Wednesday, July 28, 2010
What's between a toddler walking and running?
The 40-second buildup is worth it for the five seconds on Olivia's highlight reel.
Monday, July 19, 2010
The rest of the Hawaii story
After the wiki wiki bus tour, Rich and I were ready to find something else to do on Oahu at our own pace. So we drove to the north shore.
On the way we stopped at the farmers stand for some picked mango and banana lumpia (delicious). I ate half of it before I remembered to take a picture for the food lovers.
We stopped at the vista on the Na Pali highway, one of the windiest places I've ever been.
When we did get out of class after lunch on our last day on Friday, I headed over to the northeast corner of Ford Island to see the USS Missouri. Before boarding, all I had to do was look over to my left to see the memorial to the the 1,177 Sailors and Marines lost on Dec 7, 1941.
Then I stepped aboard a piece of history. The battleship built by the US that also fought during the Battle of Okinawa and Iwo Jima during WWII, the Korean War, and saw its last action during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
The USS Missouri keeping watch over the USS Arizona. These two vessels are known as the bookends of World War II. The attack on the Arizona on Dec 7, 1941 got the US involved WWII, and the Missouri was the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan which ended World War II on Sep 2, 1945.
The tour of the Missouri was great, from the personal tour by the vets who served aboard her to the self-guided tour with the iTouch.
The stories aboard the Missouri were unforgettable.
She still has a dent on her starboard side from a kamikaze jet that crashed into the her after being shot down in suicide mission. On 11 April, a low-flying kamikaze, although fired on, crashed on Missouri's starboard side, just below her main deck level. The starboard wing of the plane was thrown far forward, starting a gasoline fire at 5 in (130 mm) Gun Mount No. 3. The battleship suffered only superficial damage, and the fire was brought quickly under control. The remains of the pilot were recovered onboard the ship just aft of one of the 40 mm gun tubs. Captain Callaghan decided that the young Japanese pilot had done his job to the best of his ability, and with honor, so he should be given a military funeral. The following day he was buried at sea with military honors. (Source: Wikipedia)
This quote at the USS Memorial reminds of the Sundays at the Chapel at Officer Candidate School. Every service would end with this hymn, and there other verses added for Marines, pilots, Air Force, Soldiers, and even one for Seabees.
As much as I'd like to end there, I can't. My friend Rich had never been to a luau, and when in Rome... not that I'm an expert, I'd only been to one luau before this one at Germaine's. It was our last night in Hawaii, and we had a great time sitting with a woman from Liverpool who was football fan and a couple from Australia who were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. It's a small world. The Aussie had actually spent time in Minnesota working with 3M. He was even in MN during the great Halloween snowstorm of 1991, and hadn't been back since. We had so much fun that I slept through the Germany/Liverpool match that started at 4am the next morning.
On the way we stopped at the farmers stand for some picked mango and banana lumpia (delicious). I ate half of it before I remembered to take a picture for the food lovers.
We stopped at the vista on the Na Pali highway, one of the windiest places I've ever been.
When we did get out of class after lunch on our last day on Friday, I headed over to the northeast corner of Ford Island to see the USS Missouri. Before boarding, all I had to do was look over to my left to see the memorial to the the 1,177 Sailors and Marines lost on Dec 7, 1941.
Then I stepped aboard a piece of history. The battleship built by the US that also fought during the Battle of Okinawa and Iwo Jima during WWII, the Korean War, and saw its last action during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
The USS Missouri keeping watch over the USS Arizona. These two vessels are known as the bookends of World War II. The attack on the Arizona on Dec 7, 1941 got the US involved WWII, and the Missouri was the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan which ended World War II on Sep 2, 1945.
The tour of the Missouri was great, from the personal tour by the vets who served aboard her to the self-guided tour with the iTouch.
The stories aboard the Missouri were unforgettable.
She still has a dent on her starboard side from a kamikaze jet that crashed into the her after being shot down in suicide mission. On 11 April, a low-flying kamikaze, although fired on, crashed on Missouri's starboard side, just below her main deck level. The starboard wing of the plane was thrown far forward, starting a gasoline fire at 5 in (130 mm) Gun Mount No. 3. The battleship suffered only superficial damage, and the fire was brought quickly under control. The remains of the pilot were recovered onboard the ship just aft of one of the 40 mm gun tubs. Captain Callaghan decided that the young Japanese pilot had done his job to the best of his ability, and with honor, so he should be given a military funeral. The following day he was buried at sea with military honors. (Source: Wikipedia)
This quote at the USS Memorial reminds of the Sundays at the Chapel at Officer Candidate School. Every service would end with this hymn, and there other verses added for Marines, pilots, Air Force, Soldiers, and even one for Seabees.
As much as I'd like to end there, I can't. My friend Rich had never been to a luau, and when in Rome... not that I'm an expert, I'd only been to one luau before this one at Germaine's. It was our last night in Hawaii, and we had a great time sitting with a woman from Liverpool who was football fan and a couple from Australia who were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. It's a small world. The Aussie had actually spent time in Minnesota working with 3M. He was even in MN during the great Halloween snowstorm of 1991, and hadn't been back since. We had so much fun that I slept through the Germany/Liverpool match that started at 4am the next morning.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Needs more climbing lessons
Not quite ready for Fuji-san like Michelle, but she'll get there.
In this episode of "O-Monster in Action" (insert deep National Geographic/Animal Channel Narrator voice), watch as the O-monster sneaks up on the dancing duck when its back is turned and head butts her prey to the ground in a rage of clumsiness. Then she gives the helpless duck an Olivia-sized bear hug before silencing it with a push of the O-N-O-F-F button and leaving it for the hyenas.
