Finishing up 2018: August 15 - December 31, 2018 (4 1/2 years old)

OK, I'm finally finishing up 2018…

Kadin and Baiba in Rehobeth on the kiddy rides - August 2018

Kadin visits his cousin Maddox - August 2018

We took the flag-stop train to a pretty camping spot along a river.  Nice fall camping trip (September).

Kadin's first school picture - Preschool

Yes, he is repetitively stabbing his pumpkin with knives.  No, I am not overly worried about this.  :-)

Kadin all dressed up for Suzy and Kassie's wedding in November.  This is one of the few photos when he wasn't wearing a mask due to all of the smoke from the Paradise Fires.

Feliz Navidad mi amor

August 1 - August 14, 2018 - 4 years 1 month

Gotta love dem O's!

We met up with Ama, Maya and a friend of theirs and went on a train ride to the Spencer Whistle Stop.  Then we boarded our rafts and got to explore and touch icebergs on the Spencer Glacier Lake.  And finally, we floated down the Placer River.  Kadin loved the class I and II rapids and kept yelling, "more waves, more waves".  At one point, I had to put him in the middle of the boat because he kept leaning too far over to touch the water.  Towards the end, he got a bit bored of the flat water and I had him jump up and down in the raft trying to make his own waves (with the guide's ok, of course).

Mama Ama with Maya.

After the trip, we went to a restaurant in Cooper Landing, where Kadin found a bunch of wild raspberry bushes and was happy to pick some for Maya.  He even offered some raspberries to a random man eating at the restaurant, saying, "They're really yummy… you should eat some."

We said good-bye to Ama and Maya the next day and Kadin was so sleepy, he slept as I got him out of his carseat, put him in the cart, did all my shopping, and then put him back in his carseat!

Instead of going straight home, we decided to camp another couple of nights and Kadin always looks forward to a campfire so he can roast his marshmallows and hotdogs!

The second campsite was by a lake and Kadin was fascinated (and maybe a bit scared) by the crazy energy that these four girls had.  He just stood and stared at them for about 5 minutes before one of them gently brought him into the action.

Conversation in an outhouse (original version in Spanish, mostly):

K: what that say?

J: "Nixon lives" Es un poco una bobada sobre un hombre que esta muerto pero alguien piensa que todavia viva.

K:  Hombre?  No have tetas?  No leche?

J: Sí, Dito.  Los hombres no tiened tetas y no pueden dar leche a los bebes; solo las mujeres.

K:  Tu give me leche?

J: No Kadito, no podia.  Mis tetas no hacian leche.

K: Why tu no leche?

J:  Para tener leche en las tetas, hay que tener el bebe en la barriga, el utero, antes y yo no te tenia en la barriga Kadito.  Otra mujer te llevaba en su utero y como ella no podia cuidarte y te querria mucho, asi que ella te dio a mi para cuidar y ser tu mama.  Eso quire decir que tu eres adoptado.

Conversation in an outhouse (English version):

K: what that say?

J: "Nixon lives" It's a bit silly, about a man who is dead but someone thinks he's still alive.

K:  A man?  So he no have boobs?  He no have milk?

J: Yes, Dito.  Men do not have boobs and they cannot give milk to their babies, only women can do that.

K:  You give me milk?

J: No Kadin, my boobs didn't have any milk.

K: Why you no have milk?

J: To have milk in your boobs, you have to have a baby in your belly, your uterus, beforehand and I didn't have you in my belly, Kadito.  Another woman carried you in her belly. She wasn't able to take care of you and since she loved you very much she gave you to me to care for and be your mommy.  That means you're adopted.

You never know when and where you'll be having these important conversations…. 

July 15 - July 31, 2018 - 4 years 2 weeks

Those bloody leeches! I can't remember if we kept the one that did this to Kadin as a pet or not.  At least they are kind enough to apply a topical anesthetic first.  Didn't hurt at all.

P.S.  The fun part of being so behind in my posts is that I can relive all our summer fun while it's cold and snowing outside!

