And....We're Home.

It was really hard for us to say goodbye Tuesday night before leaving for our red eye home to San Diego. We knew we were going to miss our Kaile (and Eric and Stace), and we do. Waaa! I wish we lived closer!

Here we are on the tarmac in San Diego, following our 20-minute flight from LAX.

We had quite an uneventful flight, thank God, with Axel sleeping pretty much the entire way home! Of course, I couldn't really sleep while holding him in a sleeping position, but I did watch a terrible movie in which Queen Latifah hooks up with an older b-ball player. Soooo awful. Terrible acting, predictable plot, awful storyline.

My sweet boy on the commuter. There were empty seats, so he got to sit in his car seat and sleep. Very nice.



And here he is nodding off. He slept the whole way.

And here we are waiting for our ride, which was 20 minutes late. Thanks a lot, Terremoto. He slept all the way home to our front door. So nice.

Beach and Playground, by Bike...

Our wheels.

Today, we were without a car, so we went to Kailua Beach Park and the Lanikai playground on Eric's bicycle. Kai sat on the handlebars like she does with Daddy, and Axel was in his backpack. We had a bucket on back, and a saddlebag, both full of gear. I think people thought I was nuts, and I'm sure they thought I should have been charged with child endangerment due to our lack of helmets, but it was fun. It worked.

Sand monster!

Kailua Beach Park

First, pedaled out of Lanikai to Kailua Beach, where we swam and played in the sand for awhile. Then we all loaded up onto the bike again and went down to Kalapawai Market to eat our lunch. There, Kaile decided she wanted to go to the playground, so we pedaled back to Lanikai, to the Canoe Club's park area. The playground there is awesome, with a padded floor and, most importantly, a couple of large shade trees. Axel and Kai both had a wonderful time.

Weeeeee!!!

Axel amazed me when he sat in the swing, got one push from me, and immediately and spontaneously started pumping until he was going even higher than he did with my push! What? How the heck did he know how to do that? He leaned forward and backward, in perfect cadence with the to and fro motion. Look at the video. It'll blow your mind.

How did my 1-year-old learn how to swing? I swear, he was trying to go higher!

He amazed me a second time when he climbed onto the slide and went halfway up it with no help. Watch the video; it'll show you how he went sideways to shimmy up it. So funny. He's a natural climber, and we already knew that, but I was still floored by the slide climbing. He also kept climbing from the ground to the top of the slide, via the steps; no surprise.

Climbing the slide.

Serious contemplation on the slide.

Kai slid down the slide several times with Ax in her lap. What a good cousin!

Traffic jam...


Climbing on the climby things.

Giving Hans some love.

Axel's Party With our Hawaii Friends

This Saturday, we had a fun party with my cousin Matt and his girlfriend Kate; our friends the Go's from Alabama from when I was in 4th through 8th grades, plus Lani's son Daxton and partner Dexter; friends Allison and Fonzo; and all of us Olson's and Salisbury's.  It was a grand time.  Of course, Axel was tired and cranky and had to go to bed directly after cake, but it was fun, nonetheless.

We had salmon, smoked marlin and smoked ahi dips, artichoke cheese dip, sushi, shrimp, and all sorts of other pupus.  It was great, but I am now at least 5 lbs heavier than when I arrived here.  Dangit.

Thank you to to all our guests for a fun time, awesome birthday presents, and much merriment!

Kaile and Axel playing in an overturned ottoman before the party.

Axel and Mama Go.

From right to left:  Rod (foreground), Dex, Lani, Dax, Bette, and Axel.

Eric carries in the cake while Kate cheers in the background.

Lani and me with our boys.

Axel looks thrilled to have such a large cake.

The tired little boy is ready for bed at this point.  Note the goopy icing in the vicinity of the caterpillar.

I'm tired, so here are some photos.

We had a good day today. We opened a couple of presents, including a T-shirt, a Slinky, and a tool set that Axel just loves. Later, we went to the beach for a short while, napped, went to the neighbor's pool, napped, had dinner, and went to bed.


Playing with his new mini Slinky.

Opening a present.

Axel showed a lot of personality this evening at dinner. He and uncle, and the rest of us, were making fart noises to try to get him to join in.

More farty sounds. He's soooo funny!

Beach Day

He always heads straight into the ocean, head first.

Our amphibian, completely undaunted by a wave in his face.

Playing in the waves.

Watching the sets come in.

Surf boy.

Doing the flamenco on the beach.

This video is a pretty good illustration of Axel's gusto when it comes to the ocean. He has no fear, even though he got swamped and rolled completely under by a wave two times. He is an animal!



Axel went over and picked up Kaile's paddle on his own to play with it. I think he wants to be a paddler. He's a good little Hawaiian boy.

