I don’t know how much explaining today needs. Leif spent the early hours playing with trains. Then we went to the zoo. There were a few new things we did that we didn’t do or see last time. Such as the petting zoo, seeing the Meadow Gold cow, tripping a 2 year old, the lions were out and about, the hippos were very active, seeing the orangoutangs, and hitting the reptile habitat. After the zoo, we chilled out in front of the boob tube, as we were both ridiculously exhausted. Bedtime came early for both of us. We left for the zoo at 11 and arrived home at around 6. Twas a very fun, exciting and full day. We had a great time. I really love spending time with this boy. He is really a blast to hang out with.

So today there were some family friends visiting from the east coast. They emailed me to let me know they were going to be around, and it turns out that this was the day that time to meet up and catch up a bit. It wasn’t in our original plans of going to the zoo, but it’s always nice when family friends show up for a visit.

With the updated schedule, we ended up at Ala Moana shopping center for the first half of the day after picking up the M’s when they got off their cruise ship. Unfortunately, there was a parade scheduled to head down Nimitz that morning and the traffic was ridiculous. But we made it eventually.

Our mall activities included a little last minute tourist shopping at the ABC store and a few other various shops, catching some Japanese music at the main stage, eating lunch, scoping out the awesome Koi pond, and taking a visit to the Lego store. This is where Leif roamed freely trying to get me to look at every box in the store. Being the sensible kid that he is, he picked up a small lego kit of a fireman and fireman’s atv, and stated that he was going to buy it and he was ready to go home . It was only $7 and Leif was being really patient, so I let him buy it.

We dropped the M’s back off at the airport shortly after lunch. I was considering heading over to the zoo, but Leif fell asleep in the car and thought it would be better to leave the zoo for when we could dedicate the day to it.

We arrived home at a decent hour and Lief was feeling well rested. We hopped on video chat with Gavin and Mary for a bit to find out how their adventures were going. They are having a great time visiting museums and parks and seeing all kinds of awesomeness. Leif was now very well rested and looking for something to do. The weather was nice and it was still early enough, so we went to the pool. I know it’s not the beach, but Leif really enjoyed it. Besides, we still have time to go to the beach another day. We were able to stay at the pool for about 1 1/2 hours. We played all over the stairs where he can stand for a while, then he realized he could get me to carry him to the deeper areas. I dragged him around “super fast” and made waves. Leif tried dunking his face under the water a few times. He was fairly successful. He went under all the way to just above his eyebrows. Not too bad.

After being kicked out of the pool at around 4:45, we went home to have ourselves some dinner. We were both a bit exhausted from the day. Since we missed our morning chat with Holly, we hopped on video chat with her for a bit to say hi. Leif was mostly interested in his toys, so he said his brief hellos and I love you’s, then Holly and I were able to do some chatting. After which, Leif and I played with toys. Then it was bed time. Worn out and drained, Leif went down easy. He didn’t make it through all three books. He fell fast asleep.

Finally Friday. I had been looking forward to this day because that means the weekend would be here and I can do all the things with Leif. I just had to get through this last day. It went pretty fast too. In the time before work, Leif played a bit on the phone after eating his cinnamon crunch. I let him do that every once in a while, although it means taking a chance that he might spend all my gems on Dragonvale. Oh well. Leif has also become the official bird feeder. We have a bird out back that comes every day to be fed nuts. He sits in the tree and calls for us. When Leif hears him, he grabs some nuts, places them in the tree, and then watches as the bird swoops down to collect them. And he does it all by himself. Leif. Not the bird.

After work, we spent some time thinking about what to do over the weekend. It was decided that we would go to the pool, the beach, the zoo, and Ala Moana shopping center. Once that was decided, we played. He had his little house out from during the day, so we started with that. I was a little Lego man, and he was a headless storm trooper. Headless because without his helmet, he wasn’t a bad guy. But then, he was a bus. And the bus’s sole purpose was to run over my Lego man. So much for not being a bad guy. Haha.

