Aloha!

We've been in Hawaii for a while now, and island life is treating us well. We live in Ko'Olina, a resort at the south east side of Oahu, that is centered around a beautiful golf course. The landscaping is magnificent, and we don't need to do anything to maintain it!! Our house has a balcony and a lanai, Hawaiian for patio, that leads into a shared backyard. Michael loves it and wouldn't mind spending all day outside, especially since there are quite a few other kid his age who have slides and other cool toys...
The weather initially was very windy, cooler than normal for Hawaii, and lots of rain(unfortunately for my uncle Wilhelm, who was brave enough to join us on the loooong flight from Frankfurt to Hawaii), but by now it has returned to being permanent vacation weather; warm, sunny, and with a light breeze. The beach is just 10 minutes away, with a short cut through the golf course, and swimming in the lagoon is great. Protected from the big waves, and with colorful fishes that you can see snorkeling close to the rocks there.
We've made a few trips so far, e.g. a tour on the U.S.S. Missouri which impressed Joe with its big guns. Also the Pali lookout, according to Mark Twain the most beautiful spot in the whole world (it might very well be the windiest too!). And of course Waikiki beach. At least we've been there, although not swimming.
Joe's arm is pretty much back to normal, and so he is flying again and working hard for his new troop. Right now they are in California at NTC, which means that he'll be gone for a month and train up for the upcoming big deployment. Luckily my friend Lio from Germany is here to visit and to play "nanny" for two of the four plus weeks. Today we went to the Hawaiian Plantation Village, an interesting and educational exhibition about the life of immigrants who worked on the sugar plantations.
Michael's hair is getting pretty long now, but Joe likes his "surfer" look and won't let me cut it, at least for now. I have to admit, his blond curls look kind of cute. Well, maybe for his 2nd birthday. He has learned a couple of new words, among them his first english one: "Let's go!" Unfortunately he had another ear infection when the whole family came down with a cold, but is O.K. now. He is taller than all the other children his age or a few months older in the neighborhood. Due to many trips to the golf course (to feed the ducks there, or to climb into every golf cart, or just to watch what's going on), he knows what to do with a golf club and ball
and demonstrated his skills with a neighbor kid's plastic golf set the other day.
Annika is crawling already and pulling herself up to standing. She is now competition for Michael when it comes to grabbing favorite toys. Actually, the toy Michael has is always the most interesting one for her, and vice versa. She got her two bottom teeth and has the top four coming in right now. Not much hair yet, but there is hope. We had her 6 months check-up a little late, but she is very healthy and does "all the things she needs to be doing and quite a few more". She weighed 17 pounds 5 ounces and measured 28 1/4 inches. Unfortunately she still spits up occasionally, even after eating solids, which is a little bit of a problem for carpet maintenance, but not her health. All in all her temperament changed from high strung to pretty mellow, thank goodness! Now, if she would just sleep through the night...
Well, that's about it in a nut shell. But of course I can't end without adding a few pictures. Here they are:

Relaxing on "our" beach

Michael the day after Easter opening a hard-boiled egg (and no, he didn't climb up there by himself, and also no, he usually isn't allowed up there)

Michael on Daddy's motorcycle for the first time. Good boy that he is, he grabbed the helmet first and had us put it on him before he wanted to sit on the bike.

Joe and the kids. Michael just woke up from his nap, and usually one of the first things he wants to do after waking up is hugging Annika. Very cute, although she doesn't always feel the same way.

Annika crawling.

Going out for dinner on Ute's birthday.

All four of us.