Treasure Island

On December 17th Cooper's nana, grampy, auntie M, cousin Joy, and GG all arrived to see him in Fiji. We met them at the airport and immediately boarded a boat to Treasure Island.

Joy had her first taste of coconut milk from a coconut she found on the island.

Cooper and Joy both enjoyed swimming in the pool.

Nana, Auntie M and mama all kayaking off the island.

Joy met many friends in the kids club and performed local songs and dances during the adult dinner.

After a very rough boat ride back to the mainland we made it to Suva yesterday afternoon. I'm pretty sure nana and auntie won't be doing a lot of boat travel with Cooper any time soon.
We'll update again this week with Christmas photos!

Merry Christmas!

Cooper at Play

These are just a few photos of Cooper playing this week. There were a couple I just had to share with you.

Once we put out a few Christmas decorations Cooper decided to get into the Christmas spirit. He is still not totally sure about Santa, but is starting to pick up the idea.

"Check out my boots!"

Cooper loves to play with my shoes and recently found these boots way in the back of our closet. I'm sure he is the only person in Fiji wearing boots. They are pretty cool.

Riding his horsey. We have to hide this horse or he can't leave it alone. He is afraid of it and totally infatuated with it at the same time, just like he is with dogs.

Here he was telling the horse, "You sit here horsey."

Little One Christmas Party

The first Christmas party of the year was at the Suva Yacht Club for Cooper's playgroup/school. Most of the kids are in the preschool class. Cooper goes twice a week for a couple hours to play, sing, and dance with the kids. Santa paid them all a visit and brought Cooper Mr. Potato Head.

Mrs. Clause happens to also be Cooper's teacher. Apparently, she has to wear sunglasses in Fiji.

Suva Central Market

Every Saturday morning we head downtown to the Suva Central Market to shop for the week's fruit and vegetables. Cooper and Quinn always share a stick or two of pineapple and all the Fijian women and men try to go in for a Cooper cheek pinch. Here are few photos of where we spend part of our weekend.

These are jackfruit that are half Cooper's size. After the market we usually head over to the coffee shop for a snack.

A Trip to Find the Sun...

Thanks to the Diwali Holiday and Veteran's Day we got a 4 day weekend to venture out and see if we could find some sun. One day last week the jobsite recorded 2 1/2" of rain. Our front yard turned into a pond. While the frogs come out and jump for joy, we are getting a little tired of it. So, off we went to the otherside of the island.

Cooper was thrilled to be out town and to spend 4 days at the new Radisson Resort. They have a huge pool with a walk in beach like access, adult areas, toddler and baby pools, and even a waterslide! After one trip down the slide Cooper said, "Gain, Gain!" Needless to say he made several trips down throughout the weekend.

He is becoming quite the little swimmer. He will jump in on his own, even if we aren't standing there, and take off kicking. In fact, we had two incidents where we were walking around the resort and he took off and hit the water.

At sunset the bula boys ran around the resort with their torches lighting the lanterns. Cooper was lucky enough to help them out.

By the end of a full day of swimming and sun Cooper was exhausted. You can tell he was a little out of it by sunset.

We had a terrific weekend away and will definitely be back. I'm going to try and attach a link for more photos of Cooper's mischief and the beautiful resort. The link is below. If it doesn't work, let me know. Maybe it will entice you all to come out for a visit. They even have a kid's club for 3 year olds and above that's free!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?&conn_speed=1&collid=66677234705.256171458505.1195421371945&mode=fromsite

Mini Olympics Weekend

This weekend all of the embassies and large organizations in Suva got together for a little competition and the Mini Olympics. Oddly enough, the weather cooperated and it only sprinkled for a short time. There were relays, sack races, 3 legged races, tug-o-war and even hotdogs. We took snacks and sunscreen and spent the day at the park. Cooper loved it!

Thanks nana, for the Fourth of July outfit. Cooper got another wear out of that crazy t-shirt. He was the All-American kid out there.

We were all dressed in our American spirit attire.

Cooper had so much fun he wore himself right out. The Ambassador was very impressed with the magic binkie.

Well, I attempted to load a video of Cooper jumping in the pool and swimming, but it didn't work. I'll keep trying. Hope you had a good weekend!

TRICK or TREAT

This was Cooper's first Halloween to dress up. We picked out this adorable pumpkin costume just for his chubby little arms and legs. It wasn't easy picking a costume for 80+ temperatures. Unfortunately, Cooper wasn't quite as into this costume as we were.

...thinking, "Hey, what is this thing."

...soon after, yelling, "OFF, OFF, OFF!!"

Luckily, I forsaw something like this happening and picked up another possibility.

He loved it!

Saturday, we went to a Halloween party where Cooper ran around with the pirates and princesses.

Cooper went trick or treating at our offices this afternoon. It took him a few tries to get the hang of it, but soon really got into the knocking on doors part of it.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Mostly for the Grandmas

While Fiji is supposed to be a wonderful vacation destination for it's bright sunshine and beautiful beaches, Suva is a rainy mess most days. This last Saturday was no exception. The rain did let up a bit for a few minutes while Cooper discovered the hose.

At first he was just totally fascinated with the water shooting out in whatever direction he pointed.

Then he discovered we would scream and run around when he pointed it at us.

This lasted for about half an hour and could have gone on longer if the hose hadn't miraculously turned off.

The rain was unfortunate for the Hobie Cat competition that was in town this weekend. You can tell it is sunny and bright across the water, but it was pouring down rain in Suva.

Cooper spends most of his day right here with Louisa, reading books and singing songs. Right now, "If Your Happy and You Know It" is his favorite. We are trying to teach her that she can't rock him to sleep for every nap. It's a rough life this kid has.