"Gorgeous! Just Gorgeous!"

  Being a parent is not easy, but what a ride it is. Yes there are trials and hard days and moments you just want to scream as loud as you can, maybe even run from the house and light yourself on fire...but the rest of it is amazing.

  I watch Apollo and Orion, the things that they do and say, and I am still blown by them on a daily basis. They bring me so much joy and laughter. How I see them inside and out can be summed up in three words uttered by a complete stranger in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii on our last day there; "Gorgeous! Just gorgeous!" We were walking down the street to a beach, and this random lady and her male companion were sitting in front of an old church, just watching us walk towards them. She smiled admiringly at Apollo and Orion and spoke those sweet words...Gorgeous! Just gorgeous!
  Both boys have such incredible personalities yet are so different from one another. Apollo, even though he can be extremely shy and leery of strangers, has the personality of a comedian. Melanie and I both arrived at the conclusion independent of one another, that we could see him becoming a comedian some day. He is goofy, has a great sense of humor, makes others laugh with ease, and impersonates everyone around him.

 Apollo thrives on the energy given by others when he is in "performance" mode. I am sure I had everything to do with teaching him this behavior, mostly by reinforcing it by laughing uncontrollably. I get scolded for this by my darling wife but honestly, it is a very fine line between curbing a bad behavior and encouraging a personality to blossom. My logic is that if I find it funny (albeit inappropriate at times) then it must be funny...right? Yes, this gets me in a lot of trouble around my house.
  On the flight back from Hawaii, we were on our final descent. Apollo was in the middle seat, I was in the aisle seat, and another boy, about the age of 9 or 10 was seated in the window seat. Apollo went in to full on performance mode. He had me and the boy by the window laughing uncontrollably. He turned every comment, word, view out the window, etc, into a bit of comedy. His altered voice and facial expressions were outrageous. I tried to cover his mouth several times, but I was laughing to hard for him to take me seriously. After the plane landed, we stood up and waited for other passengers to move down the aisle out of our way. The lady directly across the aisle from me sparked up a conversation;
"You ought to get that one into acting school. He is hilarious. I have been a school teacher for 25 years, 8 and 9 year olds, and I can tell you that he truly has a comedic gift."
We talked about Apollo for about 5 minutes while he entertained the little boy sitting next to him. Apollo broke the ice with this older boy before the plane left Hawaii. At first the older boy seemed annoyed with Apollo, but Apollo won him over with, "Raise your hand if your going to California," His hand held high looking at me, then the older boy then back to me.
"Um," the little boy answered, "The whole plane is going to California."
"What? I thought we were going to Rio!" Apollo replied sarcastically. Both the boy and I began to laugh.
   This is one of Apollo's gifts. He is quick witted and sometimes annoying as he is constantly mimicking others. We try to teach him that its not always appropriate to impersonate others, but at this point we are loosing the battle.

  Orion...this baby boy is the sweetest, most affectionate little guy. He is not afraid to show you that he loves you. But by sharp contrast, he is fiercely independent and bossy. He will not let you do anything for him that he can do for himself. It is refreshing most times but honestly, getting in the car is a long process requiring patience from his mom and I. He has to open his own door, climb in, and strap himself into the car seat.
  "Wait guys! I'm not ready yet," he calls out from the back seat, "Okay, I'm ready now." Yes, we have been reduced to being called "guy's".
  He is engaging and energetic. Some of my best moment during the week are picking him up from child care at the club. He screams with excitement, "My dada is here!" while jumping up and down with excitement. He will run in place for a moment then run to great me with open arms, "Dada, did you come to pick me up?"

  Orion is also on the fast track to do everything Apollo can do, but three years sooner. The Airport Club, Melanie's work, has turned out to be a true blessing for our family. Not only are we taking advantage of the facilities, but we have so much fun with the boys there. The rock climbing wall and the swimming pools are there favorites. Apollo went from not wanting to put his face in the water back in March, to being a fish. We taught him to snorkel at the club and it really made for a fun time in Hawaii. Orion, while in Hawaii, decided that it would be fun to go under water just like everyone else. The first dozen times resulted in spitting up some water and coughing, but he would not be deterred, and as always, he only wanted to do it by himself. With in a couple days of getting back to the main land, Orion was going to the bottom of the 3 1/2 foot deep end of the pool. "Let's g under water!" he says before disappearing under the surface of the water. He smiles the whole time while under and shakes his head around. He will do this for 2 hours straight and can hold his breath now for nearly 30 seconds. Its quite impressive.

  With summer upon us, the sun shinning, vacations, adventures, both boys look the part of beach bums. I am in love with how cute they both are. Blond hair for Orion, highlights for Apollo, tan skin, sandals and shirtless; Gorgeous,just gorgeous!

