Sunday, March 29, 2009

Drive-by with Cheeze


Another parental indulgence - for a while, I've been thinking that Cam would enjoy one of the little kid lawnmowers that makes bubbles as you push it. At least, I (we) knew I'd (we'd) get a kick of watching him play with it. One somehow made it into my shopping cart at Target today, and viola! Instant happy kid with new toy!

This is a bit of video of him playing with it in the house; turns out, you have to push the thing *fast* in order to get the bubbles to come out, and Cam has needed a bit of time with it indoors to figure out manuevering it so it works in outside. As he passes Kevin with the video camera, Cam looks right up at the camera with the cheesiest grin :) It then gets really dark as K follows Cam into the kitchen where he crashes into the cupboards by the stove - no one was hurt :) Enjoy!

Friday, March 20, 2009

Cam's 18 month checkup

All went well at Cam's 18 month checkup today. Nothing major to report!

Stats
30.1 lbs / 91% (he basically hasn't gained any weight the last few months, although he's been eating like a horse, he's a lot more active so burns it all off)
35" tall / 98%
20" head circumference / 98% (his head hasn't grown since the last visit, but it was off the charts before now, so its nice to be ON the charts, finally!)

Monday, March 16, 2009

Paaaak the caaaah in the fraaag


Umm, the title pretty much says it all :)

Neither hail, nor sleet, nor closed door...



A bit of video of Cam riding his trike. He's not using the pedals just yet, prefers to push with his feet, but he gets a bit of speed going! Still figuring out the whole "turning" thing, but no dogs or grownups were injured in this video :) No doors were injured either.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Operation "Save the Tube" Success!

Quick note to let everyone know that all the good thoughts (and ear drops!) have made a huge difference for Cam - Kevin brought him to the ENT today for a recheck, found the tube clear and the infection gone in both ears! We're so relieved it turned out this way....were *not* thrilled with the possibility of another surgery for the Caminator so soon after the first. Cam was so good for the ENT doc today, too.

We're all still recovering from our trip to Kauai - the time change this weekend really did us in on our return home. No photos from the photog from the wedding yet but trying to wait patiently :)

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Good times :)

After our trip to Wiamea Canyon, Uncle Pat came over for a beer and to hang out for a while, which thrilled Cam to no end. They had a great time playing before Kevin took Pat back to his hotel to relax and pack for his early flight on Sunday (another 28+ hours of traveling ahead for him to get back to Macau).

Thanks for coming to Kauai, Uncle Pat!! Come visit this summer!

Wiamea Canyon

Yeah, its not supposed to be grey behind Cam and Kevin. It was overcast in general when we left to head up there, but halfway up, the fog rolled in and this is what it looked like at the top.

Click here to see what its really supposed to look like.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Fun at Brenneke Beach!

While Daddy, Uncle Pat, Grandpa and Grandma were ziplining today, Cam and I meet Derek, Evelyn and the kids down at Brenneke Beach. We started off on the slides, then worked our way down to the sand and water :)



Cam took a little bit to have fun playing in the sand. He did enjoy playing (read: knocking over sand castles :) ) after a little while but we had to keep him distracted so he didn't chase the chickens roaming around.



Afterwards, everyone came back to our place to get cleaned up. The kids had a blast playing together! Once we turned on Thomas the Tank Engine, all playing stopped and everyone quieted down to watch TV :)


Later on, Grandpa and Grandma came over to babysit Cam while we went out to dinner (for the first time since Cam was born!) with Uncle Pat to a really nice place in Poipu Village. Cam ended up getting to stay up until 10pm (long story) but went to sleep once we got home. Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma for giving us the opportunity to get out!

Another great day in Kauai! :)

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Here a Burke, there a Burke, everywhere a Burke

We all have the same last name now :)

More photos soon!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Yay, Uncle Pat is here!

Big smiles, big hugs and Uncle Pat has a new shadow :)

Even though Cam hasn't seen Pat since last July, he was *thrilled* when he saw him standing in the doorway. The boys are currently on the lanai. The "big" boys are drinking beers watching the little one throwing Doritos to the chicken and various birds that have descended upon us.

One has already flown into, and right out of, the condo. Screen door now closed to prevent that from happening again!

Just another day in paradise.

Cam's new best friend

There is probably a very good reason there are so many free ranging chickens and roosters running around Kauai. We have no idea what it is but are sure its a good one.

Its a running joke that we've traveled 3,000 miles for all the kids to have so much fun chasing around chickens and not notice they are in such a beautiful location :)

Since we got to The Point at Poipu, there has been a chicken hanging around just outside our lanai. Its getting braver and braver, much to Cam's delight. I'm sure we'll be tossing bread to it at some point today.

Happy Wednesday!

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Kilohana Train Tour













We met Derek, Evelyn, Adrianna and Garrett over at the Kilohana Plantation for their train tour today. Both of the boys were excited to go on the train (they both are huge Thomas fans), despite the downpour we had just before we left the depot. Luckily we all brought rain gear!