I think he looks like an Olson in these pics.

Maybe I think people with paddles in their hands look like my brother.

The North Shore

Today, Eric, Kai, Axel, and I went to the North Shore to do a little shopping and grab a shaved ice. I wanted to see the shore and pick up a pair of Pyrameds at Surf and Sea beach shop. Pyrameds are flip flops (slippers) that are wide and built up enough to give a snow shoe effect when walking on sand. I really want them for dog beach in Coronado, where the sand can be hot and oh-so-pointy in spots. Brillo agrees it can be painful to walk on, and if they made sand slippers for dogs, I'd get him a pair...err...two pair...

After our drive North, we hit Costco on the way home, for Axel's bigger party. Then, we had a mini house party with friends Roxanne and Shane. We decided to walk off our Roxy Passion Coolers with a jaunt around Lanikai when we discovered Roxy's car had been broken into, purse and iPhone gone. Anyhow, a wonderful evening was ruined by some thugs who thought it would be fine to break a window and make off with some valuables and cause a huge inconvenience to two innocent and kind citizens. F'ers. Rot in hell, thieves.

See ya'll tomorrow...on Axel's unofficial b-day. We are planning on seeing my cousin Matt and his gf Kate, plus my best friend from middle school and her folks. Love them. Aloha.

Happy Birthday, AxelBerry! We love you!

Lookin' cute. All of these photos are by Kylie Cates.

The boy on his REAL first birthday. You've come a long way, baby!

Happy birthday, my little munchkin. You have made your daddy and me so happy. You have taught me so much this past year about unconditional love, patience, happiness, and joy. I love you with every fiber of my being. I'm so proud of you. Just promise to love me forever and to try not to grow up to0 fast.

I so super love you, baby boy.

Axel loves Auntie and Uncle's mini pool! We went for a dip before cake time.

Swimmy birthday boy.

Mommy and the wet birthday boy.



The birthday boy.

Two cakes. One for him to destroy, and one (the traditional Olson choc. mint chip from BR) for us to eat.

We're having a party Saturday, so he only opened one present today: a wooden car!

Mommy and the birthday boy. We miss you, Daddy!

Cake face.

Axel also got a balloon for his birthday. He loves this shark, and he walked all over with it. How cute is he?

Some beach time

This afternoon, Kai and Ax and I walked down to the beach for a little wave action. The boy was undaunted by the wind and surf. He loved it, as usual. He ran in and out of the water like a mad man and tried to swim off on his own in search of mermaids.

Whoa! That's a big wave!

Kai enjoyed herself, too.

Hmm. I can't tell; does he like it?

Cousins on the couch.

Kaile filmed this video of Axel going in and out of the surf. His facial expressions and his little squeals are pure glee.

Here's the boy bouncing on the waves like a bobber. He loves it!

Just some pics and vids.

Playing in downtown Kailua. These are the first pair of Crocs I bought him. This is also the first pair of shoes he has ever walked in. He didn't like the idea of wearing shoes until a day or two ago, but now he's pretty good in them.

Yesterday at California Pizza Kitchen. Nanananana!

Axel is enjoying watching Kaile twirl around with her pinwheel. Super mission! I don't know what that means, and I didn't ask. We went to Ala Moana Center today, and I bought him his own pinwheel. He loves it. I also bought him some polo shirts for 99 cents (!), a few toys for his impending birthday, and another pair of Crocs...because they had the Croc Bands, which I really, really wanted. They are SO adorable. I wish I'd known they made them in his size; I wouldn't have bought the others. Oh well.

New shoes! Look how cute they are!!!

Axel enjoyed playing in his own private lagoon.

Yesterday, we went out to the twin islands off of Kailua known as the Mokes. We got there in Eric's OC-4, or 4-man ocean canoe. Their friend Noni and her daughter Noelani went with us, so we had 3 paddlers, three kids, and me. It was a great day for Axel to make the journey, since the waves weren't bad, and it went very smoothly. Axel didn't like sitting in my lap, but he did enjoy sitting on the floor of the canoe and playing in the puddle.

At the Mokes, we set up a shade tent and met up with more friends of friends for some beach fun. We hiked around to the backside, where Eric and Kaile like to jump off the cliffs. I like to jump off the cliffs, too, but not with Axel. Ha. The little hike was fun, and Axel seemed to enjoy it.

Back at the beachy side, the tide had come up and created a little pool area that was perfect for Axel to play in. It was shallow and warm, and Ax Man had a ton of fun digging sand and playing with a new little 13-month-old buddy he met there.

Digging in the sand and water.

His new little buddy really liked the Aqua Baby.

Kai and Axel playing on the beach at high tide.

Axel and Kai in the lagoon, plus a cameo by Axel's new friend.