Santa Jeff, a Little Hula Girl, & An Elf Named Jill

Well here's a very funny story. Before leaving for Hawaii I thought as a mom I should start the traditional Santa pictures. You know get a shot every year of all the stages - the screaming sitting on a scary man's lap, the "wow, I'm going to make a good impression on this guy so I can get everything on my list", and the "oh god, I'm way to old to be sitting on this guys lap, hope none of my friends see me!" - all good, classic stages, all making for a good laugh and it's part of history - right? So since we were spending Dylan's first Christmas in Hawaii I asked Auntie Jill to search for a good Hawaiian Santa - you know to go with the theme of Christmas in Hawaii. Jill and her friends searched for a good one and had it all lined up. Little did anyone know, apparently Hawaiian Santa's stop working on the 22nd and we got in on the 23rd! After our plane landed we headed over to Santa's village to check it all out. We saw the schedule was only until the 22nd but thought oh for sure he's still working! So the next day (24th) we headed down and nope, no Santa. "Oh crap, (pardon my french) I've failed as a mother!!!". So Auntie Jill and friends got on the horn searching the island for a Santa, but no luck. "Double crap!!!!" I thought. So we quickly came up with plan b. One of the farm Wolfer's (work trade person) had a beard and was totally into being our Santa guinea pig - THANK YOU JEFF, is all this mom can say! Everyone searched their closets and we came up with a Santa outfit - okay it's a little pathetic but on such short noticed it had to do. Jeff got really into it, even came up with the idea of putting flour in his beard to make it white. He was a trooper! So after Christmas brunch and D's morning nap we loaded up the car and headed down to Santa's little workshop in the strip mall - thank goodness it was still up. And since it was christmas we had the whole place to ourselves. We got in an entire photo shoot - thank goodness d's dad is a photographer! At first d wasn't so into it - I think she wasn't quite awake from her nap so the actual Santa's workshop shots came out just okay but then we headed out to an open space where they had a big Christmas tree decorated. Jill and I found this very cute little hula outfit at Target of all places. By this time Dylan was waking up and totally into the photo shoot.

Thanks Santa Jeff! What a trooper let me tell you.

So now we have Dylan's first picture with Santa. Next year I'll be first in line at Santa's little workshop, that's for sure!!!! Thank you all for your help!

Mele Kalikimaka & Hau'oli Makahiki Hou

Aloha! Happy New Year! Can't believe it's 2010 - wow 2009 sure did cruise by. We wrapped up our year on the Big Island visiting Auntie Jill. Jill lives on a beautiful coffee farm just south of Kona.

Our trip began with an early morning at the airport. Our friends Jan and Ted lent us this really cool stroller for our trip.

It was like a baby hand truck that you could take off road. Dylan was riding in style, for sure! Thanks Jan & Ted!

We got all settled on the plane and within 2 minutes Dylan had made a new friend.

I had taken a picture and texted it to Auntie Jill - just to say we were on the plane. Her response was "who's that?". I said "oh, that's Dylan new best friend.". I don't even think we ever got her name, bummer as she was very sweet.

It was a good flight - Dylan did great, she was cracking up all the people around us. She even got her wings! Nice job d.

Our trip was sweet! That is after the realization of how different vacations are with a small one in tow. It was great to see Jill and the farm. There are some pretty amazing people there as well. Sheree and Douglas own and run the farm - they have totally taken Jill under their wing and adore her, as she does them. Jan & Jurga live in Nantucket but come to the farm every year for 3 or more months to surf and hang out (rough life!). Jeff & Hillel were WOLFing (it's a worker trade program) - they were great as well. We were very spoiled with deluxe accommodations, lots of great food (fresh from the garden), yummy baked goods, freshly roasted coffee, and tons of laughs. Auntie Jill was quite the hostess and poppy dog was right by her side every step of the way (except for the moment we all looked away and she chewed Dylan's sock).

We spent lots of time hanging out at the farm. It truly is an amazing place. I forget how many acres they have, something like 30. There are tons of citrus trees, pineapple, bananas, coffee, lilikoi, mango, guava... and a big old booming garden! Who needed to leave? Every night there would be a big ol' farm dinner as there were several of us that loved to cook. It was like heaven! and so much fun to hang out with such great people. Here's a few shots of our time at the farm.

Farm chores.

Little Hawaiian girl.

Auntie Beans & Dylan.
Douglas & Dylan taking a stroll on the ATV.

I'd say she was loving it as she was wearing a smile from ear to ear the whole time.

For Christmas we did a secret santa. Jurga had gotten Dylan's name and made her the most beautiful baby blanket! So very sweet!!!!

Dylan & Jurga

During our visit it was coffee pickin' time. We picked and learned all the steps it takes to get the coffee into your belly. Pretty darn amazing - I can say, this girl has a greater appreciation for what it takes for a cup of good joe.

Coffee Cherry after being picked.

