Marathon, Comps, Christmas, New Years, Birthday, ...

Aloooooooha! Yes it has been a very long time since we have posted anything but December and January were crazy! During this time Cory raced in his first marathon, the Honolulu Marathon, and finished in 4:25; made several trips to the zoo, other play dates with friends, and Christmas parties; celebrated Christmas and New Years; Cory completed the written portion of his comprehensive exam for his PhD the research proposal for his dissertation; planned and hosted Leif's birthday party with over 30 kids in attendance and another 30+ adults; Amanda made something like a gazillion quilts; and Cory began teaching at Chaminade University.

Needless to say, we are all ready for things to quiet down a bit. But with "Baby Boo" on the way, we only have 8 more weeks of being a family of three. So, with out further ado, here is the last two months in photos. Enjoy :)


The day before the big race, picking up Cory's race packet

Carbo-loading at Tiki's in Waikiki

The view from our hotel room in Waikiki

Leif checking out the one night digs...didn't really like it

...but the bed sure was fun to jump on

Hanging out at the zoo the day before the marathon

Ever see 20,000+ people all lined up to run 26.2 miles?
Fireworks signal the start of the race.

Cory passing by the hotel at about mile 8 feeling great

Crossing the finish line and still feeling GREAT!
Rested the next day and was out running again the day after

Leis from Amanda and Leif!

Cory and running friend Keaka (he ran in 3:13!!)

Celebrating the race at the Cheesecake Factory; yummy!

Leif in the zone with his gingerbread house

Our family tradition; making cookies.

Leif helped mix the ingredients and decorate.
They tasted as good as they looked.

Santa came! Opening a whole huge enormous pile of presents

Even superman needs to fix his cape from time to time.
Leif and his first sewing machine. Now he can work alongside mom

The hit of Christmas; Hungry, Hungry Hippos

Leif loving his "pineapple ice cream" at the Dole plantation

Two sweet smiles :)

One cool dude...and yes, his dad does rock!

Making projects from Nana and Pop-pop

Huga-wuga. This one is called Foodoo-makakiki...no joke

Not quite Larry King, but here is a conversation with Foodoo-makakiki


Happy New Years!!

All set for the new year celebrations!

Shaking his jelly beans

Drawing with his chalk

Cory and Amanda at the zoo...Leif didn't want in the picture

Recognition well deserved

Getting ready to celebrate number 3

There were water balloons...

...good company...

...pinatas...

...fun with friends...

...good food and lots of people...

...pin the tail on the cat (Leif's idea)...

...and cake.

Birthday booty.

Leif's best present from his birthday was his huge pile of water balloons. Here we are at 6:30am; simply couldn't wait.

Splat!

Having a great time!

Love that face

Hmmm....choclate fudge cake is pretty good.

Spreading the peanut butter cream frosting.
Grandma would be so proud :)


We hope you have all had a safe and wonderful holiday season and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

Aloha

Cory, Amanda, Leif, and "baby Boo"

Winter in Paradise

Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving has come and gone and the tree just went up the other day. Things are going well in Hawaii and the weather is perfect! Who would ever want to live in the cold (sorry to all of you who are enduring sub freezing temps, snow, and arctic winds)?

The photos below are another sampling of the last month of so; certainly some wacky and amazing moments. Enjoy!


Super Dad and his side-kick Super Leif


The boy loves to bake


Wish we had a button that said "Look! I dressed myself!"

For Thanksgiving we packed up two coolers worth of food and beverages and hit the beach. We went over to one of our all time favorites, Lanikai and it was beautiful as usual. We stayed for a few hours and then made our way to the North Shore to have a picnic lunch under the Ko'Olau mountains. After that we stopped at the legendary Sunset beach to watch some big waves pounding the coast (not even close compared to what was to come in the near future); the second leg of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing would be starting in a couple of days.


Loving Lanikai beach on Thanksgiving

Trapping mom with a rope

Love that smile!

Leif the Science Kid conducting another experiment with ice.

Belly showing beneath the Ko'olaus

Silly boy making silly faces

Leif and Dad hanging at the beach on Thanksgiving

A great way to spend Thanksgiving!

Amanda and Cory on the North Shore, photo by Leif

Sweet boy hiding

Round 2 of the Vans Triple crown of surfing: Sunset Beach

In the week that followed we started to get ready for Christmas. One day when Amanda needed some time to focus on her projects Leif and Dad went out for the day and ended up getting a "whole huge denormous pile" of balloons. If you know this boy and his fixation with balloons, you know that he was shaking with excitement as Dad blew up every single balloon. Phew!


