

Ohi'a trees are one of the first plants that will grow on volcanic rock....as you can see, there are really no other plants around.

Kilauea Iki Crater Hike

I have been wanting to do this hike ever since I read about it in my "Hawaii, The Big Island, Revealed" book. We have made plans to do this hike about 5 times, but yesterday we finally did it. Phils dad was not feeling well, so we were sad that he did not come with us. It was an easy hike, only 4 miles, with a little bit of ups and downs but nothing too difficult. Phil was the pack animal for Jessie, and she was in Heaven the whole time.

Anyway, this hike is in Volcanoes National Park. It goes half way around a crater then down onto the crater floor, and then back up to where we began. It was a fun little circle, and the weather was great. It was a little crazy to think about what was going on beneath us, but we tried not to think of it too much...especially since less than a mile away, there was another crater that was billowing out noxious gases! Anyway, it was a great time and I've got the pictures to prove it.

This is the crater spewing out noxious gases...volcanoes are so cool!

Walking down onto the crater floor...not far from here it got REALLY smooth, almost like you are walking on old concrete that is black and all cracked. Again, very cool!

The hike also took us through some rain forest. I thought this tree was pretty cool. Phil and Jessie are sitting on the trunk...NEAT-O!

See how happy she is!?!

Fiddlehead...this is how a fern starts its life! There were ferns everywhere! Phil and I had this debate...which came first, the fiddle head or the fiddle? :)

Kilauea Iki crater! WE hiked to the right and then down, and you can kind of see the trail across the middle!

Jessie is a shrimp!

We went for Jessie's 9 month checkup on Tuesday. She is 27.5 inches (48%) and weighs 15 lbs 8.9 oz (4%). The doctor said that she is falling off the charts...as well as her own growth curve. :( SOOOO, it is formula for Jessie. Apparently, I am no longer giving her everything that she needs. I kind of had my suspicions because any time she would nurse, she would get frustrated. Anyway, she LOVES formula, which I was a little worried about. But seriously, we have not found one thing that the girl does not like...well maybe dirt. (no I am not kidding, we were playing in the grass today and somehow she found a handful of dirt. The dirt made it to her mouth before I made it to her little fist. Man is she quick! Anyway, she made a sour face and quickly spit it out.) But really, she loves food, any kind, hot or cold, it does not matter. My mother in law compared Jessie to her Uncle Zac who was 35 lbs at his 1 year checkup. I am not thinking Jessie is going to gain the 20 lbs to catch up. That is ok though, we love her just the way she is!!!

This picture was taken in the morning. Jessie yells when she is ready to get up in the mornings. This is what we found when we opened the door! She is such a funny little girl.

Tjar Desert

I was looking through some e mails that I sent 5 years ago while we were traveling and I came across these photos of us on a camel safari. It was fun to reminisce for a little while.

This was the stubborn camel that I rode.

How cool is this picture...I especially like Phils pants.

I took this picture...I was amazed at how good it came out.