Hapuna and Mauna Kea

When we were in Hawaii we spent a few days at the Hapuna Prince Hotel on the Kona Coast, right next door to where we got married. Linnea adjusted to the resort life very quickly.

There is a great beach there, and she spent a lot of time digging in the sand with her brand new beach toys,

then she talked Ru into taking a stroll on the beach with her.

The beach dance!

Pippi teaching Linnea how to build sandcastles.

She turned into a pro! Not really...it was someone else's abandoned castle. But Linnea took great joy in storming the castle, and especially seizing the flag that had been on top. Then she flattened it.

Trying to steal her great-grandma Ani's sunglasses.

Pippi and Ru got Linnea a floating turtle which she loved to stand in, and didn't want to leave for the beach without. But she wasn't so sure about actually floating in it.

She spent most of her time dragging it away from the pool.

We went to Mauna Kea for dinner, and visited the spot where we got married (by Ani) almost four years ago.

Laura and Laura (friends from high school) came down to meet us at Hapuna.

Linnea passed out in the middle of a snack with her bib on. Hard day at the beach!

More fun at Volcano

Hiking in the National Park with Ru.

One of Linnea's favorite games was stealing and putting on his hat and glasses, which was adorable!

But not always very practical...

At the Farmers Market playground with Pippi.

Checking out the resident pheasants and cardinals from the porch.

Playing 'king of the castle' at Waiki'i Ranch.

Linnea was very interested in her uncle Peter's book 'Nutrient cycling and limitation', and spent a long time flipping through it over and over again. Future biogeochemist?

Learning about moemoe (sleepy) grass at the sulphur vents.

Linnea got a lot of new books for Christmas. One of her favorites is 'Moo baa lalala' (pictured here). She's especially fond of doing a singing pig impression.

Nea and her adoring grandma!

Christmas

We went to Hawaii for the holidays. Linnea and I spent a few days with her great-grandmother Ani in Honolulu, and then headed to the Big Island to see her grandparents Pippi and Ru. Nea decorated Pippi with stickers on the plane.

Checking out Nene's cottage.

Browsing the menu at Nori's, the best saimen shop ever.

Michael (also known as Rudolph) after a run in with the shorebreak at Hapuna.

On Christmas morning, Linnea woke up to find her very own appropriately sized tree covered with ornaments that Pippi had made. She loved it!

Examining Santa's handiwork.

Stockings!

Opening her presents

One of Nea's favorite presents was a vet hospital, which has a syringe that she immediately turned into an eye dropper (since Lander has to have daily eye meds). She spent much of the next several weeks giving any and every stuffed animal she could find 'eye dops'.

December