Hawaii Five!

That's it. Hawaii Five. That's because Hadden is now officially five years old. Born on 12 April 2007, Hadden has survived five years in the Muench family - quite an accomplishment and the first kid to do so. Way to go. So far, we've have 2.5 parties for Hadden. First, we had the one (previous blog) in conjunction with Cole's birthday (March 8th) the week the Fenners were here. Then, we had a party this last Thursday at Grandma/Grandpa's house with Uncle Mike in attendance as well. Just this last night we again had cookies and ice cream as well as a gift and card from Uncle Mike. This is the birthday that just keeps on giving. I'm sure we'll do another party back in Seattle for all Hadden's Seattle friends.

Slippery Slide Slo Mo
First ever video from the kids doing the slippery slide. Both Hadden and Clara now are able to go down on their bellies, head-first.

Hadden and Cole hit the slide together in slow motion.

Clara hits the deck in a spray of water.

Easter Egg Hunt at Preschool

Hadden and Clara are going to the Cole Academy preschool in Enchanted Lake while we are here. They seem to like it now although Clara is not happy about being dropped off in the morning. She doesn't cry so much any more as get angry with us at the moment of drop-off. She does have lots of fun during the day, though. At least that's what they tell us. 

Hadden's class after the Easter egg hunt.

Clara finds a purple Easter egg! Mom is thrilled.

Clara's class after the Easter egg hunt. Notice Clara has her eyes
shielded. "It's too bright!"

After our trip to the Waikiki Aquarium last Saturday we stopped at
Kapiolani Park and had lunch at a celebration of the Thai culture.
Great food...the kids agree!

Hadden's Birthday (the actual day)
Started out by going to preschool with a loaf of banana bread made with apple bananas from Grandma and Grandpa's back yard and freshly grated coconut from Grandpa. Everyone liked it at school for snack. After preschool we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's for a birthday celebration and some pool time. Gift giving was mild because we have to spread it out over several celebrations. Clara even got something. Most importantly, we were with family and had lots of fun. We made mac-and-cheese with broccoli and Grandma made the cake.

Hadden REALLY wanted a mask and snorkel. Check. Now all
he has to do is learn how to swim.

Clara got something too. A Belle doll! OMG!

Star Wars shirt. Super cool.

Star Wars book! Sadly, Hadden did not get a tan for his birthday.
That's fine. We don't want any skin cancer for his 40th birthday or anything like that.

The birthday cake with a blue football. Nicely done Grandma!

USS Missouri BB 63

We went to Pearl Harbor today to visit the Mighty Mo. Fun little trip. Kids did well. Hadden enjoyed the really big guns while Clara liked going up and down the ladders on the ship. Mom and Dad got major flashbacks from our Navy days. Even saw the crappy lunch shack on Ford Island where I used to buy my lunch every day during Engineer's School. Mom saw her building she used to work in (IUSS) and we both got major whiffs of that metal-grease-fuel smell that's so common to ships. 

The kids, a Polaris missile and my finger. Oops.

Guns! 40 mm anti-aircraft.

A cute picture of the family in front of more guns.

Hadden's favorite picture of him on the Missouri.

Helping Clara descend a ladder on the Mo.

Hadden cons the ship. I think.

Clara gulps water on the bridge.

Clara cons the ship as a UI (under instruction).

Clara and Yvonne descend a ladder.

Walking through the bowels of the ship.

Hadden takes a photo of me and Clara.

Beach Bums and Easter

Well,

We have now been in Hawaii for over 2 weeks. It's been fun so far and the kids have taken to the beach and outdoors just fine. We have played with Nona and the Fenner clan and have now said "goodbye" to Nona and the Fenner clan - Hadden constantly asks when he can go over to Denver to visit Cousin Cole. Glad they had so much fun together.

Bye-bye Fenners and Nona
The Fenners were in Waikiki the first week we were here and we had the good fortune of seeing them on a number of occasions. Hopefully we were the draw and not just Lanikai Beach. ;-)  Hadden, in particular, had so much fun with Cousin Cole (CC) at the beach. Clara, of course, adores Madeleine. Actually, Hadden was the one following her all over the house making sure she was okay. Very sweet. That said, here's one of my favorite Nona pictures of Madeleine. Cute Fenner. Fennerific. Fentastic. Fennerlicious. Take your pick. We have evidence that everyone made it back to the mainland just fine - we have talked to Nona and the Denver Fenners since.

Madeleine Fenner poses for the camera in Lanikai.

 Birthday!
We had a small combined birthday celebration for Cole (March 8th) and Hadden (Aptil 12th) while everyone was in town. We even threw in a birthday present for Nona (February 7th) that was purchased in Rome. Actually, that one was added a couple of days later. It was a warm scarf so we were not offended that she didn't wear it the next day. So, Cole is 4 and Hadden is almost 5. They are growing up! Not that this is a surprise...it's just that sometimes our perception of time is not calibrated to our kids. Birthdays serve as sort of a recalibration moment.

Cole and Hadden blow out the candles on their combined carrot cake birthday cake on the deck at the Lanikai  House. 

Summit

On Nona's last day she summitted the Lanikai Pillboxes hike. Not sure what the summit name is there but it has to be at least 500 ft. Anyway, the view from up there is spectacular. It also offers a great perspective on our rental house and its proximity to the beach.

Nona at the summit.

This is a picture of Yvonne and the kids on Lanikai Beach taken from pillbox
number 2. I THINK I see them. Maybe not. 

"Da Mokes" from the pillbox. Mokulua and Mokumanu are twin islands (old cinder cones
from eons ago) that are now bird sanctuaries. They are 7/8 of a mile offshore and are often reached by
the multitude of kayak renters these days. Back in the day one had to swim, sail or paddle out
and could achieve relative isolation out there.

Our rental house in the foreground, left side (it's the pink one behind
the tall coconut trees). You can see the beach too. Not too shabby.
Turns out my dad knows the owners from high school and I know one of
their kids from high school. Small world. The neighbor graduated from my high
school one year before me. Again, small world. 

Easter
Easter is an official "big deal" now. Not because of anything Christ did. More because of the Easter Bunny and his tradition of hiding eggs with candy and toys in the yard. Also, we get to dye eggs, which the kids did in preschool and at home this year. So, early Sunday morning (7am about) we got up with the neighbors and their kids (Noe and Lina) to hunt for easter eggs in our yard. There was a lot of frenzied running around and bunches were found. I'm sure there a several that were not. I suppose those are left to the gardeners.

Clara finds and egg on a plumeria tree.

The kids pose with their booty. That's Lina (3rd grade) top-left, Noe (Kindergarten) bottom-left, and
of course Hadden in the middle and Clara on the right. 

Everyone gets back to checking out their eggs after the picture.

Steve, Clara and Hadden went to Easter services at Christ Church. Was good to see
the old church. Here are the kids in their "Sunday best" (Hawaiian style) posing with Grandma.

Slip-n-slide!

We have been having LOTS of fun with a slip-n-slide set lent to us by the rental owners. They have a fabulous yard in which to play too. On Easter Hadden, Clara, Noe and Lina played for a couple of hours. Here are some action shots of the day. Last week Hadden figured out how to slide head-first properly and today Clara figured it out too! "Daddy, I got the hang of it!" she kept yelling. 

Bunny Cake
It's kind of a tradition at the Muench home for Grandma to make a bunny-shaped cake for Easter. This year it was a carrot cake and was delicious. The kids got to help decorate it (and eat a few of the decorations). Too much fun. That's freshly grated coconut used for the "fur" and a collection of gummy candies used for facial features.

Happy Easter all,

Steve