Our first trip to Hawaii

Hawaii...What can I say? It is an amazing and beautiful place and I have loved it since the first time that I went there with my parents at age 15. Each time I go, I am more drawn to the islands. I almost moved to Maui once, and seriously considered moving the family to the big island another time. For myself, I could live anywhere tropical. Give me beaches, warm clear ocean water, humidity, tropical fruits, and plenty of warm sunshine and I will make it my home and be perfectly happy.
  I was fortunate enough to spend six weeks on a very small, private Fijian island once. I fell in love with it: I loved the people, the lifestyle, the land, and the sea. But that is a story for another day.

  This trip to Hawaii  contained many firsts for all of us: The first time on a plane for Apollo and Orion. The first time to the big island for myself, and the first time to Hawaii for Melanie... and Apollo and Orion for that matter.
  This trip was completely my idea, and to be honest about it, I did meet some opposition from Melanie when I first started planning it. I believe the comment was, "Hawaii is not even on my top 25 list of places to visit." I was persistent and after she spoke with a few friends about Hawaii, she agreed that she would go and make the best of it. Sure, there are many places in the world on my list to go, but how many of them are feasible with small children, without it turning into the trip from hell. My thought was that I knew Melanie would love a lot of things about Hawaii, the boys would have a great time, and to take the four of us, it would be relatively affordable. I needed a vacation where we did not have to spend a couple days driving, and have to spend another couple days visiting family and friends. Not that there is anything wrong with visiting with our loved ones, but our time is always short and we are always rushed. Hawaii seemed like the perfect place to do exactly the opposite of that.

  For Melanie, I know certain things that would amaze her in Hawaii, namely; snorkeling, the fish, the reefs, the flora and fawn, and of course the weather. Was I being selfish? Absolutely! Did things turn out the way I had hoped? Definitely! Actually, even better than I had hoped. There are things that would have made the trip better for Melanie and I, such as some alone time, being able to snorkel alone together, walks on the beach, sunsets, walking under the stars, etc....but that would be for our next trip and obviously I would not be sharing much of that here. ;) I am a bit of a romantic so I really feel like we missed out on those things this time, but I would not trade the family time we spent together.

  I have a deep connection for nature and all things living, and in Hawaii, nature is in her best form. I could spend all day snorkeling and playing on or in the water. I am a very sensory-tuned individual, by which I mean, I relish in the way things look, smell, taste, feel, and sound. For me, I take every bit of those sensations in. It is what drives me and makes me feel alive. I love filling my nose with the sweet smell of plumeria with every breath, and the many other varieties of fragrant flowers, lush earth, and warm ocean air.

I love the warmth of the sun as it toasts my bare skin, the warm ocean water as it glides across my body, feeling the different temperatures in the currents.
  I love the sounds of the birds, the wind through the palm trees, the waves as they crash against the rocks, and even the sounds you hear underwater in the ocean, the most prevalent of which are the loud clicks of parrot fish biting off pieces of coral.

 I love the taste of all the fresh Hawaiian fruits, Everything, and I mean everything, just tastes so much better there.

The islands are beautiful to behold in many ways: The water, the land, the sky. Even walking down a city street, I look at and notice the tiniest plants and flowers, or in the rainforest where everything is so green and lush, overgrown and of impressive size, or that amazing water that is so clear, and all the beautiful fish and wild life which she holds.

 Favorite memories from Hawaii:

The boys excitement getting on the jet.
Snorkeling.
The boys seeing their first fish underwater.
Melanie and the boys dancing to live music in front of a cafe.
Stand up Paddle boarding.
Honu (Sea turtles)
Plumeria and palm trees
Exploring

  Favorite things I heard on our trip:
On our way from the airport to hotel room, Orion kept saying "Wow! Where are we?" As he looked around as I drove. "Hawaii," I finally answered. "I love this place!" he exclaimed.
Apollo: "My first day in Hawaii and I peed my pants!"
Melanie: "I always saw myself as kind of bohemian or a hippie, turns out I am really just a beach bum."
Melanie: "I could see myself living here."
Apollo: "A Humu-humu what?" laughing hysterically as I told him the name of the Hawaii state fish (Humuhumnukunukuapua'a). "Say that word again, dada!"

Orion: "Dada! I see another lizard!" Several times each day.

Orion: "We're going on a ship!" Planes are planes, small jets are jets, and large jets are "ships".

A vacation is a vacation and like all vacations, unfortunately it had to come to an end. We packed our bags and solemnly boarded our "ship". Because of a seating mix up, I even tried to get them to bump us from the flight so we could spend one more night in Hawaii. They weren't having it. Alas, we said good bye to the big island as our ship rose from the ground, climbed through the clouds and pointed us towards home.