Goodbye Martin

August has brought a lot of changes for us. Matt and I both started new semesters, Alma went full time in daycare, and unfortunately we said good-bye to Martin. We are over joyed that we got to have him with us for almost a month. We will miss you like crazy, "German Dude". 

But of everyone, I think Alma will miss him the most.

"Wo ist die Maus"

Come back soon Martin!

Hanging Out with Martin

We are having so much fun hosting one of our very dear, very old friends, Martin from Germany. He is staying with us for a month so we have lots of time to show him around and introduce him to island life. He is fitting in quite nicely and Alma is loving having him around. Here are some pictures of what we have been up to.

We went on a beautiful hike up to Diamond Head. We had wonderful weather and Alma was quite a trooper.

  

Our neighbors invited us to go camping on the beach with them. We all had an amazing time. Lots of fun, food, and beautiful water.

Alma loved going in the tents. Keeping her out of other people's tents was a full time job. Thanks Martin for all the help!

She also thought that she could put anything that she found on the ground in her mouth. Who knew how many dangerous objects are just lying around a camp site!

She particularly loved our new kayak ( I have to admit it is pretty fun).

And Matt and Martin finally conquered the paddle board - this is not as easy as it looks!

But we mostly just hung out and spent time with friends and neighbors. What a great time!

Hope all is well with you wherever you are....and here's a little aloha for you:

My Little Apron Girl

Alma has started walking around the house draping herself with whatever clothes she can find. But Mommy's kitchen aprons are among her favorites. I love it that she likes to "help" in the kitchen. I'm definitely looking forward to baking and cooking together as she gets older.

 

4H Fair at Koolau Ranch

We were all excited for the 4H Fair. Alma loves animals and Matt and I were looking forward to hanging out with our neighbors, Kim, Ben and their baby Maya. Maya is a few months younger than Alma and for sure a future playmate.

Alma was a but unsure of the animals but she like the calf a lot.

The bigger cows however were a bit too intimidating for her.

 

 

 

But she finally warmed up a bit.

The goats were more approachable and a lot more entertaining.

But these guys might have been her favorite. So sweet.

There was also a beautiful plant sale. I'm still amazed at the beauty that surrounds us here. I really think almost anything could thrive here.

We even took home a basil plant that even had a special friend for free.

What She's Up To These Days

Alma is definitely on the move these days. It seems that she is into everything. Here are some of the things she likes to get into these days.

She has figured out how to take the screen off of all the windows and (for some reason I cannot explain) this provides endless amount of fun. Thank goodness for the louvers or she would be escaping whenever she wanted.

She is eating more and more solid food and she loves the independence so much so that she protests quite a bit if you have to intervene and help her. This child has without a doubt inherited her Mommy and Daddy's streaks of independence. 

(Notice Lili's nose in the bottom left corner - she's never far away when Alma's eating!)

But of everything that she's into lately water play has to be her favorite. She's happy with just a tiny bowl of water when playing indoors.

But she's especially happy when we get to take it outside on the Lanai.

Father's Day 2012

We had a fun, relaxed Father's Day doing some of the things Alma loves best. She adores listening to Matt play music. She absolutely lights up when he plays anything. We are hoping she gets Matt's musical abilities : )

And of course it wouldn't be a holiday in Hawaii without a little beach fun. Alma loves the water, especially when Daddy and Lili are involved.

 

Happy Father's Day Matty - we love you!