Fall Break

Once again a big aloha to you all!

"coo dude"
Not a whole lot new here in the islands. Leif continues to grow and get better or learn new things each day. He can recognize and name several letters and loves to count to ten. He has even started counting things (though he doesn't quite have the one to one correspondence yet) and can recognize, and say most of the names pretty well, for such shapes as square, rectangle, triangle, circle, oval, rhombus (no diamonds here!!!), star, and octagon.

My how they change...

Fall break just ended for Cory so we spent much of our time in vacation mode; going to the beach. The pictures speak for themselves so enjoy.

One of Leif's favorite past times...making circles in the sand (Euclid would be proud).

chillin with Mamma

Chasing and being chased by waves

Hanging out at Alii beach in Haleiwa with 18 foot waves rolling in

Making forts and castles in Kailua

Amanda has been busy with her Honolulu Mommies group, quilting (she made Cory a quilt of a Golden Rectangle for his birthday), and being a great mother. Cory just gave a presentation at the annual Hawaii Association of Middle Schools conference on mathematics and adolescents. He is still working like mad on his National Board certification but looking forward to the winter waves (and a new surfboard???).

Leif eating some of his dad's "happy cake"

This year Leif is going to be a ghost for Halloween. Amanda made him a great "ghost suit" and matching shirts for the two of us as well; they look awesome!

Wearing his bucket on his head

Leif was getting a real kick out of doing this

"Boo"

We got a smokin' deal on passes to the water park in Kapolei and Leif has been loving it. We never thought we would own a seasons pass to such a place but it has been a ton of fun for the whole family. Sometimes Amanda and Leif go with the Mommies group for a late morning play date.

Leif and Amanda on the "orj slyd"

Lovin' the "Water--Park"

Words can't express how much we love living here but maybe a picture can!

Leif is also becoming more expressive as he gets older. From time to time he will start making funny faces or say things in different voices and then just crack up at his silliness; we do, too.

What a comedian!

Leif and his new George...he loves it so much!

We will be going to Washington for Christmas this year and are very excited to see our friends and family there. We will only be around for a couple of weeks but if any of you are interested in getting together please drop us a line; we would love to see you.

Aloha to you all and we can't wait to see you all again!

Boy is Getting Big

Aloha family and friends!

Fall officially begins in a couple of days but the temperatures are still in the upper 80's every day and it is down right muggy. But that is the trade off for winter temperatures in the upper 70's and lower 80's.

Learning how to eat olives

So tired he fell asleep at dinner--Dad put the yoghurt smile on his face

Leif is growing and changing so much since our last post two months agao. It seemed like he was learning a lot of words so we decided to count them. Two days later we decided to stop as we were at 260 and this endeavor seemed like a waste of time as he was daily learning new words. Leif has learned many colors (red, yellow, blue, orange, green, brown, black, pink, white, purple, and grey) and likes to use them to describe things now, like the "beeeg wred burd" he saw at the pet store. He has also learned his numbers from 1 to 6 and from 8- 10, he gets hung up on seven sometimes, and we often find him reciting these numbers by himself. He seems to be trying to count but he still lacks the one-to-one corespondence--Daddy says, "how cool!"

I love my graham crackers

Telling Mama about pineapples at the Dole Plantation

"Da peek papple"

Leif and his cat "Vufur"--his word for Zephyr

Next to his all time favorite thing to do, reading books, Leif loves to play with Play-Doh, color pictures with his craysons, make pictures with finger paints, and color with chalk. He is really creative but also wants Mamma or Daddy to do it with him. He often asks for one of us to draw something and then he will color it in. Right now he loves to have us draw circles of different sizes and colors--"Lille shircle...Beeeg shircle." Did we mention that he can recognize and say circle and triangle, the later is true for various types of triangles, too!!

Taking side walk art to a new level

Last month went to the Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie and had a great time. Leif loved the boat ride and the waterfalls. However, our favorite family pastime is still going to the beach and it is so nice to be able to take an evening walk after dinner and end up at the beach watching the beautiful colors of a tropical sunset; it's hard to beat.

