Our first zoo trip, finally

Well, I'm now an official dad: I took Lucy to the zoo. Grandma has taken her twice before and is always talking about how much fun it was. So last week when all 3 MINIs were out, Lucy & I packed a lunch and went to the Honolulu Zoo.

It didn't stink as much as I remembered from when I was little. We saw flamingo's and Lucy practiced standing on one leg. We saw crazy loud Lemurs, but they weren't singing "you've got to move it, move it." The monkeys put on a good show, and Lucy informed me that she wasn't scared of the dark when we entered the reptile tunnel.

We finally made it to the African section way at the back of the park just in time to sit on some boulders and eat lunch. While we ate we got to watch the giraffes, zebra & rhino hang out together. We saw the lion, tiger, elephants & gorillas, but they were all being really boring & stayed asleep. Like her dad 20 years ago, Lucy enjoyed hiding out in the enormous Banyan trees. She even learned how to drink out of a camalback (and hasn't stopped trying to drink out of it since we got home).

Of course, the highlight of the park was the playground at the end, where she got out the last few kilojoules of energy and I gave my old-man feet a rest. I think we'll go back again soon.

Roughing it in the wild jungle

OK, it wasn't really a wild jungle, but compared to all the other camping I've done in the past 4 years (none) it was great. Lucy and I joined up with a bunch of our friends from the ward over at Ho'olamuhia campgrounds over in Kane'ohe. We both had a great time.

We ate McDonalds on the way and then sat in the parking lot and got yummy ice cream Drumsticks all over the place. Lucy ran around with her friends for a few hours while I sat around the campfire and talked with the other grown-ups. We had smores when it got dark. Lucy didn't understand why we were putting the marshmallows in the fire on a stick. She usually loves marshmallows, but spit this one right out. So, like her dad, she enjoyed the chocolate & grahm crackers by themselves. You should have seen the look on her face when I told her we were going to sleep in a tent. She was so confused. But after an hour of "dada, come in the tent please!" she finally went to sleep.

The next morning we ate pastries & fruit for breakfast before we took a walk to the lake with all the other kids. They climbed on fallen trees, threw rocks in the lake, and looked for bugs & fish. I forgot my camera, so these both came from my cell phone, and I had to use a flashlight as a flash. Next time I'll remember my camera (and my wife!)

Slip N' Slide!

• Okay, for those of you who haven't seen a Slip N Slide since the mid 80's, you're in for a real treat: they're back! Or maybe they never left... but I sure haven't seen one for like 20 years. We went to a birthday party at our little condo's park and they had a Dora Slip N Slide. Lucy had not brought her bathing suit, and really none of the kids were on it so I thought we would be safe. Lucy watched the little 2-year-old birthday girl running back and forth on it (she didn't get the slide part), and decided that she really wanted to go home and get her bathing suit. So after a little pleading, I took her back and got her swimsuit. Well she was right, she knew she would like it. Talk about sweet retro party entertainment!

Sitting Up??

Okay, so most of us "seasoned" parents know that babies generally sit up at about 6 months, right? That's what I thought too. Lucy sat up at 6 months exactly. Well little Katie Consuela does not want to sit up for some reason and she is approaching 7 1/2 months. She can, but she will for about 2 seconds before she either arches her back or drops her shoulder and slowly dips down onto the floor so she can roll around to her heart's desire. So I got her to sit up for 2 seconds in this picture... and then caught her in action. She doesn't cry when she falls, just cringes a bit.

Happy St Patty's Day

Okay, so it's a little late, but the girls look so cute in their shamrock headbands... I couldn't resist. These were included in my birthday package from Auntie Tiffany along w/ a pack of green necklaces that Lucy had fun wearing and giving to her friends. You gotta love Target's Dollar Spot (but lets not talk about that anymore since it's a sensitive subject for me w/ no Target in Hawaii).