Sydney Fuller

Spring Time Is Here

Each year I make the girls each pose in front of my Spring bulbs for some photos. The tulips and other spring flowers always much such a beautiful backdrop for pictures. And its a great way to show off my spring garden. I do have to say that my flowers have to be some of the prettiest around. And, the girls are cute too! Kayla was napping away in her crib so the two older girls got a photo shoot all to themselves.

Boston

Given Dad is a super runner, Sydney had the opportunity to visit Boston for the 114th running of the Boston Marathon. However, the race wasn’t the only attraction here so we had lots to see. First stop was the top of the Prudential Building to get a bird’s eye view of everything.

Sydney was excited for Boston because Kim told her there is a lot of good seafood there. And Sydney really enjoys fish. We ate at Legal Sea Foods one day and they had a lobster on the children’s menu. Sydney was ready for that!

Lots of old churches as you walk around Boston. We found Sydney in here confessing something. Would have loved to know what it was!

Everybody was talking about this Paul Revere guy so we found a big statue of him in a park. That’s the famed Old North Church in the background.

And the park was named after him too! Must have been quite a guy.

Sydney went on a tour through his house. Its the oldest home in Boston built around 1680. Very tiny inside yet Paul lived there with his wife and 16 children. You don’t even get your own room if you are a kid living there. How bogus!

Sydney went into the Old North Church to see what that had to offer. Apparently, its more like a maze. When you go to church there, you get your own little box with a door to keep all the kids contained.

We stopped by Bunker Hill to see what it had to offer. It was the first grassy area we had seen in Boston so the girls were running all over the place.

Here are the girls with our traveling companions. It was great having them along for the ride in Boston!

Sydney had a great time in Boston and she even got a hat to prove it!

Spring Visitor

Grandma Hakes had not been here in a while because she couldn’t leave Grandpa Hakes for quite sometime. Now that the seasons have changed, she was free to come and visit us for a week. The girls had a great time seeing her and showing her everything that is new and different around here.

Body Worlds

We took the kids through the Body Worlds display. Reagan was more interested in running around but Sydney really soaked a lot of it in. She read a lot of the signs and learned about various body parts.

Oahu 2010

We are back home after 3 plane flights. The girls all did great on the trip! Here is a slideshow of all the photos — with some you haven’t seen.

Planning for Spring Break 2011 started already…wonder where to next!

Oahu - Day 7

Last day - do something special! Gave the kids their choice of activites and after some voting, they came down to whale watching. It was the tail end of the season but they were still roaming the waters. So we set off on a lunchtime cruise on a big boat out towards Diamond Head in search of sea creatures.

Nature sucks sometimes. I doesn’t run on a schedule. The whales were spotted but when we got there they dove for 30 minutes and the kids got bored waiting. Why the whales didn’t want to see them was beyond belief.

We moved on and suddenly there were sprays of water all over out in front. Thought it was a whale but as they multiplied you knew it couldn’t be. What is it?

Dolphins! Not 1 or 2 but more like 200. They were everywhere. Like someone dumped their dinner in the water right here. Jumping at the boat from all side. I wasn’t fast enough with the camera to get all the cool tricks they were doing. They were Spinner Dolphins so the jumped out of the water and spun — of course. Seemed like they were just showing off but everyone loved it. Much more entertaining than lazy old whales. Here is some video along with some beach time afterward.

That got everyone smiling again but no more whale sightings for today. Kind of a bummer but you get what you get.

The kids got onto the beach for a late afternoon romp in the surf. It was the last time they would have so they made the most of it. They bounced over to the pool to for a while. We didn’t spend a minute at the pool otherwise. The beach was just too nice. Sydney did not want to head up to the room at the end of the day. She kept finding more ways to stay at the pool for a few more minutes. She convinced us that she needed to snorkel again so she broke out the gear and found her way around the pool.

Sydney really enjoyed being back in Hawaii. She journaled everything she did. It was cool to see her reading and writing down her adventures — just like Dad. We may try and digitize it to share but here is a quick sample in progress during the cruise.

Oahu - Day 6

After the swamp trauma settled, we went back to water that we knew Sydney would not try to walk across. Our favorite beach at Kuhio Beach was hopping with a fresh set of spring breakers. We grabbed our usual spot and let the kids enjoy a good long day of beach and ocean.

But no matter how much fun Sydney is having, she always stops what she is doing when it is time to play with Kayla. She loves being a big sister to her.

While Kayla destroyed Reagan’s sand creation, Sydney built hers a little further away to avoid destruction.

I asked Sydney to go surfing with me again but she declined. I let her off the hook after the day before. Needed to keep her positive and I surely would have wiped out with her and messed up the day. We capped the night off by taking a long shopping trip around the area. We went into the International Marketplace because we knew the kids would get more for their money there. They started buying stuff the minute someone offered them something. Sydney spent her Easter money from Mimi on this necklace. Had to have it!

Oahu - Day 5

We woke up to rain today. It happens here during this time of year. So we decided to make the best of it and head over to the North Shore to see what was going on over there. Maybe a chance of different weather but more likely a way to stay dry and see some sights. Made our way down the coast and stopped at various beaches that looked like they needed exploring.

After we got done watching the surfers do there thing, it started to rain pretty steadily so we started to motor back. I was looking for some type of drier venue that we could hang out at for a while. I noticed something called Waimea Valley so I turned in. It consisted of a walking tour to a waterfall that you could swim at. They sold trash bag ponchos so we bought a set and went inside. We hiked back to the waterfall and spent a lot of time in the area. The water was cold and Sydney did not want to partake in swimming here. We were surprised but she just said no and threw a fit. Fine. The lifeguard ended up putting her on his board and taking her out to touch the water anyway.

