The Missile Launch

This is still the first day (thursday):
you would have loved to have been with us the first day in Kauai!

We got to go onto the Navy base-- we had on our car a sign that said, "Guest of the Commanding Officer". I think Bruce must have called ahead or something. We don't know how we got in. We were ushered to a classified room with dignitaries, and watch the launch of the ICBM for a test. it was amazing. we were in the room in our swimsuits with coverups on, with about 50 dignitaries and guests.
The Admiral's wife was there and the mayor of Kauai, Senator Inouye's Rep, and Riki Ellison (49er super bowl in the 90's) -he said he had been inspired years ago by Ronald Regan and his "star wars" in 1983 and has ever since been a spokesman for the military and missile defense- he is the chairman and founder of the "Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance" (for a great shot from sea, see: http://missiledefenseadvocacy.org/)

We had it all explained to us first by one of the R&D engineers who had developed the missile, then we all ran out to watch the launch of the ARAV ballistic missile target in person, then ran back in to see the video of the target missile actually being hit (3 minutes after launch) and demolished by the interceptor missile 100 miles up in space~! it was amazing. This missile hits the target on its ascent, which is different. As we waited for the launch, they had to push back the launch time by 10 minutes because the space station was flying by up there!

When the missile was intercepted perfectly, everyone clapped...just like in Houston!!
They said this launch would be on CNN and the North Koreans would see it, and Hawaii is now a safer place.
This launch was a part of Regan's dream coming to fruition.

We were waiting to photograph the second test launch outside when one of the officers came up and told us to put away our cameras and to erase anything we had already shot. So we left the base and drove out on the highway to get shots of the launch.

Joy called out "Oh Mister Mayor, Mister Mayor, can we have a picture with you?" (he's a big guy! and very friendly) That's Keiko, out hostess walking behind us.

I don't know if you can see this clearly (all my picts will probably be straight out of camera)
This is the second test missile. If you click on the picture you can see it full-sized.


This is the neat spiral trail the missile makes as it twirls toward its target.
The little trail to the left is a part of the original missile that has separated.
The ship fiiring the intercept missile is about 125 miles out at sea.

Kauai: Day 2

Since we mostly were in the air yesterday, this is our "actual" first day.
Keith called last night to tell us there is going to be a firing of 2 test missiles tonight up on the west side of the island at the missile range. So tonight we will go there and then take a picnic up to Palihale beach for sunset. Wow.. a missile firing...I just love doing out-of-the-ordinary things when we are here. The concierge at the condo didn't even know about this one! I'll post some pictures later.

This morning we went to the Orientation meeting-free coffee and donuts-uh-oh, the donut was not raw! Oh dear. I won the drawing for a free surfing lesson. That will be interesting!

We are waiting for Joy to get here so we can go snorkeling. She is about 10 miles away from us at Kahili in a cabin- inland.

We are off to Poipu for some snorkeling.

Kauai: First Stop

Well, here we are, back in our favorite spot, Kauai! I am going to try to do a daily blog, but, no promises! Of course, our first adventure is in our other favorite spot, Costco! We have to browse the store and see all the neat, weird fish-items that we don't have in Woodland. I didn't get the seaweed salad this time. But there is a nice tub of cut-up papaya and the Kauai coffee to buy.
The weather is warm and overcast, with rain off-and-on during the day.
Joy, our sister-in-law, met us at the airport with beautiful leis. She has been here for 5 days by herself. She is practically a native!
Joy and I are going to try to eat just raw food...we'll see how long I last.

Emmett

Todd and I are very sad today because we had to take Emmett to the vets for one last trip.
He was a perfect dog! He never had an accident in the house, even as a puppy. He never chewed any furniture. He was always friendly to guests and children and babies. He was a perfect "gentleman" dog. People really loved him and would stop us on the street because they had never seen a dog like him. We called them the "Little Big Dog". We will really miss him. We will miss seeing him run and get a stuffed toy for us whenever we came in the front door. He has been with us for 15 1/2 years. For a Shar-pei, that is almost twice the lifespan! Luckily, he had a little lab blood in him to give him that hybrid vigor. I think Spot will miss him too. He was her best pal and they had lived their whole lives together.

A Beautiful Baby Ballerina

Annalisa is the cutest baby girl in the world! ( I know, I have probably said that before, but wait until you see her!)..  Annalisa is also the baby with the chubbiest arms and legs. I mean, did you know that baby arms come in 5 segments? So these pictures are the result of Annalisa's first photoshoot by Todd & Barbara. She has had plenty of pictures taken of her in her short 7 months of life. Her Grandpa and Gramma  take great photos and put them on Flickr for us all to see. She lives up north, so we don't get to see her in person as often as we'd like. But we take what we can get when she comes to visit.


"Just watch what I can do to this pink peony!"

"See? That's what those big flowers are for!"

"They are just a nuisance here!"

"See? I don't need no stinkin' flowers. I AM the flower!"


Just look at these arms. Don't you just want to eat them? Look at all the segments! They are so precious!

And the wrists!! wow . Mom promises she didn't put rubber bands on her wrists. And look at the little dimples on her hands. Don't you just love them?

And the same goes for the legs and feet! More little sausages and rubber band ankles! Wow!
soooo soft and squeezable. What a little doll!

An Adorable Baby Boy

Oh Boy! One of our favorite couples (we photographed their wedding), Durin and Angela have a new baby boy. He is sooo cute and such a good baby! The session was filled with wardrobe changes, diaper changes, and studio changes and little Aden was not fazed! He just smiled and blew little bubbles that were so cute! Angela and Durin are wonderful parents. You can just tell by how relaxed they are and how they take turns holding and bouncing baby Aden when he needs to be bounced. Angela and Durin just seem to "have it all together" and you know they will be an ideal family throughout the years to come. Aden is 12 weeks old at this session. Good luck picking your pictures, mom and dad, because there are so many great ones!

Oh look! Is this a doll or a real baby?!


It's Aden! and his loving parents, Angela and Durin.


There are those precious little bubbles!

My How Time Flies!

I know that is not original, but here is an example of time flying: It seems like only a year ago we photographed Larissa in the different stages of her pregnancy. (it was 3 years ago, to be exact). We had so much fun doing that and we got to really love Larissa and her husband, Jarron. Then when Ellie was born, we felt like "godparents", since we had been watching her "grow" for several months. Now we have Ellie, almost 3, and her new baby brother, still in the womb, for a photo session! We can't believe how Ellie is now a little girl, not a wee baby any more! She is very excited about having a new baby brother. She loves to "hold" the baby and kiss mommy's tummy.
What a privilege to be a part of this miracle.