It must be heaven

Leif also loved helping decorate the house and the Christmas tree. He has learned that he only gets to touch the "soft" or non-breakable ornaments and that is fine with him. He is also doing ok with the presents so far. Only a few were taken back to his room to be played with (still in the wrapping, though).


Finding a perfect spot for an ornament

Helping mom decorate the tree

Whoa-ho-o!! It might be chocolate!


Thank you Grandma!

Later in the week, the surf forecasts were calling for some of the biggest surf on the North Shore in 20 years. This also meant that the Quicksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau Big Wave Surf Contest (a.k.a The Eddie) was likely to go. The Eddie is only held when waves are consistently above 30 feet in face heights for the day. The last Eddie was held in 2004 but this is not to say that there have not been big enough swells, we had two near 40 feet last year, the conditions were just not ideal. This year was all but perfect. Cory took the day off from school (sorry students) and left at 4:30 in the morning so he could get a place to park. He arrived at Waimea Bay at 5:15 and only had to park 1 mile away! The beach was already packed. It was reported that over 30,000 people were at the Bay that day. Anyhow, it was a once in a life time experience for sure.


Eddie would go...and it was big!

An ominous morning

Party ride...sharing the aloha

Hazardous conditions to say the least (40+ft)! Shoots! 18 ft scares me!

The Eddie was BIG!!! 30-40+ foot waves...omg!

Kelly Slater after his near perfect 98 monster ride

The Bay will call the day...it's on!!

15 ft shore break...simply impressive

In two days Cory will be running the Honolulu Marathon (12-13-09) and pictures of his nearly lifeless corpse will follow; likely on our Christmas post. So until then, have a great holiday season!

Aloha and mele kalikimaka!!

Cory, Amanda, Leif, and "Boo"

Harvest Time

Happy Harvest Time!

Fall is certainly in full swing and all of the Bennetts in Hawaii are glad that October is pau (done). Last month was completely nuts with all of the parties, projects, and obligations that we had to attend to. The start of October was a bit more relaxing as Cory was on Fall break so we were able to get to the beach a few more days. Anyhow, here are some photos of the last month or so. It is nice to look back on these as it reminds us how important it is to just stop and take time to enjoy life...especially when you live in such a beautiful place as Hawaii.


Enjoying Fall break at Lanikai beach

Time for a snack

Digging out a huge fort

lounging at Ko Olina

Chicken Joe's (from Surf's Up) famous line: "I can feel it in my nuggets"

On Cory's birthday we found out that our second child will also be a boy. We were all quite happy to hear that he is looking fine and seems to be in perfect health. Leif has decided that the baby should be called "Boo" after the character in Monster's Inc. even though this character was a girl. Regardless, it made for a clever addition to Amanda's second costume for this year (see below). The due date looks to be March 23, 2010.

Beautiful baby "Boo"

Contemplating birthday cake

Happy 34 Dad!

One of the things that had Cory swamped was the annual Hawaii Association of Middle Schools annual conference in October. Cory is a board member, president elect for the upcoming year, and volunteered to run/present a "learning lab." Terry T., one of Cory's most respected colleagues, agreed to co-present and it was so nice to share this experience with her. Cory is hopefully nearing the end of his course work for his PhD, too. He met with his committee the other day and they agree that he is ready for is comprehensive examines and it looks like he will be writing them over Christmas break. So, if anyone is planning a vacation please do not come during this time as Cory needs to be extremely focused on this exam (answering four questions each answer being about 15 pages long).

Cory's presentation at the H.A.M.S. annual conference

We also made our traditional trip to the pumpkin patch. Each year it gets so much better. This time Leif was able to pick out the pumpkin he wanted all by himself.

Found a good one!

2007--10 months old

2008--22 months old

2009--34 months old

Leif painting his pumpkins

Amanda went gang-busters trying to make birthday gifts for Leif's friends, our Halloween costumes, and product for the Honolulu Mommies craft fair that was held during the HM Halloween party. I don't know how she pulled it off but she did (super mom I guess:). Unfortunately, Leif was scared of the Kermit shirt she made and we ended up being ghosts again for Halloween.

The costume that never was

This is as close as Leif got to being Kermit

Animal and Kermit at neighbor's costume party

Miss Piggy and Kermit at the same party

Honolulu Mommies annual Halloween party

The fruits of her labor

Getting ready to carve pumpkins

It's trick or treat time!!!!

Momma and baby "Boo"

Leif and Dad scoring big on Halloween booty

The only jack-o-lantern we made...guts were "stinky!"

