jungle gym

Today Ryan taught Ava how to climb to the top of this on her own (kind of), we completed two very excellent goodwiu photo sessions, and we ordered pizza for dinner. Hooray for today!

mini me oh my

I have long been a firm believer that matching mother-daughter outfits have no place in the world of fashion (or anywhere else). I remember being somewhat disgusted when a kindergarten friend and her sister were made to routinely wear the same mini version of their mother's dress to church, and I tend to keep the rolling mechanism in my eyes at the ready for current versions I might come across.

Recently, my passion on the subject has been fueled by stumbling upon this article discussing the reasons for a recent (2006) increase in the popularity of the mom-daughter look-a-like trend. Therein the author cites the fact that today's moms are cooler than they used to be as one of the contributing factors - to whit I responded "um...WHAT?" Then I read the credentials and realized that the author of said article also owns an online boutique that offers mom-daughter outfit sets (this would explain her desire to talk about how popular they are).

I really thought something should be done to stop this ridiculousness. That is, however, until today. As I was going through some recently uploaded photos I noticed that many of the colors and details in my own outfit were being eerily and similarly repeated in the way that I had dressed Ava. Now I'm scrambling through older photos hoping that it was a fluke and not something I do on a regular basis. I would hate to have to rescind my eye rolls!

at the beach

fashion forward

I just love it when Ava picks out her own clothes.

makiki loop hike

Today we went for a hike on the Makiki Loop Trail. The whole loop is only supposed to be about 2.5 miles, but the steep changes in elevation made it seem much longer. Also we're not positive that we stayed on the right trail the entire time due to some somewhat confusing signage - so who knows how far we actually went. It took us almost two hours to complete, and we were all worn out by the time we were done (even Ava who only carried herself about 2% of the way).

If you want to see more photos of this or other outings you can find them on my Flickr photostream. The link is on that side --->

p.s. Does anyone else think that Ryan makes the best photo faces?

origami to the max

(photo via Verum Serum)

I found a blog that gives step by step instructios for making your very own extreme origami. Directions for this little guy are not posted (yet), but you can follow the nine pages of diagrams to make an equally impressive ant. So cool.

hurrah for fireworks!

Independence Day is hands down my favorite holiday of all time. I love everything about it - the heat, the crowds, the food, and of course the fireworks.

a little about love

Photo via Electricity & Lust

Tonight we saw Wall-E. Robot love is adorable (albeit a titch boring). I recommend going, but if you do don't get popcorn.

beach bbq

For the past two weeks Ryan has been doing annual training with his new Hawaii National Guard unit. It's been nice having him do it here because they didn't leave the state so he was able to come home every night. However, it also means that he hasn't had a day off in two weeks. Today they finished up, and the FRG sponsored a barbeque on the beach for the troops and their families.

There were kayak races which Ryan and a friend joined in. They won in three heats snagging them the rights to a (um...) impressive trophy.


They also had a giant blow up bouncer set up for the kids. Ava could not get enough of this.

cruisin'....

My new favorite purchase
(Thirteen Leaf Clover)