For dinner, Leif requested spaghetti and meatballs. Holly requested I test a drink recipe for her. It’s called a Clarige Cocktail with dry vermouth, gin, apricot brandy and triple sec. I tried it. I wonder if she was playing a practical joke on me. It was horrible. I think any drink with dry vermouth should be illegal. It’s poison. I repeat. Dry vermouth is POISON. I didn’t finish the drink. But the spaghetti and meatballs were fantastic. Leif needed a little motivation, but he ate them all. For desert we had peanut M&M’s and part of a Lindt mint chocolate bar.

Today went by really fast. We woke up this morning, ate breakfast, brushed our teeth and played with the marble track until J arrived. I rode off to work as Leif watched from the sidewalk.

Work flew by. I was in and out updating computers, solving network issues, managing printers, scoping out the new library, and all kinds of fun stuff. Soon enough the end of the day arrived and I hopped on my bike to go see Leif. When I arrived home, Leif was on the couch watching Bolt looking very wiped out. I was informed that they just arrived back from the pool. It was a beautiful day for it too. Anyway, he was happy to see me. And he was hungry. We bade goodbye to J and I set off to the kitchen to cook us some Fettuccini Alfredo and broccoli.

We ate up our dinner all fast like. Then we ate M&M’s and a Ghiradelli Mint chocolate bar for desert. Upon chocolating ourselves up, we decided to play a little Wii. One of the remotes is broken, so that didn’t last all that long. That’s ok though, cause it was bedtime. Leif raced me upstairs to the bathroom and undressed. He took a short bath, hopped into his Dora pajamas, read his 3 books, and said goodnight. Once again, he was out in less than 5 minutes. But not before saying, “I love you dad”. I love that boy.

Oh. And there was the Lychee Martini I started preparing the previous day. It was really yummy. Could have used a little simple syrup and St. Germains though. But then I guess it wouldn’t be a martini. Oh well.

Day 5 was a good day. Leif woke up a happy boy at 6 am. That’s earlier than I usually get up, but it was fine, and it gave us more time to spend together before I had to go to work. Like trying on dad’s boots, watching Simon’s Cats and things like that. The morning was off to a good start.

J showed up right on time again. She told me that she was going to be taking Leif to Waiahole farms for the day’s main activity. So far she’s done something nice every day with him. That makes me happy. And of course Leif enjoys it as well. He likes be out and about. Plus, they would be harvesting peanuts that day. Nice.

After work, I arrived home and Leif ran out and Gave me a huge hug, barely giving me enough time to get off my motorcycle. So sweet. For dinner we had some leftover shoyu chicken and rice. Yum. Then to get out, we took a trip to the playground. Besides getting him out of the house, I was really feeling like I wanted to do something fun with him besides playing with marble tracks and reading books before bed. We had a blast. Leif pretended that the slide was a cliff and at the bottom was lava. Then he would slip down the slide slowly extending his had for me to save him saying (and I don’t know where he got this), “I promise, I promiiiiiisssee”, as he slid down. Sometimes I could save him. Sometimes he sacrificed himself and let go and sank down into the lava. Such a selfless child.

After the playground, I still wasn’t completely satisfied. Earlier I had sliced up a few lychees and put them in a container with the last of our Beefeaters gin (I must make it better somehow). This called for a trip to the store. I had to replace and upgrade our gin. Tanqueray it is. And because I can’t get myself a treat without offering Leif a treat, we picked up a Crunch bar for the kid. Totally balanced right? He couldn’t wait to eat it. We plopped down on the first bench we came to, tore open his candy bar and observed all the peoples as they walked by.

Our time on the bench was only put to a stop because Leif declared he had to use the potty. Between having a race down the sidewalk and me scooping him up and bouncing him as we ran, it didn’t take long to make our way back home. By this time, it was dark and bed time. Leif used the potty and we started bedtime routine. Leif chose Buzz Lightyear pajamas again. Probably to go with his new Toy Story book which we’ve read every night so far. As a matter of fact, he’s chosen the same three books every night; Clifford and the Big Leaf Pile, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Toy Story. He made it through all three books, at which time he rolled over and said, “Good night dad. I love you.” And just like that, he was asleep.