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Mother Nature sure has a sense of humor. We’ve had all sorts of weather on this trip so far, from snow & hail in Oregon to flash floods in Hawaii, but the last week has sure been different. The warm weather that was predicted turned out to be super-hot weather. The highest temperature we noticed on our drive down was 108, with 90 being about the lowest (in the shade). Because it was so hot out, we didn’t make many stops like we’d planned, so we ended up getting to Adam’s in 2 rather than 3 days. We stopped in Rice Hill, Oregon for ice cream (a Royer tradition—there’s a small shack 100 miles south of Salem that sells cheap & huge ice cream cones that are super yummy, so we stop pretty much every time we’ve driven by). Then we went to Lithia Park in Ashland so Joshua could play at the park where I have fond memories playing. It was a shorter stop that I’d hoped because it was 96 degrees & we were wearing long pants & long-sleeved shirts. But Joshua still had fun running around & playing with all the sticks he could find. On the 2nd morning, we stopped in Stockton at a children’s museum where we met up with Judith, our good friend. Judith & I got to catch up while we watched Joshua play. It would’ve been fun for all of us if we couldn’t spent the whole day there, but we had to cut things short to continue on our drive south so that we could make it to Adam’s before it got too late. We made one more stop for gas & lunch at In & Out Burger (yum!), but otherwise just drove the whole rest of the way. We were welcomed to LA by the wonderful stop & go traffic on the 405 (Friday evening rush-hour traffic, no less!). But thankfully they keep expanding their carpool lane so it wasn’t as bad as it has been in the past. There was still some daylight left when we pulled up to Adam’s place so we got to visit for awhile before settling in for the night.
We’re off to the last destination of our long trip—Southern California! We had a nice visit in Oregon with my mom for a week & then with Erick’s family for a week. In Oregon, we visited with several of Mom’s friends so she could show off her grandson. We went to Enchanted Forest the other day to show Joshua the miniature theme park where I went growing up. Joshua got to go on his first roller coaster, Ice Mountain. It was a small version of Disneyland’s matterhorn ride. My friend Joy’s daughter Jaiven wanted to ride it but no one else wanted to, so I told her that Josh & I would go with her. Josh sat in my lap with Jaiven in front of us. After the first fast downhill & turns, Joshua ended up backward, hugging me. He enjoyed the rest of the ride once we were in each others’ arms. I guess we’ll wait awhile before going on any more roller coasters for awhile. We even got to meet Roger Tofte, the man who created Enchanted Forest years ago & still works there today (he even used to work for my dad a long time ago!). Later that week, we went to Portland to see my step-brother Rocky & his family. I hadn’t seen him in many years so it was nice to get to catch up finally. Rocky has a 7-year-old son, Cody, & a beautiful wife, Melissa. They recently bought a house & are renovating it themselves. Joshua had a blast playing with Cody & their chihuahua—so much fun that he would laugh until he cried, & then laugh again until he fell down from laughing so much. I swear, we’re really going to have to get him a pet one day.
We got back to my dad’s place this morning after a very long night. Our last weekend in Hawaii was great. The 3 of us drove to Ko Olina to swim at the beach. There are 4 man-made lagoons that make for nice calm water. Josh enjoyed playing around despite the occasional shiver from the somewhat chilly ocean. Then on Saturday, we went to Waikiki for breakfast at Duke’s & then one last trip to the beach. I decided to let the boys go swimming together for some father-son time. Of course, they had a fun time & completely forgot about the time—an hour later, they remembered I was sitting in the park all by myself & came to join me.
We had a great day with my dad a couple of days ago. He was able to arrange a Hawaiian cruise since we were going to be there. We met up at the port in the morning & then went for a beach drive around the southern part of Oahu before heading up to the Dole Plantation. When Erick got off work, he joined us for a visit & then we all went to dinner at Sam Choy’s Breakfast, Lunch, Crab. Apparently, Tuesdays are “keiki night” so there was a clown & games for the kiddos. Josh even sat still long enough to get his caracature drawn! It was neat to see Dad in Hawaii—the last time we were here together was 18 years ago. Boy, a lot’s happened in that time!
We’re back from our busy weekend on the Big Island. Things started out late since Erick wasn’t able to get off work on time, so we missed our chance to catch an earlier flight like we’d planned. And then our flight was delayed by 45 minutes, so we didn’t take off until after we were supposed to have landed. So much for seeing the sunset over there like we’d hoped to do. Joshua & Erick spent the time wandering around the terminal while I read a book. Josh managed to flirt so well that a woman gave him her full snack bag of Oreo cookies (which he gobbled down in no time!). Erick & I were so excited to discover that our single hotel room was upgraded to a 2 bedroom so Joshua had his own room! We stayed at the Kilahuea Military Camp which is a military lodging/recreation facility in the Volcano National Park. They have lots of cabins, a restaurant, general store, bowling alley, coffeeshop (with Starbucks!), & gas station, which was great since there wasn’t much else around. Joshua enjoyed all the spaciousness to run & play since there was a living room, 2 bedrooms, & our own bathroom (that we didn’t need to share with anyone else like at Tripler!). Josh pushed the button on the TV to turn it on, only to get scared because it was just static & the volume had been turned up loud. But he kept doing it again & again, pushing the button & running away scared, even before it turned on all the way & started making noise.
