Pool Day with Lisa!

We are so happy to see Lisa and Joseph again. We have all been keeping in touch and updated on their Houston adventure via the blogs and email, but it is way nicer to hang out, swim and catch up like old days (of course, with many new little ones to watch). Everyone showed up for a fun pool day at Katie's place.

It's hard to believe that Mia and Joseph are one month apart- Joseph is bigger!

Mia had fun pushing Abby around the pool.

Makaela and Gavin sported their new goggles.

The whole gang.

Ladies Night to Celebrate Monica

We decided to have a girls' night and what better reason to celebrate than to wish Monica a happy birthday! It was also a great way for us to go out and see Lisa (who was also back in town). Unfortunately, I got there very late. The move has resulted in no groceries in the house, so I needed to head to the grocery store. What started as a quick trip to the commissary ended up being a three hour adventure. After getting Mia to sleep, I left my mom to watch the girls and headed down to Just Tacos, just in time to watch Monica take a very interesting shot :-) It was so nice to de-stress and see everyone. I also go to witness a very odd thing: a guy at the next table did a shot with a scorpion in it- like an actual scorpion. I definitely gagged a little, but it makes for a great story!

Fetch Gone Bad

The move has unearthed some forgotten toys, even some dog toys, so when Makaela found this doggie disk, she thought she would have some fun with the dogs. Too bad, Leila was having no part of it.

Easter 2011

This Easter we didn't have Matt at home, but we did have another family member to help us celebrate: my mom. This is the first Easter she has spent with the girls and the first one I have spent with her in over 10 years. It was interesting searching for the Easter basket amid all the boxes in the house, but since it had candy, Makaela sniffed it out. We spent the morning unpacking a bit and then headed to Ko'olina to meet up with friends for an Easter picnic. Mia enjoyed swimming with Grandma and Makaela lived it up with her friends, sharing all her Easter candy.

Mike and Cate's Last Day

We were supposed to spend the entire day with Mike and Cate at their hotel, but the majority of the day was spent cleaning up the townhome and ordering new carpet. When we finally got down to the hotel, Makaela had missed her nap and was in rare form, but we made the most of it. Mia just loves the pool and Makaela was all about their hotel room. We wish we could have spent more time with Mike and Cate, but it was a busy week. I love seeing the girls with their uncle- it's so much fun. Mia loves Mike's kisses until she realizes that his beard is scratchy and Makaela just loves beating up on him.

Aloha Grandma

A few weeks back, I purchased a ticket for my mom to visit. She offered to help us with the move, so the girls and I piled back in the car and headed back to the "airplaneport" to pick up Grandma. Once again, Makaela relished in her ability to pick the perfect lei. After picking up Grandma, we headed to Benihana for dinner with Mike and Cate. While Makaela loved the prep work, she didn't actually enjoy the meal. She claimed the chicken was too spicy (I think she didn't like the pepper), but we did find out that is now a fan of shrimp- in fact, she ate most of my shrimp meal. It was great to have part of my family out here sitting down for dinner.

Makaela and I played hooky from school so we could drive Mike and Cate up to the North Shore. We stopped at Matsumoto's before heading to Waimea Bay. The waves and the undertow were pretty bad, so Makaela needed an adult with her at all times. Even though she got tossed a few times, she was all gung-ho and kept running towards the waves. We headed down the beach a bit where the sandbar was wider and surf wasn't as bad. The water was amazing though. After the beach, we dropped Mike and Cate off at their hotel and Makaela cried her eyes out!

Waiting for Uncle Mike

My brother Mike and his girlfriend Cate came to visit. They were flying in at 9pm and originally I was going to ask someone to come over to stay with the girls while I went to pick them up, but Makaela was so excited about them coming, I let her stay up and come to the airport with me. Poor girl was so tired, she ended up falling asleep sitting up. She perked right up when it was time to leave and even picked what lei stand she was going to shop at and which leis we were going to buy. Unfortunately, she got shy when she first saw them, but they came with so many gifts and toys for the girls, Makaela warmed up very quickly!

She loved her new Rapunzel crown and light up sneakers!

Miss Kissy Face

Mia's cheeks are enormous and I just love them. Makaela and I take turns kissing her- sometimes I have to actually tell Makaela to stop- she can get a bit carried away. And the dogs can't seem to get enough kisses in either!

Makaela-ism Part 6

I know these posts are coming more frequently, but Makaela has been saying more and more stuff that is making me crack up.

-Driving home from school she started asking me if I knew Miss Gina. When I told her I didn't, she insisted that I did. When I said again that I didn't know who that teacher was, she said, "Yes you do, you're the mommy, you know everything!" (ah, yes, don't I wish and I probably should video tape this to replay over and over again when she is 16 and insists I know nothing)

-I posted that a little boy in her class likes her, and when I picked her up on Friday, I witnessed him trying to give her a picture he made. A scowl came over her face and I said "Manners Makaela" to which she turned around to him and said, "Thank you Kainalu, but really, no thank you" and walked away from him. The teacher and I looked at each other and cracked up.

