Surprise!

Surprise!  Mom's coming on Friday!  Yeah - we can't wait!  My mom called and said she had some news and when I called her back she said that she got a ticket to come out and see us.  She will be here in two days!  I'm very excited because it was such a surprise and I really miss her but try not to let it show (don't want to make it harder for her).  I wish my dad could come too but I'm happy to have at least one of them!  This will be her 4th time out in 7 months!  

Best Mexican Food in Hawaii!

A couple of things keep us from going out to eat - 1) the prices 2) the kids 3) the Mexican food just isn't that great! So, tonight, because I love my husband sooo much, I decided to make his favorite - sopes! It's pretty messy and uses a lot of pots that I have to wash afterwards, but he's worth it!  Thanks to Lita, I was able to make his special (very hot) salsa to top it off.   He always helps me cook sopes, so it's fun to be in the kitchen together.  They turned out really good and we were all stuffed afterwards!

The Zoo at Night

HMSA (Oscar's work) had an employee appreciation day at the zoo. It didn't start until the evening and went until 10:00 so the kids were excited to go to the zoo at night. All of the animals were sleeping! But HMSA did a very good job at entertaining us. There were all kinds of things to do for the kids, the food was yummy, and of course they had shave ice and kettle corn. It made for a late night but we had a great time!

Friday Movie Night!

We had so much fun Friday night, cuddling, eating goodies, and watching a movie on the futon! We got our jammies on and pretended it was cold so we could get our blankies. Then we opened up the futon and got our favorite candy! Maybe this should be a Friday night tradition!

Relaxin' in the Hammock!

Oscar with the two babies - sleeping?

No- not sleeping! Just relaxing!

Hey, I want to get in there too!

Oscar with the two oldies!

Gazing at the stars - their favorite thing to do. My husband has made them two "discovery kids"! That's good, right?

Box from Lita!

"A box! A box! Mommy, we got a box!" These were the words from Ki when we came home from running a few errands and found a box sitting on our front porch. How exciting! We all love surprise boxes because we know that we will get a few things from "home". This box was from Lita (Oscar's mom) and so we waited for Daddy to come home to open it up. The kids could barely wait and had Oscar on the futon as soon as he walked in the door. They were ready to open the package! Ki got a car, Geni got a doll, Zek got diaper rash creme (Vitacilina - it's the best!), Oscar got a couple of DVD's that he wanted (you have to watch "Under the Same Moon" - it's soooo good!), and I got chilis to make Oscar's favorite salsa! Thanks Lita - we love you and miss you so much! Can't wait for Tio Beto to come out!!!!

Potty Trained!

Yeah! I think we can finally say that Genesis is potty trained - one less baby to worry about! We are very proud of her since she just turned two and a little young! Surprisingly, she was pretty easy. Parents are always apprehensive to start the potty training process because we know there will be many accidents and clean ups and with a girl you can't just pull over the side of the road and tell her to go by the tree! I think she was just ready - we have been talking to her about wearing chonies for a couple of months now. Anyways, she does not want diapers at all anymore, not even during naps or night time! She has had a few accidents at night but that was over a week ago and since then - everything's been great!

The Lagoons at Ko'olina

The kids and I went to the lagoons at Ko'Olina (a resort on the west side) where the water is just beautiful. Jenn Hays accompanied us and it was great to have the extra set of hands - I'm not sure I want to take the three kids to the beach by myself - yet! Poor Ki just keeps asking "will you play with me?" and it's so sad because I can't leave the baby (obviously) by himself under the umbrella! Genesis just wants to lay in the sand and build castles so Ki gets creative in the water. Jenn took the baby for a while so I could play with the kids in the water - it was good to just be with Ki and Geni again - like old times! Thanks Jenn!

Sandy Beach

At Sandy Beach on the East side of the Island, the kids had a great time running away from the huge waves. Oscar wanted to check out the local hangout because of the reputation of big waves that break close to shore (good for body boarding). It could be pretty dangerous because of how hard the waves hit but it didn't seem to bother Oscar! The kids, of course, found a friend to play with and Zek and I just hung out under the umbrella!

Special Times with Grandma

Before my mom left she had a special time with both Ki and Genesis. Since she had the condo, each kid got to spend the night with her and do something fun in the morning - how exciting for them to have Grandma to themselves all night and all morning. Grandma gave them snackies in the evening, read books with them, took them out to breakfast, and then either to the park or the beach where the other kids and I met them. Here are just a few pictures of their special times that I thought were cute!

........Eating Snackies.............. Reading in Bed.........

..........Breakfast...................... At the Park..........


........Eating Snackies.............. Reading in Bed.........


..........Breakfast.................... At the Beach...........

Love you Mama!

Mom was here for two weeks and the kids and I got used to having her here and really miss her. It was great having her help with the kids and just hanging out around the house. We had fun doing things around town and taking lots of pictures. Some things we did...

Eat Sushi and Tempura at our favorite Japanese Restaurant


Make a blanket for Genesis (I'll have to sew the boys' blankets by myself since we ran out of time!) Geni absolutely loves her special Hawaiian blanket that Mama and Amma made!


Ran around at the Dole Pineapple Maze and ate our pineapple goodies!



Ate good food and lots of icecream!


Hung around the house and played!


Went to the beach!


Changed lots of diapers!