At home on the beach

Blue shirt, blue sky, and blue eyes!

Leif and Daddy at the famous Sunset Beach

Leif has also been going to "school" with his mom. There is a playing/activity time at our local elementary school for toddlers three times a week. They play, sing songs, have a snack, do a project, and then go home. Leif is really enjoying it and we have started hanging his work on the proverbial fridge!

Cory seems to be up to his ears as usual. He is still teaching full time, and loving it, but is also working on his PhD, National Board Certification (the "Academy Awards" of teaching), Presenting at the State conference for the Hawaii Association of Middle Schools, as well as continuing his work as board member and editor of the monthly newsletter for the Hawaii Association of Middle Schools.

Amanda has been very busy quilting again and is looking forward to getting a new machine even though it may be another 9-12 months. She makes such beautiful quilts; her works seem to grace every room of the house. She has also taken on responsibilities as the local "den mother" (Cory's words) of the Honolulu Mommies. It keeps her busy on some days but this means that Leif is also getting out and doing all kinds of great stuff.

Leif and Daddy flying kites at a Honolulu Mommies play date--Mamma brought us

Finally, we want to leave you with this short video. We have so many to chose from but we hope you enjoy it!

We hope you all have a wonderful fall and we can't wait to see you again.

A hui ho

Cory, Amanda, and Leif

Summer Fun

Aloha!

Though it is the middle of July, "summer" will be ending soon for us as Cory starts back at work again in a week. None the less, it has been a great summer with celebrations, traveling, and our all too treasured time at the beach.

Summer began with trips to the North Shore to hang out and play in the water. We also went with our friends to see Sesame Street Live--a real hit but the ultimate stimulation overload for Leif.

Leif loves to play on rocks and splash in the water!


Playing with best friend Sophia

This was followed up with a looooooooong flight from Honolulu to Fremont (via Minneapolis and Omaha) Nebraska to visit family, some of whom we haven't seen in nearly four years. We spent nearly three weeks in Nebraska and were able to do many great things.Leif was able to meet a couple of his wonderful grandmas, Aunties, Uncle, and cousins for the first time. Hanging out at Grandmas was great because we had many books to read, a little backyard "paradise" that was a close as one could get to feeling in paradise while being land-locked in the middle of the country, and water balloon fights with cousins.


Leif and Grandma reading together.


Chilling with a graham cracker in Grandmas backyard paradise.


Yeah!! Water balloon fight.


Cousin Jordan and his big muscles show Leif how to make a water balloon.

When we weren't hanging out at our home-base with Grandma and Grandpa or hanging with Grandma in her backyard paradise we had a lot of fun going to the local splash pad (perhaps the best thing in Fremont), the zoo in Omaha, the Omaha Children's museum, or to a local park that Cory also played at when he was growing up.


Grandma, Grandma, Cory, and Leif ready to roll.


Mama and Leif at the zoo


Mama and Leif playing at the splash pad


Leif loving the water

Frequently when Leif was asked where he wanted to go he would reply in that sweet voice of his, "beach." So, one day Grandpa and Grandma accompanied us to the local "beach" so that Leif could play in the sand. It worked but is not quite the same as Hawaii.


Grandpa and Leif playing in the sand.


The Bennett's at the "beach"


Leif and Mama on the swings at Clemmen's Park

The Omaha Children's museum must have felt like nirvana to Leif. One of their attractions included a ball room (literally) with many clear suctioned tubes that sucked and whisked balls to and fro, shooting them out in different areas, and then collecting many of them in a big holding bin in the ceiling that would proceed to dump the balls on the floor--like manna from heaven!


Ball heaven at the Omaha Children's museum
While we were there we also witnessed what was considered the storm of the decade. Amanda had never seen anything like this before and it had certainly been over a decade since Cory had either. There were in excess of 90 mile and hour winds, one inch hail, and rain so thick you couldn't see more than twenty yards from the tip of your nose. Entire fields with corn, knee to chest high, were stripped to barren soil. Many of homes in our area had damage in the tens of thousands of dollars and some communities and farms near by had their houses, barns, or grain silos destroyed. Some areas were without power for a week; we were only without power for a day and a half.


