Did I really try to bribe my son?

Yes - I started to bribe BHP today. Matt had his septum and sinus surgery on Friday. What was suppose to be a 3 hour event turned into a 12 hour ordeal. Thank you Grandma Val for keeping Brenner!!!!! Matt is doing okay but out of commission this weekend - so Mommy was on duty. We were on our way to the store when I told Brenner if he would be good he would get a special treat. What?! Did that really come out of my mouth? This from the woman who rolls her eyes every time Grandma Val gets him a stuffed animal on a store trip. I know a couple of family member who will read this an grin (I won't mention any names, Lynn and Angie!). Well, the treat was he did get to see the fish at the store. Hey - he doesn't know the difference at this age! Overall, he did really well and laughed as we were hunting for tortillas. Other big things - Brenner can COUNT to 4 all on his own and to 10 with help!!! This kind of came out of nowhere for us - but we were impressed....although we are admittedly impressed over anything.
We had out first real boo-boo (bruises from crashing into things haven't counted thus far). He was on the front porch and dropped a metal sprinkler on his middle toe. I was at work, but the report was that he cried for 30 minutes. He limped a little that night but was fine by the next day.

A stinkhorn mushroom in our flower garden. It was an odd looking mushroom so we looked it up in our field guide. Of course, once we learned the name - Matt had some really good one liners that followed - including calling Brenner his little stinkhorn.

Brenner enjoying a plum off of our tree. Bugs in the core so we have to watch that the bites aren't too deep! He seems to be really liking this one - his eyes are closed!

Brenner hunting something with a stick. He was very intent on this adventure.

Matt and Brenner two days after surgery. No physical signs of the surgery but the pressure and pain are pretty bad for Matt. The first day Matt had a taped bandage under his nose - so Brenner had to have some tape under his nose, too! Brenner was a little cautious of Matt at fist but warmed up right away!

Father's Day

We had a wonderful Father's Day BBQ full of family and friends. Matt was grill master making smoked deer brauts, spoonbill burgers, salmon, and hot dogs - yummy! Brenner wouldn't stop long enough to eat but I did manage to get a couple of strawberries down him before he ran off to play. We set up a sprinkler - two actually - until we figured out running two didn't allow enough water for us to flush the toilets :) We had 7 kids running through them - ages 19 months to 15 years - never too old for water fun. Thanks to everyone for making it a very special day!
Is this a handsome guy or what? He is getting so big and articulate....we love him so much!

The boys on the 4-wheeler - one of BHP's favorite past times.

Grandpa Bob bought Brenner his first bike....yes it is a pink and purple Malibu bike.....gotta love Swap and Shop......it is just the right size. We bet Brenner is riding by the end of the summer!

Too hot?

Brenner never thinks it is too hot to go outside and play - even with a heat index over 105 this week. Luckily we have many trees that provide shade. This morning I was talking with him and said mommy has to go make her lunch. BHP's response was "work". Yes - I have to leave you and go to work and it is sad that you get that at 19 months old. Not that he misses me - he is LOVING his papa time - I am so jealous!
Our neighbor has some goats and chickens - yes it is like having our own petting zoo all of the time. Brenner loved the goats and was laughing wildly at them when this picture was snapped. Grammy Vo - eat your heart out!

Fun times with Grandma Val. Or should I say "maw" which is what he calls her. She tells everyone that she doesn't spoil him - just loves him to pieces. She arrived with 9 pairs of shorts today for him....does she think I won't clothe him :)

Brenner hates anything stuck in his teeth. He will stop eating and make you pull what ever "it" is out.

This was one of those hot days - so Matt decided to just go full out and douse him - Brenner had a ball.

We got a new "pink-ler" for BHP. He loves running through it - which makes him burn LOTS of energy (I recommend it to any parent). Downside - he throws a fit when it is time to go inside.

Son

Brenner is at the age where he repeats everything. At times when he is doing something he isn't suppose to, Matt says "What are you doing, son?" (with some emphasis on the son). So now BHP is repeating "son, son, son" which is funny! He has been doing some crazy things this week - but has finally completed "Grandparent Detox" from our trip (that is what our doctor calls it - not me!). We still have the fits - everything is either "hurt" or "ouch" and he even wiggled part way out of his car seat today. As I mentioned, he repeats EVERYTHING and loves learning new words. Matt and him have special routines including floppy toes (taking socks most of the way off and then kicking feet) and shiny toes (shining a flash light on his toes to get him to take a nap) - apparently these work as Matt is the only one he will take a two hour nap with these days. Oh yeah - back to the words - these nap times sometimes include Matt without a shirt - so Brenner has learn "nipple". We yesterday he pointed to a mole on Grandma's chin and said nipple. Matt is still laughing about it!
We went to Art in the Park last weekend and met up with some family. Here BHP and Jo are pictured with cousins AnnaJo and Cliff. Isn't she a cutie!?

We have a tree frog that has inhabited a planter on the back deck. He likes to poke himself out in the afternoon sun.

Brenner loves to make sticker pictures. Mommy and him work on a sea scene explosion picture. He knows to stick it on the paper and then pat it down.

It had been ages - but we finally made it over to BHP's girlfriends house for a date. Reagan and Brenner got along great...although Brenner was a little greedy with the raisins. Notice Reagan's hands are covering her remaining stash. I don't remember what Melissa was saying but she certainly got their attention - although Reagan doesn't look impressed.

Aloha!

To celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary, Matt and I headed to the Big Island of Hawaii. Yes - our anniversary actually isn't until October - but Matt will be teaching then! It was a wonderful, relaxing trip that we both thoroughly enjoyed. Brenner stayed with Grandma and got spoiled beyond belief :) The last few days back with him has been a bit rough - but we are settling back into our routine!

Most of you have probably already heard that Matt caught a 604.5 lb and 122 inches (eye to fork) blue marlin. We chartered a boat (Rod Bender) out of Kona. We trolled for 7 hours (we thought we would get skunked) - then the line went out and 1 pm. It took Matt a little under an hour to bring it in. Matt is pictured with Captain Kerwin and his daughter/first mate Heather Masunaga. It was a great day - our first day in Hawaii.....kind of tough to beat that! This was the best part of our trip because Matt was so excited - to see his face light up when he talked about it was amazing!

This was a gorgeous green sand beach neat the southern most point in the US. It was a 2.5 mile hike in but totally worth it. The beach is green from olivene in the volcanic rock. There were lots of little sand crabs on the beach.

Black sand beach on the southern shore of the Big Island. Here we saw our first glimpses of green sea turtles. This beach area was packed. The Hawaiian tourism industry is hurting - but there were many, many Japanese tourist. We were surprised by how many signs were written in English and Japanese.

We loved Volcano National Park - home of the most active volcano of Hawaii - Kilauea. Here are two active crater plumes. In March 2008, the crater plume on the right began. It releases 1700 tons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere everyday! This has caused hazard warnings and closures around the park and created "vog" (volcanic smog) around much of the island. Kona was overcast everyday due to the vog. We got to tour the USGS observatory and hear about their active monitoring of this new crater. USGS has measured liquid magma a mere 30 meters below the surface. Anyway - one reason we chose the big island is to see flowing lava. So the picture above is the lava field we had to walk across to see where the lava enters the ocean.

The red glow is the lava flowing into the Pacific Ocean. This was so amazing to see - even at this distance. Since this area is off of the National Park - the county is in charge of this viewing area. Shortly after this picture was snapped - an evacuation was announced. The wind shifted and started blowing the gases our direction - bringing the sulfur dioxide and particulate matter with it. We were told to cover our mouths and quickly leave....kind of hard considering we had to walk back over that lava field. But Matt and I weren't too concerned about breathing in the air - we did stay in Mexico City (one of the most polluted cities in the world) for a week!

That night we stayed at Volcano House (hotel within the national park)- it was awful so we got up early and hiked the Kilauea Iki Crater trail. This crater is about 60 years old. That is amazing to think about - walking on rock only 60 years old. Most rocks we see are thousands of years old!! There was buckling of the top surface and steam vents - were we crazy to walk across??? Likely - but it was awesome! It was like we were in some sort of Mad Max movie scene.

The trail out of Kilauea Iki was a bit tricky - steep in places - tons of switchbacks. These are tree roots covering a portion of the trail.

This is north of Hilo near Laupahoehoe Bay (sorry - probably have that spelling wrong). In this park - over 20 people perished in the 1946 tsunami - an nice memorial told their story.

Sea turtle at Keahou Bay. On this day - we were just returning for a sea kayaking trip. It was great. We saw a small pod of spinner dolphins - so close we could hear them breathing out. We went snorkeling and Matt did some cliff jumping (I admitted chickened out of the 23 foot jump but did do a 3 foot one!). We also went into a lava tube called the dragon's throat. You paddle in - the ocean swells rising behind you, sucks the kayak out, and then surges you forward as the wave smacks the back of the tube. It was fun!

The flora was indescribably beautiful. Here is the state flower, plumeria. Most ladies where these flowers in their hair and they are used to make leis.

Wooden statues at the City of Refuge, south of Kona on the west shore. This is one of the places King Kamehameha lived - one beach area could only be touched by royalty. There was also an adjacent area of refuge for those who have commit ed "kapu" (taboo)...consider the area a sort of "base" in a game of tag. The walls and some structures are centuries old.

We went to a wonderful, cheesy luau at the King Kamehameha Hotel in Kona. Live music and entertainment. We learned about the various influences of other islands on Hawaiian history and had some interesting company at our table. Save that for another time.....this picture was taken after several G&Ts (for Jo) and Mai Tais (for Matt) - thus the full on grins!

We opted for the Hawaiian food - we can get lettuce salad anywhere! So from bottom right: white rice, Kahlua pork (saw the pic coming out of the pit at the beginning of luau), poi (tasted earthy but not bad as some people thought at our table), cucumber salad (okay - not Hawaiian but I wanted some veggies), bananas tossed in cinnamon, poke (raw. marinated fish with spices), lomi lomi (salmon with tomatoes and onions), native sweet potato, and pork wrapped in a leaves (obviously not the correct name).

Puako petroglyph park. Researches do not know what these drawings mean or when they were made. They are on the west coast of the island and near many of the luxury resorts (but open to the public).

The Kohala coast is beautiful. This is Pololu Valley lookout. 12-15 foot waves were crashing into a black sand beach. We hiked the 0.5 mile trail down. On the way we met some surfers who said the rip tides were too strong to go out - the view was great none the less. I counted as many five sets of waves coming in at one time. Needless to say we didn't go into the water!

Well this is the big fish I caught :) This is the angel fish I made out of coconut leaves at the luau. And this is the view from our hotel - not bad huh?! It was so relaxing to hear the waves crashing at night. We were only ready to come back because we missed Brenner terribly! And....it is quite expensive there - $5.88 for a loaf of bread at Wal-Mart! Anyway - we are back to reality now!