We finally made it into the ocean! After being here for nearly 3 weeks, the weather was good enough at a time when we could go. Joshua & I went to the tiny little beach at Hickam AFB because it’s safe & calm. Joshua didn’t seem to like it at first but he gradually warmed up to it & started spashing around & having fun. A few grandmotherly-type women came up to us & Josh got to do his flirting thing with them. He especially liked throwing rocks into the water & watching them splash. I’d pick them up with my toes (not an easy thing to do in the ocean while you’re holding a toddler!) & then he’d toss them back in. By the time I thought we should get out of the direct sunlight, Joshua didn’t want to leave. He had a very nice nap when we got home—he wore himself (& me) out with all the “swimming” he did!
Joshua has made a big breakthrough with his talking in the last couple of weeks. It’s like he’s finally realized that he can get more done by using his words rather than just pointing & grunting. It’s very funny, actually—he’s constantly meowing, mooing, & quacking whenever he sees animals. He’ll still wave frantically but now he’ll start talking to them as well. Not that there are a lot of cows around to moo at, but he seems to find pictures of them in random places. He will talk to the pictures of animals on his blocks, in books or photos, & pretty much anywhere he seems them. Ironically, Joshua has yet to say “woof” even though dogs seem to be his absolute favorite animal (he’ll meow at them instead, which still generates a response so I guess that’s fine). Out of the blue, Joshua has even started to say Hawaii (pronounced without the first syllable most of the time, so it’s just “‘waii”). He’s got a couple of Spanish words in the mix, too. My favorite words Josh says are turtle (pronounced “tur-TUL”) & toe (a very drawn out “TOOOEEE”). In addition to his new words, Joshua has more signs, about a dozen now. He’ll adamently ask for me to read him a book & this morning threw a tantrum when I stopped reading his book after about 5 times in a row. He threw himself down on the floor, banging his head & stomping his hands & feet, only stopping to sign “book” repeatedly. I’m just glad that he loves to read, so we read often. If only he would stop destroying books, we could go to the library to check out more, but I don’t want to risk damaging library books.
We survived the trip across the ocean & are now in sunny Honolulu! It was quite a long day but it’s over. My dad drove Joshua & me to the airport at 7:30 in the morning for our 11:30 flight to Phoenix. It was even snowing in Portland, so that really added to the dramatic climate change we experienced that day. I was not feeling well so Dad pushed Joshua around in the stroller for awhile so I could sit down to try to recover. The flight was full, so there wasn’t a seat for Joshua, unfortunately. Everyone was nice & understanding about this hyperactive little kid walking up & down the aisles with me following right behind. Josh spent most of the flight standing in front of me playing with his toys & books. Then we had a 3-hour layover & I was happy to discover that the Phoenix airport has a small play area for little ones. Josh played with a couple little girls his age & had fun playing with their dolls & suitcase. Then one of them decided she wanted to take a nap right on the play mat so we left in search of food because Josh kept wanting to play with her & her mom didn’t move her to another place so he could keep playing. Whatever. The flight to Honolulu was also completely full, despite having 19 open seats the night before! We sat next to a nice girl who let Joshua play with her cell phone & sit in between us for much of the flight. He seemed happy to have his own “seat” even if it was just the space where the armrest is supposed to go (thank goodness he’s a skinny kid!). He loved this girl & by the time we landed, he was sitting on her lap, giving her hugs, & flirting like crazy. I was going to get her number to arrange for her to babysit but she’d left baggage claim before we got there. Darn.
We’re off tomorrow for our Hawaiian rendezvous with Erick. It’s going to be a looong day—we leave here at 7:30am for the airport, take an 11:30 flight to Phoenix, have a 3 hour layover, & then finally arrive in Honolulu just before 9:00pm (that’s midnight Pacific time!). But Erick should be there when our flight gets in so it will be nice to see him again. I’m jealous of his non-stop flight—he doesn’t even leave Seattle until 5:00 tomorrow night.
Joshua got his 10th tooth today. The last couple of days—& nights—were very difficult for the poor little guy, but now that it’s started to poke through, he seems to feel a lot better. He now has 6 on top & 4 on the bottom. The funny thing is that he’s got a gap of 2 teeth on each side on the bottom since the ones that just came in are molars(the 9th came through in one day last week). But I’d imagine the others will come before too long. I just hope they wait until we get back from Hawaii so that he doesn’t have these crying-loudly-in-his-sleep nights that happen whenever he’s teething.
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