Toe Pick

Last night we went ice skating with some friends. We told Jake where we were going and what we would be doing and he was pretty pumped. He has been to a few hockey games and Brooke has recently joined a hockey league, so Jake has seen lots of skating on ice. He is a cautious kid, so I was surprised at how ready he was to try it out.

He was very cooperative while Brooke got the little skates on him and laced them all up.

Here is his first time out on the ice...all bundled up. I was amazed that he was still fearless and excited for his adventure in skating.

He finally makes contact with the ice! He was a little nervous and not quite sure what to do with his legs, but he kept at it.

By the end of our time there, he eventually (with a few breaks) made it around the rink TWO times! Way to go Jake!! He was a trooper and we all had a great time.

One of Jakes favorite parts about going to hockey games (besides eating the popcorn and nachos) is seeing the Zamboni clean the ice. He was pretty excited when there was a Zamboni off to the side of the ice rink that we could go look at. What a fun night we had!

Aloha!

We made it back from our wonderful Hawaiian vacation. It was such a fun time and I have lots of pictures to share. I'll try not to go overboard though. Here is a little synopsis of our trip...

Here is our first day on Oahu. We didn't have be on the boat until later that afternoon, so we were able to do a few things around the island. We took Jake to Waikiki beach to get his first look at the ocean.

Later that day, we drove out to the Dole Plantation. Jake befriended some peacocks and fed them fries while we ate some pineapple ice cream.

We finally made it onto the cruise ship and Jake found his favorite play spot in our room...the window.

Our first port stop was on the Big Island of Hawaii in Hilo. It was a little overcast and rainy that day, but still lots of fun. We went to see one of the volcanoes...don't worry, we didn't have to run from any rushing lava or anything.

Here is our first day on Maui. Jake wasn't a big fan of playing on the beach. As long as mom or dad was holding him, he was fine.

This is more Jakes style of spending a day at the beach. Sitting on a mat, on the sand, with a few toys to play with....far away from the water.

In Kona, we got a convertible PT Cruiser as our rental car. Brooke wasn't too thrilled about the PT Cruiser part, but i thought the convertible was awesome!

Our first day on Kawai, we took a drive to see the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific". It was absolutely beautiful!

At one of the viewpoints, Jake managed to find some chicken to chase. They also got their fill of pineapple and crackers.

Our second day on Kuwai was only a half day, so we did some shopping and explored around the Marriott resort near the ship.

The next day, we were back in Oahu. Our flight didn't leave until later that evening, so we went out to the Polynesian Cultural Center for the day. We got a stroller for Jake, but he ended up pushing it more than he sat in it.

The whole trip was such a fun time. We enjoyed being able to spend some time with all of Brooke's family and with each other. On Christmas Eve, we took a red eye flight back to Portland and surprised my family on Christmas day. Jake had a blast with all his cousins and was constantly asking for "the kids". We got back to Albuquerque on the 29th and life is starting to get back to normal. Brooke didn't have to go back to work until today, so we were able spend some more time together. Now the next thing we are looking forward to is when the baby is born. Time sure is flying by fast!