1 Week! The countdown begins............

In one week from today our family (Mama, Papa and Guapo who is currently 2.5 years old) are setting off on our 5 month adventure that will take us from Hawaii to Mexico to Ecuador and all that is in between.  When we arrive in Puerto Vallarta we will have just shy of 2 months to make our way to Mindo, Ecuador where we will spend 3 months managing the Las Tangaras Nature Reserve.  Other than these few dates and locations there is no set itenerary.  We plan to travel pretty cheaply and travel by bus the whole way, except for the likely flight from somewhere in Central America to South America.   I am sure the pace of our travel will depend a lot on the surfing conditions in Mexico (Papa) and the mood of our 2.5 year old.  Preferably we will get to someplace cool and spend a few days there before we move on, limiting the number of times we have to spend long days on the bus which I can only imagine will make for a cranky kiddo.
So this is the begining to a new adventure for us.  I  by to be able to access the internet often to update the blog about our adventures as we go.  Follow along suscribing to this blog and get updated as we go!


This map shows where we are starting from and where we will be flying to and where we need to be in September.  I will add our destinations as we go.


View Hawaii to Ecuador in a larger map

The Bishop Museum and Sesame Street

The Bishop museum is a wonderful museum on O'ahu that includes exhibits on polynesian culture and also has science exhibits that the kids enjoy.  We purchased a family membership because it was such a great deal and we have been to the museum several times now.  Nev really enjoys the science discovery center where they have a "active" volcano and lava tubes to crawl in. Unfortunately I do not have to many pictures of the museum.

Sliding down a lavval tube with Grandma

They also have rotating exhibits and currently the Sesame Street Body Exhibit is there.  I think we have been there 3 or 4 times now! It is pretty cool and teaches about your body and health, excercise, and eating well.  The interactive exhibits are really fun for the kids.  Nev loves the "Grocery Store!"

Welcome Benjamin!

Our adventure in Hawaii will soon be coming to an end (more on that later) so I am going to try to make a mad dash to catch up on this blog so that I can start blogging about our new adventure.  If you don't already know what it is I will leave you in suspense for now.

Anyway, this post is not even about Hawaii.  This story takes place in California where Nev and I traveled to to meet the newest member of our family Benji!  We spent a couple of weeks there witht the family and we had a wonderful time.

Nev on the plane

This was also the first flight we have done with Nev getting his very own seat on the plane.  What a difference that makes!

Nev and his Uncle

We spent a lot of time with Nev's cousins and boys will be boys so there was A LOT of wrestling going on.  Nev also really enjoyed spending time with the little baby.  He kept asking to "pet" the baby.

Such a sweat baby!



While we were in California we also got to make a trip to the snow.  Nev and I had a good time throwing snow balls and making the tiniest snow man ever.

Nev also got to visit Grandpa at his work and pet and feed the horses carrots.



We also went to the train museum and the zoo.  It was a wonderful trip!

Catching up and The Children's Discovery Cneter

It has been awhile since I last posted (I feel like I say that in every post) and I need to catch up.......
I have been spending most of my free computer time on my 365 project.  Here is a link to it if you want to have a look at what I have been up to: http://365project.org/jaimeratchford/365

I have been going through my picture files on my computer trying to clean them up and organize them.  This is a daunting task; I have a lot of pictures and they are not well organized and I have a tendency to not want to delete pictures even when I have so many of the same thing or ones that are not very good.  Anyway, going through my pictures made me realize I have a lot of posts to catch up on.  So here is the first of more to come:

The Children's Discovery Center, Honolulu, HI
Nev and I made a trip to the children's discovery center back in February.  We had been to the one in Portland which was pretty impressive and the one in Honolulu is just as good if not better!
It has 3 stories of interactive exhibits for the kids and is good for children of a wide age group.  This included a lot of role playing exhibits and toys.  Nev enjoyed playign fireman and driving the fire truck.

There is a train area with a toy train which was hard to get him away from.

 There is a big reading room with an Giant chair.  Nev was getting cozy with all the stuffed animals

 There is also alot of exhibits that are realated to Hawaii.  One floor is dedicated to it.  This includes things like the pineapple plantation, flying,  and shipping boats.  Nev and his friend enjoyed working in the pineapple plantation, picking the pineapples.

 The one section I really like was exhibits of some of the many cultures of the people who live in Hawaii.  Nev and his friend enjoyed driving the world travel bus. 

     All in all it was really fun for him.  I hope to get back there again soon!

Honolulu Zoo

We took a trip to the Honolulu Zoo a couple of weeks ago.  I tried to arrange an outing with the toddler meetup group I am part of but only one other mom and baby showed up.  This was OK with me.  I like a smaller group over a large one.  I feel like I get to know the mom and kid better.



 We had a lot of fun! I had wanted to go because I heard there was a new elephant exhibit there and Nev loves elephants.  I had heard some poor reviews for the zoo so I wasn't expecting much but it turned out a lot better than expected.  I am even planning to make more trips back there because there was still a lot there we didn't see and it was not to expensive to go.

Next time we go we will head for the keiki zoo which has a petting zoo that we did not make it to this time.  The zoo also has a nice play area with a playground.

This picture below was my photo for the day in my 365 project.  Here is a link to my page if you are interested. http://365project.org/jaimeratchford/365



An Update

Nev is becoming such a big boy these days and has had many transitions in his life lately.  We have been teaching him about the potty for a long time now.  We have had a potty for him around since he was about a year and a half.  I had no hopes in him using it that young but I just thought it would be a good idea to have one around and talk about it early on so that it wouldn't become this new thing all of a sudden.  For that last few months he has been consistently peeing in the potty at home and we have been working on it when we are out of the house too.  Lately he has been pooping in the potty and today he did it all by himself! Twice!!

These are very exciting times!

 Nev has also moved into a "big boy bed".  Really it is just his crib with the side off and we put up a rail so he won't fall out but the main idea is that he can get in and out of it on his own.  It has been a bit of a challenge keeping him in his bed but he is getting the hang of it even though he is waking up a little too early.  He seems to be very proud of his big boy bed and likes being able to get in and out of it by himself.

These days Nev's favorite thing to do is play with his train.  He also likes stacking blocks and building things which is a big step up from just wanting to knock everything down.  He is talking up a storm these days and blows me away every day with his increasing vocabulary and the complexity of his "sentences".  He also loves to sing and is even starting to make up his own songs to the tune of songs he knows.  It's pretty cute!

Makapu'u Lighthouse



 We recently took a hike out to the south eastern most tip of the island to see the Makapu'u' light house.  We went in the morning to beat the heat and the crowds as there is no shade on this hike and it is also quite popular with tourists and locals alike. 

The hike is about 1.5 miles round trip.  The trail is uphill pretty much the whole way up but there are many places to stop and take a break and take in the incredible view.  In the winter time that view will likely include humpback whales of the shore.  The trail is also paved, although pretty bumpy, so Nev rode in the jogging stroller most of the way up and down.

Before you get to the top there is a good view of the lighthouse and when you get to the top of the point you can look down on the light house.  Unfortunately you can not go all the way to the light house.  I believe it is still in operation ao I would imagine it has to be kept closed off to keep people from vandalizing it.  So sad!

Anyway, it was a great short hike with wonderful views.  When we were coming back down I noticed on spot far below the main trail, two large tidepools in the rocky coast line and there were people swimming in them.  It reminded me of a place we swam in when we visited Maui.  I really want to go check these pools out. Next time I visit them maybe I'll have to take a detour.