During the plantation tour, they stopped the train to let everyone off to feed the wild pigs they have on the plantation. Needless to say, all the kids loved it! Cam loved throwing bread to the pigs, but it was close to lunchtime so he snacked on a couple of pieces too :)

The plantation train tour was pretty quick (although the perfect length for kids), about 45-50 minutes. Afterwards we all went to have lunch at a local deli that another passenger recommended - we bumped into him there, lol! The kids were all exhausted by the time that was over, so we brought Cam home for a nap, but since the kids were asleep in their car, Derek and Evelyn decided to drive up to Wiamea Canyon and had a terrific time. Adrianna woke up so she got to hike with each parent (one stayed behind in the car with the still napping Garrett).

After they got back, they walked over to our place (they are staying 3 speed bumps up Pe'e Road), we all walked over to the Grand Hyatt to see the grounds, and meet Auntie Sherry for a drink before dinner (Uncle Mike was napping after working a bunch the previous night - long story). All the kids had a good time with the stairs and tired themselves out (we're all getting a workout chasing everyone!), plus we had some very nice cocktails before heading back home to meet Dick and Janice for dinner at our place. Dinner wasn't fancy but we all enjoyed ourselves - we got to hear about D & J's amazing helicopter trip, which sounded like a lot of fun! Maybe the next time we visit we'll do that :)

All in all, another terrific day! Uncle Pat comes in tomorrow from Macau, China (after a 20+ hour plane trip - yikes!), so we'll see what we end up doing for fun. A trip to Brenneke's for Uncle Pat and Daddy will *definitely* happen!

Monday, March 2, 2009

Cam the Rockstar

We're in Kauai! I had to put up this picture - it has been WINDY here. All the locals say this is very atypical, and we hope that it will die down before the wedding on Thursday. Sometimes when it gusts it almost knocks over Cam! But the first photo is so funny because all his hair is standing on end. To us, anyway :)

We arrived a few days ago and Cam has settled in nicely. Our flight over went pretty well, despite some horrible flight attendents on American that seemed determined to not allow Cam to sleep (Derek and Evelyn also had similar issues on their flight to Kauai with American - MAJOR decline in this airline!), but according to the people sitting in front and on the side of us, Cam "was a rockstar" during the flight.

He slept a lot, probably 2/3 of the time, and God love the guy sitting in front of Cam's seat - Cam's feet could reach the seat and he mightly enjoyed himself kicking the heck out of it, much to our chargrin. Luckily for us, the owner of the seat was a super sweet fellow who was more than kind. We wish we'd gotten his name, or at least bought him a beer for being so terrific about Cam kicking his seat so much! If you're out there, Mr. Nice Guy in seat 26A on Flight 285 to Kauai from LAX on 2/28 - thank you again for your patience with our son!!

Get this: Cam slept through the *worst* landing I have ever had in an airplane in my *entire* life! Slept through the lights coming on, and most of the other people de-boarding. Slept through Kevin carrying him, still strapped into his carseat, out of the airplane and into the airport. Slept through attaching the carseat to the GoGo Babyz (thanks again for the rec, cousin Chris - was a blessing its been!), slept through us getting all our luggage and finally woke up when he got a blast of wind to his face as we were heading out to get our rental car. He was a trouper and we're so thrilled with how he's handled all of this so far :)

The Point at Poipu is GREAT! Our room (2bd/2bth) is wonderful, top notch all the way. We're on the first floor and have really enjoyed our patio/lanai area. Cam loves to watch the wild chickens run around - only a matter of time before he's chasing them all over the place :) The master bath is bigger than ours at home! Its been fantastic so far :) We did take a walk over to the Grand Hyatt today (its barely 5 minutes away) and its breathtakingly beautiful - the open air lobby has to be seen to be believed. We'll be having the wedding nearby there at Shipwrech Beach, and then taking all our guests to their lu'au. Mike and Sherry are staying here for this trip and we are *positive* they will enjoy themselves.

Today we meet Derek, Evelyn and the kids over at Brenneke Beach (there is a great man-made reef so there aren't any waves in the area, which is perfect for little kids. Kauai is known for the great waves which makes it awesome for surfing, but not necessarily little kids), and Dick and Janice joined us for a while too. Totally had a great time, got some good pictures. Got a terrific one of Dick and Janice we'll need to send them - they are having the trip of a lifetime, but we'll let them share their stories. All we'll say is, if you're down on your luck, you might want to ask if you can rub one of their bellies :)

That's all for now. We're having a wonderful time, the weather is terrific most of the time (except for the wind) and we're really enjoying ourselves. Kauai is so lovely, we would totally visit again. We know there are a lot of family members that aren't here with us, and we miss you all. Will try to post a few more photos soon and keep you up-to-date.

Love,
Kevin, Michelle and Cameron