Watching the storm approach.


Playing "tall-tall tower" with Grandma


Hanging with cousin Nate was a blast!


What more can we say than..."DING!"

Near the end of vacation Cory's Dad challenged him to a round of golf even though it had been thirteen years since Cory touched a club. Needless to say "Grandpa" won, though not by much. Perhaps this is pay back for making Grandpa learn to surf.


Father and son golf tournament; we're the only participants, thus we won!!

Just yesterday we went to the 31st annual Prince Lot Hula festival at the Moanalua Gardens. This is a non-competitive festival showcasing different hula halaus across the islands. Amanda and Cory went their first year in Hawaii and have tried to get to it every year since. It is simply amazing and it held in one of the most beautiful places on the island. The enormous Monkey pod trees are worth seeing in and of themselves. Leif especially loved playing by these "tall, tall, trees."


Leif beneath the giant Monkey Pod trees.


Leif waiting as Kumu Hula Cazimero introduces his halau.

It has been a really great summer and Leif has been changing in so many ways. But, one thing remains. He is still the greatest joy in our lives and he continues to make us proud and bring smiles to our hearts.


So until we see you all again...aloha!

Cory, Amanda, and Leif

Hey..It's May

Aloha to you all!

It has been a while since our last post. Our visiting family have come and gone, Amanda and Leif have been busy playing with friends, and Cory has finished courses at UH for the semester (never mind that summer courses start in just a few days). We have finally settled into our new house (the last box was unpacked about a week ago) and we are loving it. We are so close to parks, friends, the beach, and Cory is just under three miles from work so he can still ride his bike most days. Amanda has finally gotten her sewing room up and going and is working hard on completing "baby" Kennon's quilt. Other big news, Cory was officially accepted into the University of Hawaii, College of Education, Curriculum and Instruction Doctoral program. Assuming all goes as planned he plans on having earned his PhD in a few years (yes he will have been in school as long as he has been married).


Leif and his friend Sophia at Ko Olina


Leif and his "cousin" dancing and playing in the back yard


The view from our back lanai--it doesn't get much better.


Playing in his own private pool


A smile and a star

Leif sure seems to be growing up; he is learning so much each day. We counted the number of words he can say the other day and were surprised to find that it was twenty! Some of these are: book, ball, daddy, mama, baby, bubbles, dog, cat, shoe, ding-ding (yup, that ding-ding), duck, turtle, hi, hello, cheese, teeth, and eyes. He is beginning to become more frustrated, too, as he wants to tell us things but struggles to say them. If we ask him to point to what he needs he does real well, though, and we are able to help him better. Leif is also learning many animal sounds, though some are extinct. The ones he does the best are dinosaur, cow, monkey, snake, and bunny.


Leif discovering the joys of sour cream


Listen to this

The other big news is that Leif is not only sleeping in his own room, but is doing it in a "big boy" bed, too. Add to this the fact that he now only wakes up once or twice a night--usually going down at 7:30 and having his first wake up around 3:00 to 4:00. Amanda and I are both quite pleased that he is having a good seven hour stretch of sleep.


Leif and Mom reading in his big boy bed

We have booked our flights to Nebraska and will be there for a couple of weeks at the end of June through the beginning of July. Some friends of ours will be moving out of their house and relocating back to the mainland but will need a place to stay until their flights leave. Coincidentally, these dates fall exactly on our travel dates so they will be house sitting for us while we are gone.

We still like to go to the beach as much as we can and it really is quite nice to have one within an eight minute walk of our front door. Sometimes we have even had a picnic dinner there. Often after dinner we end up on the beach playing and just watching the waves crash against the shore as the sun sets. If it sounds like paradise it is because, well...it is. We got a new bike wagon, thanks to Will and Kristy, and we can now ride our bikes if we like.


Enjoying a picnic dinner at our beach


How cool it must be to grow up at the beach


.
A boy. A bike. A ball.


Going for a ride

So until we see you again...aloha!!!

Cory, Amanda, and Leif