-"mom, can you turn Mia off, her crying is hurting my ears"

"You Talkin' To Me?"

More Mia

Here is some video of Mia, Makaela and I hanging out on the couch (a rare moment of relaxation). We were teaching Mia to say "baba" for bottle, but it sounds like she has the babbling down just fine. I think she got more of a kick out of listening to me sound silly than her own talking.

Mia has also moved onto Mums and is now eating solids more regularly. She loves squash, sweet potatoes, green beans and pears. She's so over prunes :-0

Zack turns 1!

Today we headed to Ko'olina to celebrate Zack's first birthday. Can't believe he is one already. Zack was the first baby born in the 2010 baby boom, so it was a bit eye opening to realize that these kiddos are growing up already. The Martin's hosted a fabulous party at their pool.

Zack munching on his cake.

Makaela and Mia in their coordinating bathing suits- love 'em!

Makaela getting tossed by Grandpa Don- she was loving it!

The 2010 baby boom (minus our Texan Joseph). Zack (1 year), Alex (3 months), Makenzie (9 months), Dylan (7 months) and Mia (5 months).

Looks like Dylan and Mia are practicing for keg parties already!

Mia and Alex

And of course: Makaela and Gavin showing off their swimming skills.

The party lasted well past bedtime and it was very difficult to get the kids out of the pool, but it was such a gorgeous night, no one minded too much.

Thoughts on Daddy and the Waterpark

Makaela started talking about her Daddy while we were stuck in traffic and I was thinking "I wish I had this on camera". Luckily my camera was in the seat next to me, so I propped it up to video her, but I apologize for the shoddy camera work.

Easter Egg-stravaganza

This year we participated in the Ewa Gentry Easter Egg Hunt again. Last year we had a blast, so we were looking forward to it again. This year was definitely more low key. There were less people there and unfortunately no horsies for Makaela, but they still had the bouncy house. Another upside of less people signing up was better candy and more eggs for everyone. This year Makaela was old enough to be in the 3-5 age range where the parents don't accompany the kids on the egg hunt (sad- my little girl is growing up), but since I had Mia, I it would have been difficult to go anyway. It's crazy that last year, at the last Easter Egg Hunt, I told Monica (and then all the other ladies later on) that I was pregnant and this year, I have two little bunnies to watch :-)

Makaela is going bi-lingual

Makaela's new preschool teacher is from Costa Rica, so she has a bit of an accent and Makaela mimics her on occasion. One day I caught Makaela "teaching" her dolls and she was doing these very elaborate circling hand movements and putting her hands on her hips as she talked to them. When I asked her what she was doing, she said, "I'm Marrrcccela"- looks like she got the rolling of the Rs down. Well, last night she started counting her shapes...in Spanish. I praised her and she was thoroughly pleased with herself. Then later when we were getting changed for bed, she started talking gibberish, with a few "dos" and "unos" thrown in there. When I asked her what she was doing, she said, "uh, mom, I told you already that I speak Spanish now". When I told Ms. Marcela the story this afternoon, she started laughing and instead of saying "bye" to Makaela, she said "adios". Makaela didn't miss a beat, "Avos Ms. Marrrcccela!"

Here she is counting:

Makaela-isms Part 5

Here are some more hysterical tidbits from Makaela:

On the way to school:

Me: Do you know how much I love you?

Makaela: No

Me: I love you to the moon and back again

Makaela: Hey, YOU DON'T SAY THAT TO ME!

Me: What? Why?

Makaela: Because that hurts my feelings. I don't want you to send me to the moon.

(I forgot how literal 3 years old are)

We do "homework" right before we head to bed and lately we have been working of 3 dimensional solids. Last night we were working on spheres:

Me: This is a sphere

Makaela: A pier

Me: No, a sss-phere (emphasizing the S as I had to her)

Makaela: oh, a sssssss-pier. Great! And look mom, here is another ssss-pier.

Teething is a Family Affair

Now that Mia is teething, Makaela has been coming in handy:-)

Five Fabulous Months of Mia!!

Can you believe that Mia is 5 months already?! My little girl is growing up too quickly.

Our Creative Sunday

So I am the only person I know who can go to a Borders "going out of business sale" and spend entirely too much on not very much, but that is what happens when you have a fun loving 3 year old as a shopping partner. Makaela picked out a jewelry box that needed to be decorated with mosaic tiles. Luckily Mia took a 2 1/2 hour nap because it allowed us to sort the mosaic tiles by color, create some designs and then painstakingly glued every piece on. She decided she wanted an "M" on it so we had some fun learning going on too. It was some good mommy/daughter bonding time.