honolulu zoo

During the rainy season in Hawaii you take your umbrella with you everywhere you go unless you want to look like you just stepped out of the shower...I'm just making a wild guess here but in the last four days I bet we have gotten at least ten inches of rain. So, when we woke up today to sunny skies and chirpy birds we decided to take advantage of it!

Isabella has recently developed a fascination with Elephants. She carries her toy elephant around the house, uses her little arm as a trunk and imitates them whenever she sees one. I have been waiting for a good chance to take her to the Zoo to see them in person and today was just that day!

As soon as we got there our little Miss Independent insisted on forgoing her stroller or any suggestions of hand-holding and instead lead us around the zoo pointing her little finger the entire time saying "look! see?" We had so much fun laughing at the Chimpanzees biting their nails, the peacocks wandering around poofing out their tail-feathers, petting the pigs, eating a giant shave-ice ( then spilling it all over Tyler's lap-oops! ) and watching the giant Hippos, who despite their magnificent girth, are surprisingly graceful in the water.

Watching Isabella was so amazing to me...In one short year she has transformed from a little baby still on a bottle to a whirling dirvish of a toddler who opens doors, wants to go potty on the big potty and who more often than not is teaching me about life. We've already been through one deployment and by the time this next one is over my baby will be two years old! I tried my best to relish and savor every second she was running those little Keds from one end of the zoo to the other...if this is how fast just one year went by...how quickly is she going to be thirteen and locking me out of her room?

By the time the afternoon was over, we had one blue-stained lap, a couple of skinned toddler knees and a very sweaty momma...but we sure had ourselves a great afternoon!