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.

Kiribati

In early October I travelled to Tarawa for five days. Tarawa is the most significant atoll in Kiribati, which sits across both the equator and the international date line.

The airplane passed over a number of these small coral atolls en route both to and from Tarawa.Amazingly, Tarawa has severe overcrowding. In this photo I'm standing on the beach on the island of Betio, which is 800 meters wide, three kilometers long, and has about 20,000 people living on it. The water is lovely, but certainly not safe to swim in!

One day we went hiking up the north side of the island and went swimming. The water was clear, warm and turquoise.

The five star view from my hotel room. Unfortunately, the room was as dismal as the view was beautiful. In the distance, you can see the other side of the island, which is shaped like a giant "V." As you can tell, one tsunami and this whole place would disappear.

Local kids enjoying the water.

The houses we passed in north Tarawa were traditional island houses, like the one pictured above.


Tarawa was the site of a significant World War II battle. Artillery pieces remain on the beaches and there are a number of tanks and ATVs in the water and on the beach. The occupying Japanese commander boasted the island could not be taken in one thousand years. The Marines took the island in 75 hours. A total of 17 Japanese survived.

Beqa Island, Fiji

About a 45 minute drive and an hour boat ride from Suva sits Beqa Island, pronounced Bang-ga. It is the island where the Fijian firewalkers come from. Unfortunately, we were only there for the weekend and didn't get to witness this tradition. Next time, for sure. We were hoping to get away from the Suva rain shadow, but it seemed to be all over the Pacific Islands this weekend. We did get some time out on the beach and a walk through the jungles.

After a very rough boat ride where we learned Cooper not only gets car sick, but sea sick as well, we were greeted with a welcome song at Beqa Island Lagoon Resort.

Cooper couldn't quite relax in the hammock.

The resort grounds were beautiful.

Cooper was ready and willing to carry the beach bag.


This resort is famous for scuba diving and the beautiful coral. We did a lot of treasure hunting on the beach and found this great piece of bright blue coral.

Cooper went on his first hike on his own two feet. He only lasted about 10 minutes.

After too short of a weekend away we were sent back out to the rough seas of the Pacific and on our way to Suva.

Oh, Toberua Island

Over Labor Day weekend we made our way to Toberua Island about a 30 minute boat ride from Suva. It is a tiny island about the size of a football field in the middle of the Pacific. There are only 15 little cottages, which they call them bures. There is a swimming pool in the middle of the island and sandy beaches or mangroves all around. Cooper felt like he had free reign of the place. The staff loved playing with him and he loved running around. The food was fantastic and the best part was the early kid dinner time and the babysitter that sat with Cooper while we ate during the adult dinner time. It was great! Cooper was snoozing away to the sound of the waves and had no idea we were enjoying ourselves so much. Here are our photos of the weekend.
Toberua Island

The island adventure begins.
Koko the parrot and Cooper had a love hate relationship. Cooper even liked the taste of saltwater. The center of the island is lush and tropical.

We walked around the entire island in about 10 minutes.

It was a perfect first holiday in Fiji. We will definitely be back.