Running the Coffee Cherry through this clever devise (The Pulper) the guys came up with to take the husks off the beans (they usually send this part out but wanted to do a small batch on the farm).

Coffee Beans soaking.

This is what the beans look like before drying and roasting.

We found a couple of great Keiki ponds for Dylan to go swimming at. Basically they are small tide pools that are shallow and very calm for the kiddo's. Dylan LOVED the water. Being the Pisces that she is I guess she felt at home in the water as she seemed very natural in it. At one of the beaches there was a giant Honu (sea turtle) that swam right up to Dylan and circled around her - it was pretty amazing.

Notice she has 4 teeth now!

"Awe, this is the life!"

And all that swimming made for one tired little girl.

Dylan passed out!

Jill's girlfriend, Nicole has this awesome beach house that she invited us all to for a few days. It was great as we just got to chill out. One morning there was a pod of dolphins swimming out in front of the house. Matt & I jumped in the kayak and paddled out to them - we then jumped in the water and swam around with them. It was one of those great life moments for sure!

Jill & Nicole took us on a trip to the other side of the island to Hilo. We did this really fun hike - some of us had a little too much fun....

We went out to see the lava flow - of course that night it decided it didn't really want to flow. It was a fun time having a Thai food picnic in the back of Nicole's truck. Nicole put us up in a sweet hotel for the night - thank you Nicole, very sweet! The next morning we all went for breakfast. Here's a great shot of Jill & Dylan both enjoying their morning drinks.

Yeah, our girl has sippy cup skills...

Here's a fun shot of the walk back to the hotel, Dylan was in seventh heaven!

After breakfast we headed over to this great little park to hang out for a bit.

Jill, Dylan, & Nicole.

Look closely, Dylan's standing on her own!

"Look dad, no hands!".

On our way back to the Kona side we went by way of Mount Mauna Kea to look at the stars. It's my favorite thing to do when visiting the Big Island. It was a good night and the stars were out crystal clear - and Mars as well! It was a trek up to the visitor's center at 9,000 feet. AND pretty darn chilly up there, thank goodness for the hot chocolate!

When back in Kona, Sheree invited us to one of the first japanese coffee mills on the island - for the life of me I can't remember the name - sorry! On the weekends it's closed to the public but Sheree got special permission for us to go on the property and do a private tour (she's done lots of work with them in the past as she's part of the Hawaiian Historian Presevation). We even got to pick fruit - and there was tons of it! here's a few shots from our day.

Dylan & Sheree

Dylan and Jurga

Little Miss D and her bonnet.

Dylan telling us a great story.

And while on the tour we had a special alien visitor...

On our final night we had a BBQ on the beach. It was a spectacular sunset. AND a perfect way to spend our last night.

Sheree, Dylan, a pair of chopsticks, and one cute little Hawaiian dress.

Auntie Beans, Poppy dog, Sheree, Dylan, & Douglas

Poppa Matt sippin' on his sippy cup.

Jill & Douglas

Auntie Beans

A coconut - try and crack that d.

Jurga & Dylan sharing a kiss as the sunsets.

Jurga, Sheree, Dylan, Jan, Jeff, Hillel, Jill, Poppy, Nicole, Matt, Me, Douglas, & Paia at a sweet sunset BBQ our last night in town.

And on our final Hawaiian note Dylan has a little dance she'd like to share with you... hit it d!

Thanks everyone for a great trip! AND thank you Auntie Beans, we miss and love you madly!!!!!

All Packed And Ready To Go

Auntie Beans here we come!

Happy Holiday's From The Clarks!

Awe, what a cute little family if I do say so myself.

Wow, I can't believe how fast December has flown by! We've been slacking in our posting - sorry fans. Not sure if it's just that we got slammed with life or that since the little one is on the move I don't find myself behind the computer as much. Okay perhaps a combo of both.

We are packing our bags and jumping on Santa's sleigh for a direct flight to The Big Island of Hawaii to visit one of our favorite people.... Auntie Beans!!!!! So excited. Matt surprised us with tickets - what a great husband! We'll be spending both Christmas and New Years on a coffee farm, soaking up some rays, deciding which beach to go to next. Awe, can't wait!

Last time Auntie Beans has seen little (not so little anymore) d was back in June, when Matt had his head injury. Auntie and d got some good bonding time in then during the 9 days Matt was in the hospital. She's going to be quite surprised as 6 months in baby time is huge. It's truly amazing when you think about how fast these little people grow in just one year! It blows my mind. We'll Auntie will get in lots of Auntie time, for sure! Apparently the whole Island is in anticipation of Lil' d's arrival - not sure if we'll see much of our little girl for the next few weeks. And as a special treat Jill is treating Matt and me to a special night away while she and d hang out - uh, can we say 'love you sis! you are the best.'.

Before we head off to 82 degree weather, we'd just like to wish you all a fabulous Christmas and all the best in the New Year.

Love, The Clarks.