We hope your fall has been less hectic than ours and sincerely hope that you might have a chance to come visit us in the near future (though Christmas is likely not a good time this year...see above). So, until then,

aloha!

Cory, Amanda, Leif, and baby "Boo"

Good Times

Aloha!

A lot has been going on here but we will keep this short and let the pictures and videos do most of the talking. Amanda is feeling better now that she is into her second trimester and she is even starting to show a little. Pictures of her and more details will follow with our next post.



Leif and Dad with their first homegrown pineapple

Amanda scored huge pile of free fabric and other sewing supplies. It was like Christmas came early! Of course she set to work making lots of projects and gifts for others.

That's a lot of fabric

Leif had been singing songs after dinner and decided to do it while being a strong man. We thought he was going to burst a blood vessel while doing this. Once again, another reason he keeps us laughing.

Wheels on the bus meets strong man

One day we took a trip to the Dole Plantation to kill some time. Leif loved climbing up on the pineapple pictures and sticking his head through. He has his legs spread wide in back and is standing on two posts; which he figured out how to do on his own.

Leif at the "Pineapple Place"

One sweet smile

Leif and Dad being silly

Amanda needed some time to get things done around the house one day so Leif and Cory took off to the zoo. We had a blast seeing all the animals, including the stinky elephants.

So excited to be at the zoo

Showing Dad the Meerkats

Deep in thought at the zoo

Leif came up with this one day. He found Amanda in the kitchen and wanted to show her the "pulley" he made. Amanda wasn't sure what he was saying as we had NEVER talked tohim about pulleys. On top of that, he wanted Amanda to be sure she knew what he was talking about so he clarified that it was "a pulley; a simple machine mom."

Showing off his pulley (a simple machine) invention

Leif won a slip n slide at a friends birthday party. Needless to say he loved it.

Such a strong boy

best part of the slip n slide...drinking the water


Having a great time on the slip n slide

Cory surprised his dad for his 60th birthday by coming back for the party. He had a great time seeing his mom, grandma, siblings, and other family members, too. It was a visit full of aloha though Cory really missed not having Amanda and Leif there.

Fremont country side views

Views from Cory's 12 mile run

Wild sunflowers and farm equipment


Shaka Mom

Fall arriving early in Fremont

Grandma Thor and Cory after talking story over ice cream


Cory's Dad's 60th B-day party


Sister, brother, Dad, and Cory

Leif missed his dad, partly because he wanted his " big huge pile of prizes" that Dad had promised him.

Excited to have his big huge pile of prizes



Its Mater!!!

We hope all is well and hope to hear from you soon.

Aloha

Cory, Amanda, Leif, and "baby boo" (as Leif calls it :)

Hapai

Aloha to you all,

Here is a little clarification on the title of this blog. It comes from "Eye of Hawaii: Pidgin, the unofficial language."

Hapai (ha-PIE). With child. Amanda wen come hapai, ass why she no moa surfing.

or, "I thought Amanda stay momona, but she come hapai"

foa mo da kine try wen look at: http://www.eyeofhawaii.com/Pidgin/pidgin.htm


If you have further questions feel free to call!!

aloha

Cory, Amanda, and Leif

School Begins

Aloha!!

Yes, August has just begun and for most people that means they are enjoying the warm days of summer but for us it means Cory is going back to work. This will be his fifth year teaching and the start of our fifth year in Hawaii; we can't believe how fast the time has gone by. During our time here we have met MANY new friends who have gladly welcomed us into their lives...it is hard to describe what "aloha" means, but we have vividly clearly feel it time and time again.

Leif got a package from Grandma a few weeks ago and it included Great Grandpa Thor's old binoculars. Leif loved them and wouldn't put them down for hours

Checking out the "big pine cone trees"

A "whole huge big pile of friends" at a play date in our backyard

The "mac cheese tower"

During the last few weeks we were able to get out and have some fun together. Including play dates with Leif's friends, a Thomas the train play time at Toys R Us, the water park, the Prince Lot Hula festival, and simply hanging out at the beach. The surf has been incredible this summer on the south side, too, so Cory has had some great days in the water (including some overhead sets at Swabby Land).

The Thomas the Train paper hat stayed on for nearly 2hrs

Leif and Momma at Prince Lot

Even the aunties and tutus rock!

