Hawaii Day 1

WaaaaaHoooooo! Welcome to the Joe, Whitney, and Ellie graduation present to themselves! Taking a 5 month old with you to Hawaii is no easy task I'll tell you that! Luckily we were staying at her Aunt Deb's and Uncle Nate's. The blacks were the best hosts you could ask for because they were stay-cationing right there with us.

Nate Black is currently studying nutrition at the University of Hawaii. He speaks fluent Samoan and knows most everyone on the island :). Deb teaches school and is in love with Hawaiian shave ice. They are some of our best friends ever.

The first day in Hawaii we started out at Waikiki. We hit every ABC store, bought a sun dress for Ellie and a speedo for me...naw, just mess'n--I already have one.
I love the trees in Hawaii. Each one is a mass of hundreds of little trees and the wood carvers just set up shop under them.
On your right you'll see the classic tourist shown in Polish books about Americans (Dead Serious)
When we visited, Nate was hooked on egg salad. We must have had 5 egg salad sandwiches when we were there.
Deb, giving us a tour of the kitchen.

First official beach visit was to Kailua Bay. It turns out babies and sand don't mix very well- which is a bummer because there is a A LOT of sand in Hawaii.
Cutest baby...EVER!
The water is soooo warm. Especially compared to the water at Santa Cruise!Driving in Hawaii is kind of trippy. You always feel like you're in a tree tunnel.

After a day at the beach, we went up to Mount Kamehameha where you can see the whole island.Heading to Utah tomorrow morning and won't be back until the 5th. Expect more Hawaii when I return!

Joe

Christmas in Hawaii...

I wish! Man that would be the bomb! Right now it's 10:30 in NYC and I'm experiencing my first "Noreaster." Whitney has been saying "Noreaster" just to sound cool for the last week. For all of you midwesterners out there, a Noreaster is what they call blizzards in the Northeast. I think they perhaps hype it up a little bit too much, but I'm still not leaving the house. It's pretty crazy out there.

Well anyway, I'm sure the real reason that you're checking the blog is to see some sweet footage of the best baby in the world--Eleanor Rose. I left off on the blog back in July, and I've got a lot of catching up to do. Here is our Rex Lee Run adventure and coming soon- our summer trip to Hawaii.

We don't exactly have a jogging stroller...but that's not a big deal right?...wrong. So wrong. You're stroller will get caught on the uneven sidewalk and send you up over the top if you're not careful.
Before you run a race you've got to get in the right mind set. I like to ponder on the meaning of life before I go out to kick some tail in a 5K.
This was Whitney's first ever race of any variety. When Whitney was in elementary school PE she would fake a sprained ankle to avoid running...our kids are doomed.
In the end, its really just about having fun though. We had a great day--later we got a pretty heavy snowfall, but the run was perfect.


Coming soon...Paradise.

Eleanor's First Solid Foods

A familiar picture- Joe doing stuff on the computer, Eleanor patiently waiting for some Daddy-daughter time.
Honestly I was working on a take home test- Not World of Warcraft!


Eleanor is great for weightlifting. She's a little light....

But after a few 1000 curls she gets pretty heavy.




Are you sure you can handle rice cereal Ellie?
"Can I handle rice cereal? Wise guy!"
That is actually quite different than milk...speachless.

Great Food and Beautiful Babies

Here are a few more great shots of your favorite little girl.
Some people shun velour running suits, but Ellie loves hers. She's going to be an athlete!


Ellie looks a little like a hunch back here- kind of funny.




They Rays claim that they are Ellie's Aunt and Uncle- we couldn't agree more.
Good 'ol Joe Ray! I love that guy!


Whit made this shrimp meal one night with a special salad. It was quite tasty!



Whitney had been saving orange juice lids for about a year to make a memory game for our neighbor Shey. It turned out pretty cool and Shey was very impressed!