Winter in Hawaii

Its gotten downright frosty out here the last few days. Last night the temperature got down in to the low 60's. I almost considered wearing long pants to work. It's cold enough that Grandma got Jake some warm pajammas so he is comfortable at night.

I Hate Mondays!!

Mondays aren't jakes best days. I think he is used to the extra attention he gets over the weekend. He was a little crabby today so no new video of him doing cute things although this picture is pretty cute even though he is trying not to be.

Pillowfight!!

Jake had a busy weekend. I came home from Washington D.C. Saturday night and had Sunday and Monday off. The weather was perfect with light winds and sun. Monday Jake got to go on a ride in the running stroller followed by a couple of hours chasing the ladies down at the beach. Somewhere in there was a pillowfight with Grandma. You would think all this action would tire him out but he only wanted a 15min nap. Thankfully he slept well last night and was ready for another day of action.

Auntie Kate and Uncle James signing off

We've been wading through boxes in our new house so I haven't gotten a chance to post our official adieu. It's been an amazing, challenging six months living with Scott and Jake in Hawaii and I'm so grateful we got the chance to get to know both of them better. We will always feel like Jakie is one of our kids and we'll miss seeing him everyday. And I think I might even miss Scott's teasing a little too.
I'll always be glad our lives aligned in this way, the unique combination of needs and abilities that brought our households together for this time. Mandy, you'll be home soon and all of the events and time represented by this blog will become distant memories. But even though you've been far away, we would never have had this chance otherwise and I think they've been good memories for us Rohls and even for Jake and Scott too. Not ideal without you there, but good.

So, thanks and good luck and we love you guys and goodbye for now.

Friday night, beach night, Pizza night

One occasional tradition we have if I can get home before dark is going to the beach and having some Pizza in the evening. Today was a beatiful day with very little wind. I got home in time to talk Jake down to the water where he had a little pizza (sorry Mandy) and a blast playing in the water and chasing the ladies. It was a very low tide so the sand bar was pretty much exposed allowing for a small wading pool perfect for Jake. Sorry for the extra long video nothing special Just Jake playing but I figured Mandy might enjoy watching it.

Who's on my side?

Well this is the first post since both Kate and James left. I had a chance to really get to know both Kate and james over the past 6 months. Sure, I knew Kate well enough but I still had the image of her as the youngest Mcgrail girl and not the mother of 2 (3 if you count Jake). It was a good experience for us all and I am grateful for them both for uprooting their lives to come live with me in Hawaii for 6 months. I also got to meet Finn and Henry. Finn was a little unsure of me at first and really never trusted me until one morning when I got him out of bed and made him a bowl of cheerios. After that I was the friendly and not so scary "Uncle Cot." Still I'm not so sure I won him over to my ways completely. Henry is a different story though, he seemed to like me from the start. Both Kate and James share slightly left leaning political views and I was outnumbered it seemed. One day I even drove to work with an Obama magnet on the back of my car (this really raised a few eybrows at work) I had some serious explaining to do. Well, Henry was sympathetic to my plight and was easily won over to my side. Kate doesnt know this but his first words are going to be "Ronald Reagan." We worked on this everyday. The second picture is Henry the day I told him Obama won the election. You can see the look of terror in his face. Of course Jake was also on my side and hapily posed for another picture with Henry before Henry had to leave for Portland. With both Jake and Henry on my side at least it was 3 on 3, sure Henry couldn't speak his mind yet but just wait I have planted the seed of dissent in him muahhaaha.....

Seriously though, I am grateful for the family that has come to help me. There is no way I could do this on my own. Thank you Kate and James for taking care of Jake. I wish I didnt have to work so much and we could have had more down time to do fun things.

The arrival of Family

Grandpa and Grammie Mcgrail have arrived and are enjoying both Henry and Jake. They haven't seen Jake since a few months after he was born. He has changed quite a bit. Henry is a little sick and and not sleeping as well but seems to be better today. I think Jake really is saying ball now. He definitely understands what it is when I say the word. Lately I can tell him to go get one and he will. He seems to like playing fetch right now, maybe he learned it from Hobbes but we will never know.