Leif loves watching hula and says he "might try this someday"

Kumu Cazimero's halau at the Prine Lot Hula Festival

All in all things are ok though the affects of a broken economy are now knocking at our door. The Hawaii Dept. of Education has had their budget cut by several hundred million dollars and the Governor (the primary agent on the other side of the teacher's union bargaining table) has threatened mass layoffs if the union does not accept a major pay reduction, furlough days (shorten the school year and no pay teachers), and an increase in medical premiums. If the Governor gets her way, Cory will be taking a 20% reduction in wages. This is perhaps the scariest time for our family. As such, Cory will be looking for a second job hopefully teaching part time (evening or weekends?) at one of the local community colleges. And yes, this is on top of his regular work, his increased course load at UH this next semester, and being a husband and a father. C'est la vie.

Besides that, Leif is growing bigger though not really putting on much more weight...he is still 27.5 pounds and we think he has been at this weight for nearly a year. He is still growing taller though so the doctors say there isn't anything to really worry about. Amanda has always been a petite person and was relatively little growing up so perhaps he takes after her in this way.

Learning to ride his "bike" with his new Elmo helmet


Leif riding his bike on his own for the first time

Amanda has also been creating some very cool gifts using her quilting and sewing skills. Be sure to check out her blog to see the latest...they really are quite cute and creative.

"Might be a monster???"

Leif is being Leif. Still attached to his mom in many ways ("Mom loves to give big up hugs all the time.") and is learning many new things. In particular his sentence structure is getting much better and the complexity of his sentences is also growing. He often puts together nine to twelve word sentences that are unique thoughts, not just responses to a question or a repetition of what we have said. And, as usual, he is obsessed with balloons; water, big, small, hot air...it doesn't matter. Leif is also really in to helping cook things now. Often he wakes up in the morning and says, "maybe we should make some waffles," or "Oh, Yeah! Lets make pancakes," or simply "I want to make cupcakes." We either need to remind him that we just made a "big pile" of pancakes or waffles and that they are in the freezer or that we don't eat cupcakes for breakfast (though grandpa might argue otherwise).


The pleasures of baking!

On a final note, Cory has started his training to run the Honolulu Marathon on December 13. Does anyone want to come out and support him as he seeks to complete this crazy stupid endeavor?

We hope all is well in your part of the world and look forward to seeing or hearing from you soon!

Alooooooha!

Cory, Amanda, and Leif

Summer Time

Aloha!

A year ago at this time we were in Nebraska bundled up because the AC was freezing (we actually went to go buy socks, sweatshirts, and long PJ's for Leif) and weathering one of the strongest storms the greater Fremont/Omaha area had seen (100+ mph winds).

Happy we live Hawaii

This summer is still quite busy but for different reasons. Cory is taking two classes at UH in an attempt to finish his PhD corse work in one more year and is co-creating/teaching a three week integrated mathematics and science program for 30+ incoming 8th graders.

Amanda has been sewing some (and attempting to slice her fingers off with marginal success) but mostly staying busy with Leif and her mommies group.

Leif is changing so much and is just so much fun to be around. He still has his moments but without a doubt he is the boy of our dreams!

Diver mask on and ready for the beach

Together, we have gone to the beach a bit (as usual), went to see John Cruz perform at the zoo in Waikiki, attempted to see Elmo at Sesame Street Live (Scared Leif: "It's kind of too loud."), watched a great 4th of July show from our local beach, and have had a few sunset picnics at the beach. Life is good:)

Great food, music, and laughs in Waikiki

Besides that we are also on Skype and have called grandpa and grandma and grandma in Nebraska a few times. Leif is a little shy when it comes to talking to them on the computer but we are sure he will figure it out soon enough. Finally, we have a new computer; the old one crashed two days after we backed up our data! Anyhow, enjoy the pictures!

Leif at his end of year school party

Leif playing with Coby (our neighbor) at Coby's birthday party

Cruising with his new helmet

Making "silly faces"

Enjoying his new toys...a Cinderalla found on the beach and a new "hamahopter"

Swiming with Mom at Lanikai beach

Didn't even make 20 minutes at Sesame Street Live

Playing in and near the tide pools at Chun's Reef

Loving a special ice cream treat in Waikiki

Sunset picnic at Ko Olina

Trying for the Bjorn Borg look...not too far off really

Celebrating the 4th on the beach

Trying to get to some treats

Waiting for the fireworks to start...thank goodness for balloons

Having fun with Dad

The smile says it all

perfect

Wrapped up and watching the sun set

"Big huge balls of stars way high up in sky"

amazing!

Finally here is a video Cory took of Leif as they were driving to buy a "big boy potty." Cory didn't realize what he was doing until after he watched the video...the boy is a comedian.



Our summer is coming to a close soon as Cory goes back to work in two weeks but we hope all of you have a great rest of your summer and we look forward to hearing from (or seeing???) you soon.

A hui ho!!!

Cory, Amanda, and Leif