May 10-16, 2018 - 3 years 10 months - Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival

To break up the drive, we stopped for a few hours at the Soldotna playground… where we discovered that Bucky enjoyed going down the slide as much as Kadin! 

A nature walk along the docks, exploring all of the sea creatures there.  Kadin loved it!  This one is an ochre sea star.

An "Otters and Eiders" boat tour where Kadito and a kid he met on board get to sit in the captain's seat.  (The Captain is pictured to the left).  Lots of otters, lots of running laps around the deck.  No eiders (a cool sea duck). 

Kadin slept through it, but I awoke to the crunch of underbrush and chomping of leaves right outside of the tent.

Awww!  Love this shot of Kadito and Bucky… best of friends whenever Kadin has either food or a ball in his hand!

January 19-21, 2018 - Mahahual, Mexico (3 years 6 months)

The next day, it was sunny again, and we went on another boat/snorkel trip, this time with a couple from Homer, Kristen and Fernando.  I didn't get a good photo of Kadin on the boat, but the snorkelling was awesome with lots of sea turtles and rays (I think manta rays and/or eagle rays?)

View of our cozy home, after I had a chance to clean it up a bit while Kadito was napping.

Kadito finds more friends.  The boy in the white lightening shirt was sweet and he and Kadito got along great.  The other two he'd met before and they still have a bit more to learn about sharing toys.  Dito was asking me why they wouldn't share their truck when he was sharing his car.  Eventually, we had to leave and I let the boys know it was because we don't play with kids who don't share.

Ay, que rico! 

Our last night in Mahahual and Kadito breaks open his backpack to show off all of his toys.  I found the key is to try and have more than one of everything to make sharing a bit easier.  However, Kadito made it a bit difficult because he kept losing all of his MatchBox cars in the sand!

January 14-15, 2018 - Mahahual, Mexico (3 years 6 months)

Look Mama, you can't see my thumb!

Listening to the ocean waves…

Mahahual's beaches were mostly calm with lots of sea grasses and shells and other treasures for my budding naturalist.  

Showing me his treasure – a barnacle and sea grass covered shell of some sort.

Of course, if there is a puppy around, Kadin wants to be his best friend.  This cutie was about 9 months old and named Luna.

Yum! Octopus!  He loved it and mostly liked to eat off the suction cups.  Whenever we'd go to another restaurant, he'd say, "Me want eat pupu!"  Of course, pupu is pulpo, Spanish for octopus, but it made a few people turn their heads. ;-)

Same meal.  Kadin decides to paint his fingernails… with ketchup.  He was very proud of it and was happy to let me take his photo.

My little funny face, I love you so much.

Here's our campsite at Mahahual.  Definitely my favorite.  Right on the beach and not too crowded and there was even a bar and restaurant right there.

January 8-11, 2018 - Tulúm, Mexico CAMPING at PANCHO VILLA (3 years 6 months)

Our new camp was a huge area right on the beach with lots of shade from the palm trees.  My little monkey felt right at home!  

So here, Kadin LOVES his shrimp and wanted me to take a picture of it but wanted to close his eyes and hide his face.  Grr.  BUT HE IS SOOOO CUTE!!!

We took a boat ride out to a reef, so that I could go snorkeling and Kadin could be on a boat.  I think he was more excited than I was!

Kadin watches me in the water, as I come up from snorkeling to check in on him.  He was as happy as a fish in the sea!

Kadin preferred staying closer to shore where the breaking waves were but would occasionally swim out beyond the breakers and just float around.

Hard to capture the view from our tent in a shaded grove of palm trees right on the beach.
No naked monkeys to be seen (I think he was asleep).

Yay!  Coatis playing at the entrance to the Tulúm ruins.

Kadin was tired and possibly bored for most of the exploring of the ruins.  It made a lot more sense that night when he fell asleep at 7pm with a fever.  Fortunately, he was back to his energetic self the next day.

Definitely, the iguanas were a favorite at the ruins!