On the way back from the waterfall, we started taking some of the off-shoot paths that made up the tour to explore what the valley had to offer. Lots of plant life and interesting trees. The girls were hiking alternate paths from us and criss-crossing us. They were having a good ole time.

As we got closer to the entrance, I was spending more time reading the signs in front of the various plant life. I walked up to one that had these needle like plants surrounding it. The plants were back behind a very thin fence that didn’t stretch all the way around. More to block the direct path but you could easily go around. I was looking at the reddish brown soil around these plants and thinking…that isn’t dirt…is it? Just as my brain started to reconcile what this actually was. Sydney went bounding by the fence and literally walked right out into the middle of this soil. This was all happening in slow motion in my brain because I had just realized this was not soil. It was a swamp with a nice think covering that looked like soil! Enough that Sydney did not know the difference. She literally skip out on it and fell right through. She was completely submerged. One second she was there. The next…she was not! OH SHIT. I yelled her name and quickly started to take Kayla out of her carrier on my chest because I was going swimming. Kim heard this all but did not see it. She quickly realized what was going on and was moving to the edge of the swamp. Here is an “after shot” of the swamp. Sydney went right in that hole there. Look to the left or right at the surface. Kind of looks like land, huh?

And just like that, Sydney flew up out of the swamp. Apparently she stepped on a rock on the edge but she could not touch the bottom otherwise. She popped out and was in shock. She was soaked from head to toe in some not so fresh smelling water. She then moved into hysterical tears as we tried to tell her that everything was OK now and she is going to be fine. As this calming is going on, Kim and I are in shock yet laughing uncontrollably in bursts because this was really freaky!

We stripped Sydney down in the parking lot and put on her swim cover-up for something dry. And for the last many hours, we remind her hourly that….she is the swamp monster. Or that she isn’t Jesus and can’t walk on water. Or that swamps are not for playing. Or that she stinks. On and on. She knows its embarrassing. So much so that when she popped out and started talking again she quickly remarked that she was not going to put this in her diary today. I don’t blame her! It will be easy enough to remember since I will remind her of it for years to come. No need to write it down.

Oahu - Day 4

After a good review the other day, we headed back down to Kuhio Beach Park for more sun and surf. The girls quickly got back down to the water and planned out their day.

However, I had other plans. I had been watching all the dudes out on their boards for a few days now. I decided that a good way to get out in the action would be to get a hold of a long board and paddle Sydney and I out there. So I rented a board and then talked Sydney into the adventure. We jumped on and paddled our way out…way out. Luckily, the surf was pretty tame out there and the water was not that deep. We sat and bounced around. Tried to paddle with a few waves and got a tad of action going.

We caught a slightly bigger wave and it had us fishtailing through the waves and then wipeout! We were capsized. I popped up and grabbed Sydney. I was standing on the ocean floor only about shoulders deep. Good save but that shook Sydney up a little bit. We paddled on.

Finally, she was getting cold as it had started to rain on us a bit. We headed for shore.

That evening we had a big outing — a luau! We sat right in the front row so the girls could watch the show. There were a few chances for crowd learning and participation so they jumped right up on stage to get their hula on.

Oahu - Day 3

Time for snorkeling! Hanauma Bay is a classic destination on Oahu. So we headed over there for the day. When we were here years ago, the fish would swarm you. Now, they have instituted some needed conservation efforts which include not feeding the fish. Bummer for the kids. Oh well, we will still have a great time!

Later, I noticed this going on. I don’t claim these children.

There were wild chickens on the beach that were trying to jump into Kayla’s stroller. Sydney was the official chaser of the chickens. She would run after them telling them that she was going to eat them for dinner. Later, I had to bury her because all that running had her wandering the beach.

Sydney enjoyed the snorkeling. She did most of it with Kim. I was surprised Kim took her given the overwhelming fear of shark death. She probably was comfortable knowing she could have fed Sydney to that shark and still had 2 kids to raise. However, here I am with Sydney out on a snorkel quest. See me waving?

Later that evening, we saw an ad for miniature golf so we had to go. It was our favorite indoor winter pastime at home on the weekends until our place closed. So when we saw one here, we had to hit it! This was 3-D golf so we were not sure what to expect. Turns out its a bunch of neon stuff, black lights, and 3-D glasses. Sydney was ready to roll! She ran the course in record time as always and wanted to play again and again.

Just another evening in paradise.

Oahu - Day 2

On my early morning excursion, I noticed a cool spot further down the beach. So I talked the kids into heading down there today instead. They would be perfectly fine (they say) hanging at the same beach every day but I like variety. So we walked about a half mile down to the public beach. On the way, we saw this famous statue of Duke who is like the patron saint of surfing. You gotta get your picture! There is a live webcam on him. Guess you missed them!

I always love Sydney’s sense of adventure! But sometimes it takes a while for her to rev up. After some talking, I got her to follow me along the sea wall to see what we could find. Crab! Lots of crabs everywhere. There were red ones and black ones. They would run as we approached but Sydney spent time counting everyone of them as if she was taking inventory on the ocean. That’s us over there — doing the “Crab Census 2010”.

Back to work in the sand…when not in the surf. Too much to do!

Sydney noticed all the kids had boogie boards so she needed to get one of those. A quick trip to the ABC Store and I was back with one in hand. Sydney mostly used it as a kickboard as she motored around the ocean cove. How about some live action?