Hawaii with Elsa

Hawaii! Our first plane adventure with Elsa was wonderful. On Thursday night we headed out to Hawaii. In the airport we had two great surprises, first, an upgrade to first class, and then getting to take a picture of Elsa with the Stanford Women's Volleyball team.


Elsa slept in Arne's arms for the flight and was super peaceful. On arrival in Hawaii, we were greeted with leis at our hotel, The Kahala and headed up to our room to sleep.

We stayed at the hotel beach during the day (private, quiet, and no waves) and practiced swimming with Elsa.


Then we headed out to Waikiki and enjoyed the sunset.


Next it was off to The Stan Sheriff Center to watch the University of Hawaii women's volleyball team crush Nevada in 3 games.


On Saturday, we had a wonderful brunch and Elsa got to show off her bikini.


The morning was once again spent playing in the sand.


After our midday nap, we headed up the coast for some garlic shrimp, ocean swimming, and watched the Blue Angels do a show over the Marine Corps base.


After the show, we met up with my cousins in Kailua and enjoyed a lovely dinner in their new home.


Sunday morning we met up with Mike & Nan and their family for brunch at our hotel. Then we headed out to the Kuli`ou`ou Valley for a hike up to the ridge. Unfortunately, we missed the turnoff for the ridge and ended up going up the valley. It was a beautiful but hard hike. Elsa was a great hiker on her daddy's chest.


That night we headed over to Mike & Nan's house for his birthday dinner. It was wonderful to see their home and have a bouncer for Elsa to play in.


For our last night, we got room service desserts!


Monday morning we toured our hotel, learning that it include the set for the bar in Magnum PI.


After play in the ocean, we stopped by Diamond Head on our way to Pearl Harbor.


After a short stop in Pearl Harbor and then the Dole plantation we headed up to Waimae Bay to play in the waves. They were huge and wonderful.


Then we had dinner in Haleweia and watched the sunset, before headed back to the airport and home to California.


Elsa was a great traveler and we will need to take her on more trips!

Two Months Old

Today Elsa is 2 months old! Hooray! My baby girl just gets bigger and bigger. She is very happy, although she is learning how to scream really loud when she is hungry and we are not fast enough to get her food.



At her 2 month appointment, she was 12 pounds, 1 ounce (82 percentile) and 23.75 inches (92 percentile). I think it is awesome how she gets measured with a wooden yardstick.



Now that she is bigger, I am having fun dressing Elsa in some outfits from when I was a baby. My mom saved a number of them and Elsa looks good in 70's style pink.

We are looking forward to more new adventures with Elsa this month.

August Adventures with Elsa

August has been a great month for Elsa Marie. She has had many visitors and many adventures. Early in the month, my aunts, Jan and Sherry came to visit and meet the newest little Nisewaner. It was wonderful to see them.



Then, her Grandpa Bob came back from Michigan and got to hang out with Elsa.



We tried to take her footprints...she was not happy with the effort.



She was also not happy with her first bath, although now she seems to enjoy bath time.



Elsa is so very flexible and loves doing back bends when she wakes up. She also does these to turn to her side for sleeping.



My sister Amanda came to California for a week and got to play with Elsa and help me out. We had a big dinner at Mom's house where everyone got to enjoy the happy girl.



Arne brought a big sunflower - a Sunzilla - to dinner. It was bigger than Elsa!



Then Daddy took a picture of Karna and Elsa.



She is a happy girl in her car seat. I think she likes sitting up.



Sleep has been the biggest part of August. Elsa sleeps everywhere and anywhere, even with her dog Bogey!



Our big trip for the month was going down to Carmel to my friend Laura's wedding. The bride loved visiting with Elsa and we loved her beautiful wedding.



We are looking forward to an equally wonderful September, with more smiles and laughs from our wonderful baby girl.

Elsa and the Lair of the Bear

I have been going to the Lair of the Bear - Camp Blue Week 7 for many many years and was very excited to introduce Elsa to the Lair and all our Lair friends to Elsa. This year it was not certain that we could go, what with Elsa being born late by unplanned C-Section. However, on Monday morning we got the all clear at Elsa's two week pediatrician visit so we headed off to the mountains.



Instead of a full week, we planned on staying Monday till Friday. We arrived around 3 PM on Monday and after a nap, headed out to explore. Arne spent a lot of time holding Elsa.



She liked hanging out in the crook of his arm.



On Tuesday night we headed down to one of the pre-dinner cocktail parties...there were people playing guitars and lots of drinks for all. It was Elsa's first cocktail party.



One of the great things about the Lair is that all your meals are provided. At the dining hall it was nice that Mom was there and could hold Elsa while we ate. One of the things we did best this year was attend meals. I was always hungry.



On Wednesday Arne's brother Erik joined us. It was fun having even more family around. He brought his camera and many of these pictures were taken by him.



Elsa looked very cute at several of the meals.



At night we would hang out at the Lodge and do puzzles, eat ice cream and show off Elsa.



The big adventure of the week was early Wednesday morning when the staff came to our cabin door asking us to evacuate because a water pipe had burst and a flood was headed towards our cabin. Fortunately the water was diverted around the cabin and the pipe was quickly fixed.



I enjoyed resting in the hammock.



Arne was more active than me (I am not allowed to exercise for 6 weeks) and he played a lot of volleyball. Everyone loved having him on their team.



Camp Blue was led once again by Mike White. He is so cool.



Erik had a great visit and got to spend some quality time with Elsa.



On the last day, Arne and I took Elsa to the real creek and got her feet wet. I am sure she will get wet at the creek for many years to come.



It was a wonderful vacation - Elsa's first!

Handmade Blankets for Elsa

Elsa is a very loved baby girl. Many people have made her blankets - knit, crocheted, quilted, and sewn. We did a photo shoot with Elsa and all her handmade blankets.



This blanket was made 36 years ago for Arne when he was a baby by a family friend Helen. For his birthday, Arne's mom found it for our baby to be. It is wonderful to wrap Elsa in Arne's baby blanket.



This blanket was knit by Arne's mom. It has a crocheted edge with holes just the right size for little thumbs, just like the blanket Arne's grandmother knit for him when he was a baby.



My friend Julia knit this blue stroller blanket.



Arne's coworker Terry crocheted this blanket for Elsa.



My coworker Cathy sewed this blanket.



Our friend Ellen from Camp Blue sewed this blanket.

Elsa has many lovely blankets to enjoy and that will keep her warm and covered for years to come.