Too proud to stop her from climbing, but able to catch her before she fell on her face. I've got to work on those mixed signals between the the pride of watching her climb fearlessly and the "don't do that Olivia, it's dangerous" lessons.
You'll see her problem solving skills in the video too. She learned how to turn her dancing chicken on AND off.
And to think we've been listening to the entire chicken song for the last three months because we thought that I had to play through the entire song before it would turn itself off. O showed us that all you have to do is press the button again and "poof", he stops dancing and "singing". Outsmarted by a 16-month old.
In this episode of "O-Monster in Action" (insert deep National Geographic/Animal Channel Narrator voice), watch as the O-monster sneaks up on the dancing duck when its back is turned and head butts her prey to the ground in a rage of clumsiness. Then she gives the helpless duck an Olivia-sized bear hug before silencing it with a push of the O-N-O-F-F button and leaving it for the hyenas.
Too proud to stop her from climbing, but able to catch her before she fell on her face. I've got to work on those mixed signals between the the pride of watching her climb fearlessly and the "don't do that Olivia, it's dangerous" lessons.
You'll see her problem solving skills in the video too. She learned how to turn her dancing chicken on AND off.
And to think we've been listening to the entire chicken song for the last three months because we thought that I had to play through the entire song before it would turn itself off. O showed us that all you have to do is press the button again and "poof", he stops dancing and "singing". Outsmarted by a 16-month old.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
A few of O's favorite things
Olivia is a climber. She loves to climb. She loves to use her hands, arms, feet, toes, and pure strength to touch something that she can't normally reach.Tonight I caught her using an old cookie tin as a step stool. She also enjoys climbing on top of my yarning basket, into her playpen, and tends to push her Olivia stool over to the sink.
She also thinks that bookshelves are ladders that must be climbed.
Today when I picked Olivia up from daycare, her caregiver was telling me about Olivia's day, including the new places that she tried to climb to. As usual, I nodded. Yup, Olivia's a climber.
"But she's a girl," Miss Maree said. "Olivia you shouldn't climb. You're a girl."
I guess no one told Olivia girls can't climb.
Monday, July 5, 2010
A happiness shirt for Father's Day
Editor's note: Quiet Fourth of July holiday. Had time to blog about Father's Day.
This year's Father's Day was kind of a bust at the Volkmann household.
On Father's Day, Benny flew to Hawaii for a two-week training with his Navy people. The flight was in the morning, so we planned to celebrate the day before. But I didn't realize that Benny was on call that weekend. And of course, he got called into work. For the whole day. Don't you love it when other people's foolish decisions affect your fun???
But before he left, I gave him his Father's Day gift-- it was a kariyushi wear shirt.
Here is Benny modeling his kariyushi shirt right before rushing into the airport to fly to Hawaii. Like I said it was a long night and a hectic morning, so we don't have the best photo of Benny. And Olivia was asleep in the car, so she isn't in the photo with him as planned.
Haven’t heard of kariyushi? It’s Okinawa’s version of a Hawaiian aloha shirt. Kariyushi comes from the Okinawa word for happiness. (Yes, Okinawa has its own language that is different than Japanese.) During the summer months, local business men replace their traditional business wear (formal button-down shirt and necktie) for this cooler and socially acceptable alternative. The shirts, which are produced by 25 local companies, are designed to be worn untucked and reflect the laid-back style of this tropical island. It was difficult to choose a style for Benny. Most of the kariyushi shirts feature designs specific to Okinawa.
The shirts are only sold during June. Hopefully Benny continues to wear his kariyushi wear after we leave Okinawa.
This year's Father's Day was kind of a bust at the Volkmann household.
On Father's Day, Benny flew to Hawaii for a two-week training with his Navy people. The flight was in the morning, so we planned to celebrate the day before. But I didn't realize that Benny was on call that weekend. And of course, he got called into work. For the whole day. Don't you love it when other people's foolish decisions affect your fun???
But before he left, I gave him his Father's Day gift-- it was a kariyushi wear shirt.
Here is Benny modeling his kariyushi shirt right before rushing into the airport to fly to Hawaii. Like I said it was a long night and a hectic morning, so we don't have the best photo of Benny. And Olivia was asleep in the car, so she isn't in the photo with him as planned.
Haven’t heard of kariyushi? It’s Okinawa’s version of a Hawaiian aloha shirt. Kariyushi comes from the Okinawa word for happiness. (Yes, Okinawa has its own language that is different than Japanese.) During the summer months, local business men replace their traditional business wear (formal button-down shirt and necktie) for this cooler and socially acceptable alternative. The shirts, which are produced by 25 local companies, are designed to be worn untucked and reflect the laid-back style of this tropical island. It was difficult to choose a style for Benny. Most of the kariyushi shirts feature designs specific to Okinawa.
The shirts are only sold during June. Hopefully Benny continues to wear his kariyushi wear after we leave Okinawa.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Our Little Firecracker
Our little firecracker wanted to wish everyone a Happy Fourth of July!
And don't worry, even though this photo looks like Olivia has mastered walking, it's only her pose. Actually she was hanging on to the gate, until she heard the camera noise. Then she let go of the gate, stood up straight and gave me this smile. What a poser.
And don't worry, even though this photo looks like Olivia has mastered walking, it's only her pose. Actually she was hanging on to the gate, until she heard the camera noise. Then she let go of the gate, stood up straight and gave me this smile. What a poser.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)